Good Quotes in "Meetings and Conventions" Magazine

Last night I read an article entitled “Defending your Event” from Meetings and Conventions Magazine.

As I know not only from the perspective of a planner but also an attendee, half the value of meetings, tradeshows, and events comes from the socializing portion where attendees put on their casual clothes, loosen up, and become their true, authentic selves. There is nothing like bonding with your fellow colleagues out on the dance floor or at an off-site event.

So I enjoyed this article quote by meetings tech guru Corbin Ball: “There is no such thing as a virtual beer. It is for this reason that face-to-face meetings will remain viable for the future, despite recession-induced drops in attendance.”

Another noteworthy quote: “When Obama was trying to get his budget passed, he didn’t go do a webinar and he didn’t get on TV, which he could’ve done. He met with people, let them look him in the eye and ask questions. Face-to-face is still the main way to get business done and will be for a long time to come.” Vicki Hawarden, VP of Knowledge and vents MPI, Dallas

Read the full article here.

Becoming a Resource

Justificiation is a big word out there right now - justifying a job position, justifying an expenditure, justifying time spent doing something if no immediate ROI is demonstrated, justifying a face to face business event, etc. It's a hard time to be in any position right now, let alone sales, marketing, and business development in the meetings and events industry.

While our clients are currently in a holding pattern until they are given leeway from their bosses to begin face to face meetings again, my company has brainstormed how we can continue being a great partner and asset. So, we have turned part of our focus to becoming a resource. And this is part of the beauty of social media! We have created a Delicious page, which is a social bookmarking tool that allows us to share links of relevant articles and information. Best part is that we can categorize and "tag" the content, so people can easily navigate to the subjects that most interest them. We read A LOT, and now we can share the best of the best out there with clients, potential clients, vendors, colleagues, and anyone else interested in meetings and events. Please check it out and let me know if you have any feedback: http://delicious.com/dynamigroup.

Ethics in the Meetings Industry

Today I attended a GaMPI meeting at the Westin Atlanta Airport. Michael Shannon, CMP, presented on “Everyday Ethics for the Meetings and Sales Professionals.” Although not exactly the most sexy topic, the presentation addressed important items that are on all our minds these days. Specifically, TARP, SOX, and of course ethics. Here are a few highlights:

-SOX has put much more scrutiny on expenses (necessary and frivolous). More people in an organization are reviewing and signing off on budgets and expenditures and planners need to be able to support and justify choices
-Keep a paper trail and document everything (even personally, I do this with everyone from my health insurance company over the phone to our roofing contractor in person. I always document date, time, who I spoke with, outcome, and anything else noteworthy. Make this a habit in your personal and professional life!)
-TARP: it is important our industry self-regulates and holds ourselves to standards vs become subject to government intervention. Be an advocate on our behalf!
-Perception is Reality – we now need to step it up by getting educated and effectively communicate on behalf of meetings and incentives
-Ethics are very important and it’s easy to overlook things or step over the line when it comes to accepting gifts, going on FAM trips, etc. Act consciously and consistently; once your reputation gets tarnished it’s hard to fix it

Confidence vs Cockiness

I have always been a “fake it until you make it” kind of person when it comes to confidence. I’ve also always been jealous of those who seem to have been born with the innate talent for being very sure of themselves without crossing the line to cockiness. It’s a fine line for sure.

Right now I’m reading a great book that I randomly picked out at the library called “Lions Don’t Need to Roar: Using the Leadership Power of Professional Presence to Stand Out, Fit In, and Move Ahead.” It’s a very good read that give short bursts of tips and advice without overloading the mind. These are all things we know, but don’t make a conscious effort on in business situations. I’ll share more as I continue with the book but here are some things that apply to me (I think!):

-Give slow, deep, and purposeful nods; don’t nod your head like a bobble-head
-Eye contact is very important when you meet a C-level executive or someone you hope to impress
-maintain eye contact 1 second longer than necessary
-enter a room purposefully as if to say “I know who I am and I know what I’m doing”
-When at a networking event, size up a room, then move directly and deliberately to the person you want to speak with.
-confident people pause; learn to use strategic silences
-hold a handshake a split second longer than necessary
-extend my hand consistently to both men and women in all situations

There’s much more but I’d like to leave you with something that I heard Beyonce say in an interview: she said that she doesn’t feel guilty for everything she has in life and deserves it all because she works harder than anybody she knows. As an example, she gave a run-down of her activities the past 48 hours and whew, she does stay busy. My husband thinks she is very cocky but I think it is admirable that she said that and has the confidence to do so.

Summary of Briefing Paper: "The Case for Meetings and Events: Four Elements of Strategic Value"

Never before have meetings garnered such attention in the press and at the C-suite. So if anything positive is going to come of this intense scrutiny of our industry, it is the drive to make meetings and events even more strategic and in-line with company objectives. Which is not a bad thing at all!

So I read a briefing paper put together by MPI and Boone Associates entitled "The Case for Meetings and Events: Four Elements of Strategic Value." And I'm not going to lie to you - the 9 page paper hurt my head and I had to re-read it several times to make sure I understood the full scope. Don't get me wrong; it's a great read but definitely reinforces the thought that heavy-duty reading has been a far cry from the baby books I have read lately and I am going to have to step it up if I am thinking of pursuing my MBA. Anyway, here is my short and sweet review in bullet points to make for easy reading:

• This crisis brings an unprecedented opportunity for collaboration (and strategic discussions) between the people who plan meetings and the powerful stakeholders. Previously the meetings industry has been thought of by executives as frivolous and party-planners.


