Resiliency is Our Most Important Trait

Thanks to Kristi Casey Sanders for the original share of this

If you met me now, you probably think I seem pretty together, and have things pretty good. I do. Most of the time. We all have stories of our own, of joy and pain, love and despair, falling down and getting back up again. This is life. We are never prepared. We must learn, usually the hard way, to be resilient. To develop the capacity to recover from difficult situations. To know these are situations, and they will pass is a first step. Knowing who you can count on to help you, who is truly on your side is another tool to get through challenges. Perhaps one of the most difficult is choosing our attitude. Will we wallow in the misery? Sometimes. Will we look forward and seek hope over despair? If you ever think you are having a tough day, read Amanda Lindhout's story, one of resilience beyond imagination.

If you have known me since my teens, you will know about recovering from Bells Palsy. If you have known me since my twenties, you probably still want to carry something for me because you remember when I could not lift my arms long enough to wash my own hair. You may have known me through losing my brother, father and numerous friends and extended family members. I am not alone in facing challenges. I have wallowed, and overcome. I have been resilient because I had to be. It is one of the toughest traits to develop; a skill hard to teach, experience being the teacher with impact. It is a key, core skill for getting through what may come. As we send one child into the world, with the other not far behind, I question if we have taught them this and know it will be only time that will tell. All we can do is be there when they need us.

If you have been by my side working on one or dozens of events, thank you. Every single person has contributed to making each event better and darn it, a lot of these have taken a ton of sustained effort in sometimes seemingly impossible conditions - from the tops of glaciers where you pack it all in and out to remote communities with little infrastructure and fewer supplier partners, to massive sets, movements and strikes, often with unrealistic timelines. 
Every time, we dig deeper and get it done. Then we get up and do it again. 

Eventprofs know the power of resilience. When a client chooses to leave our agency for any number of reasons, we bounce back and find new clients who can use our support and expertise. When challenges arise, from a tanking economy leading to unexpected cancellations, from security to transportation, mudslides and road closures, venue changes and so much more, we find solutions. We find the people we can trust, we move forward, we adapt. 

Many of you have shared your stories with me, from living with chronic conditions to losing what is most important; through illness and recovery, cross-country or global moves and a million brave choices, overcoming large and small fears as we navigate the mundane and complex day-to-day challenges of life. To each of you, thank you for choosing to include me in your journey. I salute your resilience.

IMEX16 Full of Nice Memories

When you go to your boss with a conference program in hand, you sell your attendance based on the content available which you promise to return to your organization with, bringing new tools and ideas to your work and your team.

For participation in an exhibition you are selling the possibilities of sales, at the show and in the future as the supplier. As the planner we like to attend because when we meet people face to face in dedicated B2B meetings we have the opportunity to exchange real information and to build trust in those who would deliver the event in our selected destinations and venues.

Why you return a second, third or in the case of IMEX a sixth time it is because of the connections you make. Through hosted and planned meetings to serendipitous aisle-way meet-ups to the many evening events that take place, both hosted and buy-in (often supporting a variety of initiatives), the people you meet and the conversations you have will always bring a new perspective. 

It is also a friendly event, and this is important because most of us have some level of introspectiveness, some anxiety of meeting new people and some level of effort required to maintain momentum over a multi-day event of meeting new people, and when there is a friendliness inherent in the overall event - it makes it easier. This may sound trite, but it is not, and requires a conscious effort in the planning and community building which happens year-round. Don't underestimate "nice" - the world could use more of it!

