‘Going the Extra Mile’ Jamie Ades, account manager at The Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in Tonbridge, U.K., recently asked mem- bers of PCMA’s LinkedIn group what it means for a convention center to “go the extra mile.” Here are some of the responses he received:

In my experience, convention centers are big businesses and almost inevita- bly have to follow their own rules. The thing that has made a difference for me in the past has almost always come down to the staff: Security people who are helpful rather than obstructive. The liaison person who actually under- stands the challenges faced by the client and comes up with great ideas to help. The catering staff who are friendly and smile as if they’re actually glad to see the attendees. The more I think about it, the more it seems that going the extra mile should actually mean employing people who really want to help.

Ken Clayton, Director, RefTech, Birmingham, U.K.

Providing complimentary (and reliable) Internet in the public spaces.

Dale Shuter, Meetings and Expositions Manager, Electrical Apparatus Service Association

Perhaps the definition of going the extra mile is providing service-related aspects that are outside of the con- tracted scope of obligations of the venue, i.e., deploy retirees who volun- teer their time to serve as information and direction guides at various loca- tions throughout the venue during the conference. Many airports have such programs in place for arriving passen- gers. Or a convention-venue–generated digital promotion of the organization or company using the venue and deployed where attendees will be certain to view it. Or, perhaps the venue donates excess

PCMA.ORG

comments PCMA@LinkedIn:

food or conference materials to a char- ity in the client’s name.

Dennis Campbell, Senior Associate — North America, GainingEdge

One thought of a convention/confer- ence center going the extra mile is being more eco-friendly. I feel it’s an important aspect for the facility as well as it being important to people. For example, at the Conference Center at Lake Placid, where I’m the conference

service manager, we use a Daylight Harvesting Lighting System — when natural daylight is available, the lights in the center dim, which reduces energy consumption significantly. Also, all of our chairs are made out of recycled materials.

Ashley Andrews, Conference Service and Marketing Manager, Lake Placid/Essex County Visitors Bureau

From Convene’s blog For more on the meetings industry, visit our blog at pcmaconvene .com.

A TALE OF TWO PANELS Assistant Editor Sarah Beauchamp writes about her experience at the Brooklyn Book Festival, and what a difference a moderator makes:

“Many elements go into telling a good story: characters, plot, language, pac- ing. But a key element to any well- told tale is structure — a clear train of thought, a path down which to lead the audience. Just as structure is important in telling a story, it’s important to panel discussions. If a panel discussion at an event is not structured correctly, it can lose its impact, or worse, its audience.” One moderator “posed questions

to the authors, allowing any of them to respond at first. If he had a par- ticular author in mind for a question, he’d start with him or her. Then if someone didn’t have a say, he’d work down the row until everyone was able to answer. Out of this structure, organic conversations grew … a natural back-and-forth resulting in interesting tangents, heated debates, and humorous rants.” A second panel moderator gave

Authors speak during one of the more than 100 panel discussions at the Brooklyn Book Festival in September.

each author 10 minutes to read from what they’d already written about the topic before the event.

“[The moderator] started at one end of the table and went down the line until all four authors had their time to speak, after which she opened the floor to questions from the audience. It was clear that too much structure actually killed the

‘discussion’ aspect of the [second] panel, which is one of the main reasons that attendees even go to events like the Brooklyn Book Fes- tival: They’re live, face-to-face, and there’s no telling where the conver- sation will lead.” Read the full post at convn.org/

panel-story.

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PHOTOGRAPH BY MARI SMITH