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plenary Jill Taub Drury + Bright Ideas

What were some challenges you faced early in your career? If you’re good at a job — this is truer today than it was when I was starting out — if you’re good, people will want to keep you there, making it difficult to grow. When I was starting out, people did everything. We had the opportunity to do and try everything. It made people multifaceted. Today people are much more specialized, which makes it dif- ficult to grow in our industry.

Interdependents What do you get when you put 24 independent planners — essentially competitors — in a room? No, this isn’t the premise for a new reality show. When PCMA’s Independent Planner Think Tank got under way in New Orleans a few months ago, it was in the spirit that a rising tide lifts all boats — and every participant was on board with that. Read Convene’s blog post on the Think Tank and watch two short video interviews from the event at convn.org/IP-think-tank.

What advice would you give to professionals just starting out in the industry? Expose yourself to our entire industry and all it has to offer. Listen closely and see what all the different parts are, and at some point try and do something in all of the areas, so you understand what it takes. I think it’s really important to understand the big picture of what it takes to create an event. So, listen and watch and be engaged. When you’ve finished your respon-

sibility, see if you can help someone else; never sit idle. Usually someone else could use some help, and you may find there’s an area that you end up lov- ing more. We have a great opportunity to get our hands dirty in a lot of other areas in our industry, and that makes it fun, interesting, and engaging. Also, really know what’s going on

in the world today, because there’s so much that’s going on that we can bring to our events to make them relevant. So be on top of what’s out there and what’s coming down the pipeline.

What are some paramount moments in your career? Opening our own company was phenomenal. There are those “aha” moments when you’re starting out, where you think, “Oh, I know what I’m doing here,” and you progress on to the next level, and that makes it excit- ing. I know when I produced my first show, that was really exciting for me. I

28 PCMA CONVENE SEPTEMBER 2012

remember walking into a new company as a freelancer and I’d feel confident about myself, and then companies started to call me. While the biggest success was the day we opened our company, there are those landmark anniversaries, and when you land that big client and they come back, those are great moments.

How have you overcome challenges throughout your career? One thing we’ve found is when there are challenges, like when the economy tanked, it makes you more creative. It pulls people together. You get together with your team and work things out. It strengthens your culture even more, and promotes ideation sessions and a more collaborative process. We promote change, not just for change’s sake, but to make you better and put out better, more meaningful work. With all the challenges we’re thrown, we end up being better for it. It’s hard work, but it’s rewarding.

What is your favorite part of working in live meetings and events? They’re really exciting. It’s great to be able to bring people together, and to inform, and to help form relationships. It’s important that our clients know it’s about the attendees and not about them. We’re creating opportunities for learn- ing, so people can succeed at their jobs. These events are not only fun but also important, because relationships help in business. You want to show apprecia- tion, have intensive learning experi- ences, and form these relationships. It’s fun to bring 12,000 or 18,000 or

even just 100 people together and make an engaging event. But it’s how you do it — build the meeting — and why you do it, what the end result is, that makes it interesting for us. That’s the challeng- ing part.

. Sarah Beauchamp For more information: drurydesign.com PCMA.ORG

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