It is a place of connecting

1. In-session actionable learning with both general sessions and sector - specific sessions including corporate, association, future leaders, sustainability, and faculty (to name a few!) which is relevant, current and can be applied when you return.
2. To destinations that understand meetings and incentives and can speak intelligently about how theirs fits your needs - and with 157 destinations on the floor this is truly the place to find where you could take your events.
3. To the latest trends in all areas with knowledge gained in the Inspiration Hub, the Playroom, in group meetings in the various booths, in tours conducted to experience event technology and innovation, and even the fabulous meditation room. By seeing what is being shown and how it is being shown in ways that are useful to your clients we all take away new, actionable ideas.
4. To sustainable thinking, the list of initiatives keeps growing and many of these ideas can be easily implemented at any event.
5. To global thought leaders across all sectors. In the pictures above there are meeting planners, event producers, company owners, faculty, event tech leaders, sustainability experts, and those working in sales, procurement, venue management, hybrid events and creating learning environments. In all cases these are people I can turn to when I need key information on any subject related to our industry, and really these are just a few of the people I connected with over the course of IMEX16!
6. To leaders and their successes. The Convention Industry Council Hall of Leaders and Pacesetters recipients were and are all amazing, hard-working, humble and kind. Leaders indeed.
7. To business. Ultimately every investment of your resources must lead to this, and when you bring the world together, business happens.

As always, I return home full of ideas I can implement, and wrapped in the warmth of friends, collaborators and colleagues from around the world, looking forward to returning again to continue the growth. 

Using Our Time for IMPACT

A real "week in the life"

The life of an #eventprof (event professional) is ALWAYS busy. Work, life, taking care of family and self, unrealistic deadlines, it all adds up to a calendar that looks something like this. Add in travel to events you are producing, speaking at or learning at, or maybe even "sneaking in" a vacation and it comes back to being busy, tired, and even burnout.

So what if we measured time not by busy-ness but by impact. If I consider even the week above - a recent week - there was as you can see only a small amount of time left to do "real work" outside of meetings. Of course the small open spaces you see were used for answering the seemingly endless emails we all receive, most that allow us to keep moving work forward. But, we made huge progress on the #BCTECH Summit program by using meetings to consult with industry, researchers and stakeholders who are vested in the education we will be offering that will be relevant, forward thinking and actionable. IMPACT. We met with groups who can support our marketing initiatives to more deeply and broadly share the why of participating in the Summit - because we know the success from last year with conversations that led to conversions and this needs to be shared.

The big block you see at the end of the week was a soccer tournament to raise money for KidsUpFront that BCIC placed a team in. When they needed more girls to play I was ready to jump in - and voluntold Julia since I have never played - a classic Mom move. This was fun to watch and raised money for a great cause. IMPACT.

I have just packed and am ready to head for four days at IMEX16 where I will spend some time leading tours through the event technology space, sharing the possibilities with meeting planners who are seeking solutions that will make their work more efficient or productive, that will provide useful data for building and designing their meetings, IMPACT. Oh and also a lot of fun as I know already I am heading into hours of great conversations about how meeting professionals are changing lives one meeting at a time.

So the next time someone asks you how it's going - don't reply with "so busy" instead think about how many lives you have impacted - through dollars raised, food or waste diverted, knowledge shared, or inspiration provided.

Powered Couches and Secret Notes

Powered couches!

These are two things I remember clearly from attending 11 events for meeting professionals over a 12 week period last summer...one year later. Why do I remember these? The Power of Positive Surprise. This is not easy to achieve, but when it works-BAM! you are set on a course for your attendees to return and to tell others why they need to attend.

Imagine the joy of sitting down in a general session on a couch, conveniently placed in a chevron format for easy viewing, to find out that each couch had an arm with plug-ins, both electrical and USB ports. Comfort means knowing i don't have to worry about powering up devices; I won't miss an important email, text or call from a client, or potential client, or my family. For the meeting organizer, having guests with powered devices means they are more relaxed, focused on learning and sharing ideas. If you are using a meeting app you now have the ability to have every participant become more participatory through live (anonymous) feedback,questions, polls and more and they aren't worried about having one more thing open draining their battery. If you add in wi-fi, especially for non-local guests, your chances of positive social sharing from participants creating more buzz about your event also goes up exponentially. As a highly connected, NON-millenial, the powered couches were even better than the ubiquitous charging stations, aka the new "water cooler" of the conference.

