APRIL 2012
ARAB SPRING: ONE YEAR LATER
+
DEFINING THE INDEFINABLE
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You Have the Power
to Change the World
April 2012 • Volume 5 • Number 3
EDITORIAL STAFF
EDITOR IN CHIEF David Basler, dbasler@mpiweb.org
MANAGING EDITOR Blair Potter, bpotter@mpiweb.org
EDITOR Michael Pinchera, mpinchera@mpiweb.org
EDITOR Jason Hensel, jhensel@mpiweb.org
EDITOR Jessie States, jstates@mpiweb.org
REPORTER Stephen Peters, speters@mpiweb.org
LAST MONTH I POSTED A BLOG ABOUT CONNECTIVITY called “Are You
Designing Connectivity, or Just Planning Meetings?” (you can visit http://
bitly.com/H3vaxp to read it), in which I compared our connectivity with
each other to the popular cult game “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.”
Whether you’ve ever played the game or not, it’s true. Trust me.
You’re closer to everyone in the elevator than you think. In fact, as you’ll
read in my blog, most of us on planet Earth are connected in 6.6 links or
less. Amazing isn’t it?
As we worked on our cover story for this issue (Page 60), I was
reminded of how these connections, especially in the digital age, can
change the world. Messages spread,
groups amass, voices are heard and
change is made—the uprisings in the Middle East we
now refer to as the Arab
Spring are testament to
just how connected we
are and how those connections can change reality.
So here’s the real question:
Why don’t we use our connectivity
more to our advantage in business?
your
Have you taken a closee look at you
connections
connecttions lately? Social
S
media is a great
grea starting point. I recently
mapped my connections (a
rece
new service offered
by LinkedIn—http://inmaps.
offe
linkedinlabs.com)
linkedinlabs.com and as you can see above, I am
connected to a great
gre number of you already (the red,
green and blue clusters
are my meeting and event
cl
industry contacts).
I
would
venture to guess that
conta
maps might look similar. To me,
your m
proves the value of our industry’s
that p
connectivity, and it proves the power
conn
for cchange our industry has, simply
by connecting
people one meeting or
c
event
even at a time.
SSo, are you designing connectivity,
or just
ju planning meetings?
CREATIVE DIRECTOR Jeff Daigle, jdaigle@mpiweb.org
GRAPHIC DESIGNER Jason Judy, jjudy@mpiweb.org
GRAPHIC DESIGNER Javier Adame, jadame@mpiweb.org
DESIGN AND PREPRESS Sherry Gritch, SG2Designs, sherry@sgproductions.net
COVER DESIGN Jason Judy, jjudy@mpiweb.org
MPI ADVERTISING STAFF
Denise Autorino, dautorino@mpiweb.org, Phone: (407) 233-7305
(FL, GA, HI, MA, ME, MI, NH, NY, RI, VT, Canada, Caribbean, Central America, Mexico,
South America)
Fredrik Ehrenborg, fehrenborg@mpiweb.org, Phone: +011.352 26 10 36 10 53
(EMEA Region)
Su Cheng Harris-Simpson, suchenghs@mpiweb.org, Phone: (10) 5869-3771 (Asia)
Katri Laurimaa, klaurimaa@mpiweb.org, Phone: (817) 251-9891
(AL, AR, CO, IA, IL, KS, KY, LA, MN, MO, MS, MT, NC, ND, NE, NM, OH, OK,
SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VA, WI, WV, WY)
Jennifer Mason, jmason@mpiweb.org, Phone: (772) 233-0678
(AK, AZ, CA, CT, DC, DE, ID, MD, NJ, NV, OR, PA, WA)
Carolyn Nyquist, Manager of Client Services, cnyquist@mpiweb.org,
Phone: (972) 702-3002
MPI EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT
Bruce M. MacMillan, C.A., President and CEO
Danya Casey, Vice President of Events and Certification
Cindy D’Aoust, Chief Operating Officer
Diane Hawkins, SPHR, Director of People and Performance
Sandra Riggins, Chief of Staff
Didier Scaillet, Chief Development Officer
Junior Tauvaa, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketplace
INTERNATIONAL BOARD OF DIRECTORS
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Chairman of the Board
Sébastien Tondeur, MCI Group Holding SA
Chairman-elect
Kevin Hinton, Associated Luxury Hotels International
Vice Chairman
Craig Ardis, CMM, Univera
Vice Chairwoman
Patty Reger, CMM, DePuy/Johnson & Johnson
Immediate Past Chairman
Eric Rozenberg, CMP, CMM, Swantegy
BOARD MEMBERS
Chuck Bowling, Mandalay Bay Hotel & Casino
Jordan D. Clark, Caesars Entertainment
Paul Cunningham, IIMC International Information Management Corporation
Michael Dominguez, Loews Hotels & Resorts
Ricardo Ferreira, GRUPO ALATUR
Roel Frissen, CMM, Parthen
Chris Gasbarro, Creative Community Connections, LLC
Hattie Hill, CMM, Hattie Hill Enterprises Inc.
Kyle Hillman, CMP, NASWIL
Cornelia Horner, CMP, American Land Title Association
Carol Muldoon, CMM, KPMG LLP
Kevin A. Olsen, One Smooth Stone
Erin Tench, CMP, CMM, Penn State University
POSTMASTER: One+ (Print ISSN: 1943-1864, Digital Edition ISSN: 1947-6930) is printed
monthly, except the months of January and October, by Meeting Professionals International
(MPI), a professional association of meeting + event planners and suppliers. Send address
changes to One+, Meeting Professionals International, 3030 LBJ Freeway, Suite 1700, Dallas,
TX, 75234-2759. Periodicals postage paid at Dallas, Texas, and additional mailing offices.
SUBSCRIPTIONS: Members receive One+ as a membership benefit paid for by membership
dues. Nonmembers may subscribe to the publication for $99 annually. “One+” and the
One+ logo are trademarks of MPI. © 2012, Meeting Professionals International, Printed
by RR Donnelley
REPRINTS: Material in this publication may not be reproduced in any form without written
permission. To order reprints, call Wright’s Reprints toll free at (877) 652-5295 or visit
www.wrightsreprints.com.
CONTACT ONE+: Contact us online at www.mpioneplus.org or e-mail us at
editor@mpiweb.org. View our advertising, editorial and reprint policies online
at www.mpioneplus.org.
MPI VISION: Build a rich global meeting industry community
GLOBAL HEADQUARTERS:
Dallas, TX
DAVID BASLER is editor in chief of One+. He can be reached at
dbasler@mpiweb.org. Follow him at www.twitter.com/onepluseditor.
2
one+
REGIONAL OFFICES:
Doha, Qatar
Ontario, Canada
Luxembourg
Beijing
Magazine printed on FSC Certified Paper. The body of One+ is printed
on 30 percent post-consumer-waste recycled content. Please recycle this
magazine or pass it along to a co-worker when you’re finished reading.
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APRIL 2012
60
One Year Later
Following the Arab Spring, the region’s meeting and
event industry continues healing and explores its future.
BY ARTEMIS SKORDILI
64
56
70
50
The Future
of Meetings
Building Your
Trojan Horse
Technology trends present
challenges for the industry,
but also present opportunities
to enhance and extend meetings beyond face value.
The challenges of finding profit
and success in today’s tough
landscape as seen through a
unique European lens.
70
44
Unconference designer Misha
Glouberman is humanizing relationships—one event at a time.
Last October, the National Trust
for Historic Preservation held its
annual convention in Buffalo,
New York, where attendees had
a chance to make up their own
minds about the city.
Defining the
Indefinable
BY SHEILA HETI
48
Preservation is
Everything
BY KEVIN WOO
Chew This
More than 25,000 food fans
from 81 countries attended
the 57th Summer Fancy
Food Show in Washington,
D.C. BY ILONA KAUREMSZKY
44
BY ROB COTTER
56
50
Castles Made
of Sand
The Madrid International Real
Estate Exhibition (SIMA) 2011
had the task of promoting, in
the eyes of many, the disease
as part-cure to a sour economic
situation. BY ARTEMIS SKORDILI
64
mpiweb.org
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APRIL 2012
The BUZZ
10
ENERGY OF MANY
16 Chromed Out
Embrace browser-based apps to get the most out of
your business online.
Thoughts from MPI’s
president and CEO.
12
IMPRESSIONS
Your industry peers
discuss virtual meetings and being wired
for stories.
16
26
19 Ask the Experts
How can you attract people to your events with
social media? Paul Bridle asks the experts to
answer your questions.
26
20 Father of MPI
How Marion N. Kershner turned a fledgling group of
professionals into the world’s largest meeting
industry association.
TOP SPOTS
Sea Crest Beach Hotel in
North Falmouth, Mass.,
takes the wraps off a
$15 million renovation.
19 Web Watch
Find anything and everything date-specific in a
wiki-style calendar.
28
32
28
22 Art of Travel
Keep your clothes neatly pressed and organized
throughout your travels with Shelves to GO.
CONNECTIONS
24 The Art of Purpose
Joe Rohde worked with native artists and professionals to ensure Aulani-A Disney Resort genuinely
expressed Hawaii from stories told to the principles
of design.
A team from McAfee did
more that just lend a
helping hand.
32
IRRELEVANT
How cute is your iPad?
34
36
25 Sound Off
Industry pros discuss what corporate social responsibility (CSR) means to them.
74
YOUR COMMUNITY
Columns
Great new speakers
have been announced
for the 2012 WEC.
75
MAKING A DIFFERENCE
34 The Media Virus: My Problem Child
The problem with the continued “use” of viral media is
that no one seems to get what it is.
38
40
A tribute to an industry
icon, Larry Lee, and
how you can contribute
to his scholarship fund.
36 Freshen Up Your Career Documents
Keep on top of your achievements and set career goals
to gain the momentum you need to move ahead.
BY DAWN RASMUSSEN
76
38 Not Working Passionately? It Shows
INDUSTRY INSIGHTS
Meeting professionals
will need to appeal to
multiple generations if
they wish to remain
viable.
92
UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN
Humanize relationships and truly get to
know those you
disagree with.
BY DOUGLAS RUSHKOFF
No one you interact with deserves your low-energy game.
BY CHRIS BROGAN
42
75
40 Positioning Your Expertise
Position yourself, your job and your business using the
“pull” effect.
Tag!
Want to see bonus coverage on the go? Whenever you see this
phone icon, get out your smartphone (it works with any Webenabled smartphone with a camera including iPhone, BlackBerry,
Android, Nokia, Palm and countless others), and with a click of a
button you’ll be instantly transported to bonus videos and much
more. It’s that easy. Here’s what you need to do:
BY DEBORAH GARDNER, CMP
42 The Road to Nowhere
If you don’t have a problem finding your way around, it’s
easy to dismiss people who do, but many of us are notoriously bad at it.
BY JON BRADSHAW
DOWNLOAD the Microsoft Tag Reader app (free for all leading smartphones at http://
gettag.mobi).
LAUNCH the app on your smartphone.
HOLD your smartphone over the digital tag until you see the tag in the crosshairs on your
phone’s camera and let the device do the rest. You’ll be instantly transported to bonus
content.
mpiweb.org
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www.mpioneplus.org
p
p
Telling your Story
MPI is proud to announce the latest One+ supplement for American City Business Journals (ACBJ), a publication designed to increase executive awareness of our community’s
professional role in business success.
This new supplement, “Meet Your Business Success: Boosting the Bottom Line in Changing Times,” includes trademark One+ content on such topics as: the strategic value of virtual meetings and events, how to
measure the business value of meetings, using the TEDx model for creating regional meetings and how to get
more value from your next meeting by incorporating social media and gamification into the event strategy.
Download “Meet Your Business Success: Boosting
the Bottom Line in Changing Times” at
MPIWeb.org/Portal/Research/BusinessJournal.
Corporate Executive: No Longer a Desired Job
We talk a lot about getting a seat at the table, being
part of the C-suite, etc. However, maybe we should
be talking more about how to be an entrepreneur or
freelance worker.
According to a survey of more than 1,000 people,
more than half aspired to be entrepreneurs or work
as an independent; not a single respondent aspired
to be a corporate executive.
The results of the Intelligent Office survey point
to an evolution of work styles and the development
of a different type of worker that is defined by a
desire for mobility and flexibility typically found in
the entrepreneur and/or independent business owner.
“We believe there is a paradigm shift happening
in our culture as it relates to work style,” said Tom
Camplese, COO for Intelligent Office. “We have
Read more blogs
been watching this shift
covering some of
take place over the course
the industry’s most
of the last few years at Inrelevant topics—such
telligent Office by talking
as “meeting planner”
with entrepreneurs, busi-
being ranked as the
best U.S. business
job, the U.S. Travel
Association’s drive to
strengthen meetings
and using Pinterest.
com to promote
your destination—at
MPIWeb.org/blogs.
8
one+
ness owners, and mobile executives
on a daily basis. The Work IQ survey
put this into hard numbers.”
Additional highlights include:
• Nearly 65 percent of survey
participants desire to work as an
entrepreneur or independent
• 61 percent of people surveyed desire more flexible work hours than
the traditional 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• People are looking for a new balance—work hard/play hard; Nearly
half of the respondents want a work
hard/play hard work-life balance
• Technology remains an invaluable resource to more
than 45 percent of the respondents
• Overwhelmingly, people aspire to have more mobility in their work life
• 66 percent responded that they aspire to have
a laptop or tablet that affords them freedom and
mobility
“What we continue to hear from people is
that they increasingly need and expect services that
will help them grow and be more successful, but
they want those services to match this new work
style—flexible and mobile,” Camplese said. “Overall,
they are seeking more balance and freedom in
everything, including the services that support their
business efforts.”
—JASON HENSEL
Travel Outpaces U.S. Economy by 34 Percent
The number of workers employed directly in the U.S. travel
industry increased by 8,000 to 7.6 million in February mainly in
the restaurant, lodging and amusements-gambling-recreation industries, marking the 11th increase in the past 12 months for the travel
industry, according to the U.S. Labor Department.
Since February 2011, travel employment has increased by
129,000, and since the employment recovery began, the travel
industry has created more than 250,000 new jobs, accounting for
more than 7 percent of overall job growth since early 2010. This
is primarily due to the fact that the pace of job creation in the
travel industry has exceeded that of the rest of the economy by 34
percent.
As a result of this faster job growth, the travel industry has
now recovered more than half of the 496,000 jobs lost during the
great recession, while the rest of the economy has made up just
39 percent.
Today’s travel employment numbers echo positive news in
export numbers for the industry, which improved to $12.9 billion
in January.
—COURTESY U.S. TRAVEL ASSOCIATION
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>
THE ENERGY OF MANY
The Innovation Zone
THE WORLD IS NO LONGER BLACK AND
WHITE. Too many global variables now
impact even the smallest business, and
the real world now often resides somewhere in the grey. Professionals around
the world must stay flexible and nimble to
work within the grey—they must innovate.
Innovation—stemming from the Latin
innovates (literally “into the new”)—isn’t
always easy. Part of our promise to the
marketplace and business professionals is
that we’ll deliver unique ideas and demonstrate something that will take you “into
the new.” That’s why we brought our 2012
European Meetings & Events Conference to
Budapest, Hungary—a place we had never
been, but a place where innovation breeds
invention. It’s in this “zone” where I believe
success as professionals can be found.
It is more important than ever to stay
connected to the people and resources
that can keep us in the zone, to maintain
human connectivity—the very cornerstone
of successful
ul meetings and events.
Your big
g ideas rarely mean anything
without relationships.
ationships. Yet with digital
barriers and
d greater demands, we must
find new ways
ays to create and maintain
vital relationships.
nships. That’s one of the
many reasons
ns we will explore new
ways to create
ate human connectivity at the
World Education
cation Congress in July.
Innovators
ors and thought
leaders can point the
way toward
d new
discoveries, remarkable ideas and forwardthinking solutions, but each and every
one of us has to take our own steps into
the evolving new frontier. And often those
steps mean meeting, face to face, with the
partners, innovators and teams that can
help us get there. And when we meet, a
willingness to explore new ideas helps
build better solutions and keeps you in
that innovative zone.
You can look at the hard numbers of
why meetings are important. (A 2011
study by PricewaterhouseCoopers found
the economic significance of meetings
and events to the U.S. economy was $106
billion to GDP.) Or you can follow your
gut—that innovator deep inside that
knows when to make the move and to connect great people to great ideas and make
something happen.
It’s the power of human connections
bringing great ideas to life. It’s quite simply
the power that comes from the commitment to keep meeting and
stay in the zone.
The MPI Foundation continues its drive
to provide innovative, career-building
thought leadership development
through the following key industry
partnerships.
Corporate Social Responsibility
Future of Meetings
Value of Meetings
BRUCE MACMILLAN, CA, is president and CEO of MPI. He
can be reached at bmacmillan@mpiweb.org. Follow him at
www.twitter.com/BMACMPI.
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IMPRESSIONS
>>
Gaming in Education
[Re: “Games People Play,” One+ Feb. 2012]
Fantastic article and very well written. It’s great to read about various
implementations of gaming in such a diverse area. I think one of the most
effective (yet least used) areas in which gamification can be very powerful
is education. Very simple gaming mechanics can be very effective in getting
attendees to pay attention and better comprehend educational session content, especially in highly medical and scientific conferences. There is a very
nice video on TED that discusses how Khan Academy is using gamification
in educational videos and software. Education is a huge part of every event,
and I think attendees and event planners can definitely benefit by playing a
little quiz game at the end of each session on their tablets or phones.
—Bob Vaez
EDITOR’S NOTE: We appreciate the feedback on MPI
and your magazine, One+.
Your ideas and thoughts
are important to us. Let
us know what you think.
E-mail the editorial team at
editor@mpiweb.org.
You Tell Us
What type of smartphone
apps do you use most
often and why: audio/
video, games, news, social
media or augmented
reality? Send an e-mail to
editor@mpiweb.org.
The Importance of Virtual
Meetings
[Re: “The Value of Virtual,” One+ Feb.
2012]
Great post Sam. The thinking, usage
and research continue. This research
has really revealed some great insights
in the user adoption and implementation of Virtual Meetings into the strategic meetings portfolio. Be on the lookout for a couple of very illustrative case
studies coming up from IBM and IKEA.
—Ruud Janssen
Advancing the Industry
[Re: “MPI, Shanghai Municipal Tourism
Administration to Develop Multi-year
Partnership,” Your Community blog]
Very glad to see MPI is now in great
position to grow the professionalism
of the industry in both Beijing and
Shanghai.
—David Jones
Like it All
Diluted Titles
[Re: “Are You Designing Connectivity
or Just Planning Meetings,” Trends
blog]
Why isn’t there a “like” button? There
are so many great thoughts here.
