Taking Risks 2011 Convening Leaders helped us all learn. I
’m fresh off the plane from PCMA’s Convening Leaders in Las Vegas, and I couldn’t be more pleased about
our annual meeting. We had a record num- ber of attendees join us on site — and more than 600 additional participants online, thanks to our hybrid efforts on PCMA365.
What’s more, those in attendance enjoyed diverse learning opportunities, excellent net- working, and a high level of energy. Many of you told me that this was the best annual meeting you’d been to in years. I’m especially pleased with the positive
feedback in light of the risks we took. For one, we took a very creative approach to making an arena that holds 16,000 people into two separate spaces: a more appropriately sized set- ting for our attendees to enjoy our high-caliber General Session speakers, and an area behind the General Session arena. We called this gather- ing place the Learning Lounge, and filled it with interactive and informal educational opportuni- ties. (Kelly Peacy, our vice president of meetings and events, discusses this space in more detail on the following page.) This layout actually created a launching pad
for our “Meetings Deconstructed” theme — another risk. After gathering in the Learning Lounge, attendees could walk a few steps over to the backstage area to get a behind-the-scenes look at how the General Sessions are produced. We carried that theme — breaking down the who, what, when, where, why, and how of meeting production — throughout Conven- ing Leaders. It might sound elementary, but everything from signage to our opening video came with an explanation (sometimes tongue-in- cheek) for additional learning.
6 pcma convene February 2011 Last but certainly not least in the risk depart-
ment was the hybrid meeting we produced for PCMA365, complete with live feeds from our biggest sessions, lots of on-site interviews, and online interaction among virtual attendees around the globe. Many of you also told me how much you appreciated the chance to learn more about virtual meetings — both during our Wednesday Plenary Session and via our co- location with the Virtual Edge Summit. Looking back, would we do everything
exactly the same? No. But producing a com- pletely flawless, risk-free event is not our goal. Part of how we serve our members is by taking risks so they don’t have to. If you experience something new at Convening Leaders and think it’s a concept you could take advantage of at your own meetings, wonderful. If you experi- ence something new at Convening Leaders and are less than impressed, that’s to your advantage as well. It’s a risk you now know you don’t need to take on your own. Our bottom-line goal for Convening Leaders
is to create an innovative and engaging learning experience — one that helps you learn, keeps you inspired, and makes you excited to join us year after year. I’m especially grateful to our friends at Freeman, INXPO, Content Manage- ment Corp., and the MGM Grand who took a leap of faith (or encouraged us to do so) and helped turn our risks into viable opportunities. What did you think of this year’s Convening
Leaders or our virtual extension at PCMA365? Write me at deborah.sexton@pcma.org. ■
ON ALL THE TIME: If you couldn’t make it to this year’s Convening Leaders, or if you simply want to continue the con- versation, be sure to check out PCMA’s new virtual environ- ment, PCMA365. You’ll find compli- mentary access to general sessions and other featured education, as well as great networking opportunities — 24/7, 365 days a year, at www.pcma.org/PCMA365.htm.