Jan 17
maureen-pickellTrade Shows meeting education, pcma
Last Tuesday’s sessions at PCMA Convening Leaders “The Good (yes there is some!), the Bad, and the Ugly of Global Economies” and “Cracking the Life Code”, had the over 3,000 attendees assimilating some radical new life concepts as they continued to kick-start their year by taking in the broad spectrum of education.
Later in the day, your ConventionPlanit.com roving Ambassador attended the annual Global Reception sponsored by the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Center. Suppliers in Kilts mingled with international planners involved with meeting and catching up with colleagues from Switzerland, Holland, Scotland, Ireland, England and Asia – among others.
The networking part of the conference ended Tuesday evening with attendees uniting for an Urban Convergence on the historic Gaslamp Quarter. Creative elements of dining, music, art and entertainment merged to create a private urban block party highlighted by Kool & the Gang’s unique sound.
Gerry Kingston, Mgr. Meeting, Association & Incentive Sales for CP.com member Delta air Lines, checks her schedule on PCMA’s Convening Leaders final day.
Wednesday morning saw quite a few attendees still interested in participating in the last few sessions before the closing luncheon – featuring Life is Good Founder Bert Jacobs sharing the power of optimism with the audience. The PCMA Convening Leaders event couldn’t help but end on a high note as Bert illustrated how good vibes are contagious!
Wishing you all “”good vibes” for 2012 from your ConventionPlanit.com blogger!!
Jan 11
maureen-pickellTrade Shows meeting education, pcma
Ready to put on your thinking caps? Here are some quick quotes from yesterday’s PCMA Conventing Leaders education sessions. Match them to the corresponding session topics:
Don’t scroll down until you have made your choices…
| Session Quotes |
Session Titles |
| A.”Introductions happen in 9 seconds – people now have the same attention span as that of a goldfish.” |
1. Advocating the Value of the Meetings Industry |
| B. “40 million Chinese live in caves.” |
2. The Seven Triggers of Fascination |
| C. “Historical Data is key information that enables a CVB to determine the social and economic impact of your meeting.” |
3. Brain Rules for Meetings |
| D. “People don’t pay attention to boring things.” |
4. Why Games Make us Better and How They Can Change the World |
| E. “The total North American (U.S., Canada & Mexico) economic output for meetings amounts to 1.012 TRILLION dollars.” |
5. Do You Know the Value of Your Meeting? |
| F. “500,000 people play Angry Birds daily.” |
6. State of the Economy |
Did you make your guesses?
This is a fast way to show you the range of discussions covered in sessions attended by your CP.com blogger. The sessions were all excellent and it was hard to narrow down my choices!
The answers are: A-2; B-6; C-5; D-3; E-1; F-4
How did you do? I certainly learned a lot. Stay tuned for future issues of our e-Alert Newsletter for more information on these topics!
Jan 10
maureen-pickellTips for Meeting Planners, Trade Shows meeting education, pcma, San Diego
With this year’s theme of “Capturing Innovation” guiding the program, the PCMA Convening Leaders eduction organizers more than managed to compete with the lure of the San Diego “great outdoors” by presenting a new kind of Opening General Session.
“Rules for Epic Wins that Fascinate” was a tri- part program featuring a developmental molecular biologist, a game designer and a brand innovation consultant – three top thinkers who explain what naps, games and nine-second attention spans have to do with meetings.
In the process, they managed to keep the large audience riveted in a way that the customary solitary “talking heads” of previous conferences could never do. This was followed by a large list of choices providing world class education to the audience of knowledgeable and experienced meeting professionals. From tips on developing your authenticity and charisma to how to prepare hospitality students for the realities of the meetings industry, the most difficult job was choosing the best option from a myriad of relevant topics.
Also back was last year’s successful innovation, the Learning Lounge – where attendees can partake in “bite-sized” sessions of 15 to 30 minutes that include virtual demonstrations based on their particular interest areas.
All this contributes to PCMA’s idea of mixing things up in order to present a different style of conference – demanding an increased level of commitment by the attendees as participants rather than observers.
The popular evening foundation event “Party with a Purpose” was held aboard the USS Midway Museum, an aircraft carrier docked in the San Diego Bay. Anchors Aweigh and more tomorrow….
Nov 01
Ashley ChalmersTips for Meeting Planners ASAE & the Center, green meetings, meeting education, Washington DC
Here is an exciting, free learning opportunity for association professionals in the Washington, DC area that sounds too good to pass up! It is also being put on by our industry partner, The Convene Green Alliance:
What: Carbon Footprinting Made Easy 
Learn about today’s green meeting trends and define and explore renewable energy credits, carbon offsets, and other resources that meeting professionals can use to reduce the carbon footprint of future meetings.