I want to hug you all. But, I guess,
that’s best done in person—face-toface at WEC.
[Re: “Meeting Planner Ranked Best
Job,” Jobs blog]
I think we have slept through the
wake-up call. The title of events planner has dropped down a few pegs and
that’s why so many of the professionals in the industry are beginning to
come up with a new tag (e.g., event
management, event specialist, marketing manager, communications manager
and imagineer, to name a few). I can’t
tell you how many [people] we meet
called event planners, [such as a]
receptionist at a law firm. Every restaurant has an event planner who might
also act as hostess, and every caterer
is now an event planner as well.
—Kristi Sanders
Wired for Stories
[Re: “It’s All Story,” Professional
Development blog]
This is a great video to watch, and so
true. We are wired for stories...in all
aspects of our lives. He does a great
job of connecting this to the organization, and yet it is true for conference
speakers, too. People are wired for
stories...and yet many presentations
at conferences are wired for spreadsheets, graphs and pie charts.
—M. Haras
—Thom Singer
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19
20
Chromed Out
EMBRACE BROWSER-BASED APPS TO GET THE MOST OUT OF YOUR BUSINESS ONLINE.
BY RYAN SINGEL
22
24
25
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GOOGLE CHROME APPS ARE THE SEARCH GIANT’S WAY of trying to teach you that a browser is basically
all you need—and the best way—to get your work done on the modern Web.
That said, Chrome apps are still young and are a confusing mish-mash of the latest Web technology,
HTML5, more traditional browser extensions and plain old bookmarks.
Adding to the confusion, it’s not clear at first glance what you are getting into when you decide to
install a Google Chrome app.
For those unfamiliar with the concept, Google Chrome’s default new tab page shows you a list of
“apps” you have installed, plus a link to the Google Chrome Webstore where you can get more. The easiest way to understand Chrome apps is to install the popular game Plants vs. Zombies. It adds an icon
for the game to your new tab page, and clicking it launches a Flash-like version of the game playable
in your browser. But the game doesn’t rely on a plug-in. Instead it uses the power of Chrome’s hooks
into the browser and HTML5, the latest version of the Web’s lingua franca, which allows websites to
pull off powerful app-like behavior and make use of your browser’s storage and computational power.
Once you’ve seen the power of a Web app and the usefulness of a default browser page that shows
you a set of these apps, you are ready to explore what computing life is like living inside a browser.
The next step, for those who use Gmail, is to install Offline Gmail. This powerful app lives inside
your browser like a version of Outlook Express. It keeps your most recent emails in the browser’s cache,
so even if you lose connectivity, you can still read and reply to e-mails (if you are offline, your emails
obviously won’t get sent out until you connect again, but you can live online, while offline.) For Google
Docs, the set-up is a bit different. You’ll need to go to the setting in Google Docs from your Chrome
browser by clicking on the gear button, but you’ll need to do this from every Chrome browser you want
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it to work on. Once it’s on, you can edit and work
on documents while not online, and the changes will
sync once you connect again.
The next app candidate is gpanion. Think of this
as a more powerful default tab. It looks like a default tab and serves as your home base. Its default
page shows links to a large swath of Google’s online
services, and a preview of your Gmail inbox. Rightclick on it in your open tab and you can “pin” it as
an outsized first tab in your browser so it’s always
open and available. (Hint, if you use online email
or a calendar, you should pin these as well so they
are always in the same place in your browser.) You
can return to this tab, and click “apps” to see any
additional apps you’ve installed, without needing to
open an empty tab.
From here, there’s a wide selection of apps you
can install. Some are simply bookmarks to online
services, some work as “extensions” that install a
clickable button next to the address bar and a growing number of others are proper Web apps.
If you are working on a team putting together
an event, there’s a number of Chrome apps that can
help coordinate your team’s to-dos and to make
communication easier.
Take, for instance, Vyew. With this HTML5 application, you can create an online meeting room
with a single click, then set a meeting time and invite
others to the room. You can have group chats, multiple authors and screen sharing. The invite comes
with a conference call number—think WebEx in
your browser. The service is “freemium”—use it at
no cost and you’ll have to put up with ads in the
meeting room and a 10-person real-time limit. If you
pony up US$10 or $20 a month, the limits jump
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April Buzz.indd 18
These Chrome apps (and others
like them) will have a decided effect
on the future of events, as will
learning games, augmented reality,
3-D printers and speech and voice
recognition software, according to
MPI’s Future of Meetings research.
Find out more at www.mpiweb.org/
portal/research.
and you can host multiple meetings at once. And
even better, there’s no plugin needed for any of the
participants—all that’s needed is a modern browser.
For real-time, multi-channel communication, the
Google Voice plugin can’t be beat. This extension sits
next to your browser bar, and let’s those who use a
free Google Voice number make free domestic phone
calls, listen to voice mails and even send SMS messages for free. For anyone sitting in the center of an
event with many moving pieces, it’s hard to beat being
able to bang out an SMS message or make a voice call
from a full-size keyboard from any Web page.
For those who need to make presentations, there’s
a cool online replacement for PowerPoint called
SlideRocket. If you want to collaboratively create
diagrams and workflow documents, you have your
choice of LucidCharts and Cacoo. Send to Google
Docs is a handy extension that turns any website
into a PDF and uploads it to Google Docs. Need a
lightweight CRM? Try Zoho CRM. And of course,
if you like to listen while you work, there’s an app
for Spotify and Rdio, but neither are quite
as technically cool as Mog, which is fully
HTML5. The only service that’s truly missing from
Chrome Web apps is Skype, which still requires a
separate downloaded program.
And if you have other needs, these days there’s
likely a Chrome app for it—fully integrated HTML5
ones and glorified links to online services that are
functional replacements for downloadable software.
It might sound surprising, but it’s already possible
to do a full day’s work of creating documents, collaborating with colleagues and entertaining yourself
without ever leaving your browser.
RYAN SINGEL is editor of the Threat Level blog for
Wired.com.
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>>
Paul Bridle
Asks the
Experts
CHECK THE DATE
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insights and save time.
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WHERE DO I STAND?
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Simply share where you’ve applied and StartWire organizes and tracks your application
status with various employers.
CHEAP LABOR
What would you do or what would you have
someone do for you for just five bucks?
Fiverr.com is the world’s largest marketplace
for small services, starting at $5. For sellers,
it’s as simple as creating a “Gig,” sharing
the gig with the world and waiting for an
order of your Gig. Gigs include graphics,
video, social marketing, travel, business and
much more.
One of the most common questions I’m asked is still about social media, “Is it really possible
to use social media to attract
people to my events?”
I have spoken to many
experts about this, so I looked
Mark Carter
for someone that could offer a
new or a better way of explaining what is needed. My search
led me to Mark Carter (www.markjcarter.com) in Chicago, who
wrote an interesting blog with a terrific line in it: “Please don’t
SHOUT: Social Media shouldn’t be used as a megaphone.”
He explained, “Too many people see social media as a
sales tool. It is not a sales tool, it is a marketing tool and
needs to be seen in that way.” Used as a marketing tool, it
will make people aware of the event you are involved with,
and that, in turn, can create an opportunity for a sale.
Carter used a very interesting analogy to make his point; if
you entered a room full of people and ran around saying, “Buy
my tickets, buy my tickets!” how do you think people will
react? Obviously, they would avoid you and probably be put
off whatever it is you are selling. It may even be described as
embarrassing. His point was that trying to use social media as
a sales tool would be exactly the same as walking into a room
and behaving in this manner.
So what is the right approach then? How does someone
use it as a marketing tool in a manner that can lead to sales?
“People will listen to someone when they are in conversation with them. They are less inclined to listen to someone
that is talking at them, instead of with them.”
It seems very obvious, but true. We enjoy a good conversation but we generally hate people that do all the talking—it
becomes one sided.
He suggested, “Know your target audience. Know whom
you are wanting at your meeting or event. Then find out where
they go to chat and join the conversation.”
So if you are targeting accountants, find out where accountants are talking, then go and join the conversation.
When you join the conversation, you have positioned yourself
in a place where they are likely to listen to you.
Paul Bridle is an information conceptualizer who has researched effective organizations and the people who lead them
for 20 years. He writes and speaks on his
research and business trends. Reach him
at info@paulbridle.com.
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Father of MPI
QUIET AND UNASSUMING AREN’T TYPICAL
ADJECTIVES USED TO DESCRIBE SOMEONE
KERSHNER TURNED WHO SETS THE FOUNDATION FOR A LARGE
INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION. But Marion N.
CM, CAE, wasn’t typical.
A FLEDGLING GROUP Kershner,
Known as a soft-spoken, laid-back gentleman,
was close to retirement from a long career
OF PROFESSIONALS he
as executive vice president of the National
Management Association (NMA) in Dayton,
INTO THE WORLD’S
Ohio, when he began helping develop the
burgeoning meeting association known then as
LARGEST MEETING
Meeting Planners International.
In 1972, Kershner became the association’s
INDUSTRY
first president. He also served on the executive
committee before becoming the association’s
ASSOCIATION.
executive vice president in 1974 until his retirement
in 1982.
“We were lucky his retirement [from NMA]
came at a time MPI needed him,” said Jim Jones,
BY KRISTI FROEHLICH
CM, CMP, who worked with Kershner in the
early days and later served as association president
(1978-79).
“Marion was a good guy. There wasn’t an evil
bone in his body. He was a quiet, laid-back guy…
real solid—not flashy at all,”
Jones said. “He was optimistic
when he could have been
CM = Charter Member of MPI
pessimistic, and he was certainly
dedicated to his job.”
Stuart R. Clarkson, CM, MPI president 197980, agrees. “He was the major force in getting
[MPI] off the ground, there’s no question about it.
It was ideal for him to take over. It’s through his
leadership that we created this organization. With
his background and experience, he was perfect for
the job.”
HOW MARION N.
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It seems he also had the perfect architectural
touch.
After the death of Robert E. (Buzz) Bartow,
MPI’s first executive vice president, Kershner drove
to MPI’s then-headquarters in Chicago, placed
everything in the trunk of his car and took it back
to his home in Middletown, Ohio, where he ran
the association from his basement for the next five
years.
“It’s a good thing his house had a basement or
there wouldn’t have been an MPI,” Jones said.
Kershner’s daughter, Susan Moore, remembers
talking to her mother about the new basement
office.
“She always felt she had to be dressed right
away in the morning because people were always
coming over to the house to see dad,” Moore
said. “Eventually, a separate entrance was built so
visitors could access the basement without having
to walk through the living room and kitchen.”
But Kershner wasn’t the only one using the
basement office to conduct business. When
Moore’s family came to Middletown for a visit, her
son Brad, age 3, always wanted to go see grandpa
and the huge desk he worked from.
“He loved to visit. Dad had set up Brad’s own
desk drawer where he could find candy, crayons
and pictures to draw,” she said. “It was a huge
desk, and when Dad died, there wasn’t anyone
who could take that desk because it was so big
it wouldn’t fit anywhere. We were going to leave
it, but Brad said, ‘Nobody can have my grandpa’s
desk,’ so he took it and put it in his apartment. It
takes up half the living room but he’s got the desk.”
Kershner was active in a number of meetingrelated groups, serving as director of the American
Society of Association Executives, a member of
the Association Committee of the Chamber of
Commerce, chairman and member of the Divisional
Board of Regents for the Institute of Organization
Management and honorary vice president of the
Institute of Supervisory Management in Litchfield,
England.
Kershner, considered the father of MPI, received
the 1987 MPI President’s Award and, in 1988, was
inducted into the Convention Liaison Council Hall
of Leaders for his contributions to the meeting
industry.
He lived in Middletown until his death in 1993.
In honor of his dedication to MPI, the International
Board of Directors named the Chapter Leader of
the Year Award after Kershner.
This look back at MPI’s first president originally
appeared in the June 1997 issue of The Meeting
Professional, the predecessor of One+.
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A Night to
Make it Right
ART OF
TRAVEL
Travelon 3-Speed Fan
Adjustable Folding Cane
(IrvsLuggage.com, US$9.96)
This three-speed fan keeps you cool when
the temperature soars. Lightweight and
versatile, you can set it on a table or wear it
around your neck with the included 33-inch
lanyard. It weighs a mere four ounces and
folds or lays flat for easy packing.
(TravelSmith.com, US$26.95)
Sporting a wood handle, this convenient,
lightweight and solidly stable cane folds
to a compact eight inches and is easily
unfolded. The folding cane—with sturdy
anodized aluminum and a stable rubber
tip—weighs less than a pound and has an
adjustable length of 33 to 37 inches.
Shelves to GO
TravelRest Inflatable Travel Pillow
(ProTravelGear.com, US$33.85)
Stay organized and stop feeling like you
live out a suitcase. Shelves to GO will keep
your clothes neatly pressed and organized
throughout your travels. The shelves hold
up to 35 pounds. Hang the lightweight
shelves in your home closet and fill them
with the clothes for your trip. Drop the
shelves—clothes and all—neatly into your
carry-on luggage or regular suitcase. When
you arrive at your destination, simply lift the
shelves out of your bag and hang them in
your closet.
(Buy.com, US$24.95)
The ergonomic design of this pillow provides true lateral support for a deeper,
more satisfying rest while in the air. It
supports the head, neck and upper body,
which minimizes neck aches and pains.
This also keeps you from slumping into
your fellow passengers. Also works great
for long car trips, train rides or as a camping pillow.
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April Buzz.indd 22
On March 10, Brad Pitt and Ellen DeGeneres hosted A Night to Make It Right presented by Hyatt, held at the Hyatt Regency
New Orleans. The star-studded gala was
the most ambitious single night fundraising
event in New Orleans’ history, raising more
than $5 million to build sustainable homes
in the city’s Lower 9th Ward.
The event also featured NFL quarterback Drew Brees (of the New Orleans
Saints), singer Sheryl Crow and many
legendary local musicians. Chef John Besh
coordinated the four-course dinner menu,
including selections by chefs Emeril Lagasse, Donald Link, Tory McPhail, Brian
Landry and a vegan menu prepared by
April Avnayim.
After the gala, comedian Aziz Ansari
hosted the after party with performances by
Kanye West, Seal and Snoop Dogg. Rihanna
and Jamie Foxx surprised guests by jumping
on stage with West to close the show.
The gala was held in the hotel’s Empire
Ballroom and the after party took place in
The Celestin Ballroom. The sold out event
also celebrated the iconic hotel’s grand reopening following a $275 million redesign
and revitalization. Hyatt Regency New Orleans’ approached Make It Right with the
idea for the monumental event, and their
sponsorship of the gala included the cash
and in-kind donations for production and
costs directly associated with the event.
—BLAIR POTTER
Read more blog articles at MPIWeb.org.
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Scan this tag with your smartphone to watch
Joe Rohde discuss the value of storytelling for
Disney, Hawaii and your meetings and events,
in an exclusive interview with One+.
The Art of Purpose
By MICHAEL PINCHERA
(CC) INSIDETHEMAGIC
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JOE ROHDE ASSEMBLED THE WORLD’S LARGEST COLLECTION OF
CONTEMPORARY HAWAIIAN ART. And it’s at a resort.
Respecting that Hawaiian culture is a real, living thing that’s happening right now—“It could happen to you!”—Rohde, lead designer
for Aulani-A Disney Resort (officially senior vice president and creative executive for Walt Disney Imagineering), worked primarily with
native artists and professionals to ensure the Oahu property genuinely
expressed Hawaii from the stories told to the principles of design.
“Their contributions were, for the most part, unedited by ourselves,” Rohde says. “We wanted them to say what they wanted to
say through their art and fill this place with that art that has something
to say.”
Simply, Aulani is a resort of art and story.
With this project, Rohde had the opportunity to explore many artistic representations of his own life, from the based-on-his-Hawaiilife Auntie’s House (realized as a place at the resort where children
can be entertained and supervised while parents grasp some peace) to
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the lobby mural, which tells the story
of Aulani and, serendipitously, Rohde.
“This mural is by…Martin Charlot…the guy that taught me to draw
when I was about four years old,”
he says. “Martin is the son of Jean
Charlot—a very important artist to
Disney and Hawaii. They were friends
of our family, so I spent a lot of time
in the Charlot house and Martin kind
of taught me to draw when I was just
a little kid. We hired him to do this
mural, and I ended up in here kind of
assisting on little details and stuff by
the guy who taught me to draw.”
It’s little wonder Rohde sees Aulani
as being about “real places, real relationships.”
Through the exceptional storytelling (kind of what you’d expect from
Disney and Rohde—a visionary who,
next up, is working with James Cameron on the Avatar theme park) and
authentic care to detail, Rohde ensures
Aulani visitors understand that the culture represented in the art and design
all around is real and living.
“This is not paradise—paradise
doesn’t exist—it’s Hawaii, which is a
very real thing,” Rohde says.
That reality is a good thing as many
components inherent in Hawaiian culture are pertinent to groups of people
coming together for a brief period to
get something done, he explains.
“You can almost use Aulani itself as a whole series of examples of
Hawaiian ideas—living and working
together, cooperating toward a common goal, doing things with purpose,
doing things to a very high level of
quality and finish,” he says. “One
of the things about Hawaii, real Hawaii—not make believe, coconut bra
Hawaii—is that things are done with
purpose. [During the creation of Aulani] Hawaiians would always ask us,
when we were about to embark on
something, ‘What’s your purpose in
doing this?’ It’s a very professional way
of thinking about what you’re doing.
It seems to me these cultural thematic
ideas are really appropriate to a business group coming together to accomplish a goal.”
MICHAEL PINCHERA is editor, One+.
SOUNDOFF
What does CSR (Corporate
Social Responsibility)
mean to you?
Caesars Expands
Meeting Diamond
Program
Following the recent nationwide consolidation of its meetings business, Caesars
Entertainment is expanding its Meeting
Diamond program across its portfolio of
38 U.S. properties.
The program, which originated in
2001 at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino
and Harrah’s Las Vegas and was later expanded across the company’s eight Las
Vegas properties under the Las Vegas
Meetings by Caesars Entertainment
brand, grants meeting planners and
owners automatic Diamond status when
they book a meeting or event at any
property in the company’s U.S. portfolio.
The program recognizes planners
and other designated meetings and
events stakeholders as VIPs, and entitles
them to a host of benefits and rewards
reserved for the company’s most valued
customers, including VIP check-in, access to exclusive Diamond Lounges, discounts at participating outlets, preferred
menu pricing in select food and beverage outlets, guaranteed priority service
at property bell desks, valet, business
centers and restaurants and more.
