An Object Lesson

behind the

scenes

Michelle Russell Editor in Chief mrussell@pcma.org

Telling Their Stories

‘A single object lets you journey immediately into another world.’

T

Don’t miss Executive Editor Christopher Durso’s riveting interviews with executives from Boston’s meetings community, as well as planners and attendees whose conferences and conventions were caught in the cross- hairs of move-in and lockdown, in our lead Plenary story (p. 15).

And spend some time with one of our most accomplished interview subjects ever — former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice — in this month’s One on One (p. 71). I love her closing thoughts on the value of storytelling.

he cover photo of Boston magazine’s May issue (at left) — a multicolored collection of running shoes worn by some of this year’s Boston Marathon participants, artfully

assembled into a heart — tells the story of that tragic day in a different way than a photo taken in the bombings’ after- math would. Collectively, the shoes become sacred objects of a sort, tran- scending their original function. Objects tell stories — even the story of

civilization, which is the premise of the bestselling book A History of the World in 100 Objects. Author Neil MacGregor chose 100 objects from human history housed at the British Museum, where he serves as director — from a two-million- year-old stone chipped into a sharp edge to a modern-day solar panel. “A single object,” MacGregor told PBS News- Hour, “lets you journey immediately into another world.” (Watch a video of MacGregor’s fascinating PBS interview at convn.org/100-objects.) The strategic use of objects at meet-

ings can be equally captivating. In our May issue, Fast Company co-founder Alan Webber shared how management guru Tom Peters was invited to speak at one of the magazine’s events with the proviso that he couldn’t use PowerPoint during his presentation. “So [Peters] showed up on stage,” Webber told Convene, “carrying a large pillowcase filled with stuff, emptied the pillowcase, and proceeded to tell the audience why these objects, which were in his suit- case, are important. He gave the most brilliant talk I have ever seen and … kept the audience entranced.” (Read his interview at convn.org/fastco-webber .) Likewise, when meeting designers Eric de Groot and Mike van der Vijver — authors of the book Into the Heart

8 PCMA CONVENE JUNE 2013

of Meetings — were asked to create a format for a series of multicultural presentations at a conference on school improvements, they made objects their linchpin. “We designed a format,” they write, “in which we asked the project representatives to focus on the single most important success factor of their project and to take along an object that symbolized this success factor.” Those objects blurred the borders that sepa- rated the conference’s “wildly diverse” participants, who came from around the globe. (Read more on p. 24.) An object can be so recognizable

that we easily grasp its symbolism. That was the thinking behind the art con- cept for this month’s cover story and CMP Series article (p. 42). When we discussed the theme — the skills meet- ing professionals need to cultivate to stay relevant in the near future — with our talented team of graphic designers at Point Five, they drew inspiration from the badges earned by scouts. Each badge you see on our cover and within the story represents a skill culled from our 13 interviews with thought leaders inside and outside our industry. Just as scouts must work diligently in

a particular focus area to earn a badge, those meeting professionals success- fully plying their trade in the next few years will be the ones who are constantly learning new things to add to their tool- kit. The rest, according to many of our interviewees, may be history.

. PCMA.ORG

PHOTOGRAPH BY JACOB SLATON