When: November 8, 2011
Where: ASAE Headquarters Conference Center
Cost: FREE to association professionals
Registration and Additional Information: www.convenegreen.com
CP Director of Communications, Al Rickard, CAE, will be attending the event (and sharing the highlights with us). Say hello if you see him there!
Mar 18
maureen-pickellMember News, Trade Shows meeting education, meeting experiences
Again sticking close to home, your traveling ConventionPlanit.com Blogger headed down the mountain from Breckenridge on 3/16 to attend the Meetings Industry Council of Colorado Educational Conference and Trade Show in Denver.
Instead of getting ready for St. Patrick’s Day, an enthusiastic audience of over 700 planners and suppliers convened to find new and innovative ways to get the business of meetings done.
The Denver Convention Center did a great job of welcoming the group with a tasty continental breakfast and a perfect climate controlled environment…not too hot or too cold. Other Centers with break out rooms approaching the temperature necessary to cure meat could take a lesson!
Educational sessions covered topics such as the Meetings Industry: State of the Economy, The Power of Service – How to Provide Customer Service that Rocks! and Mastering Magical Persuasion. (Check out a future e-Alert for more on this subject.)
ConventionPlanit.com Colorado members Denver CVB, Colorado Springs CVB, Lowes Denver Hotel, and the Keystone Resort & Conference Center exhibited while the Anchorage CVB sponsored a Massage Therapist to help ease the strain of viewing over 120 booths on the trade show floor.
All in all, the one day event was an enervating mix of education and networking that had everyone departing on a “Rocky Mountain High!”
Jan 13
maureen-pickellTrade Shows hybrid meetings, meeting education, pcma, social media, technology, virtual meetings
Greetings from Las Vegas where the PCMA co-location with Virtual Edge Summit began yesterday.
The Joint Plenary was moderated by Michael Doyle of Virtual Edge Institute and discussed how “Virtual and Hybrid Meetings Deliver More Value.”
Rather than jeopardize the integrity of face to face events, it’s been proven that these new concepts enhance them.
Panelist Kara Wilson, VP of Marketing for Unified Communications, Cisco, shared a story about being pulled over while connected to a video conference call (via the laptop in her passenger seat). These new technological concepts really are changing our lives!
This tract will continue today and will cover topics such as virtual technologies, digital events, social media and 3D immersive worlds.
Speaking of new initiatives, one of the most popular ways attendees have been starting their morning has been by visiting the “Learning Lounge”.
This concept is an industry first and provides a unique method of experiencing face-to-face and online education with networking.
Along with the Continental Breakfast stations, there was a “big buffet” of 20 to 30 learning options including peer-to-peer discussions, 6 theaters offering continuous 15-minute TED style presentations, the Social Media Expert Bar, the Supplier Showdown and the PCMA365 Livestreaming Studio. This combination of Bagels and “bite-sized” educational content gets the metabolism started while nourishing the mind!
The PCMA 2012 Kick Off Luncheon was sponsored by ConventionPlanit.com member, the San Diego Convention & Visitors Bureau along with the San Diego Convention Center Corporation.
This marked the official end of PCMA 2011 Convening Leaders while the Virtual Edge Summit continues through today.
Tomorrow’s Blog…Leaving Las Vegas!
Jan 11
maureen-pickellTrade Shows attendee interaction, economy, meeting education, meeting industry, pcma
After being treated to a rousing Four Seasons “Jersey Boys” medley at 8:30 am (a bit early to deal with “Big Girls Don’t Cry” in a piercing falsetto – but fun anyway!) the day began with the strategic plan for PCMA 2011 and awards.
Some insider information to share with ConventionPlanit.com followers: the most recent Economic Impact Study of our industry will be released by mid-February and word is that the results are very positive.
According to Deborah Sexton, President and CEO of PCMA, we’ve moved from “cautiously optimistic” to “optimistic” with more meetings being booked in a “reset” environment. No more business as usual…but business will continue to improve.
The first full day was packed with sessions that were varied and insightful…beginning with the general session and moving through the myriad of educational break-outs.
Let’s have some fun and play a matching game!
