Can your family explain what you do?
Posted by Kristi Casey Sanders on January 22, 2010 at 3:48 pm
During the opening session of the 2010 PCMA Convening Leaders conference, PCMA President and CEO Deborah Sexton asked an interesting question.
“Can your family tell us what you do?” she said. The crowd giggled nervously, but the point made was a great one. In 2009, the industry was caught flatfooted by media backlash against meetings, events and incentive programs. And the fire was fueled by misunderstanding: There was a lack of comprehension of what planners do and how essential that work is to helping businesses grow.
A year later, the industry has come a long way in terms of advocacy. Several industry organizations have joined forces to give us Meetings Mean Business, the Keep America Meeting campaign and Face Time: It Matters, a marketing campaign being launched by the Convention Industry Council. And, to conclusively prove the value of meetings and events, a full economic impact study conducted by PriceWaterhouseCoopers will be released later this year.
But are you being the best advocate you could be for the work you do?
Can you explain in one sentence what you do? Can you articulate how important it is? If someone were to run into your mother or brother on the street, would they be able to explain what you do for a living?
January 25, 2010 at 12:56 pm
This is a fantastic question that deserves some serious consideration.
I’ve overheard some “interesting” descriptions of my work and travels during those holiday-time family update phone calls, and I’ve had to stop to reflect on just this point. If the immediate friends and family members of the industry don’t get it, then we’ve an awfully long way to go with the general public.
Even if our family members do get it, they might not know how to explain it. Envision a game of “Telephone”… How do we strengthen our interpersonal communication chains to make sure the message stays loud and clear in the repeating?