Thinking Out Loud

Whistler Conference Centre Gala Entree

It was pointed out to me this week that my blog had been not that active lately, and that (kindly) the reader was looking forward to the next post. It seems that I have been busy this year writing, but more for others than for my own blog.  I have a few personal favorites from this year, by topic.

1. Food.  I was THRILLED to have been asked to contribute to MPI's Meeting Professional to talk about my perspective on meeting food. Fresh Thinking 

I was also able to contribute on this topic and more in the revamped CIC manual coming out this fall, and I can't wait to see the evolution of this text, as this is the ninth edition, and when I completed my diploma in Event Management a million years ago it was using the second edition.  We've come a long way baby!

2. Talented professionals make a difference, to anything, including meetings. We have seen so many of our clients trying to work around us, with mixed results, and it was this observation that inspired this article.  DMC or DIY? 

Take a few minutes and snoop around Corporate Meetings Network - there are some great articles to be found here.  

3. Neuroscience has been around for a while, but it is only in the past year or so we have been using this knowledge to positively impact your meetings. Also on the CMM digital edition Neuroscience and your meetings From this I had the idea to talk about this in a fun way to our industry, so I will be on the CIC stage at IMEX13 with a great session on My Meeting Smells Better than Your Meeting  - one of many fabulous educational opportunities being offered this year.

Thank you for reading, I appreciate it, and love your comments and shared ideas too.

The Letter I

A few months ago, after attending PCMA I was inspired by letters, and the possibilities and power of the words we use when we communicate.  Today I came across some notes I made at the time, and so this is about the "I". 

I, the INDIVIDUAL Invited or encouraged to attend a meeting or event, always keen to find INSPIRATION there - through the knowledge shared in formal presentations as well as the IMPORTANT INFORMAL and often serendipitous meetings that can truly only occur within certain times and spaces.

I, the INTROVERT who must thoughtfully put myself out there to smile and share and meet people, knowing this is where growth comes from.  The introvert, so profoundly being celebrated and dissected with recent books such as Quiet,  who benefit from programming that is not jam-packed but rather gives space and time between sessions or within sessions for thoughtful reflection, the INCUBATION that Increases the relevance of the content presented as it is INDIVIDUALIZED,  dots connected.

Waiting for it to come to life!

INTEGRATION, of environment to audience to content to events - a program planned with INTENTION to meeting stated objectives.  IDEAS shared in multiple formats - from stage platforms, on trade show floors, at coffee breaks and in breakouts... the IDEAS that lead to INVENTIVE solutions, product and service INNOVATIONS and where creativity is embraced and not  limited by convention.  

IGNITE - the most anticipated and tweeted about explosion of content shared with emotion at #ASAE13 - let the sparks fly and create an energy at your next event.  Experiment with new formats or content shifts, embrace what is successful, and still leave room for listening to what will speak to your participants and INCREASE their desire to return.

Beyond Status Quo Part 2

One of the key reasons people blog is because we want to share dialogue, and often it seems a little one way, which is why all bloggers love comments.  

What is even better than a comment though, is when it expands, and in this case, a blog post I wrote is now the topic of this webinar, thanks to the forward thinking people at Invision.  Rod Mickels, the CEO of this engaging organization read this post, and had his marketing team reach out to invite me to share ideas - and the result is here.  http://blogazine.iv.com

The shifts we looked at include
1. Data. The internet is 20 years old, and my how things have changed.

2. Meritocracy. "I want to align my experiences with my individual sense of purpose."  How are you showing your guests your event / organization IS the best choice?

3. Hyper Connectivity. How can we use the reality that our participants are always on line to our advantage?  Why should we be using hybrid meetings?  How is S'Mobility affecting our marketing, planning and execution?

4. Global Content. Content is available all the time, around the world and accessible to everyone and we have a new Generation - Google's Gen C - who are using primarily video content to create and curate their own connections and build their own communities. How can your content stand out when we upload 48 hours of content to YouTube every hour? (not to mention all the other channels available)  How are you creating your own thought leadership and sharing this with your clients, members and future potential of each of these?

How can we create better environments for learning, participating, connecting, and yes, building our own communities with the tools available to us?  There are many ways, each unique to the objectives of your event - let's share those ideas!

What Your Speaker Can Do for You

I was reminded this week of the reasons why speaker selection is critical, and it made me think about some of my favorites, which I will share in a next post, and then I was also reminded of great tips for your conferences on building content and some of things we could do better.