Secret notes were another positive surprise when my neighbour on the next couch over would pass me funny notes every time there was interesting tidbits, or even things that didn't make sense from the presentations. Eventually I leaned his name, more about his thoughtfully run company, and endlessly appreciate to this day his great humour and event savvy. This is not something as an event producer or meeting planner you can replicate, plan for or even encourage, but it is the kind of serendipity that makes me want to return to this event again. 

What else do I remember? Moderating a panel where I had the presenters answer a question in "freeze tag" format familiar to improv lovers. Why? Because it forced the panel members to pay attention to and build on the answers of their co-presenters, and engaged them and the audience who were keen to see how this would all work. I recall meditation rooms which allowed 15 minute reprieves from the pressure of being always ON during busy events offering a deeply embedded sense of peace. A burger and a milkshake with great company being as fulfilling as any gala dinner and gala dinners where the accomplishments of friends were celebrated. Ultimately it comes back to creating emotion - accomplishment, peace, joy, comfort, anticipation, surprise, delight. Using our environment, content, creative deployment of messaging and designing thoughtfully to deliver so much more than what is listed in the program.

In addition to program, logistics, risk management and so much more, it is incumbent upon us as meeting planners to leave space in our programs for these types of connections to be made. Things to consider include white space; interactive elements that increase reasons for conversations to begin; spaces, facilitators and presenters to encourage meaningful dialogue and thoughtful reflection; music that is at a level that can be talked over; visual elements that spur emotion, and build memory; anything else you might imagine - after all you are the creative professionals your clients rely on to deliver beyond objectives and create outcomes that have reach beyond the conference space. When you do this, and see the reactions during your event, it will be worth every minute of the planning energy you put into this.

What have you experienced or created that is rocking your events right now?

Conferences and Airplanes

Yes, that was fun - and great ideas were shared!

We design meetings for people to connect, communicate and share ideas.  There are literally millions of meetings taking place annually around the globe, bringing people together regionally, nationally and globally, and we know from various research studies most people attend 3 – 6 conferences per year, choosing those they believe will be the most valuable to them.  This nebulous value is determined by the education shared and the people met.  When a trade component is attached, then you may have sales or marketing targets to be met, but each of these transactions begins with a relationship.

So what does this have to do with airplanes?  For not the first time (I wrote about this first  in 2012), I am seated on a plane beside two people who have just attended the same conference.  They have spent 4 days in a new city, focused on similar goals, attending the same sessions and networking functions, likely passing in the hall more than once.  They didn’t meet.  They are now seated beside each other on a four hour flight, and from the first ‘Oh you were at X too’, they have not stopped talking. They have shared ideas for courses,  mutual connections, ideas around managing their students (they are both from universities) and have moved on to challenges they face with students, with funding, managing co-workers and family balance, and have come up with a few “a-ha” moments, with much nodding, smiling and brightness in the conversation.

How do we create an event which allows these types of conversations to happen?  Where there is a balance of thought provoking speakers who inspire disruptive thinking to happen, and where action can be driven by the conversations that follow, and where white space is encouraged.  Where networking functions are not buffet lines and cocktails with music slightly too loud to converse over, adding to a thumping ambience, but instead have features that elicit comments and food and beverage that enhances the overall sensations – taste, texture, health, and delight all incorporated.  Where we use technology in all its forms to support the experience. Where you have the opportunity to “touch” each person at least once, and where you leave with deep connections with at least a few people who will become game-changers for you, your business, your lifestyle.  These are the questions I can’t wait to explore this year.

Event Alley Fun

Content. 48 hours of content uploaded every hour. How do you possibly find that all important "Context" within the Content? Finding what is relevant for you, relevant for your industry is a challenge. I am a voracious consumer of content and always have been, so when I was invited to be part of Event Alley Show this year, I thought it seemed like a great idea.

Lindsey preps for a live show
at MPI WEC this year.