With the national rollout, effective
immediately, the company has also
seamlessly integrated the Meeting
Diamond program with Total Rewards,
Caesars Entertainment’s award-winning
loyalty program.
For more on Caesars meetings, check
out January’s special edition of One+.
—B.P.
Read more blog articles at MPIWeb.org.
“Businesses should
be responsible not
only for their financial performance
but also for the impact of their activities on society and
on the environment.
This means being a
good steward of the
environment and
community the company’s employees work
and live in. If a business can promote good
stewardship, it will reap in business what it
sows in the community in which it resides.
A wonderful example of this is the Kimpton
Hotel Group (Hotel Vintage Park/Alexis/
Hotel Monaco); all of the hotels are affiliated
with local non-profit organizations, including those that benefit the arts, education and
neighborhood beautification. The Kimpton
Restaurants are involved in their local communities, working to help support food and
hunger organizations, as well as underprivileged children, by hosting and teaching cooking classes along with other charitable events
and promotions throughout the year.”
—Nelle Bruce, manager of member services
for the Seattle Convention and Visitors Bureau
“CSR means that
companies need to
consider their commitments as part
of larger society.
Reducing negative
impacts on the environment, contributing to the local
community and enhancing the quality
of life for employees are all examples. When
corporate leadership sets this tone, it creates
an atmosphere for positive change on multiple
levels. At NHS, we are active in efforts to
improve our community through strength in
numbers and actively support our colleagues’
volunteer efforts.”
—Jennifer Herring, vice president of sales for
NHS, a meeting planning and consulting firm
mpiweb.org
April Buzz.indd 25
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3/26/12 9:49 AM
TOP
Spots
Sea Crest Beach Hotel
On the heels of a $15 million renovation, the 263-room Sea Crest Beach
Hotel on Buzzards Bay (Massachusetts)
is closing in on finishing its third and
final phase of renovated facilities, which
will add a spa and leisure amenities, an
upgrade for the fitness center and a
renovated indoor swimming pool.
In addition to those upgrades, major improvements are being made to
the hotel’s Nauset Conference Center,
which should make the property’s
meeting and event space one of the finest in the area.
These updates include new earthtone carpeting and wall coverings with
driftwood accents, new banquet chairs
and renovated breakout rooms and
bathrooms. The hotel offers the largest
conference facility in Cape Cod, with
more than 30,000 square feet of flexible function space for gatherings with
beachfront ocean views.
Radisson Blu Aqua
Hotel Chicago
Taking up the first 18 floors of the
81-story Aqua Tower, the 334-room
Radisson Blu Aqua Hotel opened in
early November in Chicago. The
hotel features more than 28,000
square feet of meeting and event
space and a pre-function space resembling a boat hull that announces
the hotel’s grand ballroom. The
12,000-square-foot ballroom showcases 20-foot-high, floor-to-ceiling
windows with views of Lake Michigan. There are also more than
20,000 square feet of junior ballrooms, executive boardrooms and
breakout rooms.
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Fairmont Baku
New Orleans Marriott
After investing more than $5 million in upgrades to its meeting spaces
and guest rooms, the 1,329-room New Orleans Marriott now features
more than 80,000 square feet of flexible meeting and event space, with
one of Louisiana’s largest hotel ballrooms, spanning more than 27,000
square feet. The property updated 36,000
square feet of space to
get the Mardi Gras
Ballroom, Preservation Hall and La Galeries to mirror the
Grand Ballroom with
new carpet, wall coverings and lighting.
Upon opening, Fairmont Baku in Baku, Azerbaijan, will be
one of the tallest and most impressive buildings in the capital
city. The hotel boasts 318 guest rooms and suites in addition
to a prime location on the Absheron Peninsula overlooking
the Caspian Sea. The property also features more than
25,000 square feet of meeting space, which includes a 24hour business center complete with IT butler service and
secretarial support.
Park Hyatt Sydney
The 155-room Park Hyatt Sydney Australia reopened late last
year after the largest and most
comprehensive renovation in the
hotel’s 21-year history. Renovations included new rooftop
suites, fully upgraded guest
rooms and remodeled public
spaces. Upgrades also included
audiovisual technology for its
five sophisticated meeting rooms,
which include more than 11,900
square feet of flexible space.
Four Points by Sheraton
Langkawi Resort
Just recently opened, the property features gorgeous
views and sitting areas, and each of the 214 guest rooms
offers wireless high-speed Internet access. The property
offers more than 4,100 square feet of meeting space, including a ballroom that holds up to 400 or a conference
setting or 260 for banquets or weddings. A meeting room
offers more than 1,000 square feet that can accommodate up to 90 in a theater style or 45 in a classroom setup.
mpiweb.org
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> CONNECTIONS
>
Lend a Hand
WHO:
Bill John, president and co-founder,
Odyssey Teams
Kim Arnold, senior director for
leadership and employee
development, McAfee
EVENT:
Leadership Conference
Chaminade Resort and Spa,
Santa Cruz, California
May 23, 2011
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BY STEPHEN PETERS
TRUST FALLS, PARAMILITARY PAINTBALL, BOXES TO
think outside of and searches for missing cheese have become
team-building clichés. Team building can be a valuable tool for
inspiring employees and improving their performance, but it requires more than a meeting room, PowerPoint presentation or
high-energy pep talk.
For a group of McAfee employees, it was anything but the
norm. At first glance, it appeared to be some sort of brainteaser
exercise. Groups of three work together with intense concentration, assembling an array of molded plastic and small metal parts
into a single functioning unit, guided solely by an illustrated instruction booklet like you’d expect to get from Ikea.
For each group, the immediate goal in this employee teambuilding event is to combine skills and share insights to solve a
common problem. But there’s something much more profound at
stake: the future of adults and children in developing countries
who have lost hands and parts of their arms in land mine explosions and other accidents. It is for these people where even the
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simplest task, such as feeding and washing themselves,
is an everyday difficulty. Without functional prosthetic
hands, they will be dependent on others for the rest of
their lives.
That is where Odyssey Teams comes into the mix.
Founded in 1991, Odyssey Teams is a pioneer in the
team-building industry, having provided programs for
companies such as eBay, Wells Fargo, the Stanford University women’s swimming team, Pfizer and other bluechip corporations, non-profits and educational institutions. Odyssey Teams recognizes that people perform
best, professionally, when their work is tied to a sense
of purpose, and, accordingly, its programs incorporate
a philanthropic component: as participants build teamwork, creativity, leadership and intelligent risk-taking,
they also build a sense of civic spirit and community
service.
“We get people connected to who they are, who they
work with, what they do at work and why they do it,”
said Bill John, Odyssey Teams’ president and co-founder. “In turn, that helps them improve their connections
to customers, customer service and their lives outside the
office.”
And when it came time for an offsite training event
for McAfee, a computer security company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, Kim Arnold, senior director for leadership and employee development, looked
to Odyssey Teams to help develop a unique team-building exercise to close out a strategy training session. Arnold, in a previous position with Dell, previously used
Odyssey Teams for a similar team-building exercise and,
without hesitation, got on the horn to set up the event.
Little did McAfee’s HR leadership know, waiting for
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them as they entered the room would be a kit, with instructions on how to build a prosthetic hand.
“We put Helping Hands on the agenda,” Arnold said.
“But they had no idea what that meant.”
“Before they actually open up the kit and watch a
video of whom the hands are going to be built for, they
have no idea they’re going to be building hands,” John
said, echoing the mystery of the project. “Usually that’s
preserved as a secret to the participants. They’re just
thinking they are going through another team-building
experience or business simulation.”
When the team-building session ended, and because
it was a smaller group of McAfee participants, about 10
prosthetic hands—with Velcro straps to secure them to
residual limbs and plastic fingers that can clamp onto a
fork, pencil or tool—were packaged in bags bearing the
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Since the Helping Hands program started
in March 2008, Odyssey Teams has
helped organize enough team-building
sessions to produce more than 8,000
prosthetic hands to be delivered
to more than 60 countries.
names of the assembling trio and an array of hand-written messages, their photo and the original work.
“When [the participants] see the video and hear the
story of why these hands are being built and who they’re
going to, there’s this deeper connection to the project,”
John said.
The catch for those assembling the hands is that each
person is attempting to insert and fasten even the smallest dowels, pins and screws with only one hand. The
other hand is enclosed in a large blue mitt. The exercise
leaders from Helping Hands ask participants to wear
these so they will experience the difficulty of performing
manual tasks with only one good hand. Trying to hold
and insert the tiny dowel pivot for a slippery plastic
thumb becomes quite a chore when the ability to use two
good hands is taken away.
It’s an exercise that Arnold highly recommends because it’s a completely different take on bringing people
closer together.
“It wasn’t something that required a lot of time,” Arnold said. “You do some activities like golfing or ropes
courses, but they take up a lot of time. This was something we could do in the office; we didn’t have to go
anywhere.”
Arnold added that her position with McAfee, along
with HR, is similar to Helping Hands because they are
a support in the company. She said her team sees themselves as a Helping Hands for the organization.
“We were really able to make good connections,” she
said. “The other connection we made was how such as
small investment could make a major difference in someone’s life.”
Arnold will continue to use the Helping Hands program, and her goal at McAfee is to build 100 hands this
year. That goal is well within reach for Arnold because
she says those who participate “absolutely love it.”
“It’s not seen as goofy or silly,” she said. “I do team
building for a living and have been doing it 20 years…
and you always have those people, even at the end, that
you just couldn’t win over. They hate golf, they don’t like
cooking and they are afraid of climbing ropes or didn’t
have fun outside because they got sweaty. This is one of
those events where everyone feels the time was well
spent.”
Since the Helping Hands program started in March
2008, Odyssey Teams has helped organize enough teambuilding sessions to produce more than 8,000 prosthetic
hands to be delivered to more than 60 countries. John
says that more than 50 percent of those have been built
in the last eight months, and Helping Hands is “accelerating really quickly.”
STEPHEN PETERS is a reporter for One+.
mpiweb.org
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T
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> > H I G H -T E C H H U M A N I T Y
THE MEDIA VIRUS:
MY PROBLEM CHILD
BY DOUGLAS R U SHKOFF <<
I THOUGHT WHAT BOTHERED ME
MOST ABOUT THE WIDESPREAD
USE OF THE TERMS “VIRAL MARKETING” AND “GOING VIRAL” WAS
THAT NO ONE CREDITED ME FOR
THEM.
I wrote the book on viral media, the actual book Media Virus
(inventing the term), in the early
1990s. And the notion of viral media certainly “went viral” after that,
even if most people never knew it
came off my Radio Shack laptop.
But after attending a marketing
conference last month, I realized
that what bugs me about the proliferation and continued use of the
viral media concept is that almost no
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one seems to get what it is.
Marketers recognize the effects
of viral spread, but not the causes.
If anything, they have the cause and
effect reversed.
I’m not trying to be confusing.
A couple of decades ago, with the
emergence of cable television, camcorders and the Internet, information and ideas began to spread in
new ways. Instead of just wealthy
newspaper publishers and broadcast television owners spreading
messages through media, regular
people now had access to the eyeballs of millions.
A person with a camcorder in
the right place at the right time
(like the guy who shot the Rodney King beating in Los Angeles in
1991) can make a video that spreads
around the world overnight. A kid
with access to Facebook can broadcast his roommate’s sexual exploits
to millions. Charlie Sheen can Tweet
his way to infamy and become the
main subject of every late night television comedian. A presidential candidate can snowball his campaign via
Meetup.com.
Hearing about these media viruses,
advertisers and marketers obviously
want to create their own, on behalf
of their products. It’s only natural,
and not even entirely stupid, to think
that the way to learn about media
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viruses is to take apart ones that
have worked, and then to try to
make a new one. So, they looked at
successful media viruses, and then
tried to figure out how to insert their
own products—underwear, hamburgers…whatever—as the content.
But it never worked. Sure, sometimes these concocted viruses spread,
but for the wrong reasons. A video
of Paris Hilton eating a Hardee’s
hamburger spreads like wildfire, but
nobody buys any additional burgers.
They watch more of her TV show.
You see, marketers are looking at viral media medically rather
than systemically. It’s like a doctor
obsessed with the disease, not the
patient. Sometimes we get sick
because we’re run down or nutrient
deprived. We’re exposed to viruses
all the time, but we only get sick
when our bodies are vulnerable.
The virus we catch is less about
the virus than about our immune
system.
The same is true for media viruses. Their success is less dependent
on their own construction than on
our cultural immune response to
the ideas within them. The Rodney
King tape, for example, spread
because of our repressed opinions
on race relations in U.S. cities. Paris
Hilton spread because of our cultural confusion about entitlement
and branded personae.
Even Charlie Sheen was less
about Charlie Sheen than the environment in which the saga played
out. We were in the early days
of Arab Spring, watching people
slaughter people on the news. An
opportunity emerged for a clear,
easy-to-identify, easy-to-talk-about
news story to take its place, the
same way Michael Jackson’s sudden
death took the confusing Iranian
protests off our cable news shows
and Twitter feeds.
Charlie Sheen stepped into a
“standing wave” of cultural attention. He was just the water that
happened to get swept into that
wave. Yes, he was doing things
that made him the best content at
the time to take that place, but the
culture-wide infection by the Charlie
Sheen virus had less to do with the
virus than the culture. We had an
immune deficiency for precisely that
invasion.
That’s why the subtitle of my
early ‘90s book was “Hidden Agendas in Popular Culture.” Viruses tell
us less about themselves than about
those of us infected by them. And
that’s why if you ever do come up
with a truly successful media virus,
people will likely forget you had
anything to do with it. It’s just not
about you.
DOUGLAS RUSHKOFF
is the author, most
recently, of Program or
be Programmed: Ten
Commands for a Digital
Age and Life Inc: How
Corporatism Conquered
the World and How We
Can Take it Back. He can
be contacted at www.
rushkoff.com.
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hours trying to remember what in the
heck you did five years ago. In your
career management file, you’ll put:
• Kudos letters from co-workers,
bosses, colleagues and clients;
• Extra copies of educational event
registrations (seminars, workshops,
conferences, conventions, trade
shows, webinars, classes);
• Membership certificates from
organizations and associations;
• Staff reports;
• Work plans;
• Event recaps;
• Performance assessments/reviews;
• Any metrics that measure job
success;
• Volunteer, committee or board
service documents; and
• Any accolades you’ve received
(awards, speaking engagements,
features, quotes).
>> ON THE JOB
FRESHEN UP
YOUR CAREER
DOCUMENTS
BY D A W N R A S M U SS E N , C M P < <
IT’S SPRINGTIME (AT LEAST HERE IN
THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE), and
it’s time to do some deep cleaning. And
I’m not talking about emptying the
garage or sweeping the dust bunnies
out from under the couch.
Let’s talk about your career
documents, because if you’re like most
people, you’ve let them gather dust and
only clean them up when you actually need them…for a job interview or
in the event of job loss or layoff. By
keeping on top of your achievements
and setting career goals, you’ll gain the
momentum you need to move ahead.
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Freshening up your career assets
ensures that you are ready to respond
to opportunities as well as unplanned
changes…and it’s essential to your
overall career management. An up-todate document will help you decide
what skills you want to add, and what
organizations you need to join to boost
your networking IQ. (And don’t treat
these docs as obituaries, as in “Susie
did this” and “Susie did that.”)
But before doing anything else, you
need to create a career management
file. It’s your catchall place to store
memory triggers, so you don’t spend
When it’s time to update your career
documents, you now have all your
information in one easy-to-locate place.
Next, update your work history
with concrete, measurable wins. Under
education, list the actions you’ve taken
to enhance your professional development with jobs-specific knowledge.
Include volunteer service (MPI is a
great résumé boost) to demonstrate
involvement and leadership.
Once your résumé is up-to-date,
turn your attention to its online companion, LinkedIn, and add in the same
information to freshen your profile.
And don’t forget to occasionally add a
status update as well (like a tweet on
Twitter), so potential employers know
the lights are on and someone is home.
And, finally, rest assured that you’re
ready for any opportunities that come
your way.
DAWN RASMUSSEN, CMP,
is the president of Portland,
Ore.-based Pathfinder
Writing and Careers, which
specializes in hospitality/
meeting professional
résumés. She has been
a meeting planner for
more than 15 years and
an MPI member since 2001.
Contact Rasmussen at www.
pathfindercareers.com.
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> > M E D I A M AT T E R S
BY CHRIS BROGAN <<
NOT WORKING
PASSIONATELY?
IT SHOWS
I ALWAYS FEEL SORRY FOR RESTAURANT SERVERS WHO HAVE
TO SING HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO
CUSTOMERS. (This may only be a
U.S. custom.) I feel worse for the servers
involved who are already clearly having
a bad day. But I also end up thinking
about the person whose birthday it is.
That person doesn’t care if the server
is having a bad day or has had to sing seven
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of these ridiculous birthday songs in the
last hour. It’s his or her birthday, and there
better be passion in his or her restaurantcheer-embarrassment experience.
You Do It
Energy isn’t always a given. You didn’t
sleep well because the airline lost your luggage. You’ve hosted 12 events in the last
four weeks. You’re deadly sick of doing
the same thing for the last however many
years. No matter the circumstance, you
sometimes show up with an energy deficit.
The problem: No one you interact with
deserves your low-energy game. They
deserve the top-shelf you. None of the
circumstances that have you feeling dispassionate are their fault, or their business. If
you’re showing up without passion, you
need to find it.
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Jot down everything you can think of
that is positive. You like your desk. You
love working with Ahmed. Whatever it
is, write it down.
Shake It Off
Every job has bad moments, and
dwelling on them won’t help you
succeed. Sometimes, we want something new, or we get a case of the
if-onlys. Remember that a new job
is like a new romance—eventually,
you have to do the dishes and fold
the laundry, no matter how amazing the relationship. You can have
romance and laundry, and the same
is true for your business.
Where’s Your Thirst?
We become dispassionate for many
reasons, but we can re-find our
work’s purpose. Even if you accepted
a position out of sheer necessity, you
can make the job your own.
For instance, if you’re really good
at helping people connect, then emphasize that during your next few experiences. If you’re passionate about
helping associations or companies
throw events that people talk about,
ask yourself how you can get them
talking next time.
Look back at your first few
months on the job, and see if you
can find your way back to what it
felt like to be discovering everything.
Consider if you’d do it differently
now. You can always start over, even
if no one knows about it.
Set Little Goals
Sometimes when we fall out of
passion for what we’re doing, we’re
not getting enough feedback. Maybe
we get an annual review (and that’s
laughable, too). You don’t have to
wait for bosses or event attendees
to get feedback. You can make your
own.
