Plan Your Meetings

Promotional items are an amazingly cost-effective way to promote your business. As meeting professionals, we know that as much as we sometimes make fun of SWAG, we can’t live without it. But take a look at this mousepad … I don’t think this piece of promotional merchandise is having the kind of effect the reproductive specialists intended it to. Click on the image below to see it in its full glory.

Yes, attendees, it’s OK to walk out of an educational session. In fact, I would venture to say that you owe it to yourself, the speaker and the event organizer to forego all deadly sessions in favor of ones with content and presentation styles that engage you.

I know, I know, “it’s not polite.” But look at it this way: If you sit there bored out of your mind,  you’re not only wasting valuable time, you’re actually robbing yourself of the chance to join a more rewarding experience that’s happening just down the hallway. Also, letting the speaker and the event organizer know that the content is not engaging is going to help everyone improve what’s being offered. (And if you wait until the post-event survey, it may be too late.)

So, in honor of everyone who really wants to learn, here are my top 10 warning signs that you should close your notebook, put on your walking shoes and start looking for a more “educational” session:

1. The speaker is unprepared. If you’re at the 15-minute mark and the speaker still hasn’t made a point or addressed what you’re going to be learning, give up all hope and head for the door. The first thing they should tell you is why they’re here, why you should care and what’s in it for you.
2. They’re not sharing anything new. If they’re only stating the obvious, you’ll probably be better off looking up the topic on the Internet or reading a book about it. Life’s too short to sit through an entire 60- or 90-minute session that has maybe one thing you can use.
3. They are an “expert” rather than a speaker. The world is full of experts. But public speaking requires very specific skills, primarily: the ability to tell a story and be comfortable in front of an audience. Speakers also need to be good writers and editors of their work, so they can present even the most complex materials in an interesting and clear way. They also need to have a certain amount of flexibility so they feel comfortable veering from the script to answer questions or can adjust topics to fit the needs of their audience. If they can’t, they should be put on a panel, not given an hour of your precious time to waste.
4. They’re there to sell, not show and tell. Whether it’s a sponsor who’s promoting their business because they paid for a spot or a speaker who only has one solution to the problem they’re speaking on (buy their stuff), being shilled to in an educational session is a drag.
5. They leave nothing to the imagination. If your speaker tries to cram as much text as possible into each slide, you’re doomed. That’s the mark of someone who is just going to read aloud to you, and you’ll spend the whole session either trying to keep up with them or waiting for them to move on to the next slide instead of actually listening to them.
6. They can’t walk the talk. I once went to a session on how to green your meeting. The speaker’s handout was 20 double-spaced pages in extra-large font, printed only on one side. That told me everything I needed to know about what she could possibly teach me about planning more eco-friendly meetings. I went and took a nice nap, instead.
7. They freak out when challenged. I don’t care who you are, you can’t know everything. And that’s OK. Most great speakers welcome a challenging question, because it can lead to great discussions and a-ha moments. They also can admit to being uncertain if they don’t know the answer to a question, and can use that as an opportunity to start a new discussion or learn something from the audience. If your speaker can’t, that’s not a good sign. Either they’re too unprepared to welcome dialogue, or they’re afraid they’re going to lose control of the room.
8. It’s all about them, not you. Some speakers have a stock presentation that they do over and over again, regardless of who’s in the audience. Some speakers tell a lot of personal stories, but forget to explain why that’s relevant to you or your industry. Either approach is indicative of a lazy speaker who doesn’t particularly care what you take away from them. If they truly cared, they’d have taken the time to research your industry and customize the information so you’d know how to apply it.
9. They apologize and make excuses. The minute a speaker starts to point out or apologize for mistakes, everything’s going to go downhill. If they had just gone on with the show, chances are you wouldn’t have noticed that they messed up. Now it’s all anyone in the room can think about (including them).
10. They demand your attention, they don’t earn it. Any actor can tell you that it’s  impossible to have every single audience member’s uninterrupted attention all the time. But, if you stay honest and connected to your material, you will have their full respect and attention, eventually. Unfortunately, some speakers don’t understand that, and they’ll lash out at the audience rather than try to create a more interactive and meaningful experience. This can become especially awkward if the speaker tries to browbeat the audience into submission or misunderstands how the audience is using technology to enhance the learning experience. The person typing away on their cell phone was probably taking notes or Twittering something nice until the speaker started being such a jerk.

MPI’s big annual World Education Congress has already kicked off in Salt Lake City, Utah. Monday morning, I head out to join them. I’m presenting two sessions there, “The Irreplaceable You: Prove Your Worth” and “Change Begins With You: Meeting Responsibly.” I’ll be tweeting when I can from my @PYMLive handle. And I won’t be alone, MPI has a lot of people reporting from the event, using the #wec09 hashtag. You don’t need a virtual access pass to follow along. Here’s what they’re saying:

Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino Vice President of Sales and Marketing Richard Harper says that contrary to popular belief, Las Vegas is not a ghost town. “In terms of occupancy, we’re still running in the mid-90s.”