One of the first posts that twigged this was from Adrian Segar on why we don't find paying for content valuable when we are asking "experts" to be part of our event. Some very valid points in the post and in the comments.

For choosing and then maximizing speaker contributions, thank you Mark J Carter for these tips from your session in The Future Events Experience at AIBTM on WHY you want to partner with your speakers to lead to better content to lead to better experiences. It is about first considering WHO will attend, WHAT do they need from your meeting, WHY you will help them when they attend, and WHERE are they looking for information. Once you deep dive into these questions, you can begin to select speakers that make sense. 

What can your speaker do for you? Here are some suggestions for cross promotion once you have identified WHY you want the speakers to market for your event (beyond the obvious they are speaking there).  This is of course dependent on WHERE you will find your audience - you want to market where they are (google, association website, twitter, email etc.)
* Have speakers do mini videos on what people will gain by attending - post to their site and yours if appropriate
* Write a blog about what they will speak on and link to and from conference site
* Have speakers share their content on social media, linking to conference when that is appropriate

Sponsors are a critical point for all conferences, and have them be part of your content promotion. They should be a sponsor because there is a market match, so having them share your event information makes sense. Make sure you help by providing the information they need to do so, you will be doing both your events and your sponsors a service. 

What is next? BXBOnline is doing some very cool content applications with BobTV that will offer the industry some ways to share we have not yet been using. As we continue to "want what we want, when we want it" for our career, life, business, this will become a very interesting tool to watch.

Content plus context plus presentation style = successful learning, retention, connect-the-dot-ability - have fun in the process!

Interview with David Merrell on BizBash IdeaFest

With BizBash IdeaFest coming up soon in Los Angeles, I had the opportunity to talk with David Merrell, president and creative director at AOO Events about the workshop he will be facilitating which will mentor planners through "Brainstorming Your Way to Better Events."  After talking with David, I felt we had just scratched the surface of this topic, and I encourage anyone who is designing events and experiences who is at IdeaFest to make sure you stop by and join this conversation.  Below you will find some of the questions I asked and David’s responses.

TE: Thank you for taking the time to talk to day. Can you tell me first how you approach brainstorming in your own team?

DM: It is important to have multiple perspectives and we include producers, designers, our VP of Operations and those who want to have their voice heard – ideas and seeds of ideas can come from people you least expect.  I will start with a description of the client, the event and what they want to accomplish.  We make it clear that we are here to share ideas and “no idea is stupid – throw it all at us” and then let it flow, capturing the ideas where we can all see them.

TE: Do you have any tips for drawing ideas out of quieter people? 

DM: We are in an industry and company full of strong “A-Type personalities” and we are brainstorming to share ideas, and if you don’t want your voice to be heard, it won’t be.  We have had people that we stopped inviting to these sessions because they were not contributing, and when we talked about why they were not attending, they returned, and returned to have their ideas heard, and their contributions have been great.

TE: Do you brainstorm with key vendor partners – and when would you choose this approach?  I ask this as we live in our world of events filled with “competitive colleagues” and often challenging RFP processes.

DM: In an RFP I don’t want to completely design out the event so less engagement at this stage is normal.  You don’t want to give ALL your clever ideas and total design away!  It should be taken on a case by case basis.  The exception to this would be if we need really clever ideas around entertainment or technology in particular, as these change so quickly, and sometimes it will be that one clever idea the focuses the client and wins the business. Once we know that we have the business then we want to bring in the best and brightest of our partners and together collaborate to make each event the best it can be using all our resources and ideas.

TE: When is it appropriate to do a brainstorm with clients – vs guiding them from your own experience and brainstorming around their event / How do you guide your clients through the process to collaborative success?

Note: this next part of our interview became a rather passionate discussion as Dave and I completely agree that our industry has set itself up for a backwards approach to successful design.

DM: The biggest challenge with the RFP process is that corporations completely skip this step of including their creative teams. Clients should be hiring for ideas and expertise but in the RFP they ask for one set of ideas with firm budgets attached, but without any collaboration or discussion. For example, when you are hiring an interior designer you select based on their portfolio, experience and fit with your needs and then you decide on a retainer and begin designing. Event designers should also be engaged in this way, rather than in an RFP that is about buying stuff rather than focused on creativity or contribution to the process.  