Set little goals for yourself. If your
role is to attract more delegates,
there will no doubt be an “official”
metric. Challenge yourself with
something fun. If people from Malta
never seem to come to the event,
make it your goal to entice them.
Little goals (especially secret ones)
can help you find your passion.
The game never gets boring. I set
goals like getting more newsletter
subscribers. I’ll push as hard as I can
and see if I can get another 1,000
new subscribers this week before
my email goes out. And then I do
everything in my power to succeed.
Write Down Positives
Sometimes, we just need a reminder
of the good stuff we’re doing, so
write it down. You have kids and
you need flexible work hours. Your
job offers these, so even though
you have to travel a bit more in the
next few weeks and that’s impacting
your passion, you can feel reinvigorated and excited because this position affords you more opportunities
to spend time with your kids. Jot
down everything you can think of
that is positive. You like your desk.
You love working with Ahmed. You
have a great commute. You can pay
your bills. Whatever it is, write it
down.
Find External Passion
Check out the biography section of
your library or (online) bookstore
for plenty of material to use as a
proxy for your own passion. If you
read the news or watch it on TV,
you’re consuming a lot of negative
stories. Seek out ways to fill yourself
with positive stories that will help
you grow, and develop even more
positive feelings about your situation
and your role.
Remember Big Goals
Sometimes, we lose our passion for
working because we’re focused on
the day-to-day aspects of our jobs.
Step back and think about what
your role means to the organization,
what it means to you and where you
want to be in a year or two.
If that doesn’t help, then you
might want to consider whether this
role suits your larger goals and what
you’re going to do about that.
CHRIS BROGAN is president of
Human Business Works, a
media and education company dedicated to helping companies improve customer
acquisition and communitynurturing efforts by amplifying the human digital channel. He is The New York Times
bestselling author of Google+
for Business: How Google’s
Social Network Changes
Everything. Connect with
Brogan at Chrisbrogan.com.
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> > CO M P E T I T I V E E D G E
DEBORAH GARDNER, CMP < <
POSITIONING
YOUR EXPERTISE
REMEMBER BACK WHEN A HOME
DEPOT WOULD APPEAR ON ONE CORNER, AND A LOWE’S STORE WOULD
SHOW UP ON THE OTHER?
For years, Lowe’s was the secondlargest home improvement retailer in
the U.S., trailing Home Depot. Not
happy in the No. 2 spot, it decided to
try a new, though risky, approach—
marketing to the household decision
makers, women.
While continuing to focus on
tools and building supplies, Lowe’s
expanded its product lines to include
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window coverings, indoor and outdoor
furniture, lighting, bathroom accessories
and fun appliances. Lowe’s made its
lighting and store layout easier on the
eye to be more attractive and appealing to women shoppers. And it began
sponsoring women’s sporting events and
placing actresses in its television commercials.
Home Depot tried a similar approach
by stocking Martha Stewart paints, just
around the time she was convicted and
incarcerated for lying to investigators
about a stock sale. Home Depot discon-
tinued that particular strategy.
Lowe’s and Home Depot aren’t
competitors really anymore. They’ve established two different customer bases.
Which leads me to ask, “What position,
strength or ‘pull’ effect will you apply in
order to become more competitive?”
You see, to ensure a viable business,
executives must consider positioning,
but many company leaders don’t. Company goals or mission statements often
determine that “positioning,” which
actually creates a push effect. Push the
client to buy, push the employees to sell,
push management to make a decision.
But in the last few years, that philosophy has changed.
The best way to position yourself,
your job or your business is using a pull
effect, which allows you to control any
process. For example, utilize your expertise by pulling in your strengths, beliefs
or experience to attract customers.
A survey by Failure Magazine of
some Fortune 500 companies found
that only two out of 10 people play up
their strengths at work, which means
that there are still faulty decisions being
made that jeopardize company achievement ratios. No one is wired in the same
fashion and no one has had the same
experiences or gained the same perspectives as you and your company. These
are unique to you, and should be used
to your advantage. If you’re good in one
particular area, you can create a niche
for your business.
But there is another important step to
positioning; demonstrating your expertise is one thing, but actually putting it
into action in order to bypass a competitor is another. Just look at Lowe’s.
DEBORAH GARDNER, CMP,
is a competitive performance expert who challenges companies, organizations and individuals to
think and act. She is a past
president of the MPI Arizona
Sunbelt Chapter and a
member of the National
Speakers Association. Visit
www.DeborahGardner.com.
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> > R E B OO T Y O U R B R A I N
BY JON BRADSHAW <<
THE ROAD TO
NOWHERE
AFTER ABOUT 20 MILES, I NOTICED IT, AND AFTER FIVE TIMES,
I KNEW THAT IT WASN’T MY
IMAGINATION. There was one very
strange thing about my girlfriend’s
driving.
Rewind a few months to late
last year. Chloe was driving us the
50 or so miles through Friday rush
hour traffic to a hotel for a weekend
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break. Both of these situations were
rather unusual: Our busy schedules
meant that we hadn’t spent much
time together for some time, and
Chloe learned to drive in Spain (on
the “wrong” side of the road), and
she isn’t a huge fan of driving in the
U.K. But here she was, driving us
through the gloom of a British winter evening.
And it happened again.
Every time the satellite-navigation system issued instructions,
Chloe would take her right hand
off the steering wheel and stare at it
for a moment as if looking at an invisible wristwatch, again and again.
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Some scientists believe that our ability to navigate
may have been lost in evolution, as we sacrificed
the kind of precision that other animals enjoy for
cognitive flexibility.
By the time we drew into the hotel
car park, I was stifling a smile.
It was dinner before I dared enquire further.
“Darling, do you know that you
keep looking at your right arm when
you’re driving?”
She was as confused as I, but an
hour later in the middle of an excellent conversation on the merits of
Lady Gaga versus Madonna, she
almost choked on her dessert with
laughter as she realized what I was
referring to.
Apparently, Chloe is one of several people who find navigation difficult, and she’s built up a fail-safe
aid to help her. On the back of her
right hand is a small freckle, and
over the years she has used it to help
her differentiate left from right. So,
when she’s instructed to take the
“right-hand lane” or “turn right,”
she double-checks direction with her
wrist.
If you don’t have a problem finding your way around, it’s easy to
dismiss people who do, but many of
us are notoriously bad at it. And it’s
got nothing to do with intelligence.
(Chloe is tri-lingual, holds down a
management position at a worldfamous, London-based department
store and has the highest score I’ve
ever seen on smartphone game Feed
the Monster.)
Actually, neuroscience can explain why some of us can seemingly navigate with ease while others
struggle to know left and right, and,
in an industry that includes huge
trade shows, it may also hold some
answers for meeting professionals
who want to keep delegates from
getting lost, too.
My childhood neighbor converted
his roof space into a pigeon loft. Every Saturday morning, he’d open the
hatch, and I’d watch in wonder as his
birds swept majestically around the
rooftops before disappearing over
the horizon. What amazed me even
more was that about an hour later
they’d actually all come back.
What I didn’t know, at the time,
was that it was just their training
runs, and that every few weeks he’d
take those birds to locations around
the country to race other birds
home. (Pigeons have successfully
navigated distances of up to 1,100
miles.) There are differing theories
about how the birds find their ways
home, but most researchers believe
that homing is based on a map (the
Earth’s magnetic field) and compass
(the sun) model.
Some scientists believe that our
ability to navigate may have been lost
in evolution, as we sacrificed the kind
of precision that other animals enjoy
for cognitive flexibility, which allows
us to make sense of our surroundings
using reason and experience rather
than geometry.
In fact, some people use reason,
interpretation and experience to
navigate perfectly well. New Scientist
reports that tribes such as the Bedouin in the Sahara, Artic Inuit and
Australian Aborigines are extremely
proficient at this way of navigating.
Interestingly, the Inuit didn’t even
have a term for being lost, but, as
reported in Current Anthropology,
this is changing. The use of GPS by
younger generations has led to several near fatal accidents, a situation
unheard of among the elders.
Navigational abilities are like muscles; use them or lose them.
But help is here for meeting delegates. The unreadable conference
floor plan will soon be a thing of the
past. Late in 2011, IKEA reported
that it was working with Google on a
smartphone-based Indoor Positioning
System. Nokia, Sensewhere and Cambridge Silicon Radio are also getting in
on the IPS act. Swansea University in
Wales has developed a smartphone that
vibrates when pointing at a target, like
tracking a signal.
I’m happy to report that we had a
lovely weekend late last year, although
I must admit that I did consider waiting until she fell asleep and marking
Chloe’s left hand with a pen in exactly
the same place as the freckle on her
right, just to see what happened. But
then again, I am glad I didn’t, because
we both needed to get home.
If you’re interested in testing your
navigation skills, visit www.getting
lost.ca. You may find a use for the
freckle on your hand, too.
JONATHAN BRADSHAW
speaks, writes and consults
on maximizing attendee
performance at meetings.
His work with behavioral
psychologists, coupled with
his experience in extreme
sports performance, has led
him to launch Meetings
Mindset and the Meetology
Research Institute. He
can be contacted at jon@
meetingsmindset.com.
mpiweb.org
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VISIT BUFFALO NIAGARA /JOE CASCIO
Preservation is Everything
Last October, the National Trust for Historic Preservation held its annual
convention in Buffalo, where attendees had a chance to make up their own
minds about the city.
BY KEVIN WOO
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BUFFALO, N.Y., HAS SUFFERED FROM AN
IDENTITY CRISIS FOR MANY YEARS. AND
WHO COULD BLAME IT? In the past four
years, Forbes has named it among the
most miserable and fastest-dying cities in
the U.S. The magazine has also named it
one of the best places to raise a family and
a top city for singles. So what’s a Buffaloian to believe?
Last October, 2,500 members of the
National Trust for Historic Preservation
(NTHP) attended the 65th annual convention in Buffalo where they had a chance
to make up their own minds about the
city. Buffalo was selected as the conference
destination because its architecture and
ongoing preservation efforts served as an
opportunity for NTHP members to study
how the community, local and state representatives, civic organizations and the
federal government all work together to
preserve historic buildings throughout the
city.
The decision to hold the conference in
Buffalo, however, did leave some members
of the NTHP scratching their heads.
“Buffalo was not on my radar screen
prior to the conference,” said Isaac D. Kremer, executive director of the Oyster Bay
Main Street Association and an attendee
of the conference. “I knew there were a
few landmark buildings there, and I even
visited a few while passing through years
ago. [But] the place as a whole never really
captured me [before the conference].”
Kremer says his opinion of Buffalo
changed soon after he began receiving
information from the NTHP organizing
committee promoting the conference.
“Everything I saw coming out of Buffalo emphasized the great history and
architecture [that] the city has,” he said.
“When Frank Lloyd Wright, Henry Hobson Richardson and Richard Upjohn built
in your town, there’s no good reason to
hide that.”
Over the course of four days, attendees
had the opportunity to take part—by bus,
boat or foot—in 46 tours to view historic
sites in other areas such as Chautauqua,
Medina and Rochester in New York and
Ontario, Canada. Within the Buffalo metro area, there were 284 planned outings,
83 educational sessions, trips to more than
a half-dozen art exhibitions and 40 events,
which were open to the public as well as
registrants.
The number of planned activities was
necessary because of the vast number of
historical landmarks in the area according
to Lori Feinman, NTHP’s director of conferences and meetings.
“In Buffalo, preservation is everything
from the iconic architecture of Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright down to
revitalizing the neighborhoods and abandoned churches,” Feinman said.
Without a doubt, the most popular
building among the group was the famous
Guaranty Building, located in the downtown business district. Louis Sullivan and
his partner Dankmar Adler designed the
13-story building in the 1890s. At the
time, the building was the tallest in the
city and considered an engineering marvel
because of its height.
The Guaranty Building was constructed using steel beams, but the architects
wanted to distinguish the exterior of the
building and, as a result, rejected the idea
of placing tile on the outside. Instead, they
opted to use ornate terra cotta, the first
time this type of material was used on a
building.
The building was created in the shape
of a “U” so that the south-facing atrium
would have maximum sunlight during the
day. The building also included modern
conveniences such as elevators and running water. Prior to the Guaranty Building, most architects struggled to find a way
to generate enough pressure to push water
more than 50 feet (about six stories) into
the air. Sullivan and Adler found a way to
create enough pressure so that all but the
13th floor in the Guaranty Building had
both hot and cold running water.
By the mid-1950s, the Guaranty Building fell into disrepair and attempts to
modernize the interior and exterior resulted in some structural damage. By the
mid-1970s, the building was slated for
demolition, despite being designated a
historical landmark. Community groups
protested the demolition plans and were
able to raise enough money to restore the
building and make it attractive to potential tenants. This model of local citizens
raising money to restore buildings, homes
and churches has been used throughout
the city for years to save significant landmarks from demolition.
“I was very impressed with the Guaranty Building, because I studied it when I
was getting my masters degree in historic
preservation,” said Paul Trudeau, program director at the center for community
design and preservation at the University
of Georgia. “The first time I walked by the
Guaranty Building, I had a moment of,
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VISIT BUFFALO NIAGARA /BRIAN GARMAN
‘Wow, I remember studying that building!’ How cool is it to see it up close in
person.”
A close second in popularity among
NTHP members was the Theodore
Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site. In 1901, President William
McKinley was shaking hands with citizens inside the Temple of Music at the
Pan-American Expo in Buffalo when
Leon Czolgosz shot him twice. Eight
days later, President McKinley died and
Roosevelt took the oath of office at the
Inaugural Historic Site.
The house sat vacant and fell into
disrepair for years after the inauguration. A local real estate developer
leased the property intending to demolish the house and build office space.
As expected, the community became
outraged. In 1966, a group of local
preservationists were successful in lobbying the U.S. Congress to get the site
declared a National Historic Site. By
1971, the group raised enough money
to restore the property and reopen its
doors to visitors. The site underwent
another extensive renovation in 2009.
Today there are three restored rooms
that are open to the public—a multimedia room, which tells the story of how
Roosevelt came to be president; the library, where the presidential oath was
administered; and a replica of President
Roosevelt’s White House office, which
is located on the house’s third floor.
Kremer says that the strategy of
breaking the house into two distinct
sections (the presidential inauguration
and the White House years) “makes the
house very different than a traditional
house museum. The curators used period pieces and furnishings to transport
visitors to other places and other times.
Ultimately, this provides a far richer experience for learning.”
So you might wonder, how is it
that Buffalo has been able to preserve
so many of its architectural treasures.
Dottie Gallagher-Cohen, Buffalo CVB
president and CEO, says it’s happened
due to a twist of fate.
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“At a time when other
cities were tearing down
buildings in the name of
progress, Buffalo did not.
Why? Because at that
time we didn’t have the
resources to do so. But
now we’ve come to realize how unique and beautiful our visual landscape
is and quite frankly how
those authentic places
have disappeared everywhere else.”
“At a time when other cities were
tearing down buildings in the name of
progress, we did not. Why? Because at
that time we didn’t have the resources
to do so,” Gallagher-Cohen said. “But
now we’ve come to realize how unique
and beautiful our visual landscape is
and quite frankly how those authentic
places have disappeared everywhere
else. Beyond that, Buffalo had the
good fortune to be one of the United
States’ wealthiest cities at a time when
all of these buildings and neighborhoods were created, which makes our
city unique. So in a way, those extreme
economic conditions of wealth and
hardship made Buffalo a city that time
forgot, and now our rebirth is quite literally bringing our neighborhoods and
buildings back to life using our history
as our future lens.”
KEVIN WOO is a frequent One+ contributor
residing in Northern California.
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ALL PHOTOS: NASFT
Chew This
More than 25,000 food fans from 81 countries attended
the 57th Summer Fancy Food Show in Washington, D.C.
BY I LO N A K AU R E MSZ KY
THE CULINARY LANDSCAPE IN WASHINGTON, D.C., IS ON A FAST MISSION. Voted
one of the fittest U.S. cities, the stakes are
high as the nation’s capital primps itself to
stand on a foodie footing with, let’s say,
New York, Miami or Las Vegas.
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But for now, Washington, D.C., is happy to play host to two consecutive seasons
of the Summer Fancy Food Show—North
America’s largest specialty food and beverage event.
Until last year, this expo from the Na-
tional Association for the Specialty Food
Trade Inc. (NASFT) was on its home turf in
New York, a renowned bastion of culinary
prowess where no fork goes unturned.
For 23 years, exhibitors, suppliers and
key attendees have congregated at the
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Javits Center, the birthplace of the Summer
Fancy Food Show. But with a renovation
now under way, neighboring D.C. wooed
the group for an obvious pairing.
The payoff was a win-win for all.
In 2011 alone, the 57th Summer Fancy
Food Show held at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center sold out weeks before the July 10-12 event.
Imagine more than 25,000 attendees
from 81 countries under one roof, dishing the latest on spices, sauces and the next
new product. Ron Tanner, vice president
of communications and education for the
NASFT, reports that more than 180,000
food products were exhibited from 2,400
exhibitors, making the 2011 event the
third-largest in NASFT’s history. Destination DC reports the ROI from hosting the
pivotal show resulted in an estimated economic impact of more than US$17 million.
In the throes of an urban renaissance,
Destination DC couldn’t have timed the
event better.
“D.C. is a very international city with
a strong international presence but also is
a city that has only 600,000 residents, so
there’s a very intimate appeal with a big
city feel,” said Elliott Ferguson, president
and CEO of Destination DC.
A consummate host, Washington scored
some cool firsts with the specialty food
expo, which, over the years, has seen its
own firsts by launching products never before seen nationally. Evian, Ben and Jerry’s
and Perrier are brands that have crept into
fridges across America thanks to the show.
On the client side, the show managed to
tap into a market that normally didn’t exist
before—in this case, the Southeast U.S.
“Forty-four percent of their attendance
came from the southern Atlantic states,
which is much higher than in New York,
which was only 9 percent of their attendance,” Ferguson said.
Another first was an opening ceremony.
“Normally, we don’t do this, but we
wanted to do something special since we
were in Washington,” Tanner said. “We
found an organization called Operation
Homefront, a non-profit organization that
helps returning soldiers and their families
with food, shelter and financing. We wanted to assist them, so we gave them a donation and presented a check at the opening
ceremonies.”
Plus, for the first time, the event’s newfound turf in D.C. meant introductions
with civil servants, politicians and embassies was that much easier.
