comments

PCMA@LinkedIn: Going Paperless Christine Shimasaki, CDME, CMP, man- aging director of empowerMINT.com for Destination Marketing Association International, recently posted this note to PCMA’s LinkedIn group: “While attending Convening Leaders and listen- ing to [Masters Series speaker] Oren Klaff talk about “Pitch Anything,” I real- ized there was a lot to take in. So I took notes on my iPad in the Evernote app and even took a picture of a slide I wanted to capture, and poof ... the image landed right there in the middle of my notes! I used to carry a Moleskin-esque notebook around where I recorded everything. The only problem was finding that note or the book! If you’re interested in going paperless, then you might also enjoy this article by Adam Dachis [convn.org/ shimo-paperless].” Here are some of the responses that

she received:

Last year, one of our JPdL Intl. project managers responsible for a major international congress worked on site entirely from her iPad; she was able to share documents and communicate last- minute changes in real time to all suppli- ers and the venue. It took great planning, and of course stepping out of her and her team’s comfort zones, but the congress was a success (the box shipped with the binders [plan B] stayed sealed!). Now, we are using iPads for note-writing at conferences and client committee meet- ings, and use Skype worldwide to keep in touch with our team and our clients. It’s great to be mobile.

Marie Lou Coupal, CMP, Business Development Manager, JPdL International

I think there is security risk when going completely paperless. I think you have to ask yourself: Can I be hacked, and who has access to my electronic documents? What are the security measures the application takes to prevent this? Can I change the level of viewability by demo- graphic, department, or person?

PCMA.ORG The safest applications are done by

professional production companies; they usually have their own secured server that is hardwired. However, this is more expensive than many of the downloadable products out in the market. I also feel like it is a great idea to

keep everything in an organized appli- cation. Rather than skimming through binders, handouts, and maps, it’s a simple click to what you need. However, like [LinkedIn group member] Will

Lam mentioned, the tactile feel of paper goes a long way in participation from the audience. It’s harder to write a note on an application than it is to write with a pen. The best part of an application is the

green effect. There are applications out there that, once the meeting is over, allow you to delete sensitive documents — saving on money and personnel.

Tammy Whelan, Account Manager, Live Event Services

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

PRACTICAL GENIUS IN ACTION Executive Editor Christopher Durso writes about why he and Practical Genius author Gina Rudan — whom he interviewed for a Convene Presents session at PCMA Convening Leaders 2013 — turned their 200-seat, theater-style room set into something smaller: “We were a bit worried about

filling all those rows, and about how the relaxed, intimate con- versation we were planning on would be affected by an under- capacity crowd. So we decided to take things into our own hands. We took the first few rows of chairs and rearranged them into a loose circle, and moved our own seats from a small, elevated stage down to floor level, at the head of the circle. “As a result, Gina and I were

able to create the cozy atmo- sphere we wanted — and our interview was the better for it, I think. The overriding lesson of Practical Genius isn’t exactly to go with your gut; it’s more like allow- ing your gut to be informed by your intellect, and/or vice versa. Which is what we did for our

Gina Rudan’s ‘circle time’ session.

Convene Presents session — our instincts told us that the room set wasn’t quite right for our content, and we adapted accordingly.”

Read the full post at convn.org/ practical-genius.

MARCH 2013 PCMA CONVENE

7

PHOTOGRAPH BY JACOB SLATON