The Conference Publishers
« Previous EntriesA Meeting Worth Holding
Tuesday, December 8th, 2009At a time when conferences are cancelling, participants are staying home in large numbers, and the flavour of the month is to replace live meetings with webcasts and virtual events, there are two sure criteria that still make it essential for groups to gather in person:
• A clear, immediate purpose that is best served by [...]
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 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 [...]
Preparing for a Pandemic
Tuesday, September 1st, 2009At our regular staff meeting last week, we introduced a standing agenda item that will be a part of our working lives for the foreseeable future.
Our COO, Woody Huizenga, unveiled an advanced draft of our pandemic preparedness plan, and summarized the best available information on what we can expect during this year’s flu season: On [...]
Fight Like Hell for the Living
Tuesday, August 4th, 2009SAN FRANCISCO – In the week since Terri Breining announced the closure of Concepts Worldwide, the San Diego County firm she built into a meetings industry icon, I’ve been thinking about the capriciousness of a market that rewards the most arbitrary successes, while devaluing or ignoring the most genuine achievements.
When we celebrate flash over substance, [...]
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 [...]
A Quiet Sense of Duty
Saturday, July 18th, 2009Late last month, I received a surprising email that will shape the lion’s share of the volunteer time I devote to our industry over the next two years.
I wouldn’t normally be quite this excited about an opportunity to pack dozens of extra hours into a schedule that is already overloaded. But this isn’t just any [...]