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/.