The misperception, he says, stems from the fact that Las Vegas lost millions of dollars of potential revenue from meeting cancellations after President Obama criticized TARP-recipients planning to meet in the city.

Companies are still shy about bringing meetings to Las Vegas, but Harper says things are picking up. “It’s only a matter of time before a handful of high-profile companies decide to come to Las Vegas.” After that, he predicts, bookings will rebound.

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When did you start to notice the market turning?

For us, it really started back in August, when the news hit about AIG. Then there were some folks dealing with economic challenges in the fourth quarter, trying to protect earnings, and taking a wait and see approach. From that point forward to about the end of February, we were spending most of our time trying to hold on to conventions, keep them from canceling, and renegotiating terms, where appropriate, to save the business.

What was the biggest challenge you faced?

The tough part was keeping a team motivated with all these facets out of their control. They jumped on it, put their heads down and never wavered from putting the focus on the customer.

It brought our team, property, destination and industry closer together in a way we’ve never seen. It wasn’t Las Vegas versus Orlando. It was the meeting industry standing together. I think we’re all much stronger [as a] result of that.

How did you keep morale among your sales team high?

One day a week, I let them wear jeans. And there was a lot of communication, but it came down to pure honesty — bringing them into a room on a regular basis and saying, “This is where we’re at and what we’re dealing with, and we have two choices: We can [give up] or take a leadership role and show the rest of the destination, the rest of the industry why we’re the leaders we are.” It [wasn’t] a terribly hard conversation; there was no sugar coating, no false expectations. Now, we’re producing at a level I’m extremely proud of, but it very easily could have gone in another direction.

In other destinations we’ve seen luxury properties hurting because luxury is no longer “cool.” They’re sending RFPs from d/b/a names that say “conference center” instead of “resort.” Are you seeing that in Las Vegas?

All over the world, high-name high-profile properties are taking “resort” out of their name, and I think that’s a huge mistake. Don’t change [the] brand you’ve worked so hard to build.

If you want to reward your top employees, do you think they’re going to be rewarded by going to anything less than the top resort?

I think [luxury properties] should rally and get behind what they do exceptionally well. Don’t be embarrassed or ashamed — be true to your brand and know that this will pass.

Why should planners bring groups to Las Vegas?

Anything to do with perception is relatively short-term in nature. What the city is doing exceptionally well is reminding people of the value of doing business [here]. All the things that people loved about Las Vegas haven’t changed, they’ve just gotten more affordable.

Accessibility is key in this time-poverished world we live in. When you want to motivate someone, you want to get them out of the airport and into a suite immediately. When you get them into a resort property [here], you don’t have to create a themed event in a ballroom. You have the entire city of Las Vegas for dinearounds, shows and golf — [it is] right at your fingertips.

There were 48 million more global overseas travelers in 2008 than in 2000, yet 633,000 fewer visited the United States. That makes the seventh consecutive year where visits to the U.S. to remained below pre-9/11 levels.

Recently, a new legislation was introduced to combat this and put America back in step with other countries around the world. The Travel Promotion Act of 2009 is intended to stimulate U.S. economic growth, create thousands of new American jobs and generate hundreds of millions of dollars in new tax revenue for communities across the country.

“This is the jobs and growth package America needs,” stated Roger Dow, president and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association. “Travel promotion is common-sense legislation that places America on par with its competitors around the world without taking a dollar from U.S. taxpayers.”

The legislation calls for an overseas travel promotion program that is projected to bring in millions of new visitors, $4 billion in new economic stimulus, and $320 million in new federal tax revenue. The bill will not cost the American taxpayer anything, but will be funded by a $10 fee paid by overseas visitors (from countries that do not pay for a $131 visa to enter the U.S.) and matching contributions from the U.S. private sector. In addition, the act will strategically promote the U.S. as a premier international travel destination and communicate security and entry policies. The legislation is considered essential for the U.S. to keep up with the competition from other countries that are spending millions to attract overseas visitors.

The Travel Promotion Act is currently under consideration in the U.S. Senate and soon will be introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives. Similar legislation passed the House of Representatives in 2008, but did not receive a vote before the Senate adjourned.

To get involved, call or write your local legislator and get them to fight for this. For more information, click here.

Webinars, teleconferences, Second Life … meeting planners have a lot of options on incorporating technology to create hybrid or virtual meetings. But when was the last time you heard (or thought) about meeting at the movies?

On June 23 and 25, NCM will host Cinema Event Showcases in three cities to show meeting planners how to use cinema venues to deliver content, drive attendance, connect groups meeting in multiple locales and engage the audience. Each showcase will last 30 minutes. Planners have a choice of two showcase times. During the 12 p.m. showcase, lunch will be served; and during the 2 p.m. showcase popcorn and soda will be provided. Each meeting planner will get two movie tickets for attending.

If you’re interested, follow the links below for more information or to register :
June 23: AMC River East 21, Chicago, IL
June 23: Edwards Irvine Spectrum 21, Irvine, CA
June 25: Cinemark West Plano (Dallas), TX

CBS News recently posted this short video of Ben Stein defending the importance of business meetings.

Watch CBS Videos Online

Support what he’s saying? Go to the site and post a comment.