convene PCMA ® PUBLISHER Deborah Sexton, (312) 423-7210

CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER Sherrif Karamat, CAE, (312) 423-7247

CONVENE EDITORIAL STAFF EDITOR IN CHIEF Michelle Russell, mrussell@pcma.org EXECUTIVE EDITOR Christopher Durso, cdurso@pcma.org SENIOR EDITOR Barbara Palmer, bpalmer@pcma.org SENIOR EDITOR Hunter R. Slaton, hslaton@pcma.org ART DIRECTION Mitch Shostak, Roger Greiner Shostak Studios Inc., (212) 979-7981 CONTRIBUTING EDITORSCarol Bialkowski; Jennifer N. Dienst

CONVENE ADVERTISING

DIRECTOR, PARTNER RELATIONS & ADVERTISING Mona Simon, (312) 423-7244, msimon@pcma.org

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Wendy Krizmanic (AK, CT, DC, DE, ID, MA, MD, ME, NH, NJ, NY, NV, OR, PA, RI, VT,WA) (312) 636-9254; wkrizmanic@pcma.org

Mary Lynn Novelli, CMP (AL, AR, CO, FL, GA, KY, LA, MS, NC, OH, SC, TN, VA,WV, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Central and South America, Carribbean) Dallas, TX; (312) 423-7212; fax: (469) 574-5590; mnovelli@pcma.org

Albert Pereira (AZ, CA, HI, NM, OK, TX, UT, Canada) 345 Kingston Road, Suite 203, Pickering, Ontario, Canada L1V 1A1; (312) 423-7277; fax: (905) 509-6810; apereira@pcma.org

Mary Lou Sarmiento (IA, IL, IN, KS, MI, MN, MO,MT, ND, NE, SD, WI,WY, Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, New Zealand) 1033W. Taylor Street, Suite 1E, Chicago, IL 60607; (312) 636-0636; fax: (312) 896-7397;msarmiento@pcma.org

Ken Torres (Mexico, Puerto Rico, Central andSouth America, Caribbean) P.O. Box 9128, Miramar Beach, FL 32550; (850) 837-5177; fax: (850) 837-5277; ktorres@pcma.org MANAGER, PRODUCTION & CIRCULATION Keisha Reed, (312) 423-7246 PRODUCTION COORDINATOR Kathleen Mulvihill, (312) 423-7236

PCMA OFFICERS

CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD Kent E. Allaway, CEM, CMP, Produce Marketing Association

CHAIR-ELECT Johnnie C. White, CMP, Cardiovascular Research Foundation

SECRETARY-TREASURER Christopher J.Wehking,CMP, American Society of Anesthesiologists

IMMEDIATE PAST CHAIR Susan R. Katz, True Value Company

PCMA DIRECTORS Willie L. Benjamin II, International Reading Association Laurie Fitzgerald,CMP, Allstate Insurance Company Ben Goedegebuure, Scottish Exhibition + Conference Centre Richard B. Green, Marriott International Mary PatHeftman, National Restaurant Association Wanda M. Johnson,CMP, CAE, The Endocrine Society Christine Klein,CMP,meetings and business development consultant Raymond J. Kopcinski,CMP, Million Dollar RoundTable

Roberta A. Kravitz, International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine Gregory A. O’Dell, EventsDC Carrie Freeman Parsons, Freeman William F.Reed,CMP, Experient Inc. James E. Rooney, Massachusetts Convention Center Authority Amanda S. Rushing,CMP, American Society of Civil Engineers Barry L. Smith, Metro Toronto Convention Centre

The opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of PCMA.

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PCMA@LinkedIn: Greater Participation

KAREANDERSON,CEOOF Say it BetterCenter, recently posted this question toPCMA’sLinkedIn group:“What specificways are you making your conference or meeting more participatory?” Here aresomeof the responses

that she received:

I FINDTHATTHEENTIRE event has to have an inclusive envi- ronment. I do this in a number of ways: 1) a networking social on the eveof theconferencewhereboard members serve asambassadors (not participants) and it’s their job to introduce people to each other and keep the roomlively; 2) there are no “speakers,” but only facilitatorswho havea limitedamount of timeto present and are chargedwith leading discussions; and 3) lunch tables are arranged by discussion topic. Steven J. Lemire President 4Site 4Nonprofits

WEHAVERECENTLYDOU- bled the number of roundtable dis- cussions as one of our education for- mats. From evaluations our partici- pants told us loud and clear that they were really not as interested in sitting in front of a panel with one- way communication but rather felt they had experiences they wanted to share in a smaller group environ- ment. These roundtable rooms were the quickest to fill—it was a daunt- ing task to persuade the education team that increasing the number of participants defeated the experience. I actually had to guard thedoor to ensure additional chairs were not brought in. Nancy Bennett President Schelhorn-Bennett Group

ATACONFERENCETHIS summer where I was video-record- ing their education sessions, the association had multiple“Snack and

www.pcma.org

Chat” sessions. This was positioned in a large room with roundtables set up with signageon each tablefor a particular topic related to their industry. Attendees would start out at a topic of interest, participate in theconversation at thetablefor 10 minutes, then rotate to another table for new discussions/networking. Sponsorship and snacks also made this a big hit for attendees and theassociation. Steve Hardy Owner

Chesapeake Technology Group

FOR YEARSWEDID CLASS- room seating for our annual lobby- ing conference of about 250. Using points from several sessions and dis- cussions like this one, I made the move to crescent rounds, as the par- ticipants needed to be engaged with the presenters. What a change in the conversations that took place during breaks—folks were not as anxious to run out and makea call or grab munchies; they were continuing the conversation with others at their table. Several even mentioned that they liked the new setup, which allowed for engagement with six to seven people instead of just the per- son sitting on either side of you. Oleathia Mitchell Gadsden,CMP Director of Association Affairs National Cable&Telecommuni- cations Association

Corrections

In the PCMA 2012 Industry Resource Calendar sent out with the November issue of Convene, the email address for the Marriott Innovention Network was printed incorrectly. The correct email address is innoventionnetwork @marriott.com. PCMA and Convene apologize for the error.

In the 2012 Meetings Industry Fore- cast published in the November issue of Convene, St. Louis’ lodging-tax rate was incorrect. The correct number is 15.74 percent; it has been updated in the digital and HTML versions of the magazine available online.

pcmaconvene January 2012 9

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