So far, so good!  The Event Alley Show guests are what define the show, and we have had some amazing people join us including most recently Evan Greene, the CMO of The Recording Academy (the Grammys), Simon T. Bailey, Julius Solaris, David Merrell and Chad Kaydo on trends and the business of design, Ruud Janssen and Roel Friessen discussing Event Model Generation and so many more.  We have also done live episodes from PYM Meetings, MPI WEC and the IRF Annual Invitational.  Explore and see what you can find!

We also occasionally do audio only Show Plus episodes and have talked with Roger Simons of MCI about event sustainabiliity, Andrew Walker about MPI's CSR initiatives and King Dahl about large scale events, among others, and I enjoy hearing what these smart people have to share with us.  In teaching Sustainable Event Operations at BCIT earlier this year I used a number of the interviews - with Shawna McKinley, Mariela McIlwraith, Karen Swim (PR) and Michele Sarkisian (EPCAT and human trafficking) as we explored the people - planet - profit impacts of events and meetings.

We have recently updated our playlists and the range of subjects from Technology to Event Design to Sustainable and Responsible Meetings provides excellent listening no matter where you play in the meeting and event space.

I definitely have some favorite episodes - but encourage you to check out our YouTube channel for the videos, or Event Alley Show on iTunes or Stitcher if listening podcast style fits your life better. 

Event Model Generation

Tahira and Ruud at MPI WEC in Minneapolis 2014

Does your meeting planning team struggle with getting buy-in? Do you wrestle with dreaming up new ideas for your events?  What if there was a tool that fostered open discussion, encouraged creativity and still focused on meeting your business objectives?

I began my exploration of meeting design and how it can change the parameters of how people meet and more importantly what they get out of it several years ago. I have continued to enjoy the evolution, which for me led to co-authoring this chapter in the ninth edition of the CIC Manual, collaborating on EventCamp Vancouver and meeting people from around the world who share my passion.

As we delve into human nature, environment creation, presentation delivery and interaction based on neuroscience to increase engagement, analytics and return on investment of meetings, it always comes back to objectives before design.  There is always a challenge to derive the objectives and create an easy to understand story to present to your stakeholders about how you will use a meeting (or incentive event) to fulfill these objectives.

During this journey of learning I came across TNOC and the smart, forward thinking Ruud Janssen. About two years ago Ruud introduced me to the book Business Model Generation, a pre-cursor to what has now become his newest venture with Roel Friessen Event Model Generation.   This is a process which encapsulates all the information you want to collect about your event and its reasons for being and KPIs, and allows you to put it together in a simple visual presentation to share with your stakeholders. This is an incredibly simplified explanation, and because they are REALLY good at telling their own story please see this link for more detailed information.

FAQ's about #EMGcanvas =  #EventCanvas

Why do I think this is cool enough to write about?  There is always a need to be able to explain why an event is the best choice - whether as a marketing tool, a sales driver, a fundraiser or as the best way to deliver content and networking connections to your stakeholders, vendors and participants as examples. In 20+ years of producing meetings and events "EMG" is the best tool I have seen for getting everyone on what is now literally "the same page" - a one - page concept for success.  I have gone through this process on smaller events and have found it very useful - I can only imagine if this was enterprise-wide how impactful it can be to consistency in storytelling through your event touchpoints!  I am excited to see them bringing this to America at what is arguably the biggest industry experience of the year (IMEX).  Yes there is a cost for this, as they have assessed a value for the content you will return to your organization with, and is reflective of the time spent bringing this to fruition, and the expertise of the presenters in delivery.  In an industry where we often don't pay speakers (and we are not alone) and at a show with a focus on a hosted buyer program there are risks in this and I applaud all the organizations who will take risks for quality education.  

ps There is a good chance they will show up with Swiss Chocolate. (hint hint)

Planner...or Conductor?

The ultimate fire and ice event
orchestrated by Cantrav Services.

At a recent conference, our (amazing) client commented, as the 200 guests arrived, that this was the part she liked best, when the six people who had been planning for months could now turn it over to the energy of the participants. I LOVE THIS perspective. I told her I loved it and would be turning this into a blog post, and here it is.

