Are questions scary?

My life has been about questions. I think it is a deep-seated cultural/religious thing!

As Chair of PCMA's Student Task Force, I served on the PCMA Annual Meeting Planning Committee. In that role, bouncing around session concepts, speakers and design with PCMA members and staff, it was evident that I drove Chair Neil Schriever a little meshugge! (C'mon .. no 'poor Neil' comments! And Neil? If it makes you feel better, I am sure my parents (of blessed memory) felt the same from all my questioning.)

Why and how?

In addition to being curious, I am a questioner, aural learner and an MBTI "P" who needs to ask and hear questions out loud to process the information. My learning preferences made me as curious about room sets and delivery formats, about interactivity in sessions, about how students would be incorporated into the entire Annual Meeting, as others were about session titles and speakers.

I asked lots of questions and to many, questions are scary. Questions make us think differently and delve deeper. Brainstorming (v. Q-storming™) is easy because it allows all ideas to be put on the table; Q-storming™ makes us consider all angles before we make final decisions. It can take a bit more time and often, in this process and in life, decisions are needed quickly.

There was lots of good that came from the questions during the AMPC experience:
- Students will be seen and heard from more, beginning at the Student Union on Sunday. [Note: MegaMentors, among PCMA professionals, are still wanted. A commitment to being with us on Sun., 1/9 from noon - 3 and a desire to help students grow is all that's needed. Email me at eisenstodt@aol.com if you can and will participate.]
- PCMA will incorporate some new informal learning venues and ventures including facilitated discussions of general session learning applications.
- A session where you can learn to ask better questions will be held on Monday, 1/10.

So why ask?

Why not?

Convene On Site: PCMA Masters Series

Posted by:
Chris Durso
Executive Editor, Convene

This post was posted, with permission, from the PCMA Convene Blog.

The PCMA Masters Series program held at the Renaissance Washington, DC Downtown Hotel last Thursday offered a terrific assortment of big-sky and ground-level insights (some of which I tweeted throughout the event), but for me the grand unifying takeaway was the fact that you can't separate a meeting from its parent organization, and vice versa. An obvious conclusion, perhaps, especially considering the topic was "Associations and Meetings of the Future: A Look Ahead to 2020," but there it is.

The panel was moderated by Greg O'Dell, president and CEO of the Washington Convention and Sports Authority, and featured (picture above, left to right) Chris Brown, executive vice president of conventions and business operations for the National Association of Broadcasters; Abe Eshkenazi, CAE, CEO of the Association for Operations Management; Karen Hackett, CAE, CEO of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons; Scott Hunt, executive director and CEO of the Endocrine Society; and Peter O'Neil, CAE, executive director of the American Industrial Hygiene Association. As this distinguished group of association executives speculated first on the issues that would face their organizations and then those that would face their meetings in the short- to mid-term view, they couldn't talk about one without referencing the other. Or, even when they were talking about one, their comments had relevance for the other.

When Brown, for example, said, "We're all getting used to being always connected, always on, always available," and "Associations going forward are going to have to be more nimble" -- he was talking about how associations need to figure out how to serve their members in the "do-more-with-less" environment of the last several years. But he very easily could have been talking directly to meeting professionals. Ditto Hunt when he noted that associations have a growing role to play in helping members decide "what is important and what isn't. ... How do you stake out your space when they are getting 120 e-mails a day and clicking right through them like a shotgun?"

The last word goes to O'Neil, who, reflecting on the oft-heard death knell for the annual meeting, said: "The annual meeting is dead. Long live the annual meeting." He added: "What can be better, different, or more for our meeting? ... How can we make that experience live the whole year?"

Storytelling as a Sales Tool? Seriously?

Posted by:

Sue Hershkowitz-Coore, CSP
President/Owner, High Impact Presentations




It seems like everyone today talks about the importance of story, of telling your story and of differentiating your idea with story. Consultants and bloggers explain the different types of stories and companies jump on the bandwagon.

Why? Because a good story starts a conversation. And a conversation can start a relationship. And a relationship can move mountains.

What makes a good story? It’s relevant, authentic and intriguing (or at least interesting) to the listener.

What makes a great story? When the teller isn’t always the hero. It’s a lesson learned the hard way. Sometimes there are twists and surprise endings that don’t make the teller look good at all, except for the fact she/he is telling it, to underscore that lesson learned.

Whether you’re an executive trying to make a point, a parent or teacher attempting to persuade a child, or a sales professional trying to motivate a buyer to act, tell your story to help the other person trust your message.

We (staff, clients, customers, children, students, etc.) are hard wired to buy into an idea based on emotion and justify with logic. That’s just the way it is.

Comments? Ideas? Suggestions? Would love to hear from you.

If you're interested in learning more about storytelling, check out my session at PCMA's 55th annual meeting: Convening Leaders.

Be a Storyteller: How to Present Ideas Memorably
Meeting and convention managers need every tool to persuade stakeholders that their ideas and meetings have value. Following an interactive program on how to vastly improve your presentation skills, take part in small group exercises where you will "tell your story" and receive feedback. Discover specific, practical concepts to tell your story confidently and competently.

I Work in Living Laboratory...And I Love It

Sometimes I think about how lucky I am to work for an organization like PCMA that encourages risks and innovation. It keeps us sharp and on our toes and no day is like the one before. At no other time in the year is this more true than when we are preparing for our signature event, Convening Leaders, which will take place this January 9-12, 2011 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

At PCMA, we work in a true "incubator for new ideas". Whether it is a room set, a technology application, a luncheon menu experience or an education format, we like to throw ideas in the incubator and see what happens. Sometimes these ideas grow and sometimes they don't and that's OK because as an organization for meetings industry professionals, it's our responsibility to take that risk so our members don't have to. They will see what could work for their meeting and what DEFINITELY won't, which is often just as good.

This year at Convening Leaders Las Vegas, we will continue our living laboratory of ideas, with many different types of experiences that you won't want to miss. For example, how will we transform the 16,000-seat MGM Grand Garden Arena into a more intimate setting of 3,000 for our General Sessions? Or, what will happen when we take some the "traditional" learning out of the session rooms and create self-directed learning opportunities and other education formats in our new "Learning Lounge"? This year, we will take all of these new and untested ideas one step further and explain the how and the way behind them. We realize everything at the PCMA Convening Leaders program can be a teaching moment and this year in Las Vegas attendees will gain an even better understanding of our ideas.

Where do these ideas come from? Sometimes our PCMA members are my team's best resource, they tell us what they would like to see tried at our program. They tell us what they like and what they don't like and we make adjustments. Sometimes we rely on our vendor partners to help us come up with a new way of doing something. Sometimes we just make things up that we think might be interesting. Often it's a combination of all of these things. Do you have ideas or concepts you would like to see us try? Let us know! In the meantime, I hope you'll register for the PCMA 2011 Convening Leaders program in Las Vegas, visit pcma2011.org/.