Can doing something backward actually be the way to go forward? One high-school teacher’s in-reverse approach can serve as inspiration for meeting planners.
MeetKarl Fisch,aformermathinstructorturned school-technology coordinator. Budget cuts brought Fisch back into the classroomat Arapahoe High School, south ofDenver.But instead of put- ting his ninth- and 10th-grade math students through the normal routine—listening to lectures in class and then doing math problems for home- work at night — Fisch flipped the format. He uploaded videotaped lectures toYouTube for stu- dents towatch athome. Class sessionsbecame dis- cussion and problem-solving time. This simple flip led to several desirable shifts.
Watching lectures on video allowed students to start and stop as desired, take notes at their own pace, and go back and review concepts.Now, dur- ing classroomtime, Fisch is a hands-on coach, stu- dents work collaboratively, and the most challeng- ing problem-solving is undertaken in a supportive environment, instead of isolated at home. No
conference experience and provide advice on how to navigate the event for their desired value. Have mentors orambassadors connect with newcomers before the meeting via phone, e-mail, or an online community. Roll out your welcome mat long before participants arrive on site. Designaworkshop,then discoverwhatpeo-
ple need to learn. Too often, what participants most need to learn is not what presenters are most prepared to facilitate. While real-time tweaks can be done during a session, technologymakes it mucheasier toflippassive participants into content- design assistants.PCMAhasmodeled this process with its Convening Leaders online community, where likely session attendees can start conversing with the presenter long before the event. Presenters also could post complete session
outlines for people to react to in advance (via tweets, online comments, or electronic survey-
Conference networking now begins in advance of the event.
doubt parents of Fisch’s students rejoiced as well, finally relieved of their math-tutoring responsibil- ities. This “flip effect” is already being used in some
meetings and conferences, albeit in different ways. Unconferences flip typical meeting design and session scheduling by having participants showup and then build the agenda. Reverse exhibit halls put organizations on display and have business part- ners roam the hall, connecting with possible clients. And conference networking now often begins well in advance of the event via online com- munities and social media. Here are a few other meeting traditions worth flipping: Arrive, then get oriented. First-timer confer-
ence orientation is a natural opportunity to repli- cate Fisch’s approach. Use YouTube videos, or a live or archived webinar, to introduce people to the
ing), or, if provided in wiki format, to modify based on their needs or interests. Finally, attendee needs can be gathered via the conference-registration process and shared with presenters to inform their session design. General-session lecture, then Q&A. Flip the
typical relationship in this most visible (and often most expensive) part of your meeting by having conference keynoters create a three-to-five-minute podcast or video highlighting their key points/message. Share these well in advance tomar- ket the event, as well as to invite likely attendees to submit questions that they would like the speakers to address. Your general-session speakers can now refine their content to answer appropriate questions, moving what would have been a truly general session into one with much more specific and relevant meaning.
ON_THE_WEB: Learn more about Karl Fisch and his flip approach to teaching in an article by Drive author — and PCMA 2011 annual meeting speaker — Dan Pink at http://bit.ly/9uSZa7.
58 pcma convene December 2010 ILLUSTRATION BY JEAN TUTTLE
Jeffrey Cufaude is a former higher- education administrator, meeting planner, and association executive. Currently he designs and presents high-impact learning experiences, including engaging conference keynotes and workshops. Learn more abouthis work atwww.idea architects.org or follow him atwww.twitter .com/jcufaude.
One More Backflip With meetings, we usually innovate, then do a post-mortem. The norm is to try something and then evaluate it. The most successful innova- tors, however, often conducta pre- mortem, exhaustively anticipating every single possible short- coming or unexpect- ed reaction and then revising their planned efforts accordingly. Pre-mortems consider the chain reaction of a new idea at the most micro level of detail.