I am a huge fan of Benjamin Zander, a man, a speaker, a teacher, a classical music lover and a Conductor (Boston Philharmonic Orchestra) and find I am always moved by his messages.  In watching him enrapture a TED audience on an archived TEDTalk this week it made me think about the similarities between being a meeting planner and being a conductor.  First though, an obvious difference. When a CD of the orchestra is released, it will have a picture of the conductor on the cover, and this would be the exact opposite of what happens at a meeting, where the planner is in the background, typically by choice, certainly by the nature of the work, but the role in creation just as vital.

The similarities include a reliance on everyone around you to create a cohesive whole. An orchestra will have percussion, woodwinds, strings, brass, keys, and potentially featured artists to create a symphony, led by the conductor.  They may then combine this music to create an even greater whole, adding to opera, a play, an awards show, as examples.  Every single player has to be able to be fully responsible for their own part, and yet be part of the greater whole, cohesive in timing with everyone else, all guided by the conductor, rehearsed and yes, orchestrated.

As meeting planners we too have to bring together a group of supplier partners to create an event we have invested ourselves in, usually beginning with a proposal (and budget) sold, and now to be brought alive. We will work with parameters dictated by the venue, desired by the stakeholders, and set out to meet the objectives, and most importantly when we plan an event, there are no rehearsals!  A great meeting will have rehearsals for their general sessions, possibly gala awards, and maybe even dry runs for their breakout sessions but nobody gets to rehearse a reception or welcome event, or "mind blowing, unforgettable off-site event in a unique location". Understanding this will affect our ability to be great conductors, what steps should we / could we take? I have had the opportunity to lead teams on many multi-faceted projects, and share my ideas here, and welcome yours.

1. First play the symphony. Play it through once and inspire your team. (with an event this is sharing the creative description and objectives)
2. Lay it out, create the event version of the "musical score", critical path leading to a production schedule, floor plans, imagery, whatever it takes to tell the story.
3. We MUST share this vision with everyone who is part of the team. Get their input, make sure they know their role, and are comfortable with everything it encompasses.
4. Have everyone play nicely together. We don't get to have rehearsals but we can have a meeting ahead of time and run through it all from set through event to strike.
5. Then, watch the magic happen.

There is magic in music, and there is definitely magic in the events we create, and seeing how people respond to what we have created... that is what keeps us wanting to create. But back to the beginning, the magic truly comes from the people, and yes, when we watch the guests arrive, feel their energy, their buzz and see them smiling, collaborating,  connecting, our invested energy, ultimately rewarded.

Voting currently available with winning choices announced in Toronto March 21, 2013. I appreciate your support - plus it is fun to see all the nominees!

Is Your Event an Oreo or a Macaron?

Has your event become an Oreo - where your participants know exactly what to expect, from the level and tone of speaker and message, to the dinner in a ballroom with the same type of meal, entertainment and dress code? Where they enjoy and embrace the familiar, perhaps not knowing there could be more. More engagement, more thought-provoking discussions that lead to new innovations in their field, a feeling of being more connected created by program timing that allows for this to happen.

 

What if the next year's planning brought reinvigorated thinking? New committee members or a new conference chair was ready to push the boundaries a little... would you end up perhaps with a Vanilla Oreo - different yes, but not necessarily better, or a DoubleStuff Oreo, where more filling is crammed in, everyone thinking people want "more" - more breakouts, a bigger gala, more panels so more people can present, more awards presented at the gala... Sometimes when we think twice as much of something is the answer, we find out it is only the right thing for a small percentage of the people - just adding more isn't always the right answer.

 

What if next year you thought of your conference as a macaron, where you replace the flour with almonds, making a shift from the beginning in expectation. While the macaron has rules associated - they are always a similar size and shape, they have two sides and a filling, you can start to play with these cookies. You can change the colors, you can change the flavours and fillings, and create an unending amount of combinations, each offering an individual appeal. 