TE: Let’s talk about the timing of brainstorming.

DM: Clients would be best served to bring us in early and share objectives, and then you can build  a team that offers a variety of perspectives, different lenses to view the ideas through, particularly when we are working alongside agency partners in PR and Marketing.  Here the producers, event designers and vendor partners have the depth and experience to take the great experiential ideas and concepts that clients may be dreaming of, and determine ways to execute these in a meaningful and memorable way.  You will be able to brainstorm ways to accomplish their objectives in ways that would never have been addressed if you are not engaged early enough. 

TE: How did you learn how to brainstorm and do you have a favorite approach?

DM: I got really good at understanding brainstorming when I first became involved with my local chapter of ISES, in various leadership roles up to President of ISES-Los Angeles.  You have to move a strong group of talented individuals through a collective process as a Board, understanding there are egos involved, perspectives to consider, and that you must exercise patience and inclusion.  If you let your own ego get in the way, you will have one dimensional ideas. There is always more power in collaboration and inviting a third set of eyes will allow you to see things you don’t see on your own.

TE: Any final thoughts?

DM: Enroll everyone in the content of an idea and then stand back, the ideas WILL start flowing!

David Merrell will be mentoring planners in the Workshop Series at BizBash IdeaFest Los Angeles on June 19 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. For more information, and to register, please visit www.bizbash.com/ideafestla

Smells Like

My Meeting Smells Better than your Meeting. Really? Really!

Jars of (smell) memories at a Night Circus,
produced by Cantrav Services 

At AIBTM next week in Chicago the Future Events Experience will include this session (presented by me!) along with many other snappy bites of information that will be an excellent addition to the time you spend on the show floor, as either an exhibitor or a hosted buyer.

What will I be talking about? The neuroscience of meeting design of course. The more we are learning about learning, and the impact of elements including scent, the food we provide, the use of music and the environment we create, the more we can create positive experiences that people will be talking about. 

Stop by and add your thoughts and ideas. If you don't see me here, I will be around the Vancouver booth (1423) where we will be learning more about apps and sharing information on why meeting in our gorgeous destination will benefit your organization.

Hope to see you there!

Power of the Collective

Collective Lego

Flashmob. Lego Master Builder Creations. Group Yoga. Conferences. 

Nobody makes me smarter than my children. Last week we joined other families at Oakridge Mall in Vancouver where Lego was building an 8' Yoda out of bricks. Each participant had a picture of the small parts they had to do, and an 18" Yoda to show what their collective work would lead to - a very statuesque Yoda.  After Nick had been building for a while, I thought it was perhaps time to go, but he was not ready. I suggested he could still build Lego when we got home, but that was NOT the point. As an experience creator, I should have already known / sensed that this was not about building squares into more squares - it was about how he was contributing to the whole. This took three days of people wanting to participate in a collective win, and they succeeded on every level.

We have seen examples around the world of this - LuluLemon leading 300 people in yoga at Jack Poole Plaza in Vancouver, Chicago parks hosting a day of exercise, where each hour the activity changed and hundreds participated in each, and marvelous examples such as Diner en Blanc, where it is about being together in a collective experience that is the point. Please do share your favorite examples as well!   

How should this impact our thinking when it comes to events? I believe sometimes we get so wrapped up in the details - number of servers, access to exits, are there enough restrooms, what shade of red is the linen - that we forget the reason we are doing all of this - to create clean, safe environments for people to COLLECT, CONNECT and enjoy SHARED experiences.  If you have ever seen a video game developer conference - hundreds of people in darkened spaces seemingly working alone, heads down, focused on the task at hand - you might think this makes no sense. Until you see them all get up, stretch, head outside to the saunas, peeling off clothes as they go, rolling in the snow, and having beers together and talking about their awesome creations of the day does it begin to make sense as to why they want to be alone together to create.

Flashmobs are another great example of bringing people together in an unexpected way. If you asked most people if they would get up and dance in the middle of the day, in full daylight, in public, they would say "unlikely". But if you get these same people involved in creating the human bonding experience that is a flashmob, where a shared rhythm is found and a connection to the people and place, so in the present is made, they are up for it - and to see these is always a little bit magical.  (we LOVE planning these)

The power of being together, of collecting for idea sharing, for conversation, for the human touch that can only be found live, this is the power of the collective. As meeting professionals we can never forget why we do this, and how much joy we can share.