Create with Intent

Create with intent. It sounds so simple. It seems so obvious. If we are going to create an event experience, we should know some very basic things.

1. Why is the organization hosting an event?  Always start with WHY.
2. Who is our audience?
3. What will create positive surprises for them?
4. Where will you host the event (destination and specific venue)?
5. How does the choice of location, and the timing / when of the event impact your design and development?

It is the answers that will guide the creation. Many producers and planners can write a great theme idea, but it is when the ideas have context that they will build on the core messages and leave your guests feeling connected to and understanding the cause they are supporting / the organization they work for / the association they belong to, and how this brings value to their lives.

When you can leave people feeling good about any of the above because you created with intention... well for me, that is when my job satisfactions is at its penultimate, and it is this feeling that keeps all of us in this demanding industry, in it.

Blah, blah, blah - Making presentations relevant

My tween-age daughter plays soccer, very seriously, and has played since she was in kindergarten. They have excellent coaches, parents who also take the game seriously, while making sure the girls enjoy the sport and the experience. Occasionally, the coaches will get a little overzealous in their descriptions of play, or how the team played and can get a bit long - winded in their motivational turf-side talks. Or as Julia described it when she was ten "Mom, we're just kids, don't they know after the first few minutes all we hear is blah, blah, blah?"

 

Don't you find yourself thinking the same thing in a meeting where Mr/Ms Agenda goes on and on about their topic that you might not find as fascinating as they do? How about when you attend a conference and find yourself in a session where you are being talked at for an hour? How much of this do you actually retain? Not only retain, but find a way to apply what is hopefully new knowledge or an interesting perspective to apply to your own situation?  

 

Imagine if... you are given some information, then given an exercise to help you process and apply that information. This might be some time where you work solo on a small exercise, or where you break into groups and discuss and share ideas about what has been presented bringing your own input and application. According to tested learning theory, we know that we retain 20% of what we hear, 40% of what we hear and see (making powerpoint / prezi / keynote potentially useful when used 'correctly') and 80% of what we see, hear and do something with. Let's face it, 100% of knowledge retention is not even that practical unless you are studying for a rote exam in university, but being able to extrapolate the bits of information relevant to you from a conference is highly valuable and can lead you on the way to new solutions or innovations that support your needs. There are so many ways to encourage your speakers in facilitating conversation, sparking ideas and leaving participants thoughtful, and inspired.

I am very excited to attend PCMA in Orlando in January, and honoured that in addition to the session I will present with Andrea Sullivan, to be part of their pay it forward program including facilitating the session on Peer2Peer Learning that was brainstormed by the PCMA Education Committee, and to see, hear and share what learning formats are working for people, and being able to integrate some of these into our client's meetings. I am excited to see friends and colleagues and to know that January offers some awesome knowledge sharing!

Eventprofs friends... let me know if I will see you there!

Can you smell the brimstone?

It was our annual Cookie Day, where the "girls" get together and bake, and boys and kids can come in time for dinner and to eat cookies and everyone gets to take cookies home. It is always a no holds barred conversation while we mix, roll and bake, and it is a day we wouldn't miss for anything.

Over the years we have been through sickness and health, lost grandparents and parents, survived cancer, had babies and more babies. The net result is that as I had the first children, they are the oldest and took on looking after the 6 kids under 6 years. When I went to check on them, my son had a gash under his eye inflicted by one of the kids and he sardonically said "welcome to hell". He smiled as he said it and dabbed disinfectant on the cut. Later on he came up for a cookie and asked "Can you smell the brimstone?" He did go back downstairs though, and we knew he would be ok.

Hell, true hell, would be what many families in Newtown, Conneticut experienced today when they dropped their children off at school in the morning and will come back to identify the body of their slain child. I can't imagine, most of us cannot imagine what devastation this would bring and will be lucky enough to never know. This is not the first and sadly not the last time we will see shootings in malls or schools, but it is always wrong.

Other versions of Hell are what many people live through every day, not ever having enough to eat, or not being warm at night. Those that suffer from addiction or abuse. There are many around us who know this as their daily routine, in the cities and towns where we live. 

Perhaps this is the right time of year to spend some time being a little kinder, and more thoughtful and reach out to those in need, in large or small ways as you can.  As the season marches towards its inevitable conclusion, hug your loved ones. 

Celebrate Every Day

Some of you know that "Brain-friendly" food for meetings is a particular passion of mine and a subject I speak about at industry conferences. It is critical to provide nutrious food when you want people to engage and learn at your events.

BUT...Food and beverage should add to a celebration and when we add something festive to the event from blue martinis to ice luges and food that is artfully designed, it adds to the experience and adds to a sense of celebration.

But, imagine if we treated every day and every interaction as something special. How would our lives change?  This weekend I was at the store purchasing wine for a dinner we were going to - one bottle of bubbles for the friend how had achieved her black belt in TKD, and a beaujolais nouveau, because you can only get these once a year - now - and it seemed like the right choice. 

In front of me a woman struggled to lift her six pack of beer and three trio packs of champagne piccolo bottles to the counter. I assisted her with this as she was quite elderly and it was difficult, and assisted again as she put them into her roller bag. Here is what she told me "I can't drink coffee anymore, so now when guests come over I offer them champagne."