“One of the things in which you could
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“There are troubled
spots in the world,
but these companies
all come together
and try to sell their
food products, so we
would have people
from Lebanon, Egypt
and Israel there, and
[world strife] is forgotten for three days as
they try and support
their businesses,
sell their products
and support their
agriculture.”
only do in Washington is link with the various embassies, so when you think of the
attendee at the show representing various
countries there is an opportunity for them
to reach out to the embassies here,” Ferguson said, citing Italy, the show’s largest international exhibitor with more than 1,000
products, as an example.
In addition, the show developed a program inviting congress members.
“We were able to identify for the show
exhibitors their congressional representatives,” Tanner said, explaining that approximately 60 significant staff members
from Capitol Hill, alongside six congress
members, attended. “So senior advisors on
agricultural issues were there, and inviting
them was a really good thing to do. We’re
a not-for-profit trade association, and our
mission and goal is to help these companies
grow their businesses.”
With politicians nearby, Tanner says
this accessibility helped open doors.
“Maybe it’s good to just get politicians
to understand the small business aspect in
the food industry and how important it is
to the industry and the economy,” Tanner
said.
The notion of international specialty
foods and the subsequent companies arriving to Washington also illustrates how
talking food is a good bridge between the
world’s troubled spots.
“There are troubled spots in the world,
but these companies all come together and
try to sell their food products, so we would
have people from Lebanon, Egypt and Israel there, and [world strife] is forgotten
for three days as they try and support their
businesses, sell their products and support
their agriculture,” Tanner said.
A prime gateway, Washington is in the
hub of three airports, major highways and
Amtrak, and is also an easy three-hour
train ride from Manhattan.
“Our marketing department stepped up
to the plate and worked directly with them,
offering ideas on how attendees could plug
into Washington with ease,” Ferguson
said.
Destination DC helped customize an innovative metro day pass in the registration,
which was available on the event’s microsite.
“This is something they have not done
before,” Ferguson said. “Folks got on the
train in New York in the morning and
spent a day in D.C. at the show then got
back on the train and went home.”
As a result of D.C.’s burgeoning agriculture scene, more local exhibitors signed up
to showcase their goods.
“We were able to get new faces in the
show,” Ferguson said. “Fifty percent of the
people who attended never attended their
show in the past, so it was good for D.C.
to be recognized for its food scene.”
Offsite venues attracted exclusive evening receptions. There was the 700-plusseat Carmine’s, a legendary Italian restaurant; D.C. culinary heavyweight Peter
Smith’s upscale PS7, located in the evergrowing downtown Penn Quarter area of
Washington, D.C.; and America Eats Tavern, a new José Andrés pop-up restaurant
celebrating indigenous American recipes.
Foreign restaurateurs are choosing to plant
roots in D.C., from Ping Pong Dim Sum
to the Buddha Bar, while local celebrity
chef Carla Hall now appears on TV’s The
Chew.
“Hosting the Summer Fancy Food
Show gives us a chance to profile the food
scene as a major attraction to Washington,
D.C.,” Ferguson said. “They gave us a
portal to let us market and grow the food
scene even more.”
ILONA KAUREMSZKY is an award-winning
travel journalist and a regular One+ contributor. Follow her pursuits on Twitter and
YouTube @mycompasstv.
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ALL PHOTOS: SIMA-EXPO
Castles Made of Sand
The Madrid International Real Estate Exhibition (SIMA) 2011 in Madrid
had the task of promoting, in the eyes of many, the disease as part-cure
to a sour economic situation.
BY ARTEMIS SKORDILI
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THE ABANDONED VENDE (FOR SALE) SIGNS ARE
STILL STANDING OUTSIDE THE SMALL TOWN
NEAR THE SPANISH CITY OF SESEÑA, half an hour
south of Madrid. It’s a ghost town, a sci-fi movie
scene of a place suddenly abandoned by its inhabitants. However, the Residencial Francisco
Hernando settlement has for years remained
virtually empty not because its inhabitants abandoned it, but because they never arrived. Of the
13,500 apartments that entrepreneurial Spaniard Francisco Hernando aspired to construct,
planned to house about 40,000 people, he only
managed to complete 5,000, of which 40 percent
were seized by banks.
Hernando’s most ambitious project became
a monument to the Spanish construction industry’s rise and fall. It sits eerily in the desert as a
reminder of the big bubble that was the Spanish
real estate market, a period from about 1985 to
2008 in which housing prices increased giddily
before tumbling spectacularly. With banks lavishing loans on the purchase and construction of
houses and buildings, many property developers
were severely affected when demand abruptly
diminished, compounded by the realization that
the number of foreign buyers wishing to purchase a house in Spain was far fewer than initially anticipated.
Three years after the bubble burst, leading to
a spike in unemployment from the construction
industry’s demise and simultaneously dragging
the country’s economic indicators into recession,
the Madrid International Real Estate Exhibition
(SIMA) 2011, held June 2-5 in the Feria de Madrid (IFEMA) exhibition center, had the task of
promoting, in the eyes of many, the disease as
part-cure to the economic situation.
“The market collapsed because of the credit
crisis: activity decreased dramatically, something
that affected the prices and forced many companies to vanish,” said Eloy Bohúa, managing
director of SIMA and director general of Planner
Reed. “Under these circumstances, the hosting
of an exhibition on the real estate market is a
difficult case.
“From the beginning of the 2000s, the Spanish economy experienced significant growth in
almost every sector,” he continued. “The real
estate market for several years benefited from
the availability of credit combined with very low
rates. Also, the housing market scored a demand
explosion, a result of domestic growth and the
need for country houses, including for foreign
buyers.”
With the headier years seeming like decades
ago, the factors influencing SIMA 2011 and the
challenges faced by organizers are not limited to
the crisis in the Spanish real estate market, but
exacerbated by the bleak international economic
climate, traditionally a main source of Spanish
real estate sales.
“The economic recession in the U.S. and Europe, of course, affected the exhibition,” said
Bohúa, but countered that “at this moment the
Spanish market offers many opportunities, so
we are very active concerning the promotion of
these opportunities to foreign investors, combined with our other main objective, which is
to provide investment opportunities for Spanish
companies abroad.”
Think Local, Act Global
For this year’s exhibition to move in this direction and also sustain growth, SIMA included exhibitors from countries such as Brazil, Dominican Republic, Uruguay and the U.S., while for
the following years has set the goal of attracting
more from Latin America, including Argentina,
Mexico and Peru, where a considerable number
of Spanish companies are active.
A key initiative—acknowledging the potential
of the growing BRIC economies—was “Brazil,
Guest Country,” through which the organizers aimed to expose Spanish real estate market
professionals to Brazil’s numerous investment
and business opportunities and partnership potential. A Brazil-Spain Business Forum was also
programmed, with more than 20 speakers attracting the attendance of more than 200 industry professionals.
Explaining the goal of this highlight event,
a sign of SIMA’s outreach aspirations, Bohúa
replied that it was “to identify the opportunities the Brazilian market has to offer Spanish
companies which, even in this difficult time,
consider the internationalization of their business activities one of the keys to their [future]
development.”
A Multi-story Event
Able to reflect on the results of the event’s previous years of turbulence to best understand how to
address ongoing challenges, the organizers have
recently taken the decision to increase the number
of exhibitions to three per annum, seeking to hit
targets and attract more exhibitors and attendees
through promoting continuity.
In 2009, Planner Reed adapted SIMA’s business model in response to changing market requirements by organizing additional special events.
SIMA “Autumn” was added in October, focusing
on end buyers. The following March saw the first
outing of SIMA “Spring,” for end buyers and professionals. Now three annual events with each targeting a different audience—the main event with
an international focus—the dissected SIMA approach is able to offer different real estate stories
to key industry players.
“The different events during the year have become one of the main, if not the major, platform
for developers and sales agents in a way that no
other marketing tool is able to collect thousands
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of buyers in such a short period,” Bohúa
said. “The results were excellent, and we
plan to keep at least three events on real
estate in 2012.”
The Benefits of Refurbishment
With this major restructuring, more than
140 exhibitors of the June event drew an
impressive 47,000 visitors through IFEMA’s turnstiles.
“The number of new exhibitors has
grown steadily since 2009, while the quality of visitors has increased significantly,
with more than 96 percent of them claiming that they participate in our exhibitions
because they are seeking to buy some property,” Bohúa said.
Alongside higher rates of visitor buying
potential, professional agreements have
also become more prominent, Bohúa noting that “we expect a level increase of cooperation with companies from Brazil and
Uruguay, which have been activated during
SIMA 2011,” clarifying, however, that due
to commercial sensitivity “it is difficult to
detect all of them, as many of them have
not been released.”
Having apparently weathered the worst
of the storms to strike the industry, there
was the risk that the structural damage
might also have weakened the foundations.
Current indications, however, are giving
the organizers cautious optimism about
a recovery in the years ahead and the potential for the refurbished event to benefit
from this.
“Prices have fallen significantly in the
housing market and that will potentially
help to keep the number of house transfers
up,” Bohúa said. “Nearly 500,000 home
sales were recorded in Spain in 2010, but
as long as the loan restrictions remain, the
recovery will move slowly.”
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Technologically Constructive
Translating this optimism into action, this
year an entirely new strategy for the online
promotion of the event has been developed,
implemented as a conduit for the public to
remain well informed about the current
state of the Spanish real estate market as
well as on program additions and the exhibition’s initiatives.
“The results confirm that [the best use
of] technology not only helps, but is a necessity,” Bohúa said. “Social media provides us the ability to interact, to communicate with all the potential stakeholders of
the event and learn how the market works
best for them.”
Building on their completely revamped
website, since early this year SIMA has
been running a blog continually updating
subscribers with news, economic trends
and industry movements, content that is
then communicated via Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube.
“The cooperation with the exhibitors in
this field intends to help them to develop
their potential and have a better presence
at the exhibition,” Bohúa said. “From our
side, we encourage them to invest more resources in social media.”
Engaging these initiatives to ensure a
constructive presence for exhibitors and attendees, the organizers communicated in a
way that shaped the visitor experience to
less time spent in the corridors and more
at the pavilions. The outcome, according to
Bohúa, was that “on average, a SIMA attendee visited five pavilions, and the results
indicated by the exhibitors are more than
good, proving the event’s efficiency.”
Identifying this kind of close cooperation with exhibitors and the industry’s professionals as the priorities for a successful
course ahead, Bohúa stated that it “is the
Able to reflect on the
results of the event’s
previous years of turbulence to best understand how to address
ongoing challenges,
the organizers have
recently taken the decision to increase the
number of exhibitions
to three per annum,
seeking to hit targets
and attract more exhibitors and attendees
through promoting
continuity.
key to creating new content and ensuring
that the event evolves according to the
needs of the industry.”
Looking to the future, SIMA intends to
build on the momentum of its international
reach and focus on a targeted approach of
segments of the real estate industry.
“In a short time period, we plan to extend our model by focusing on more specific markets (both geographically and according to the product category),” Bohúa
added. “In the mid-term as much as the
long-term period, our goal is to establish
a focus on the end buyers—while SIMA
remains a professional platform—and specifically to act like a bridge between the European and Latin American markets.”
As the balmy Mediterranean winds continue to blow loose sand around the Residencial Francisco Hernando, it may yet
be some years before the apartments teem
with the life of their intended inhabitants.
But with an eye on making this become
real, the SIMA event is ensuring its own
foundations are firm and fast, foundations
that can help to achieve an outcome important to Madrid, Spain, and to Europe.
ARTEMIS SKORDILI is a freelance journalist
and TV reporter based in Athens, Greece.
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THE FUTURE OF
Meetings
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Technology is the most
significant area of change
facing the industry.
In fact, 18 percent
of meeting professionals have already encountered the move to virtual and/or
hybrid meetings—one reason that our industry places technology alongside politics,
competing values, CSR and social flux as key to the future of events. So says Phase
I MPI research into that latter topic (brought to you by PSAV, Jumeirah Hotels &
Resorts, Omni Hotels and the MPI Foundation).
Converging technologies, virtual meetings, information overload, remote conferencing, gamification, app development, 3-D printing, calm technologies, open source
and cloud computing, augmented reality and speech recognition will all change the
way companies do business and plan and host their meetings. And, while some of the
trends present challenges for the industry—in particular around delivering content
in-person—they also present opportunities to enhance and extend meetings beyond
face value.
“I see an increase in virtual meetings. Clients
are re-evaluating each meeting to see if they
really need to meet face to face.”
Rise of Virtual
Virtual meeting content will lead to more
Citrix (desktop sharing), webcasting, 3-D
environments and multiday events with
trade shows (ON24). The most popular
virtual reality presentations will be followed by internal meetings and training
to reinforce learning and outcomes. Delegates will become more familiar with
virtual environments and games as the
average time spent in virtual worlds grows
(currently 22 hours per week). Live events
will need to exceed what virtual events
deliver due to costs on both ends.
“This is the paradox of communications technology,” said T.S. Hu, author
of the 2010 article “A Hurting Society,”
published in the World Future Review.
“Although its goal is to encourage communication and interaction among individuals, it is actually hindering the most
effective means of communication by rendering the need for human contact largely
unnecessary.”
Virtual meetings are often necessary
as rapidity of information transforms
attendee expectations.
The desire to receive information
quickly and easily will result in shorter,
more strategic, targeted and content-rich
meetings. And while rapidity may shorten
meetings, information overload could
provide opportunity for meeting planners
to deliver content more effectively over
time. Structuring information might be the
unique selling proposition that will help
meetings differentiate themselves.
Respondents point to advances in
remote conferencing, technology and
audiovisual, which support other studies that say a combination of high-tech
presentations and remote conferencing
will enhance content over time.
Converging Games
Gamification—the adoption of gaming within content—is already here.
Planners use games as learning tools to
enhance collective activity and to push
participants to meet challenges within
events.
Linked to gamification: the growth
of tablet and smartphone apps. By
2015, there will be 148.6 million
smartphone users in the U.S. alone (up
from 90.1 million in 2011), representing 58 percent of mobile phone users
(up from 38 percent in 2011). As more
people adopt content on these devices,
access to information, the Internet and
podcasts will become easier and more
accessible. Event apps will become as
expected as Wi-Fi bandwidth, no longer the novelty, but the way to deliver
“Instant. Instant. Instant. We want things better
and faster at all times. Instantaneous communication will continue to drive networking, but
whether in person, or electronically, relationships are still about who you know.”
“Planners and delegates alike are becoming
more comfortable with technology. I do not see
face-to-face meetings going away, but I do see
everyone becoming more comfortable with
hybrid and online meeting technology.”
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content and the way for attendees to navigate, prompt and record their attendance
at meeting programs, exhibitions and
seminars.
New Dimensions
Respondents mention 3-D in terms of
screens. In other studies, “technologies that
stimulate all our senses” come in just under
50 percent—ahead of 3-D TV, 3-D hologram delegates, 3-D conference capture,
collaborative decision-making, virtual reality and the use of virtual event avatars.
Dimension presentation and product
technology will have a fundamental impact
on the meeting industry. New product sampling is a key industry trend, and further collaboration will likely produce new products.
3-D printing is already used in conferences
due to its open source nature. Look for
created around open-source software,”
said Paul Daugherty, managing director
of advanced systems and technology/technology growth platform for Accenture, in
a discussion last year on RedHat’s Open
Advantage business and technology site.
“Open-source software communities are
driving innovations in cloud, social networking and mobile, which bodes well for
its further adoption in the enterprise space.”
Recent research from the Enterprise
Council on Small Business, an advisory
organization outside of the meeting sector,
points to the information gap that exists in
small businesses, in particular as regards the
adoption of cloud computing.
Augmented Reality
AR (augmented reality) software mixes
real and virtual worlds. Emanating from
available on consumer-computing systems
for years. The SIRI voice recognition on
the Apple 4S mobile phone was a breakthrough in general availability and usability,
and similar systems are available on other
mobile systems such as Android. There are
still technical challenges to be overcome, of
course. Two different applications of this
technology:
• Speech-to-text transcription allows for
immediate tagging of keywords (also possible automatically), making the distribution
of presentations and talks rapid and providing almost-instant written notes. Delegates
no longer need to take notes. Implementation in meetings is not far away.
• New voice recognition technology
can identify speakers and distinguish among
them, which means panel discussions no
longer present issues.
Conclusion, Considerations
“Having information available in a cloud assists
in keeping members of a board or committee
engaged and informed, [and we are] creating
more transparent collaboration by using cloud
technology.”
rapid developments, which will drive costs
down and open up opportunities for build
on-demand services, product prototypes
and customization.
Everywhere, Everyone
Calm technology is portrayed in sci-fi movies as embedded into the surroundings. It
marks the disappearance of computers; they
are no longer perceived as devices but as
embedded elements of augmented artifacts
in the environment. Embedding meeting
technology will provide new opportunities
for content delivered in new formats. In
the further future, embedding unobtrusive,
second nature technological enhancements
within the fabric of venues and their facilities will be the norm.
Technology development trends can provide new perspective on the future. The use
of open sourcing to rapidly create, drive,
improve and access technology creates
expectations for increased collaboration
and the realization that alliances can occur
in geographically dispersed communities.
“A lot of innovation today is being
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technical domains such as maintenance
and complex machine training, AR has
become mainstream due to small, capable
devices, which have cameras and location
sensors and provide simple touch-screen
interaction. Head displays for hands-free
AR aren’t universally available, but handheld devices (tablet computers, smartphones) provide some initial glimpses into
what AR may provide in the future. It
can, for example, highlight print (such as
posters) with an additional layer of website links, visualizations and other relevant
information. AR can provide material
related to meeting theme/topic and maps
to meeting facilities.
Speech and Voice
Recognition
Speech recognition technology has been
The complete version of the report from
which the above has been excerpted is available at www.mpiweb.org/Portal/Research/
FutureofMeetings. It aggregates research,
recent studies, news and online sources and
academic literature along with responses
gathered in Phase I of the MPI Future of
Meetings research—all of which highlight
the need for strategic planning as trends
emerge.
By creating specific strategies, businesses
can activate early warning systems and the
industry can prepare and even construct
the future. The complete report provides an
overview of key trends, which will be further dissected in Phase II through interviews
with outside experts, social media specialists
and Gen Y focus groups.
Phase I demonstrates that myopic perceptions of the future will hamper the meeting sector and that a wider view of global
trends—both central and periphery—is critical for long-term survival. While new technology is essential in all business, it needs to
be better understood in terms of communication, learning, connection, construction,
design, interaction, exchange and growth.
Technology overshadows the horizon for
meeting planners as both a trend and a
symptom of other trends.
Get More Now
To read this complete report as well as more MPI future of meetings
content, visit www.mpiweb.org/Portal/Research/FutureofMeetings.
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The flame of revolution
was lit by the self-immolation
of a Tunisian street vendor.