• Meeting Planners need to present a clear, comprehensive business case about how to achieve strategic value to gain the resources needed to transform their organization through the effective use of meetings.


• 4 Elements are necessary for driving the strategic value of meetings and events (and apply to for-profit and non-profit organizations): 1) Portfolio Management, Meeting Design (which seems to be the main focus of this paper), Measurement, and Advanced Logistics


• Portfolio Management:
  -How do all of an organizations's meetings and events contribute to the mission, strategy, and objectives?
  -Efficiency orientation vs Effectiveness orientation
  -"Event Alignment" incorporates change management, technology analysis, policies and compliance, processes, and measurement, to achieve results greater than mere cost reduction.


• Meeting Design:
  -Many individual meetings are expertly planned but not expertly designed
  -Meeting Design = the purposeful shaping of the form and content of a meeting to achieve desired results
  -Incorporates methods and technologies that connect, inform, and engage a broad range of stakeholders before, during, and after the meeting.
  -Meeting Planning on the other hand focuses on the logistics of meetings (venues, travel arrangements, lodging, registration, entertainment, staging, etc)
  -Meeting Design is different than Meeting Creative. Meeting Creative=ideas for staging and communications, "broadcast" messages such as PowerPoint design, theme, speakers, entertaiment, videos, set design, etc. Meeting Design=how people will interact before, during, and after the meeting PLUS how leaders tap into the intellectual capital in the room.
  -Meeting Design maintains a laser focus on the business drivers for the meeting and organization as a whole.
  -It is critical that the designer be involved throughout the process.
  -Meeting Design is not the same as Instructional Design=training or activities at a meeting
  -Excellent Meeting Designers have working knowledge or expertise in: social sciences, social network analysis, complexity science, strategic planning, experience design, IT/social media, and more
  -Meeting Design is a collective effort between: meeting owners, selected meeting participants, the meeting planner, designer, and creative and instructional design.
  -CSR and Green initiatives should be addressed in Meeting Design
  -Multi-purposing a meeting =the practice of taking an existing meeting and addressing objectives that were not initially part of the reason for holding the meeting.


• Measurement:
  -Good Meeting Design is linked to meeting measurement
  -A good ROI Model consists of 5 levels of measurement: 1) Reaction and planned action 2) Learning 3) Job application 4) Business Impact and 5) ROI
  -Up to 80% of meetings should be measured at the "learning level." 10% should be pushed to the "business impact" level.
  -ROI should NOT be used to evaluate the performance of the planner; it is about process improvement
  -Complexity-based software and methodology combine qualitiative and quantitative approaches to understanding the impact of meetings on corporate culture, continuous learning, organizational performance, and other areas.


• Advanced Logistics:
  -Portfolio management encompasses procurement.
  -Although contracts with key suppliers and vendors should be negotiated, flexibility is important for strategic needs identified by meeting design that fall outside of these partnerships

I am excited to apply these practices to our clients' events. MPI is going to begin rolling out webinars and workshops on these 4 elements, so much more to come. In all, this was a great article and Mary Boone seems to be a pioneer on this topic and has carved out a great niche for herself.

Marketing Help for Creative Businesses in Georgia

I recently read an interesting article in the AJC's Sunday Jobs section. It caught my eye first because of the title, "Creative Businesses Get a Marketing Hand," and also because the cover photo was of a girl who I knew from UGA and Delta Sigma Pi.

The article is about how the Georgia Department of Economic Development and the Georgia Tourism Foundation are putting together a state-wide initiative to help market and promote creative businesses. More importantly, they are teaching these artists how to market themselves and do a better job of promoting their work. I mentioned this in a previous post - creative and technical people are great at doing their work but generally need help refining the business side, particularily in sales and marketing. Most people in general are uncomfortable talking about themselves, their accomplishment and their work. Women especially are too humble, which is one of the biggest differences in gender in the workplace.

The website to check out more about this is http://gamadegagrownproducts.org/. Not that I consider myself an expert in sales and marketing, but I'd love to volunteer and help teach a class or workshop. Maybe they should start a blog! Anyway, I am interested to see how this initiative pans out over the next year.

LinkedIn and Social Media Tips from David Nour

So I heard a great keynote speaker the other day who is a Social Media/LinkedIn/Networking expert named David Nour. He had some great advice and tips that I wanted to share with ya’ll. I hope you find it useful and please let me know if you have any questions or need clarifications.


LinkedIn:
-less than 10% of people know how to use it (use it for growing a network and for business contacts).
-to search for a target person do an “advanced search.” Example, type in “Current VP at Disney.” The number to the side of the list that pulls up is the degree of separation between your network and theirs.
-advanced search also lets you filter by geography.
-if you are looking for an introduction to someone in your friends’ network, don’t ask for an introduction unless you know your friend very well. Ask “what can you tell me about him/her” and get creative.
-build a content rich profile
-recommend others and get recommendations for yourself
-on your profile promote what you’ve done and what you want to do, projects, etc.
-use bullet points
-join groups specific to your industry and interests. Then contribute relevant information to questions, discussions, forums, and start initiating your own thoughts and questions.


Websites to visit:
-slideshare.net is the YouTube of presentations. Visit slideshare.net/dnour for the speaker’s page.
- http://www.relationshipeconomics.net/RENetworks.html. (This is his social network/community site)
-aNobii is a social media site about books
-American Well is a social media site reinventing healthcare

Other information:
-when utilizing social media, have a voice and a perspective. Get yourself out there!
-Enterprise 2.0 is defined as “The Business Web” and you will want to be a part of it.
-Google your name and know what’s out there about you.
-Specificity drives credibility
-social media is not the place to be humble
-use social media to gather, compile, and share best practices