Innovative Meetings By Christopher Durso

Take Away

Mentor Health

ICSC’s one-on-one mentoring program was designed to help members through the recession. But with the economy picking up, the program is showing no signs of slowing down.

What’s going tohappento themanyinitiatives, programs, and other professional-development tools that were created in response to the Great Recession? In the case ofthe one-on-onementoring program that the InternationalCouncilofShopping Centers (ICSC) debuted at itsRECon2009conven- tion—nothing. Even as the economycomes back

minute mentoring appointments” — including not just out-of-work or in-fluxmanagers but also students and young professionals. A total of 200 mentoring sessions were heldduring the program’s debut. “Itworkedout beautifully,” Ritchie said. “I think it really planted seeds for larger initiatives beyond this economic downturn.” Indeed, the programhas grown beyond

TO CONNECT AND SERVE: ICSC launched a one-on-one mentoring program at its Reconnect Pavilion at RECon 2009 to help “industry professionals in transi- tion” during the recession.

the Reconnect Pavilionto become a part of otherICSCmeetings and events. But as the economy has improved, the nature ofthe mentoring has evolved. “In the beginning, wewanted to be really sensitive to privacy issues,”Ritchie said,“becausewe thought itwould be a lot ofpeoplewhowere con- cerned about having been downsized.…I may be delusional, but I thinkwe’ve been having so many students and graduating students involved in this, there’s been a different kind of orientation.” But privacy is still a priority. Eachmen-

toring session is set up in its ownmeeting room—or, ifnone are available in the ven- ue, ICSC’s contractor puts together small offices, “with doors and a desk,” said Jack-

on line, the programhas remained popular. Originally, ICSC President and CEOMichael

Kercheval “wanted to do something that would really address the economic difficulty andchanging economy that everybodywasfacing,” according to ManagerofLeadership Development SarahRitchie. The result wasRECon2009’s Reconnect Pavilion, which offered various resources forwhat Kercheval in a news release called “industry professionals in transition—either looking foranewjobor consid- ering a career change within the industry—prima- rily over the course ofthe recession.” As part ofthe Reconnect Pavilion, Ritchie said,

ICSC’s mentoring program matched “our trustees and peoplewhowere part ofour volunteer struc- ture” with “people who want[ed] 15- or 20-

ieRiscoe, ICSC’s director ofmeetings and confer- ences. “We don’t do that at some ofthe smaller meetings. We may just set up an area where it’s semi-private.” Throughout the program, ICSC has had no

problemfindingsenior leaders tositdownwiththeir younger counterparts, Ritchie said, spending “any- where from a couple of hours to a full day with back-to-backmentoring sessions.” Ritchie thinks the program has benefited from ICSC’s culture. “First ofall,” she said, “it’s verymucha personal- ly oriented, networking sort ofbusiness.”Also, the peoplewho helped build the industry are “at the sunset oftheir careers,” Ritchie said, “and they’re really consciousofgivingback.…All those things reallymake for fertile ground for this to grow.”

ON_THE_WEB: To learn more about ICSC’s RECon 2011 convention, which is being held at the Las Vegas Convention Center on May 22–25, visitwww.icsc.org/2011SC/.

34 pcma convene April 2011 ILLUSTRATION BY MICK WIGGINS

All About Mentoring “There have been a number of different mentoring threads running through ICSC’s programs for the last decade,” said ICSC’s Sarah Ritchie. “There’s always been a sense of wanting to mentor in our Next Genera- tion program. Inter- nally, ICSC has a mentoring program forits staff mem- bers. All of this really works together. As we see different approaches to how mentoring works— on-site versus online —we’re just going to continue to develop these pro- grams.”

Christopher Durso is executive editor of Convene.

Innovative Meetings is sponsored by the Irving, Texas, Convention and Visitors Bureau, www.irvingtexas.com.