One year after the
ARAB
SPRING,
the region’s meeting and
event industry continues
healing and explores its future.
BY ARTEMIS SKORDILI
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In December 2010, Mohamed
Bouazizi became the first martyr
of a revolution to become known
as the Arab Spring, shaking the
region into uprisings against authoritarian regimes that had over
years consolidated their dominion by promising reforms and a
better future for their people—
promises that were never to be
honored.
The popular will for change that rapidly escalated sparked
widespread and unprecedented riots, leading to the overthrow
of the leaders of Egypt, Libya and Tunisia and causing ongoing chaos in the region. The political progressiveness of the
Arab Spring had a price, one of a business realm fully unprepared for how to sustain itself or develop a new direction
under shifting political parameters. The lingering political turmoil having nurtured a climate of uncertainty for investors
and visitors alike, who were, understandably, less willing to
visit the region for business or pleasure, a consequence that
may yet prove to be one of the most damaging of the Arab
Spring.
EGYPT’S SPRING WINDOW DRESSING
While the meeting industry was also a victim of the political
instability of these countries, numerous scheduled events were
forced into canceling. However, INTERGAS-VI, the 6th International Conference & Exhibition for Oil & Gas, managed to
tackle the challenges and take place as the first international
exhibition held in Cairo after the Egyptian riots, May 10-12,
2011, at the Cairo International Conference Center (CICC).
“Clearly the main challenge this year was the Arab Spring
and to know firstly whether the industry was ready to hold
the event,” explained Mohammed Shiha, event organizer and
meeting planner at Egypt International Fairs. “But as we have
continuous relationships with all players throughout the industry, we were sure that they would continue to benefit from
the event being held on time. One thing is for sure, every year
there are challenges to overcome, whether local or of a global
nature, but business must go on.”
With the need to reinvigorate the business landscape also
driving the event, ensuring security was in place at every stage
was a critical issue for organizers, who acknowledged that
there was a small impact from companies reluctant to travel
to the region.
Given the security-focused context of hosting the event,
a knock-on consequence of new operational conditions was
that organizers did not feel that getting the event back on track
could also allow for much experimentation with new information or show innovation. This did not, however, detract from
the show meeting its exhibitor targets and attracting new companies to Egypt alongside staple exhibitors, a benefit of the
show being co-organized and promoted by the CWC Group,
offering an outsider’s view and stronger reassurance of conditions in Egypt.
“We were successful in achieving our aims of around 50
percent of international exhibitors and 50 percent domestic,”
Shiha said.
The event as potential shop window to the world was
clearly demonstrated in hosting for the first time Thailand’s
PTT Exploration & Production Public Co., there to investigate possible investment opportunities. The balance between
re-establishing the event post-turmoil and generating new
business, however, was more accurately reflected in the modest numbers of partnerships and agreements arising. Organizers consider the circumstances under which the exhibition was
held as a factor in this.
“Most companies were a little uncertain, however, uniformly the feedback was extremely positive in terms of contacts that the companies made, the quality of the companies at
the exhibition and the numbers of meaningful conversations
that were had with visitors,” Shiha said.
The challenges for the coming years on how to overcome
this sense of uncertainty and to re-attract exhibitors and visitors to a secure event in light of all that has passed in Egypt’s
Arab Spring is something the organizers embrace, Shiha declared.
“The major challenge is to bring the event to the position
where it will be rightly regarded as the leading oil and gas conference and exhibition on the continent, and then to keep that
position by continuously challenging ourselves with dynamic
and informative conference programs that reflect current conditions, whilst trying to provide a crystal ball for the future,
with new methods of bringing people together and interactive
ways for people to network,” Shiha said.
A WESTERLY SPRING BREEZE
To the west of Egypt and directly northwest of Libya lies Tunisia, a country whose event organizers, venues and chambers of
commerce might like to borrow INTERGAS’ crystal ball for
their own future. While the political situation there has settled
down, the Arab Spring badly affected tourism, with many hotels remaining closed today. The instability that came about as
a result of the revolution combined with a lack of significant
foreign investment has had a direct influence on their meeting
and event industry.
“The effect of this situation was the decision by the great
majority of foreign exhibitors and visitors to decline participation in the most important events planned in Tunisia during
that critical period,” said Mounir Mouakhar, president of the
Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) of Tunis, further
adding that “consequently, the impact was very depressing
for our economy, considering that the enterprises which were
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WIKICOMMONS (5)
With a history of close association with France and southern
Europe, Tunisian meeting
professionals view international
collaboration as the main
supporting column of their
events’ framework, the one
most severely afflicted by
the political upheaval and in
urgent need of repair.
supposed to visit Tunisia at this time were potentially future
investors, and the result was also the postponing of all future
events.”
From the event organizer perspective, Achraf Bejaoui considers the Arab Spring to be something of a double-edged sword
for business.
“Firstly, negative, because some permanent southern-European companies left the Tunisian market over their fear of
political instability and strikes, but on the other hand it may
be positive, because we no longer depend on the southern-European market,” said Bejaoui, international sales manager of
Tunis-based Sogefoires International. “From now on, Tunisia
can become a destination for investors from all over the world.”
With a history of close association with France and southern
Europe, Tunisian meeting professionals clearly view international collaboration as the main supporting column of their
events’ framework, the one most severely afflicted by the political upheaval and in urgent need of repair. The challenge is how
to reconstruct this and in which form.
“The big deal [for us] is to find the foreign partner, and that
depends on the strategy followed by the convention center in
order to attract participants and exhibitors,” Mouakhar said.
“In my opinion, this depends on the power of persuasion of the
centers.”
The domestic collaboration already in place between the
CCI and Tunisian exhibition centers helped minimize overall
damage and, to a degree, stabilize confidence.
Consequently, despite the political instability and the
challenges it had to confront, the Tunis CCI chose 2011
as the first year for the Tunis-Medindustrie exhibition, an
international event that managed to attract more than 170
companies.
According to Mouakhar, organizers for Tunis-Medindustrie and others made tremendous efforts to overcome any potential difficulties that might occur under the socio-economic
adversities facing Tunisia at this politically unstable time. A
key factor also helping the industry through this critical period has been the decision of exhibition centers in Tunisia to
keep their doors open, believing there to be enterprises still
keen on participating in the scheduled events.
“Amazingly, the events organized were as successful as
previous ones, even though we had some difficulties actually
making them happen,” Bejaoui said. “Fortunately, security,
which could be the primary factor to hinder the exhibition,
regained its stability very fast.”
Having managed to keep the industry buoyant throughout 2011, 2012 finds the region’s travel and tourism professionals optimistic that there will be a proper recovery, boosted by reducing hotel prices to attract and enlarge the visitor
base and encouraging tourism in Tunisia by widely promoting security and enhancing domestic and foreign tourism.
IN THE EYE OF THE STORM
This is an image that might take some convincing for potential
visitors to neighboring Libya, wedged between Tunisia and
Egypt and where the few scheduled professional events were
written off as a consequence of an intense civil war, which
reduced the nation’s pivotal oil industry to a state of paralysis. LIBYA OIL & GAS, one of the few representative events
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held in the country, was forced to cancel its 2011 event at the
Tripoli International Fairground.
“Our Libya event has been running for five years now—
except last year because of the revolution,” said Will Martin,
consultant at event organizer Montgomery Libya Ltd. “It was
scheduled for October 2011, but come February it was the
start of the revolution and by the end of April we knew there
was no way we could put it together within the timeframe. It
had to be canceled.”
Yet, organizers consider that this may prove to be a turning point for both Libya and the region. No time was wasted
to prepare for the next exhibition, set for April 2012, and
overcome the challenges and difficulties arising from the Arab
Spring to earn the trust of 120 predominantly domestic exhibiting companies—an uptick of 50 percent from the previous
event.
“Undoubtedly, the potential for growth is much greater
now,” Martin said. “The Tripoli industrial fair ground is very
basic, with no more than 2,000 square meters under any single
roof. It has the additional constraints of being old and decrepit
and situated in the middle of town, which suffers from bad
traffic.
“The facilities at present are very underdeveloped and
we have to bring our own facilities and equipment,” he continued. “Basic expectations, such as Wi-Fi, are not in place,
and the spaces are difficult to use. There is talk in government
circles about it, however, and there is an understanding of how
important this is for economic growth.”
The talk in government circles that Martin refers to is
about creating a modern exhibition center to attract new visitors and form part of the strategy for developing tourism in
Libya, which, Martin believes, can help properly establish
business tourism, get the country back to stability and help
find its economic rhythm.
“Libya is not an easy market to work in for many reasons,
and a pragmatic, longer-term approach is necessary for a plan
that will pay off,” Martin said. “Selling to the Arab world is
a slow process—good contacts are something that may take
time, but you can build on that and many people want to do
business in Libya.
SECURING THE REGION’S SUCCESS
North Africa and the Middle East have seen both good and
bad times in recent years, and the latest political upheaval
has yet to run its course. The future success for the region
will be built on a secure meetings framework, not only for
human traffic to destinations, but also for information traffic.
Websites for international events across the region have been
hacked to threaten potential visitors and advertise insurgent
activity; phone numbers have also been cut off.
Meeting professionals are working to strengthen the sense
of security and regain the confidence of exhibitors and visitors,
something that will only be possible with the stability and involvement of each country’s state authorities. As a result, event
organizers are currently adjusting to the new demands of the
region and addressing the challenges set by the new political
conditions.
“The Arab Spring has certainly created some uncertainty
in the marketplace, and my recommendation to potential ex-
Meeting professionals are
working to strengthen the
sense of security and regain
the confidence of exhibitors
and visitors, something that
will only be possible with the
stability and involvement of
each country’s state authorities.
hibitors and visitors would be to travel and attend those events
that are truly established or that have the proper support of
the relevant government ministry or authority,” Shiha said.
For his part, Mouakhar stresses that it is now imperative that Tunisia works in order to secure visitors and exhibitors and that all actions must be carried out in conjunction with the appropriate public authorities as well as the
private sector.
The political turbulence and operational challenges, despite their scale, have not in any way dampened optimism
in some parts of the region, however. What will unfold in
Syria and Bahrain remains an unknown. From Egypt to Tunisia, however, business professionals are optimistic about
the future, recognizing the growth potential and the challenges they need to face—they are setting new goals, while
bearing in mind that the Arab Spring may yet have a long
way to go.
ARTEMIS SKORDILI is a freelance TV and print journalist based in
Athens, Greece.
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BUILDING
YOUR
TROJAN
HORSE
THE CHALLENGE
OF FINDING
PROFIT AND
SUCCESS IN
TODAY’S
TOUGH
LANDSCAPE
AS SEEN
THROUGH
A UNIQUE
EUROPEAN
LENS.
BY ROB COTTER
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IT’S UNLIKELY THE ANCIENT GREEKS’ LEGENDARY TROJAN HORSE
maneuver would have much military currency today, however a battle currently raging in Greece is demanding a similar
level of strategic ingenuity to help deliver an
outcome that might once again turn things
in their favor. Since the onset of the global
financial crisis (GFC), the Greek economy
has taken an unprecedented pummeling:
economic contraction of almost 15 percent, unemployment creeping toward the
20 percent mark, social unrest, businesses
folding daily and low business confidence.
Although Greece has dominated media exposure of the Eurozone crisis, the malaise
is now widespread, with the beleaguered
economies of the peripheral European nations having to battle especially hard to
sustain a viable business sector. Often disparagingly referred to as the PIG economies
(Portugal, Ireland and Greece) they face their
greatest challenge of leveraging business renaissance in the most hostile economic climate
imaginable.
Behind today’s economic challenge for these three countries stands also a stern one for the meeting industry, one
that will redefine its own parameters for growth: How can
it remain not just viable but also profitable throughout these
times? How can it continue to attract attendees despite global
economic tumult? In short: What initiatives can be implemented for a surprise offensive on a stifled business climate to help
an industry at a crossroads?
Making an arduous situation even more complex is that a
one-size-fits-all approach is unviable—the different challenges
and their potential solutions have become manifest through
each country’s different social and business landscape and response to change.
“In Greece, the main concern nowadays is the effort to
‘restart’ the economy and provide all possible provisions for
future growth and renewed development,” said Konstantinos
Zikos, president of the Greek National Tourism Organization
(GNTO). “The other important challenge that we have to face
as a country is to deal with the impression that has been created regarding our image and especially our reputation as a
meeting destination.”
A media-tarnished image has been a special case for
Greece’s capital and main meeting destination, with Alexia
Panagiotopoulou, the Athens Convention Bureau’s (ACB)
marketing and sales director, stating that “the main problem
we foresee is the mistrust of conference organizers toward
the city, due to all the bad publicity we are getting from the
media.”
That prominent headline placement on the world stage (as
of late and for all the wrong reasons) is one of Greece’s greatest challenges.
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Having avoided any scenes of social unrest and the disproportionate media spotlight cast on Athens, the challenges confronting the Irish meeting industry offer a different perspective from
the kaleidoscope of current industry pressures.
“MICE buyers around the world are under increasing
pressures, trying to maximize their return with tighter budgets,” said Keith McCormack, head of business tourism and
events at Fáilte Ireland. “This tighter budget management has
also reduced the amount of time available to them outside of
the office and the number of buyer
meetings they can entertain. Customer
relationship management and engagement is vital in this industry, and Ireland is very aware it needs to respond
to a changing environment—in terms
of the product we offer (value for
money) and the way we engage with
our customers.”
This outward-looking perspective
is balanced further south by Portugal’s
own more introspective focus.
“The problem so far has been
greater restrictions as regards credit
for companies and access to finance,”
said Linda Pereira, managing director
of Portugal DMC CPL Events. “Sponsorship is also down and this is where
creativity comes in. The support that
existed for international bids has disappeared, so it has resulted in a lot
more risk sharing as regards local suppliers. It is about doing more and better for less.”
Buyer pressures, tightened budgets, risk-sharing, social unrest...with
the myriad challenges apparent, there
needs to be a range of responses, at all
levels, on how to develop strategies
to best deal with them. Common to
each is the need to address challenges
via respective strengths, which has
forced industry professionals to take
an urgent look at what these strengths
might be in the current context and
how they might best be nurtured and
developed.
Greece is also keen to build on
Athens’ ability to handle events at each end of the scale in
a desirable destination. ACB’s Panagiotopoulou says “it was
proved beyond any doubt that Athens has the potential, the
resources and the infrastructure to facilitate mega events, such
as the Olympic Games in 2004, the Special Olympics in 2011
and other events of such stature.”
Clearly unable to join Greece and Portugal in profiteering from the climatic benefits naturally bestowed upon southern European destinations, the Irish meeting industry is concentrating on initiatives that have raised its professional and
service offer to a level where it has genuinely competed with
longer-established global destinations.
“Over the last number of years, Ireland has been performing well in the business tourism market, performance
built on several initiatives now helping us through the challenging time,” McCormack said. “There is a Conference
Ambassador Program and Conference Alliance (a ‘Team Ireland’ approach); there is also a Business Tourism Industry Forum, which discusses the strategic challenges facing Ireland’s
business tourism, with stakeholder
group agreement on appropriate action plans to overcome the immediate challenges; with Fáilte Ireland’s
Conference Research Unit and the
city convention bureau we have the
ability to respond to our customers’
challenges as a team; and Dublin’s
Convention Center, opened in 2010,
gave us the ability to ‘go for’ new
segments of the market, new product
development being launched at a very
important time.”
Having held a mirror to themselves
as meeting destinations and identified
the idiosyncratic strengths of their
respective countries against the current challenges, Ireland, Portugal and
Greece have wasted no time embarking on a series of initiatives that have
the potential for significant change,
not only to the industry nationally,
but worldwide. Greece—main European periphery victim of the GFC—
in responding to the scale of the
task, set out to transform its industry
through changes that it believes will
make an already attractive destination quite possibly an irresistible one.
“Greece and Athens continue to be
promising destinations for any kind
of events,” Zikos said. “Greece is full
of places and venues of great historical interest. The Greek state recognizes the importance of sharing this
legacy with the international community and, in collaboration with the
GNTO, the Ministry of Culture and
Tourism is preparing a list of historical venues that will be
available to organizers for certain social and other functions
of their events, with swift procedures in obtaining permits and
approval. What we are planning is a kind of ‘fast track’ in
processing requests to use venues of this kind and character
and to handle these requests in a more flexible attitude, always
respecting the historical and cultural heritage.”
Highlighting more added value for delegates, the ACB is
creating a city pass, which will offer visitors access to all archaeological sites, museums and public transport in the city at
ALTHOUGH GREECE
HAS DOMINATED
MEDIA EXPOSURE
OF THE EUROZONE
CRISIS, THE MALAISE IS NOW WIDESPREAD, WITH THE
BELEAGUERED
ECONOMIES OF THE
PERIPHERAL EUROPEAN NATIONS HAVING TO BATTLE
ESPECIALLY HARD
TO SUSTAIN A
VIABLE BUSINESS
SECTOR.
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competitive, fixed rates.
“Furthermore, we are examining the possibility of putting
together a delegate daily rate for delegates during their stay,”
Panagiotopoulou said.
With support beginning to flow more smoothly and a
receptivity to synergies from the
once notoriously rigid public institutions, Greek meeting organizers
are confident that the infrastructure already in place is of a quality and standard to benefit from
these initiatives and safeguard the
industry’s attractiveness.
Feeling ready to showcase
itself is a message that Greece
wants to convey and is one with
which they have engaged both social media and local volunteers as
suitable channels.
“An initiative that has been
put in place by the City of
Athens - Athens Economic and
Tourism Development company is the ‘This is My Athens’
voluntary program,” Panagiotopoulou said. “The program
is part of the city’s strategy to promote the destination,
while involving Athenians who love their city and want visi-
tors to love it, too. The locals dedicate a few hours of their
time each month to show around visitors and take them to
attractive and hidden parts of the city. The service is free
and offered to delegates who wish to have an insight of the
city from the citizens themselves.”
A complementary outside-looking-in social media initiative allows
visitors to recount their memories of
a trip to Greece on YouTube.
In these economic times, it is telling that the Greek social media campaign was launched with success in
Russia—the BRIC economies are notable for bucking the GFC and registering significant economic growth,
making them fertile ground for meeting industry marketing efforts. This
has also not been lost on Portugal,
whose colonial past connects them
with Asia and India, but especially
so with Brazil.
The cultural and commercial differences between the peripheries is reflected in their options
and approach to the challenges, with Ireland, Europe’s most
westerly periphery, forced to explore a web of alternative
strategies for expanded outreach.
REVERSAL IS IN
THE AIR AND THIS
IS AN OPPORTUNE
MOMENT FOR THE
INDUSTRY TO BUILD
A NEW LEGEND FOR
ITSELF.
