Celebrating #Neuroscience

Image by Jared Tarbell, via Creative Commons

This week is Brain Awareness Week, a good time to assess the growing influence that neuroscience research is having on how we think about meeting design and creating environments that support learning.

At Convene, we've taken a lively interest in the topic: In our cover story in July 2010, Andrea E. Sullivan, president of Brain Strength Systems, introduced readers to mirror neurons, and Dr. John Medina got us thinking about chunking information during presentations.  In January, David Rock, author of Your Brain at Work described how the NeuroLeadership Institute reconfigures their agenda and structure in pursuit of the goal of having the brain-friendliest meeting anywhere. In February, we explored a very new idea: that parks and public spaces don't just help us relax, they help us think.

The role of emotions in cognition and decision-making also is making waves. One of my favorite interviews in 2011 was with Anne Kreamer, author of It's Always Personal: Emotion in the New Workplace. And Convening Leaders speaker David Brooks surprised me when I talked with him last fall by his knowledge and interest in mindfulness, which, come to think of it, we also wrote about last year.

Researchers are at a very exciting stage, when the puzzle pieces of how the brain works are beginning to fit together. There will be lots more to think and write about, and to put into practice.

A special salute this week to Jeff Hurt, of Velvet Chainsaw Consulting, and his passion for exploring brain-friendly meetings at Midcourse Corrections.

The Nature Break-Out

Discovery Green in Houston, Project for Public Spaces

If your meeting is in a destination with ready access to a park or beach, that may seem like a nice frill. (Maybe even too nice of a frill, depending on your industry.)

But being able to get in touch with nature creates tangible benefits for your meeting attendees: Research from the University of Michigan shows that a walk in nature can actually boost cognition by 20 percent.

Nature can offer benefits even if you don't make it all the way outside: Outside Magazine cites a study that reports that office workers who had views of trees and flowers were sick less often.

White River State Park, Visit Indy

In the future, convention centers and other meeting venues could be asked to add another metric -- green space -- to their stat sheets. Houston, for example, would position the 12-acre Discovery Green Park, across the street from the George R. Brown Convention Center, not as an attraction, but as a necessary resource for meeting planners and attendees.

And Indianapolis would list the 250-acre White River State Park, adjacent to Lucas Oil Stadium and the Indianapolis Convention Center, right along with the number of meeting rooms.

All of this is contingent, of course, on planners scheduling meetings that actually give attendees the time to take a restorative break. And on attendees using the time to reconnect with themselves, not with their laptops.