 

If this year you approached the conference plan as if it was for individuals and what they might want, what would you change within the framework of days, time, space that you have? Would you add more places for people to have hallway conversations? Follow your plenaries with small "meet the speaker" campfire style sessions? Serve fruit and cheese instead of pastries to extend the energy of your guests through the sessions, or offer espresso instead of the vats of coffee, keeping more people on site and talking to each other? How about encouraging new formats for your breakouts - interactive, participatory, with improv or a fishbowl - there are many options that can provide new perspectives and create shifts without a need to recreate the entire structure.

 

Is it time to dust off your conference format and bake up some new ideas?

10 simple event pleasures

team future heads out on the weekend to
breast cancer, walking 60km, raising 20k+

1. Working with a team that "gets it"
2. Hearing the gasps of surprise and delight when guests enter an event you have spent months planning
3. Seeing the cameras come out as guests can't believe their eyes in a new destination
4. Trying something new (hybrid, sheer projection, a mobile app) and seeing the positive results
5. Awesome food and beverage programming, from the opportunity to serve attendees all day brain friendly food and see the results in increased engagement to a perfectly wine paired dinner, lunch on a glacier (harder than it sounds and oh so worth it) or a perfectly timed dinner
6. Creating an event that touches all the senses - and hearing people talk about it the next day
7. Creating a multi day program where every day provides something new and remarkable for the guests, (and seeing how much they are enjoying it)
8. Taking care of all the little details that will make our client's lives simpler, (and having them notice that we were paying attention)
9. Having entertainment that connects with the audience - a name act, a great speaker, roving or ambient that surprises... limited only by your imagination
10. Making a true positive impact with your event - whether this is through relevant education, meaningful connections, relevant CSR, money or awareness raised...

What makes you smile at the events you plan or attend?

Meeting Planning - Glamorous, Exciting, Fun!

Day 5, hour 2, 3 to go. serious.

Just for fun, google "meeting planning glamorous" or "event planning glamorous" and you will find a whole page (or seven) of how this is, or is not. You will find some sites dedicated to education for meeting and event planning, you will find FB pages, magazine articles and so much more. 

What any meeting planners knows is YES it is glamorous. For about 4 days a year. It always comes with its challenges, and often there is not a full understanding of all that a great planner brings. In this post I am going to focus on Meeting Planners and some of what they bring to each meeting.

Meeting planners have to know a lot, be able to do a lot, and have to be able to exceed stakeholder expectations in live events over and over and over again, being judged one meeting at a time. Of course we never get to work on only one meeting or event at a time, so the pressure is enormous.

Below I have at a glance, what a meeting planner is expected to be an expert on:

1. Destinations - you are expected to know approximately 123 countries in the world, and which will best meet the expectations of the group and specific meeting
2. Destination knowledge - local customs, traditions, laws, currency, taxes, gratuities, visas required to enter and exit which may vary based on your participants' country(ies) of origin, weather at the time of year you are considering, levels of service, infrastructure for meetings and events
3. Venues - of the hotels and venues available, which ones have the appropriate capacity, amenities, location (where the local CVB and DMCs are invaluable resources)
4. Finance and budgeting - part accountant, part manager, responsible for expenses, revenues, tracking, and staying on track 
5. Sponsorship consultant - possibly recruitment, certainly fulfillment
6. Marketer - to internal or external audiences, via print collateral, website, various on-line strategies, journals, word of mouth - to recruit and retain sponsors, exhibitors, delegates, speakers, and more
7. Media / PR - when you want it how to get it, when you need to avoid it how to manage it
8. Stakeholder / client manager - you need to keep multiple layers of leaders feeling like their vision is being brought to life
9. Human resource manager - you need to manage up, down and sideways with internal and external partners
10. Master communicator - generating reports, written and verbal communication with all levels to ensure comfort for the client and information for the team to be able to execute to the vision, which naturally "evolves"
11. Law 101 - you have to be able to read, understand and negotiate contracts from multiple suppliers from hotels and conference centres to exhibit, activity or decor contractors and more Negotiating in challenging environments
12. Negotiator - across all levels of suppliers, often in many cultures with different rules, in union and non-union environments with exclusive and preferred suppliers (including your own)
13. Ethics expert - ensuring everyone on your team is playing fair
14. Sustainability leader - meetings and events have a huge impact on both the greening aspects and the 3 P's and the meeting planner needs to lead by example while following their organization's mandates
15. Team building - one of the reasons we meet is to strengthen team, so whether this is via a formal exercise or informal (networking) opportunities, it is always important
16. Risk manager- you need to know exactly what is in place from your venue(s) and what your team will do if a crisis affects your meeting, and plan for everything from cords being taped down (not a standard in all countries) to volcanoes, terrorist attacks, illness on-site and so much more
17. Program development - topic expert or liaising with those who are, providing an understanding of flow. Possibly contributing to how people will learn and take away learnings, working often with a programming committee to match space / amenities available with content desired.
18. Evaluation - education offered, networking, ROI and more
19. Technology - you have to keep up on what is not only now, but what is next - the evolution from carousel slides to multiple mobile apps has accelarated in the past 15 years since the internet came to be (1991!) and meeting planners have to be ahead of the curve of their participants
20. Theming - how to cohesively carry a message through from the first announcement through the programming and the events (programming, decor, entertainment, environment, print / online materials and so much more)
21. Logistics - from air and ground transportation to food and beverage, room setups and av, communication and signage, bump in to bump out of the many suppliers and participants that will touch and be touched by this event.
22. Through it all you need to be professional, calm, supportive and inspiring, all while working 16+ hours per day, eating on the fly, and attemping to stay hydrated.

This is where a meeting planner needs a great team to support - which may include a CVB, incentive house, marketing agency, speakers bureau, travel agency, housing bureau, registration team, DMC, Producer, av and production team, tradeshow management, teambuilding organization, and on-site support, to name a few. 

Oh there is more... bring it on! There is a challenge we face with the low barrier to entry for someone to say they are a meeting planner, so while there are hundreds of great meeting planners out there, who are all continually energized by planning meetings and events, we need to continually stay educated on a myriad of topics (see above for a start). To be a meeting professional, we must continue a life-long learning journey which may include university and polytechnic programs; attending events put on by a variety of meeting planning associations; joining experts who are continually sharing knowledge on line; by reading the many texts, journals and articles available continually. Being glamorous takes research and a willingness to work hard - and I say - Let's do this! 

Face to Face - the reality, the research

There has been a plethora of research recently on how meetings are most effective - face-to-face, virtual or hybrid, or a combination of this and more. We need to consider many things in our planning to determine what is going to fit the needs and meet or exceed the objectives

• pre-assessments - what education / team building needs to happen - what are they looking for
• meeting objectives
• management objectives (corporate or association)
• sponsor and exhibitor needs
• relevant education for a variety of levels of participants
• meaningful teambuilding 
• networking opportunities

Most of these require PEOPLE to make them successful. People seek relationships and want to do business with people they know and trust.  The best way to create this base is through shared, authentic experiences that provide opportunity for dialogue. The research is fascinating - thank you Maritz and Cornell for your continued leadership!
Perspective on Face to Face Meetings

As much as we can seek to understand, and provide research and show tangible results, sometimes we just need to see a group bring this to life. This was our experience this week, as we welcomed 3,000+ people to Vancouver, and saw the relevant education, well thought out exhibition with full service amenities gathering space, and excellent events all bring together people again and again. Last night at the Closing Reception, the sponsor, the staff members of the association that had worked to bring this to life, and hundreds of delegates met for the final time until next year, and they ate, they talked and finally, unexpectedly, they DANCED. My favorite moment was the man who put to the side first one cane, and then the other and DANCED until we finally, 30 minutes past the stated end time, ended the music and as they finished their beverages and conversations, they trickled slowly out, leaving 6 days of meetings and events feeling fully satisfied with their experience, and knowing the value of these relationships as they go forward in their careers and back to work. Truly, face to face at its best.