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“We’re now much more flexible, that is reflected in the
pricing policy models—with us that is shared risk, for example,” said Patrick Delaney, managing director of MCI Dublin.
“On top of all this, we are a classic, experiential and authentic destination, with a much more important embedded CSR
component, too.”
The importance of the state sector’s active part of this
structure comes through several successful initiatives that have
continued the positive momentum of Ireland’s rosier economic
days of the turn of the millennium.
“I actually look to the future with a very positive view,”
Pereira said. “The government is currently restructuring its
promotion policies, which I believe will lead to greater involvement of the private sector. This is also one of the best
quality/cost destinations in Europe and as such it is more
about positioning ourselves more wisely and running ahead of
the trends.”
“Ireland is implementing the needed measures to turn
around our deficit challenges,” said Fáilte Ireland’s McCormack. “To date, the tourism product has performed very well
and has made the necessary changes. There are no certainties
in this climate, but we are very well positioned to continue to
deliver the infrastructure that needs to be in place for events.”
From Portugal via Ireland, the mood of optimism completes
its peripheral loop in Europe’s southeastern corner.
Standing strong, just as the Trojan Horse once did, current
initiatives that generate positive outcomes in light of economic
adversity will be adding their own touch of mythology to history being made in the meeting industry field. The great pressure on the peripheral countries is producing some exceptional
results, and also positioning them favorably to weather the
crisis and come through the tumult a stronger and more attractive proposition.
In reversing expectations of the current negative economic
climate, those involved in the meeting industry will also be
reversing the Trojan horse myth: contrary to what it is known
for today, it will have to become a force for good. There is
currently an international construction force working on the
horse and an international brigade of ideas shaping up for the
attack—soldiers include stronger identification of markets, risksharing, optimum value and service, access to new facilities,
assured short lead-in times, intensified public-private synergies
and many other battalions. They are an international force with
a common language—successful meetings. Reversal is in the air
and this is an opportune moment for the industry to build a
new legend for itself. It is also an opportune time to discover the
great initiatives that these countries are working on and avail
of new levels of service and access to facilities that may set the
benchmark for the industry into the 21st century.
ROB COTTER is a regular contributor to One+ based in Berlin.
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LEE TOWNDROW
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Defining the
Indefinable
Unconference designer Misha Glouberman is
humanizing relationships—one event at a time.
BY SHEILA HETI
When host, conference organizer, author
and workshop leader Misha Glouberman
was trying to figure out what career he was
most suited for, he approached his friends, one by one,
took them out for coffee and asked them the same four questions: “What do you think I’m good at? What are some things
I seem to enjoy doing? What are some things I’m bad at? What
are some things I don’t like to do?”
This may seem like a strange way of going about things,
but for Glouberman, it was the most natural. He is someone
who works and thinks best in conversation with other people.
He trusts people and never gives the impression that he thinks
he’s the only one with the right answer. He’s curious and inquiring and likes dealing with lots of data, especially data that
comes from what other people say. He’s analytic and thorough
in his thinking, taking nothing for granted (including what he
likes to do!) and has a healthy dose of self-doubt.
Oddly, when he conducted these interviews 10 years ago,
he was not a young or unschooled man; he was a Harvard philosophy graduate in his mid-30s and one of the most soughtafter hosts in Toronto—someone whose name was routinely
invoked when organizers were trying to make an event more
engaging, fun and smart. He was frequently recognized in the
streets and often asked to audition for hosting positions at
CBC Radio, Canada’s national broadcaster (imagine something between NPR and the BBC). He was best-known for his
charming, quick-witted conducting of a monthly barroom lecture series, Trampoline Hall, at which people deliver prepared
talks on subjects outside their areas of expertise.
The answers Glouberman received from his friends surprised him; everyone noticed the same skills: They said he
should be on his feet before crowds, not sitting at a desk; he
should do a variety of different things that should involve
teaching, communication or talking with people in some way.
Finally, almost everyone wondered why he was conducting
this exercise in the first place. His friends all told him, “Misha,
you have a job.” But when he asked them, “What?” no one
could really say.
Imagine a tall, burly-ish man with lots of
black curly hair and a beard, who wears a largish suit
and a wide tie, who has a kind, concerned expression and a
slightly sped-up way of talking, who is quick and funny (he
worked on the Harvard Lampoon in college); someone with
a lot of charisma.
Many of his projects can seem like impractical, ridiculous
art projects: Glouberman taught a six-week class in how to
play charades; he taught a class on happiness to his friends,
which he held in his kitchen and took no money for (the
point was partly so that he could understand “what everyone around me thought they were up to”). He runs a series
of events called “Terrible Noises for Beautiful People” where
he gets non-musicians to engage in vocal sound improvisations. He ran a weekly games night at a boutique hotel, where
people played such games as Scrabble, Jenga and “Cobra,” a
complex music-improv game designed by experimental composer John Zorn.
Increasingly, however, he also does more obviously practical work. He runs a neighborhood residents association, on
behalf of whom he negotiates with bars and the city government, trying to keep everyone’s interests on the table in an area
that’s quickly becoming gentrified. That work led him to an
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RANNIE TURINGAN (3)
interest in conflict resolution and teaching classes in negotiation
and communication, based on the “Principled Negotiation”
approach taught at Harvard. One student of the class, Marsha Stall, who is involved in meeting planning and produces
training materials, called Glouberman “possibly one of the best
teachers or presenters I have ever encountered.” And of course,
he runs conferences.
Among his most notable projects was a conference at which
people who worked as doctors or engineers or such things in
their home countries but now drove cabs or worked as security
guards met to discuss immigration policy and their experiences, a day he describes as “moving and tremendous.” Another
time, he helped carefully selected people on opposite ends of the
copyright debate come together and talk, where previously they
had been communicating through “angry press releases.”
“What I want to do is humanize relationships,” Glouberman says, “because a lot of the time, if there are people you
don’t know personally, who you disagree with, you can perceive
them as just an abstract enemy, but often if you can meet and
talk to them, that changes how you see them.”
One of his favorite recent events was Handheld, an unconference he worked on with the documentary filmmaker Katerina Cizek and the National Film Board (NFB). The purpose
of the “small, light structure” they developed (he always wants
to keep structures “small” and “light”) was to open lines of
communication between health-care providers, policy wonks,
politicians and some of the most disadvantaged end-users of the
system: homeless mothers.
“We wanted people to speak about things that are unspoken,” Cizek says. “Precisely the reason we chose Misha is because he’s aligned with that philosophy of approach.”
The NFB had produced a film of these young mothers, and
one of the challenges of the conference was to incorporate that
longish film (in which the mothers are mostly critical of the system) into the day’s conversation in an effective way. They structured the event so that people watched the film in short bits and
then talked about them in small discussion groups—going back
and forth like that—so the film became a part of an ongoing
conversation.
Putting the young women up there on the big screen and
also having them in the room helped make them the stars of
the event.
“These were people who are often treated with a lot of
disrespect,” Glouberman says, “but at the event, they were the
people you hoped to have in your group, and to sit next to at
lunch. They are valued as the most expert people there.”
It might sound like an overly heavy or dreary day, but it
wasn’t. Glouberman’s events never have that feeling.
“There’s a lightness that he brings to the present moment
that’s just so key,” Cizek says. “It sets a whole tone and mood
for the space. He’s funny, and there’s something so unintimidating about him, and he’s brilliantly smart and sensitive, and
his keen sense of observation really creates something true and
unique in the moment.”
As a conference designer, Glouberman’s methodology
draws on techniques such as Open Space and unconferences—
designs that focus on how to get participants to connect with
“What I want to
do is humanize
relationships.”
each other in useful ways. At his events, participants spend most
of the time talking in small groups with people who share their
interests.
“If you have a hundred people at a conference, the best
thing to do is, as much as possible, let them make the decisions
about what gets discussed,” he says. “They’ll do a better job
than a planning committee will.”
The part of all this that is uniquely Misha is his insistence
on establishing a contract with the audience or the participants
at the start of any event, plus a quality that might be called
kindness.
“A lot of shows in bars say they’re going to start at eight
and then start at nine, so right off the bat you’ve kind of broken
a promise to your audience,” he says. “At Trampoline Hall, I
stand on stage and tell people exactly how long it’s going to be
until the show starts, so if we’re going to be a couple of minutes
late, I tell people that well in advance. Once the show begins, I
do a 10-minute introduction where I spell out the terms. It can
seem like a joke, but it’s very real. I explain that we’re going to
open the floor for questions after each lecture; I explain what’s
expected in their questions; I explain that they’re expected not
to talk during the show. I think all those contracts make a huge
difference. What happens a lot of the time in a lot of events I
attend, is someone asks a question and they go on for three minutes and there’s no question there. Most people hate this, but if
you haven’t established a contract and someone does that, as a
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Meet Misha
Meet and learn from Misha Glouberman at the 2012
World Education Congress (WEC), the annual networking and adult education event
(this year taking place July
2012
28-31 in St. Louis, Missouri).
Glouberman will bring his
World Education Congress
July 28-31 • St. Louis, Missouri
engaging style to the ideafest Flash Point, and will also
discuss unconferences during
his own concurrent session. You can also connect with
him during a signing of The Chairs are Where the
People Go, which he co-authored with Sheila Heti.
For more information about WEC and to register, visit
www.mpiweb.org/wec.
Read Misha
moderator you can try and get them to stop, but they’re going
to take it personally. However, if you make that rule really clear
at the beginning—what the expectation is—when someone
does that, you can stop them.”
Jacob Zimmer, who works with Glouberman to run an
annual conference for theater professionals, says “I think he’s
a genius at hosting, in a way that I don’t quite believe in genius. I think it mostly comes out of him caring a lot. He really cares about how people meet each other and how ideas
get exchanged, and his ability to handle that in the moment of
performance is really remarkable.”
And though he was initially unsure about what his role as
Trampoline Hall host should involve, Glouberman has since
come to understand his place.
“I knew that the people lecturing onstage were going to be
very uncomfortable, as most of them had never spoken publicly
before, and I realized I could take on the job of making them feel
more comfortable up there. I suppose that’s what I wanted to
do—make things nicer for them,” he says. “Then that naturally
extended to the audience, too. Someone would ask a question
that didn’t make any sense, and my inclination was, How can I
help them? How can I help them clarify this thing that they’ve
been struggling with? Your audience is doing you a great favor
by paying attention to you, and you want to return that favor by
being good to them. That extends to everything—it even extends
to thinking about how to set up chairs for them.”
Several years ago, I approached Misha
Glouberman with the idea of writing a
book together. I usually write novels for
a living, but this time I wanted to write a
sort of practical, philosophical self-help
book. Misha was the only person I knew
whose ideas could carry such a project.
Few people actually have a unique, clear
and interesting system of thought, developed through years of engaging with the world, but he
does. The book we wound up with has 72 chapters, each
on a different topic he cares about: improvisation, monogamy, games, making friends, quitting smoking. The
title, The Chairs Are Where the People Go, comes from a
simple idea outlined in one of the chapters: that you can
tell how much the organizers have thought about their
audience by the way they’ve set up the chairs.
We weren’t sure how the book would be received, but
people took to Glouberman’s voice the way they take to
him in real life.
When I asked him the other day whether he could, at this point, define his job,
he surprised me by saying that now he could: “I’m interested in how people connect with each other, especially in
groups. A lot of what I do is I build structures in which people can connect with each other, and then I oversee those
structures.”
I asked if having that definition gave him some satisfaction.
“No,” Glouberman said, laughing. “But I think I’m more
satisfied with not being satisfied. The bigger point is that I love
this stuff that I’m doing. I really love it and I’m incredibly lucky
to have so many opportunities to do things that are enjoyable to
me and that feel useful in the world.”
Talking to his friends resulted in the best thing possible for
Glouberman. And it’s just that kind of open, genuinely curious
talking with others that he hopes to facilitate for us.
SHEILA HETI is the author of five books. She lives in Toronto.
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YOUR COMMUNITY
Great Speakers for WEC
2012
World Education Congress
July 28-31 • St. Louis, Missouri
The clock continues to tick down toward the
World Education Congress (WEC) in St. Louis
in July. This year’s WEC is all about connectivity,
and the Opening General Session will bring the
notion of connectivity full circle. Jonah Lehrer
(sponsored by The Lavin Agency), author of the
bestsellers How
We Decide and
Imagine: How
Creativity Works,
will lead the
Jonah Lehrer
opening session as
its keynote speaker
on Sunday, July 29. (Also read our full profile of
Lehrer in the May issue of One+.)
MPI has also landed Nicholas Christakis
(sponsored by The Harry Walker Agency Inc.),
co-author of the acclaimed book Connected:
The Surprising Power of Our Social Networks
Nicholas Christakis
and How They Shape Our Lives, as the keynote
speaker for the Closing General Session on Tuesday, July 31. The closing session will reinforce
how people aren’t merely animals in the usual
sense, for we don’t live in groups—we live in
networks.
Get Involved and Volunteer With MPI
Online applications to serve on an MPI committee, advisory council or task force for 2012-2013 are open. Applications for international service are due by 9 p.m. CDT April 20. Members currently serving on MPI committees, advisory
councils and task forces will not need to complete new applications. Volunteer evaluation and interest forms for current
volunteers will be distributed early this month, and all member appointments will be finalized by late May. Newly
appointed members will assume positions July 1. Apply at MPIWeb.org. For more information, contact Janice Parker at
(972) 702-3048 or jparker@mpiweb.org.
D’Aoust Named MPI Chief Operating Officer
MPI announced the appointment of its new chief operating officer, Cynthia (Cindy)
D’Aoust, in February after a
comprehensive search. D’Aoust
will report directly to the organization’s president and CEO,
Bruce MacMillan, and will lead
operational deployment of MPI
3.0, MPI’s strategic business
plan, through key business units
of the organization.
D’Aoust brings more than 20
years of leadership experience
to MPI. She has held key positions in business development,
project and operations management and business intelligence
with Maxvantage (the strategic alliance between Maritz
Travel Company and American
Express) and with the Maritz
Travel Company - Meetings,
Events and Incentives Division.
A recognized expert on
business solutions and trends in
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the meeting industry, D’Aoust
is frequently asked to speak at
industry conferences, serve
on panels and
conduct education sessions
focused on strategic meetings
management.
She has been
published in
several leading
publications,
including Future Pharmaceuticals,
Business Travel
News and
Business Travel World, and also
profiled in One+.
“Cindy’s leadership track
record of creating value for
customers and stakeholders is
unparalleled,” MacMillan said.
“Her familiarity with key busi-
ness and professional development trends in our industry will
allow MPI to accelerate effective
implementation
of our education
and certification
program.”
In her most
recent position,
D’Aoust was
vice president of
shared services
with Maxvantage.
“Maxvantage,
Maritz Travel and
American Express
are focused on
innovating meeting planning and management
and have always been staunch
supporters of MPI’s industry
efforts. We are supportive of
Cindy and look forward to
experiencing what is to come
in our continued, collaborative
efforts,” said Steve O’Malley,
general manager, Maxvantage.
D’Aoust has been an active
member of MPI, most recently
serving on its International
Board of Directors.
“My clients, peers, colleagues and friends have
provided me a wealth of opportunity, experiences and fond
memories over my career. This
move was an easy choice to
make knowing that they are all
behind me and rooting for me
and MPI. Our mutual objectives
haven’t changed, just the opportunity for me to play a more
focused role in identifying and
developing the next chapter for
the meeting industry,” D’Aoust
said.
Cindy D’Aoust will be relocating her family from Philadelphia to Dallas and will begin
her position with MPI on April
9, 2012.
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>>
MAKING A DIFFERENCE
Remembering Larry Lee
The events industry lost an icon in December when Larry
Lee unexpectedly passed away. Lee was a leader in the Las
Vegas entertainment and business community, as well as
one of the top show producers and a steadfast supporter of
the MPI Foundation.
Lee’s remarkable career included nearly every aspect of
show business, from booking headliner talent at the Aladdin Hotel in the early 1970s to directing entertainment
at the Tropicana Hotel to producing the world-famous
“Folies Bergere”—which he took to England and performed for the Queen. He
also worked with a wide array of legendary performers, among them Bob Hope,
Tony Bennett and Jack Benny.
But perhaps most significantly, Lee
co-founded Encore Productions, working
alongside business partners and friends
Phil Cooper and Bill Dayton. His industry
knowledge, performer contacts and personal
associations were instrumental in growing
Encore into an award-winning audiovisual
company, producing events around the
world. Lee also played an integral role in
establishing Encore’s full-service satellite
rental offices in 15 top Vegas hotels.
Encore—acquired by Freeman in September 2010—has also long supported the
MPI Foundation, and continues to do so as
a title sponsor for The Big Deal.
“The Big Deal was a very important
event for Larry Lee and Encore’s sponsorship,” said Fred Onsaga, Encore events director. “Larry was involved in every
aspect of producing the event, making sure it was exciting and fun for MPI
members as well as a perfect showcase for partner sponsors Las Vegas Meetings by Caesars Entertainment and Hilton Worldwide. Larry was an all-around
great guy.”
Ken Sanders, president of Freeman Audio Visual Solutions and immediate
past chairman of the MPI Foundation, says Lee’s career also included a lifetime of
mentoring young people.
“The industry lost a pioneer and a great man,” Sanders said. “The Foundation
is forever grateful for his contributions. There will never be anyone like Larry.”
Larry Lee Memorial Fund
Encore Productions has been extraordinarily generous over the
past few years with in-kind donations of time, equipment and
expertise to MPI Foundation events such as The Big Deal. The
Foundation’s Larry Lee Memorial Fund has now been established
to provide scholarships for students wishing to attend IMEX
America. To date, the Foundation has raised roughly $24,000 in
honor of Lee. To learn more about the scholarship or to make a
donation, visit www.mpifoundation/scholarship/LarryLee.
CONTRIBUTORS The MPI Foundation thanks the following
organizations and individuals for their generous support.
THOUGHT LEADER
AIBTM
Freeman AV
Gaylord Entertainment
IHG
Jumeirah
Marriott International
Omni Hotels
PSAV
INNOVATOR
Caesars Entertainment
Dallas CVB
Hyatt Hotels
Las Vegas Sands Corp.