You can bet that as I enter my 8th decade, you too will be served champagne when you visit!

Wrestling Alligators

It turns out that wrestling alligators is a "hot new sport" where primarily men take on reptiles, avoiding masses of perils along the way. There are even schools popping up that facilitate training for man vs. beast.

The key pieces of advice from my research into the feasability of wrestling alligators include:

• "Know your limits"
• "Avoid the areas of danger" (that includes the jaw area primarily)
• "Understand their strength (they are about 50% muscle)
• "Feel when they are ready to strike"

It seems to me the same advice could be applied to meeting and event planning. This research began you see, when I was assessing what I am good at in my job, and what came to mind is that I am exceptional at wrestling alligators.

The bigger the beast of an event, the pointier the teeth, the more challenging the battle ahead, I can't wait to tackle it down, building grids and schedules, meeting and listening and sharing ideas and tracking unending streams of correspondence... approaching committee members, retreating from each area of the beast to gain perspective, trust and ultimately win.

Winning being defined by the culmination of all the goals and objectives being met as a spectacular event - one night or five days, conference, with or without exhibition, multi-day, mind-blowing incentive, it makes no difference really what it is when you win. The euphoria that follows the 300 hours of planning, sometimes within a 25 day period, is what keeps us doing this.

Keeping the above advice in mind:

1. Know your limits - and build the right team to support the event.  Make time for rest, take time for exercise (remember the alligator is 50% muscle) and eat food that provides the nutrition you need. Even if it is only a snack every four hours, make it all count.
2. Avoid the areas of danger - know who your stakeholders are and understand their agendas. Keep the end guest experience in mind at all times, so if you have to make a stand, it is for the "right" reasons.
3. Understand their strength - unlike alligators, events take a team when you want to win. Know who is good at what; who you can count on for the details to be taken care of, and who you need to move into a more suitable role. Make the most of your own strengths and all of theirs.
4. Feel when they are ready to strike - be open to the great ideas; and watch out for those whose (hidden) agendas you are not paying enough attention to.  Be prepared to go into the jaws to avoid getting taken down by the tail!

What can I say - bring on the alligators!

end note:

Dear family, I will see you in a few weeks, there is a beast that must be conquered

Steampunk marionettes, figure skaters and an Olympic Cauldron - "Fire and Ice"

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 Things I liked at IMEX

IMEX has taken the MICE market in the US by storm, as year two saw massive increases in the hosted buyer program over last year, and the education was even more jam packed goodness, with MPI Smart Monday, Association Focus, PCMA's Planner meetings, campfires and more. I loved hearing more about meeting architecture from Maarten Van Neste, and being inspired to enhance creativity and take care of our teams with Jonathan Bradsaw, and more about why to blog with Jenise Fryatt, among others.  IMEX America schedule 

 

Of course, that is only a small part of it. Here are some of my highlights of attending IMEX this year.

1. Gerrit Heijkoop's shoes. Really. We first noticed them in the elevator, and it turned out he had posted his choices on Facebook, and his friends voted. They chose well. Conveniently they also coordinated well with Mr. Holland's outfit. A star of the show - for the great suit, the awesome hair and the general fun this very excellent branding and likeable character have given the whole country.
2. People, oh the people.  We came, we saw, we hugged, we met, we talked, we connected and we grew. None of us stay in this industry for the long hours and airport wi-fi; we stay because of the people we get to partner with to create measurable, engaging, memorable magic.
3. Inspiring visitors to the Vancouver booth to jump on our RockTheBike and blend up a batch of smoothies or margaritas. (Side note - we guaranteed so well we had close to no beverages wasted - we shared and drank them all!)
4. The excellent interviews captured by Kiki L'Italien with some amazing people who are dedicated in a variety of ways to our evolving industry - Take the time to watch these - there are more but we talked to people ranging from QuickMobile to Meetology, DMCs to hotels, and platforms from Twoppy to SocialTables and many other experienced industry leaders - worth the time! We all enjoyed spending time with this smart and engaged lady who is always up for a challenge! 
5. The sustainability hub the Green Meetings Industry Council hosted - their ongoing rotation of out-of-the-box suppliers was exceptionally interesting - and darn it, that is a really nice group of people who truly care! 
6. Meeting @eventagist Stefania, @gheijkoop @djstomp @danberger ("Call me Don") among others IRL - it is always a blast to meet people you know through shared online conversation
7. Smart and creative ISES leaders - Brian, Lenny Talarico, Laura and more - people who continue to remind us that it is always about the stories we tell through live events
8. AVMan - the superhero representing AV For Planners - led my Mike McAllen and Jon Trask who have a plan to support planners in making decisions as they navigate the often confusing world of ever changing AV
9. Hugging friends and fans of our beautiful city and seeing all our booth partners doing the same thing - we really are the friendly, fun West Coast CANADIANS!
10. "Surprise!" and seeing the look on the face of our special friend celebrating a milestone - such a special idea to bring together friends from three continents to celebrate on the last evening!

I love the business conducted at IMEX, the learning, the connecting and the passion we all share for creating programs, conferences, events and meetings that matter.

 

It is fantastic seeing all the ideas we had to create a space that would engage visitors for three days, and I cannot wait to go back next year and do it again!