Convene at the Movies: The King's Speech

Congratulations to last night's Academy Award winner for Best Picture -- The King's Speech. So, by the way, anyone notice the event that kicks the movie's plot into gear? It's a speech that Prince Albert gives -- or tries to give -- at the closing of the British Empire Exhibition in 1925. This is how the movie chooses to demonstrate the scope of the future King George VI's stuttering problem: He can't properly address the crowd at an exhibition! It's something that the real-life figure would struggle with for years -- as you'll see (and hear) in the newsreel above, which shows George VI speaking at the 1938 British Empire Exhibition in Glasgow. A neat piece of history in its own right, but also a pretty cool indicator of the ceremonial power of public events.

'Cedar Rapids' -- Where Conventions Are King

You should be flattered by "Cedar Rapids," which is coming out next Friday, because in the worldview of this amiable-looking comedy, conventions are king. At least, that's the message I take from the trailer: Ed Helms plays Tim Lippe, an insurance agent who's never left his small Wisconsin hometown -- until his boss sends him to represent the company at an annual insurance convention in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Based on the additional clips posted on the movie's website, it looks like Tim will experience a variety of classic convention experiences, including anonymous hotels, questionable team-building activities, and hard-partying colleagues. And, this being a movie, I'm assuming that somewhere along the way, Tim will figure out what's really important in life. Or, as the marketing copy for "Cedar Rapids" puts it: "For a guy who plays everything by the book, this convention will be anything but conventional." Which is pretty cool, right? Sure the movie is a light comedy, but the filmmakers don't think it's beyond the realm of possibility that a meeting might change someone's life.

Convene at the Movies: Love and Other Drugs

A couple of years ago, when I was working for a competitor meetings magazine, I helped one of my fellow editors come up with a list of the best movies that feature conferences or meetings. Can you name any?

(The Fugitive is one. Michael Clayton — though that wasn't on the list — is another, sort of.)

At any rate, I saw another good one this weekend: Love and Other Drugs, a romantic "dramedy" set in the late 1990s, in which Jake Gyllenhaal's Jamie Randall and Anne Hathaway's Maggie Murdoch fall hesitantly — especially on her part — in love.