What makes your job successful in the eyes of your clients, attendees, and boss? How can you evaluate whether attendees' needs are being met by your conference offerings? What are some meeting formats that maximize attendee participation and information retention? How does ROO (return on objective) impact ROI (return on investment)? These are some of the questions that were addressed at the recent NYPCMA event, "Maximizing ROI in a Downturn Economy," at the Grand Hyatt New York on April 7. Izzy Gesell, CSP, engaged attendees in a spirited discussion on the role of meeting planning in the current economy, centered around communication skills, session formats, and personal experiences.
"Meetings fail because they are not designed to satisfy important concerns of the audience," explained Gesell. What is the most important concern for attendees? Knowledge. Actionable, useable knowledge. When the economy is in a downturn, as it currently is, the top concern for planners tends to be funding and how to maximize the number of attendees. Is it possible to change that focus and make the delivery of actionable knowledge that attendees are seeking the priority? How can planners address the needs of different generations, technological advances, and fiscal concerns, while successfully delivering content that attendees will absorb and use? Five different types of meeting formats were discussed. These are formats designed to encourage attendee participation and improve retention of the information provided, which means a greater return on investment for the attendee.
1) TED (Technology, Entertainment, and Design) - At this conference, available online as well as to live attendees, each speaker is given 18 minutes to speak.
2) Unconference - Attendee-driven session where the agenda is created as the session progresses through Twitter messages and the desires of the participants. It relies on the knowledge and participation of the attendees rather than an invited speaker.
3) Appreciative Inquiry - Based on a cycle of four processes: Discover (what works and how can it be replicated), Dream (envision for the future), Design, Destiny. This is a format used by many technology companies.
4) Open Space Technology - Based on a coffee-break mentality, where a relaxed and unstructured environment can be the most productive generator of ideas and discussion.
5) World Café - A conversational process that encourages the process of listening. Set a context, create a hospitable place, encourage participation from everyone, share collective discoveries, and draw wisdom from the group rather than a set agenda.
All of these session formats rely on increased communication with and between attendees. What is the planner's role in this new environment? "Your job is [to be an] energy manager," Gesell instructed. How do you encourage attendees to be involved? Self-discovery. Create an environment where people can express their feelings without having to defend them, and they will be more likely to share. He asked each table of attendees to engage in exercises such as using "yes, and..." (positive energy) or "yes, but..." (negative energy) when connecting statements; sharing examples of successful meetings; and sharing information that was gained from challenges that were overcome. In response to a question from Dawn Rockas about how to deal with shifting realities and expectations, Gesell recommended working together with your boss to determine a realistic objective for the given situation. "The dynamics of meetings have changed and we need to be flexible to new ideas."
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