Conference Content
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Tuesday, November 24th, 2009For all the planning and deliberate effort behind a successful conference, sometimes it’s the random moments that bring home the importance of what happens onsite.
I’m in Toronto this week, working with a team of local writers at a two-day meeting on refugee health. This morning’s opening session highlighted the profound health and social challenges facing [...]
The Right Tool for the Job
Tuesday, November 17th, 2009A debate has been raging over the past few days in one of my LinkedIn groups. Proponents on both sides have advanced arguments and theories, knowledgeable and otherwise, on the topic at hand. Swords have been brandished, fists shaken.
It should come as no surprise that this dispute revolves around grammar—to provoke the fiercest debates on [...]
Sign the Stem Cell Charter NOW (and pass the word)
Saturday, November 14th, 2009Several years ago we began covering conference sessions that showcased the incredible promise of stem cells to cure a large cluster of debilitating or deadly diseases.
Ever since, I’ve kept an eye out for opportunities to learn more about a research area that has become needlessly controversial, and has yet to receive the critical mass of [...]
The New Normal: 16 Meeting Takeaways and a Couple of Predictions
Sunday, October 11th, 2009This guest post is excerpted from Midcourse Corrections, the meetings blog produced by Jeff Hurt, director of education and events with the Dallas-based National Association of Dental Plans. It appeared shortly after Jeff returned from his association’s 2009 annual meeting in September. Reprinted with Jeff’s permission.
In 15+ years of planning conferences and events, this was [...]
The Conference Publishers Turns 25
Monday, October 5th, 2009I still remember exactly how things unfolded on October 5, 1984, the day The Conference Publishers was born.
I had been in my job for 3½ months, after reluctantly leaving Canada’s Parliamentary Press Gallery and a career in freelance journalism. I had joined a small policy consulting firm as its publications director, hoping to spend all [...]
A Dynamic Dozen: The Making of a “Killer App”
Sunday, September 27th, 2009Everywhere you turn these days, meeting professionals are searching for the “killer app” that will make social media and virtual technologies more an opportunity and less a threat for face-to-face events.
The language of hybrid meetings, virtually unknown a year ago, is quickly gaining currency. MPI experimented with a Virtual Access Pass at its 2009 World [...]
Revisions, Please
Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009A few weeks back, a client emailed me a fairly long list of major revisions to a report I’d sent her. It took me by surprise—I’d reviewed that document myself, tinkered with it and polished it, and I thought the finished product was pretty darn good. What was she doing, sending it back?
Our company stands [...]
Going Onsite to Save Lives
Monday, August 10th, 2009Every so often, I get a nice snapshot of why we do what we do as an industry, and as a specialty supplier within the industry. I’ve had several in the last 10 days.
Last week, Margot Cragg, Emily MacKinnon and I were onsite with a team of local writers at the 13th World Conference on [...]
Why We Don’t Upsell
Saturday, August 1st, 2009When we discuss our services with prospective clients, we don’t upsell. Not ever.
For some time, I felt this was a matter of basic principle, that the practice of trying to bundle a second sale on top of a first one was simply abominable. I still think it’s wrong for our kind of service. But a [...]
The Meetings that Elected a President
Sunday, July 12th, 2009SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH – Meeting Professionals International (MPI) kicked off its 2009 World Education Congress today with an opening general session that cemented the organization’s focus on the threats the meetings industry has faced over travel, incentives, and the value of meetings.
But along the way, participants heard some ideas on the structure and purpose [...]