The left column contains quotes from several sessions…match them up to the session titles in the second column. (Answers will appear in my next blog post.)
| Session Quotes |
Session Titles |
| The event industry is the 2nd highest generator of waste today. |
Opening General Session: Tightrope to the Top; Learning the Language of Success |
| Women now outnumber men in the workplace for the first time in history. |
Using Technology for Green Events |
| Over 40 countries are in attendance at the PCMA “Convening Leaders” Conference. |
Global Meetings: The Benefits of Working with a PCO |
| Six factors that a local partner can help contribute to a successful global conference: political, reach, scientific, legacy, emotional, and financial. |
Opening Session: Configuration of PCMA Meeting Attendees |
—————
PCMA will move forward as an industry vanguard by mingling face-to face and virtual to create the hybrid experience necessary to stay ahead of the curve.
By soliciting the input of New Professionals, expanding the International Membership and encouraging student involvement, the organization is concentrating on their member centric strategic plan.
Add on the recent partnership with the Virtual Edge Institute and we see that PCMA is not content to sit on its laurels…
…the organization is ready to help take its membership into the next era of meeting management.
Getting ready for tomorrow and more “serious business” of meetings. And in Las Vegas…who knew??
Jan 10
maureen-pickellTrade Shows meeting education, meeting industry, pcma, upcoming meetings industry events
The ConventionPlanit.com Blog comes to you today from Las Vegas!
I have taken off again to represent the site and mingle with our planner and supplier partners at the 55th PCMA 2011 Annual Meeting “Convening Leaders.”
The conference opened in Las Vegas this weekend with organization members giving back to the city. Several Las Vegas based charities benefited from the hard work, talents, donations and fundraising efforts of convention participants. The event showed all that there are worthwhile reasons to part with your time and money in Vegas…outside of the casinos!
Attendees also enjoyed the Opening Welcome Reception held in and sponsored by the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino. With a background duel between strobe lights and sequined showgirls, attendees were treated to recreations of the acts that put “Vegas” on the map. Sammy Davis followed Elvis who followed Sinatra who followed…well…you get the idea.
Along with the usual ground breaking on-site education, PCMA is launching a new hybrid component where virtual attendees will be able to access live, complimentary broadcasts of the General Sessions, select Plenary Sessions and Masters Series programs in the new PCMA365 virtual environment. If you are new to PCMA365, register here to participate!
Are you in Las Vegas for the conference? Respond to this post if you would like to see your blogger in person!
Sep 09
Ashley ChalmersTips for Meeting Planners, Trade Shows hsmai affordable meeting, meeting education, meeting industry
It’s day 2 of HSMAI’s Affordable Meetings National and the usual ConventionPlanit.com crew is busy learning lots of new information and showing the website to meeting planners!
Be sure to check back tomorrow – I’ll be sharing some of the great information from the education sessions, including how to measure ROI, how to market meetings and events, and an in-depth look at where the industry is headed.
Here are some pictures from the tradeshow floor of the CP gang!
Co-Founders Katherine & David Markham giving website tours…
Frequent guest-blogger and traveler extraordinare Maureen Pickell & David…
…Maureen & me hanging out at the booth
Jun 02
maureen-pickellNews, Trade Shows imex, meeting education, meeting experiences, meeting industry, overseas meetings
I have successfully returned from Frankfurt, but before jetting off to my next destination, I had to share some experiences from the remainder of IMEX from last week!
The Berlin Convention Bureau hosted the ConventionPlanit.com group with a breakfast and presentation. Fresh from being named the 4th most popular association meeting destination by ICCA, Heike Mahmoud took us on a slide and video tour of this exciting city. And the breakfast buffet stoked the group for a day of appointments! Vielin Dank to Berlin!!
The IMEX Daily newspaper featured an article entitled “Response time guarantee ends planners call backs” highlighting the ConventionPlanit.com 24 Hour Guarantee for RFP’s submitted to Caribbean and North American properties. And IMEX attendees actually read this Show Daily!
The first day on the trade show floor started off with the Ovation Global team giving the ConventionPlanit.com group a geography lesson based on the locations of their DMC portfolio members, and it ended with a clever game of Concentration in which the Switzerland Convention Bureau challenging our group members with matching tiles highlighting Swiss venues and events. In between we were educated by Malaysia and feted by Singapore – Singapore Slings being their traditional way to end a hectic day!
Speaking of which, Atout France (French Government Tourist Office) helped to revive our intrepid planners with their famous wine, cheese, pate and some German beer thrown in for good measure at their annual first night event. A sudden shower refused to dampen spirits at the outdoor gathering and all the French partners are to be commended for spreading around their special brand of joie de vivre!
IMEX Wrap-Up to come…
Mme. Blogger
Older Entries
Current Discussions