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Behind the Scenes By Michelle Russell
RelationshipAdvice
Usually I talk about the current issue in my column. But this month, I’m all about PCMA’s annual meeting—2011 Convening Leaders.
L
ast month, Convene’s editorial team produced the PCMA Daily newspaper for PCMA’s annual
meetingfor the sixth year in a row— this time at 2011 ConveningLeaders in
LasVegas.Whenweland in our host city each year,wehit the ground running. But not without first takinga leap of faith.Weknowfull well that our success is entirely dependentonasupplier—a printingcompany—that we’ve neverworked withbefore. Sure,wedoall the necessaryhome- work—collect references, agreeonaprice,and makesure we’re in sync about expectations—but whenwegetonsite, we’re working withan unknownandhopingfor the best.Soundfamiliar? This year, our experiencewith the printerwas
the smoothest ever.The processwas quick and efficient; the dailies went off without a hitch. Even so, the second day into our operation, it hit methat somethingwas sorely missing: a relation- ship.We had a different contact at the printer perform thework for us each day. Whatwe did
SmallWorld
Here’s a reunion that took place at 2011 ConveningLeaders that I wish I’d witnessed. Lisa Boyd,CMP, supervisor of meeting and con- ference management for IEEE, and Tina Akin- tayo, chief business development officer for EventSphere, were inseparable high-school friends in Brooklyn,N.Y., but lost touch after they went away to college.When they spotted one another while registering at the annual meeting, it was the first time they had seen or heard from each other in a quarter of a century. Lisa lives in New Jersey and Tina in Atlanta, but they hope to meet up in their travels this year. “But we know,” Lisa said, “if nowhere else, we’ll be together in San Diego in 2012 for PCMA.”
4 pcmaconvene February 2011
not havewas a single personwho took us under his or herwing,who came tomeet us in person, whomade us feel likewe had a partner. I gained a newappreciation forwhy, as I’ve
heard time and again, relationships are so impor- tant in themeetings business.Whenwemet last month, I listened to our ConveneTask Force members—PCMAvolunteerswho serve as our eyes and ears in the field—voice their concern overword that Starwoodmight be eliminating many individual on-property sales positions for regional teams.And I got it. As planners, you want to know the person—well—inwhose hands you are entrusting yourmeeting’s success. When it comes to vibrant industry relation-
ships,PCMA’s ConveningLeaders is a case study.There ismore a spirit of collaboration than a buyer/seller vibe.Agreat example of this is the dinner I attended during themeeting, at the CreativeCooking School ofLasVegas,which was jointly hosted by 23 representatives of 17 differentEuropean destinations. Rather than individually vyingfor the atten-
tion of thosewho planmeetings abroad, the pro- fessionalswho representEuropeanmarkets have joined forces over the past fewPCMAmeetings to host one event.Competition between the different countries seems nonexistent. “We just figure,”MaySollinger-Soucek,CMP, theVienna ConventionBureau’smarketingmanager for the United States and Canada, toldme, “that if planners have a good experiencewith onemeet- ingin a city inEurope, they’remore likely to consider another.” There is no agenda for the dinner other
than to share a goodmeal and get to knowone another.You know, to build relationships.
SCENES FROM THE REGISTRATION DESK: Lisa Boyd: I had just picked up my registra- tion packet. As I turned around from the ribbon desk, I recognized Tina Akintayo, whomI hadn’t seen since high school, 25 years ago, in the registra- tion line. “Tina?” I said. “Lisa?” she said. Then the jumping, screaming, and hug- ging began. Tina asked me, “What are you doing here?” And I said: “What are
you doing here?” “It’s my industry event,” she said. “Are you in my industry?” And I said, “It’s my industry event, too”— as I pointed to my 10- year-member ribbon. We quickly exchanged cell-phone numbers, and promised to meet up that evening.
Read more about Lisa (above, at right) and Tina’s reunion in “Small World,” at left.
Michelle Russell Editor in Chief mrussell@pcma.org
MICHELLE RUSSELL PHOTOGRAPHED BY DENNIS CHALKIN