Extra, Extra!: Convene Newsstand

Welcome back to Extra, Extra!, after a couple weeks' hiatus. So what's news this week? (Besides, of course, what was published today in ThisWeek@PCMA.)

Do you use TripAdvisor to get a read on hotels in advance of your visit? Have you ever had a hotel in mind and then, due to a particularly savage review, shied away? Well, hoteliers want to have a little more control over this happening in the future, according to this story in the New York Times. Susan Stellin writes, "Although TripAdvisor does allow property owners to post responses to reviews, some hoteliers want the site to monitor comments more actively and take action when managers express concerns, especially when reviews border on libel."

Event Full

To give you an idea of how busy it was in and around Washington, D.C., this past weekend, it was something of a relief when trick-or-treating started last night, and all we had to worry about was our neighborhood getting overrun by hundreds of kids hopped up on adrenaline and sugar. On Saturday, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert's Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear pretty much shut down the Metro system and defeated our best efforts to get there, although we know a lot of people who did make it down to the National Mall. Following their updates on Facebook and talking to them later didn't exactly make it feel like we were there, but it did contribute to a sort of party atmosphere throughout the weekend.

Helping Expert Speakers Turn Pro

Conference attendees prefer learning from the experts in their own industries and professions, because they can share real-world experience. But finding and inviting industry experts to speak at your meeting is just a first step, says Dave Lutz, managing director of Velvet Chainsaw Consulting.

Offering industry presenters coaching and meaningful evaluation —based on proven adult-learning principles — will help make sure you deliver top-notch education, Lutz says.

Lutz suggested seven things to keep in mind when lining up industry speakers for your event:



1. It takes two to dance. Build a relationship with your industry speakers. Don't call them just to tell them they've been accepted and to finalize the session title, description, and learner outcomes. Ask questions about their delivery style, presentation skill level, audience-engagement plan, and how they evaluate their success. Share attributes of previous, highly rated education sessions. Offer advice and continue the coaching after the presentation.

Happy 41st Birthday, Internet!

Forty-one years ago today, the first message was transmitted over ARPANET, the computer network that would grow into the Internet, when UCLA graduate student Charles Kline sent the world "login" -- one letter at a time -- to Stanford Research Institute programmer Bill Duvall. The L and the O were sent and received with no problems. In a video about this momentous exchange, Kline remembers what happened next: "Then I typed the G, and [Duvall] said, 'Wait a minute, my system crashed.'"

Which is perfect, no? The modern experience of e-mail -- instantaneous communication, hair-pulling frustration -- sprang fully formed from ARPANET on Oct. 29, 1969. And nothing would ever be the same -- including meetings and conventions, which, let's face it, have gained a whole lot more than they lost from the deal. Including this blog. Thanks, Internet!

Big Ideas, Small Bucks

Think you need a huge budget to create an interactive, lively exhibit booth? This booth, promoting EventCamp East Coast at BizBash New York Expo this week, used brown kraft paper and permanent markers and asked the questions: "What was your worst event experience?" and "What does the event of the future look like?" to create a community conversation.

It's also a great example of brand alignment: EventCamp East Coast will follow the crowdsourced meeting model designed by conference consultant Adrian Segar, author of Conferences That Work.

ZMO = Zombie Marketing Organization

Smart destinations find a way to reach out to any and all potential visitors -- business travelers, tourists, investors, even the living dead. So it's no surprise to hear about the hordes of zombies that have been turning up in cities across the world today. Because even zombies understand the importance of meeting brain-to-brain face-to-face.

Okay, actually it's a stunt to promote AMC's new series "The Walking Dead," with each city welcoming the zombies in its own way. Here in DC, for example, legions of the undead tried to overrun the Lincoln Memorial, The Washington Post reports, but they were turned away by the U.S. Park Police because they "did not know they needed a separate permit to enter property administered by the National Park Service." An insatiable urge for human flesh is one thing, but it can't hold a candle to bureaucratic protocol.

Convene On Site: PCMA Masters Series

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.

Got Engagement?

In Beth Kanter's instructive blog post about "unpresenting," she listed more than a dozen points gleaned from an "unpresentation" by Heather Gold.

Two leaped out at me:

Emotions Are More Important Than Facts: To prompt conversation, you need to make an emotional connection.

and

The Only Thing That Matters Is That You Care: The most important thing is that you care about your topic and that you have some passion for it.

I immediately thought of this video, made to call attention to what it is like to be living on the streets today. I don't think adding PowerPoint slides would have improved upon this message, do you? As of today, more than a million people have downloaded the video from YouTube.

Thanks to Jeff Hurt for pointing out Beth's post.

Convene On Site: Singapore Power Lunch

Is the meetings industry part of the hospitality industry, or is the hospitality industry part of the meetings industry? At a "power lunch" hosted by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and Singapore Ambassador Heng Chee Chan at the Singapore embassy in Washington, D.C., this afternoon, the answer seemed to be: Yes. Because, while today's event focused on Singapore as a destination for international meetings and exhibitions, STB and Ambassador Chan seemed most concerned that everyone felt welcome.

Indeed, Kershing Goh, STB's regional director for the Americas, is based in New York City, but told guests that outside of Singapore, the embassy is her home. "In terms of inviting you to my home," she said, "this is as good as it gets. This is home." Likewise, according to Ambassador Chan, "I often tell people, 'I'm just the landlady here.' So welcome to our premises."

Lunch at the landlady's premises started with cocktails -- Singapore Slings were popular -- followed by a fresh, inventive four-course meal created by Chef Ed Cotton, a finalist on the most recent season of TV's "Top Chef," which was filmed partially in Singapore. Not that it was all F&B. "Why did we call this a power lunch?" Ambassador Chan said. "It's because we have people with a great deal of power and influence in this room, so I expect you to meet and make deals."

Spotlight: Stuart Ruff

Stuart Ruff's hilarious recollection in the October issue of Convene about the gut-wrenching experience he had as a meeting planner at a medical conference in India is not to be missed. (Just don't read it on your lunch hour.)

But it does offer a bit of one-dimensional view of Ruff, CGMP, who is senior meetings planner for the International Trademark Association. For more, I recommend the also-entertaining "Member Spotlight" profile of Ruff on the PCMA website.

The profile, written by PCMA digital marketing specialist Maggie Endres, coincidentally includes more context about Ruff's experience organizing the medical conference in India: Planning for the meeting, which was co-sponsored by the U.S. State Department, was underway at the time of the 2008 Mumbai hotel attacks, and everything had to redone following the attacks -- from invitations to visa applications. The extra expense left no money for a site visit, so Ruff planned the meeting without ever visiting the facility or the country. It was the toughest meeting of his career, he told Maggie: "I cried when it was over, and now I cannot wait to plan a meeting in India again."

While you are there, dive into some of the other Member Spotlights. There are dozens of them, and Maggie adds about three a month to an ever-expanding archive. They are a great way to get to know other meeting planners and suppliers, and to learn from their experiences.