Rosen Hotels and Resorts
Wyndham Hotel Group
ADVOCATE
Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority
AT&T Park
AVT Event Technologies
Caesars Windsor
Canadian Tourism Commission
Fairmont Hotels & Resorts
IMEX
Mediasite by Sonic Foundry
SWANK Audio Visual
Universal Orlando Resorts
GATEKEEPER
CLIA
Disney Destinations
MGM Resorts International
ASSOCIATE
Coast Hotels & Resorts
Confex
Fort Worth CVB
Meetings & Incentive Travel
Visit Phoenix
CONTRIBUTOR
Visit Denver
Visit Raleigh
CHAPTERS
Aloha
Arizona Sunbelt
Atlantic Canada
Chicago Area
Dallas/Fort Worth
Greater Edmonton
Indiana
Kentucky Bluegrass
Middle Pennsylvania
New England
New Jersey
Northern California
Oklahoma
Orange County California
Oregon
Philadelphia Area
Sacramento/Sierra Nevada
South Florida
Southern California
St. Louis Area
Tampa Bay Area
Texas Hill Country
Virginia
Washington State
WestField
Wisconsin
mpiweb.org
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>
INDUSTRY INSIGHTS
Meeting the
Generations
B Y J E S S I E S TA T E S
The convergence of economic flux and technological advances has
dramatically changed the meeting industry in the past five years.
But attendance continues to act as a critical contributor to annual
budgets—and meeting professionals will need to appeal to multiple
generations if they wish to remain viable.
To help industry professionals better understand their youngest potential business audience, MPI partnered with the University
of Central Florida Rosen College of Hospitality Management and
Universal Orlando Resort to study the reasons why Generation Y
attends events, and how its objectives differ from those of current
meeting professionals.
The Findings
For current meeting professionals,
ssionals, future attendance depends on a) financial
nancial
support from employers,
b) expense justification
and c) conference-ascareer investment. Gen Y,
on the other hand, cites
only one financial influence: an onsite or nearby
mid-priced hotel. Indeed,
Gen Yers have some different motivations than
their elder peers—such as
the attendance of friends
and colleagues—that
must be addressed. Meeting professionals may
want to create incentive
Read the Research
To find out more about Gen Y’s meeting and event preferences,
access the study at MPIWeb.org/portal/research.
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programs (two-for-ones or bring-a-friends) to increase future Gen
Y attendance. Similar programs for employers could support the
attendance of multiple colleagues. Too, the younger segment may
be unaware of traditional expense reimbursement.
Current meeting professionals prefer upscale hotels with
convenient outdoor offerings (think: walking paths). Gen Yers,
conversely, find motivation in the destination itself, in its social
offerings and nearby shopping and/or nightlife. They also like
kid-friendly environments (demanding further clarification as
to why).
Onsite, meeting professionals attend for professional development. Gen Y views meetings as social events—though it does take
them seriously. Gen Yers say employer recognition can motivate
future attendance. To that end, meeting sessions often act as a
platform for continuing education credits and/or certification
points, which correlate with credibility and credentialing. Employers can potentially improve retention of these younger-gen
employees by financially supporting conference attendance.
Today’s meeting planners often ask attendees to review (and
download, if necessary) materials prior to arrival, a cost savings
that doubles as a way for delegates to preview material. Interestingly, Gen Yers say they’re willing to pay more for onsite hard
copies. Meeting professionals may want to offer this service for a
fee (and additional revenue source). Meanwhile, meeting professionals can use technology to enhance communication channels
prior to conferences for updates, announcements and changes in
schedules/speakers.
Meeting design preferences vary. Planners and suppliers should
target the aforementioned influences according to relevance.
Meeting professionals prefer face-to-face sessions; Gen Y likes to
mix in online offerings and/or webcasts. Meeting professionals
rate sessions based on use-of-time; Gen Y likes short sessions for
limited time allocation. Meeting professionals prefer small group
discussions; Generation Y prefers collaboration on e-whiteboards.
In the future, planners may want to offer electronic-based education in real time to attract global participation.
04.12
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MPI STRATEGIC PARTNERS
STRATEGIC ALLIANCE
GLOBAL PARTNERS
MPI MARKETSMART BUSINESS SOLUTIONS
EUROPEAN PARTNERS
TM
ELITE PARTNERS
PREMIER PARTNERS
SIGNATURE PARTNERS
PREFERRED PARTNERS
CHOICE PARTNERS
MarketSmart Partners
MarketSmart Business Solutions is the first fully integrated program designed to heighten your reach and provide optimal visibility
among meeting and event professionals. By partnering with MPI, your business will be front and center among the industry’s largest
worldwide community of more than 23,000 members—decision makers who have $16.9 billion in buying power to purchase your
products and services. This partnership provides you with an exclusive opportunity to cultivate mutually beneficial relationships with MPI
members in ways that are best suited to meet the individual needs of your business. Bottom line? Increased sales potential, higher revenue.
TM
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Sponsors 0412.indd 78
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SPECIAL SECTION
Southeast
PAGES 80-81
Myrtle Beach Area CVB
PAGES 82-83
Norfolk, Virginia
PAGE 84
Knoxville, Tennessee
PAGE 85
Raleigh, North Carolina
PAGE 86
Virginia Beach CVB
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SOUTHEAST SPECIAL SECTION
Myrtle Beach Area CVB
myrtlebeachmeetings.com
groups whose activities are hosted on
site in the 250,000 flexible square feet of
meeting and exhibit space. But if ocean
view is what you prefer, 3,000 additional
rooms are available within one mile.
Where to Dine
Whether your group wants to enjoy
casual group dining or plan an event, Myrtle Beach dining has it all with 1,700 restaurants lining the Grand Strand. Choose
to experience oceanfront or marshwalk,
entertainment complex venues or dinner
theaters, upscale steak houses or cozy bistros each offering savory coastal Carolina
cuisine and more!
Myrtle Beach, S.C., is a premier destination
for group meetings with 60 miles of sunsoaked beaches and endless activities and
an array of lodging choices and meeting
space. Fabulous weather with mild temperatures greets your guests all year long,
so any time is the perfect time to plan
your meeting along the Grand Strand.
Myrtle Beach, S.C., is
a premier destination
for group meetings with
60 miles of sun-soaked
beaches and endless
activities and an array
of lodging choices and
meeting space.
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Where to Play
Is your group seeking the high-energy
thrill of an amusement park or the serene
surrounding of nature? Is your group
looking to enjoy a show where performers light up the stage with music, dancing,
comedy and more? Is your group looking
to shop at magnificent boutiques, outlet
shops or malls? Myrtle Beach offers a wide
variety of attractions, including acclaimed
live entertainment theaters, nightclubs,
amusement and waterparks, championship golf, minigolf, aquariums, museums
Where to Stay, Where to Meet
With 90,000 guest rooms area wide, and zoos, along with historic sites and, of
planners can choose from more than 40 course, the beach.
properties with meeting facilities on site.
Choose from amenity-rich resorts, ocean- Getting There
front high-rises or luxurious condomini- The Myrtle Beach Convention Center is
ums, mostly oceanfront, to host groups of located only three miles from the Myrtle
just about any size. Each property offers Beach International Airport. Approxian array of services including business mately 30 major cities enjoy non-stop
centers, audiovisual services, catering, flights into Myrtle Beach.
Car rentals and cab services are availbreakout rooms and multiple room setup
options. Looking for a unique setting to able at the airport. Many hotels offer
motivate your sales team or introduce shuttle service to and from the airport
new training techniques? Myrtle Beach or shuttle/bus transportation can be
offers a variety of settings from aquari- arranged for your group as well.
For more information, contact Danna
ums to golf courses to historic plantations
Lilly, director of sales at the Myrtle Beach
depending on the size of your group.
The 402-room Sheraton Myrtle Beach Area CVB, at (843) 626-7444 or danna.
Convention Center hotel is perfect for lilly@visitmyrtlebeach.com.
Call our award-winning CVB staff
(Gold Service Award by Meetings and
Conventions magazine and the Pinnacle
Award by Successful Meetings magazine)
to match your group needs to the best of
Myrtle Beach. Services other than planning assistance include lead service distribution, site visits, promotional collateral
and name badge and registration assistance just to name a few.
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SOUTHEAST SPECIAL SECTION
Norfolk, Virginia
visitnorfolktoday.com
Norfolk, the Heart of
the Virginia Waterfront,
is a city known for its
scenic waterways, lush
landscape, thriving port,
historic sites, moderate
climate and diverse outdoor, cultural and entertainment opportunities.
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Norfolk, the Heart of the Virginia Waterfront, is a city known for its scenic waterways, lush landscape, thriving port, historic sites, moderate climate and diverse
outdoor, cultural and entertainment
opportunities.
Many of the city’s famed cultural centers, historic theaters, museums, zoo and
river cruises double as alternative meeting
venues. Planners looking for a more traditional meeting or event space have all that
they need in Norfolk. Hotels provide more
than 5,000 rooms for visitors and more
than 500,000 square feet of total meeting
space, complete with the latest in modern
audio and visual equipment. Norfolk’s
downtown hotels are within walking
distance to the city’s most popular attractions, including the city’s famed “restaurant row” located on Granby Street, the
Chrysler Museum of Art, the brand-new
Chrysler Glass Studio, Battleship Wisconsin
and Nauticus, to name a few.
Sign up for one of Norfolk’s new culinary tours with many options to choose
from. You can taste a sampling of Norfolk’s
various culinary delights, plus a chance to
see historic sites between stops. Norfolk
has become well known for its wide variety of cuisine and is home to more than
80 chef-owned restaurants in the downtown area. Downtown isn’t the only place
to find eclectic entrees. A whole host of
restaurants dot the streets of Ghent, the
historic Freemason district, Ocean View
and other areas of the city.
Getting around the city has never
been easier with the debut of Virginia’s
first light rail system, “The Tide.” The Tide
makes several stops throughout the city
at Norfolk’s most noted attractions, restaurants and retail shops.
Norfolk’s location makes for easy day
trips to Virginia Beach’s beautiful oceanfront, Colonial Williamsburg and Busch
Gardens or the Outer Banks of North Carolina, among others.
For additional information, call
(800) 368-3097 or visit www.visitnorfolk
today.com.
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SOUTHEAST SPECIAL SECTION
Knoxville, Tennessee
knoxville.org/kcc
Knoxville offers a wonderfully diverse hospitality. Located in the geographical interstates (I-75, I-40 and I-81), Knoxville
mix of big-city amenities and attractions center of the eastern United States and is within a day’s drive for more than
delivered with small-town charm and situated at the crossroads of three major half the nation’s population. Knoxville’s
McGhee Tyson Airport, the premier air
facility serving East Tennessee, is located
only 12 miles south of downtown Knoxville and provides eight airlines with 20
non-stop destinations and more than 140
arrivals and departures each day.
Knoxville offers a wonderfully diverse mix of
big-city amenities and
attractions delivered
with small-town charm
and hospitality.
The Knoxville Convention Center is
the cornerstone of the city’s meeting
venues. The 500,000-square-foot convention center is located in the heart
of downtown Knoxville and features a
120,000-square-foot exhibit hall that
accommodates up to 600 booths, 10,400
general session participants or 5,000
banquet participants. It also houses East
Tennessee’s largest divisible ballroom, a
27,000-square-foot space that fits up to
1,700 for a formal banquet or 2,600 for
a general session, as well as a 461-seat
lecture hall.
Knoxville also offers a variety of
excellent hotels with meeting space
and unique offsite meeting facilities.
With the right combination of location,
affordability and facilities, Knoxville is a
great destination for meetings in 2012
and beyond.
To find out what else Knoxville has in
store, visit www.knoxville.org.
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SOUTHEAST SPECIAL SECTION
Raleigh, North Carolina
mpi.visitraleigh.com
Discover for yourself why Raleigh is consistently praised in the press as one of the
best places in the country to live, work,
play and meet. Recent accolades include
Bloomberg Businessweek ranking Raleigh
as “America’s Best City” and the “Best
Place for Business and Careers” and “Most
Wired City” by Forbes…and those are
just a few of the many accolades recently
bestowed on North Carolina’s capital.
But Raleigh isn’t just the political capital of N.C., it’s also known for its historic
landmarks and burgeoning cosmopolitan offerings—arts, festivals, sports and
shopping—making it the “can’t miss”
cultural and entertainment center of the
Southeast.
Besides museums and performing arts,
we’re known for a progressive culinary
scene and a dedication to green space.
Speaking of “green,” Greater Raleigh is
a shining example of a destination committed to green practices; the U.S. Chamber of Commerce even named Raleigh
the “Nation’s Most Sustainable Mid-Sized
City.”
Our commitment is evident, from solar
panels on the roof of the Silver LEEDCertified Raleigh Convention Center to
vehicle plug-in stations to world-class universities and companies setting the bar on
environmentally friendly practices here.
See how you can use our commitment
to sustainability to host smarter, greener
meetings here.
Go to www.visitraleigh.com for more
information about the Greater Raleigh
area.
Recent accolades
include Bloomberg
Businessweek ranking
Raleigh as “America’s
Best City” and the “Best
Place for Business and
Careers” and “Most
Wired City” by Forbes.
mpiweb.org
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SOUTHEAST SPECIAL SECTION
Virginia Beach CVB
visitvirginiabeach.com/meetings
One of the nation’s most sought-after
year-round meeting destinations, Virginia
Beach, continues to elevate its position
through its wide-ranging portfolio of venues, downtime activities and attractions
and sustainability-based amenities available to meeting planners.
The first in the country to achieve LEED
Gold certification for existing buildings,
the Virginia Beach Convention Center
captures the true essence of this coastal
destination with its innovative design. The
facility boasts more than 500,000 square
feet of space, including a 150,000-squarefoot, column-free exhibit hall and a
31,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art ballroom. Manned by a seasoned staff of
service-oriented professionals, the facility
offers competitive rates and 2,230 free
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The first in the country
to achieve LEED Gold
certification for existing
buildings, the Virginia
Beach Convention Center captures the true
essence of this coastal
destination with its
innovative design.
parking spaces, and is located just blocks
from one of the mid-Atlantic’s most beautiful beaches.
Virginia Beach is centrally located on
the East Coast, within easy fly-drive access
of two-thirds of the U.S. population. It is
a mere 20 minutes from Norfolk International Airport, which hosts more than 150
flights daily, and 45 minutes from Newport News/Williamsburg International
Airport. For visitors driving to Virginia
Beach, the resort city is two hours from
Richmond, Va., four hours away from
Washington, D.C., and seven hours from
New York City.
For more information, contact Al
Hutchinson, director of sales for the
Virginia Beach CVB, at (800) 700-7702 or
ahutchin@visitvirginiabeach.com.
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SPECIAL SECTION
New Mexico
PAGES 88-89
Hard Rock Hotel Albuquerque
PAGE 90
Santa Fe
New Mexico Special Section.indd 87
3/27/12 11:42 AM
NEW MEXICO SPECIAL SECTION
Hard Rock Hotel Albuquerque
hardrockcasinoabq.com
The property is dramatic, yet has a graceful combination of striking
architecture and rock-n-roll vibe. Impeccable hospitality, an incredible array of amenities and personalized attention provide each guest
with an unmatched experience.
Taking it center stage, the new Hard
Rock Hotel and Casino Albuquerque
includes premier entertainment and the
décor, memorabilia and merchandise
that have made the Hard Rock brand
famous around the world. The property
is dramatic, yet has a graceful combination of striking architecture and rockn-roll vibe. Impeccable hospitality, an
incredible array of amenities and personalized attention provide each guest
with an unmatched experience.
Without a doubt, Hard Rock Hotel
Albuquerque is the premier meeting
destination in the Southwest featuring
magnificent views overlooking the Rio
Grande Bosque and minutes from Albuquerque International Airport.
It’s a destination location featuring
201 guest rooms, a relaxing indoor/
outdoor pool, 30,000 square feet of
convention space, a 2,500-seat multipurpose theater for concerts and sporting events, restaurants, the Hard Rock
Store, Center Bar, lounges and live
entertainment
The hotel’s spectacular indoor/outdoor space is ideal for any event. Modern design and the latest technology
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complement the meeting and event
space. The team at Hard Rock Hotel
Albuquerque can transform any of the
facilities into a unique experience.
Not only can we provide ample
meeting space, there is also great
entertainment to be found with thrilling Las Vegas-style gaming with the
latest reel and slot machines, poker
rooms and high-energy table games.
For the less adventurous, there is the
award-winning Isleta Eagle Golf Club
featuring a 27-hole championship golf
course with three 9-hole tracts. Golfers
can also take advantage of onsite conveniences like a full-service clubhouse,
restaurant and golf shop.
Join them year round at the beautiful lake and recreation center with two
fully stocked lakes, a covered pavilion
area with catering options or check out
the Fun Connection with 24 modern
bowling lanes where kids and grownups alike have a place to play.
Bring us your vision, and let the Hard
Rock Hotel and Casino Albuquerque
amp it up. For more information, visit
www.hardrockcasinoabq.com or call
(505) 244-8200.
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NEW MEXICO SPECIAL SECTION
Santa Fe
santafe.org/experience
Where better to be filled with ideas and
inspiration than in a town known worldwide for its creativity? Alive with arts
and culture, blessed by natural beauty
and set in historic surroundings, Santa
Fe is ideal for both work and enjoyment.
A Santa Fe meeting always includes a
highly skilled workforce, an array of
bureau incentives—including the current Experience Santa Fe on Us benefits flexible floor plan, experienced staff and
package—and Santa Fe’s appeal, which centralized location, is an easy choice
helps build attendance.
for larger groups. Smaller meetings will
find numerous options at the city’s many
Meeting Space
group-friendly hotels.
Scaled for the city’s cozy downtown
streets, the LEED Gold Certified Santa Amenities & Recreation
Fe Convention Center, with its highly Fifteen hundred rooms are within easy
Alive with arts, culture
and natural beauty,
Santa Fe is ideal for both
work and enjoyment.
New Mexico Special Section.indd 90
strolling distance of the convention center,
restaurants, extensive shopping and attractions. The city’s abundant galleries, museums and outdoor recreation mean there is
always something to do with free time.
Getting Here
Santa Fe is as easy as a 55-minute shuttle ride from the Albuquerque Airport.
Traveling from Dallas or Los Angeles? Fly
directly into the Santa Fe Municipal Airport on American Eagle Airlines.
Contact Christine Madden, director
of sales for the Santa Fe CVB, at (800)
984-9984 or email at chrismadden@
santafe.org, and make sure to visit us
online at www.santafe.org/experience.
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>
>
UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN
Go to Page 70 to read the One+ feature profile
of author and event planner Misha Glouberman
(pictured right: profile author Sheila Heti).
“
LEE TOWNDROW
What I want to do is humanize relationships, because a lot of the time, if
there are people you don’t know personally, who you disagree with, you can
perceive them as just an abstract enemy, but often if you can meet and talk to
them, that changes how you see them.”
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