PCMA Planner’s Notebook By Kelly Peacy, CAE, CMP

This Is Your Brain on Meetings

Have you thought about your brain lately? Imean really thought about your brain and how it works? If not, don’t worry. The PCMA teamhas you covered.

W

hen yourmission and your brand are about education, you spend quite a bit of

time focusing on ways tomake your learning opportunities better andmore valuable. You devote staffmeetings and management retreats to discussions

about the latest industry topics, you survey members onwhat keeps themup at night, and you stay abreast of the latest concepts inmeeting design, roomsets, and adult learning.This is PCMA’smission, and it is clear to us on staff: We strive to be the leader inmeetings-industry education andwewon’t settle for less than that. Wewon’t ever stop trying to deliver the best to you—ourmembers and participants. Sowhat does that have to dowith your

brain? Plenty.Neurologists say thatwe’re only beginning to scratch the surfacewhen it comes to optimalways inwhich the adult brain absorbs and retains information—andwewant to be at the forefront. AtConveningLeaders, Jan. 8–11, in San

Diego,we’re going to give your brain aworkout. We’ll be asking tough questions in sessions. Perhapswe’ll be taking you a bit out of your comfort zone in terms of traditionalmeeting and conference structure by shaking up your sched- ule.Our goal is to expose your brain to exciting newthings.And along theway,we’ll talk about thewhy and the howofwhat we’re doing to your brain. The best part is, it’s going to be fun and

insightful at the same time.As you experience for yourself howyou learn best, youwill be able to take that information back to your own organi- zations to create richer andmore valuable expe- riences for your ownmeeting participants. Not only is JohnMedina—a developmental molecular biologist and author of the book

10 pcma convene September 2011

BrainRules: 12Principles for Surviving and Thriving atWork,Home, and School— aConveningLeaders opening general session speaker,we’re also putting some of his principles into practice and on display over the course of ourmeeting in SanDiego.We’ll focus on other theories in adult learning and behavior, too, all in an effort to demonstrate howto flex that muscle between our ears. Do you learn best byworking in small-group

problem-solving exercises, or is listening to a lecture and discussing the content afterwards more to your liking?Are 90-minute sessions your sweet spot, or do you lose your attention span after 30 or even 15minutes? If you’re not sure, youwill knowafter you attend 2012 ConveningLeaders.Therewill be no cookie-cut- ter schedule for you to follow—you’ll have the opportunity to create your own unique learning experiences theway youwant.Our objective is to expose you to all of it and let you decide.Will our efforts be successful?We’re not sure, but we’rewilling to take the risk so you don’t have to at your own events. PCMA’sConveningLeaders kicks off the

newyear—a perfect time to get energized and inspired.Registration opens thismonth at www.pcma2012.org.Make sure you sign up to spend some time in January in SanDiegowith your friends and industry colleagues. Your brainwill thank you.

MINDING YOURMIND: Whatwakes up your brain? Is it food? Music? Smells? Sounds? I’d like to knowwhat you think. Right now, the PCMA teamis deep in discussion on various ways tomake this year’smeeting concept—howto best engage our minds—come to life. It’s not too late to share your brain’s best thoughts. Drop me a line at kpeacy @pcma.org.

Kelly Peacy, CAE, CMP Senior Vice President ofMeetings and Events kpeacy@pcma.org

www.pcma.org