‘I Always Have a Contingency Plan’ One of the toughest challenges that InterAction’s Barbara Wallace faces when planning the organi- zation’s Forum is confirming high-level plenary presenters. This year, featured speakers included Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and father of microfinance; Valerie Amos, UN under-secretary-gen- eral and emergency relief coordinator; Gayle Smith, special assistant to President Obama and senior director of the National Security Council; and Donald Steinberg, deputy administrator at the U.S. Agency for International Development. ”Our lineup always morphs, depending on who is available,” Wallace said. “Sometimes, if we have to go with peo- ple on the second tier of choices, we have to change the topics slightly. After the program is print- ed, we always have to include an amend- ment sheet. I’ve learned to be flexible and adjust the sched- ule if someone says yes or no at the last minute. I always have a contingency plan.”
Innovative Meetings By Maureen Littlejohn
A Delicate Balance
How do you prevent a conference on the most soberingissues of the day from becomingtoo much for participants to bear? By injecting an appropriate degree of levity and a sense of community.
Aprogram that includes such heartwrenching topics as famine in the Horn of Africa and a memorial service recognizing associateswhohave been killed in the field is not the stuff of your usu- al conference. But planners of the annual InterAc- tion Forumhave grown increasingly adept over the past 27 years at creating an experience that bal- ances gravity with inspiration, while building a sense ofcommunity. For Forum 2011, InterAction—anallianceof
U.S.-based international nongovernmental organi- zations (NGOs)—added more initiatives to help strike that balance for 900 or so participants who convened at theWalter E.WashingtonConvention Center in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 10–12. I wasamongthem, attending asamemberoftheteam representingToronto’s Humber College. As articulated by this year’s theme—“Invest-
five years. As the formerCEOof amember organ- izationwhoattendedInterActionforums “fromthe beginning,”Wallace said that she, along with fel- low participants, used to “come out of the confer- encewith our headsswimming.There was a lot of content on issues, but no sense ofcommunity.”
Not ‘Too Serious a Group’ This year,Wallace decided to foster that sense of community in amore lighthearted way.Ahappy- hour scavenger hunt was introduced to make networking fun. “At first, my colleagues said, ‘No, this is too serious a group for that sort of thing,’ but people ended up loving it.” Thepoint of the quirky huntwasfor attendees
to interactwiththeForum’s 50-plus exhibitors,who ran thegamutfromfour-wheel-drive vehicleman- ufacturers, certified public accountants,andbed-net
Attendees used to leave the Forum “with our heads swimming.”
ing inCommonSolutions”—there was a focuson maximizing the network ofpartnerships working to improve conditions for the world’s poor and vul- nerable. That meant creating more opportunities for attendees—who represented more than 350 organizations in the international nonprofit com- munity and in the government, corporate, and phil- anthropic sectors—to network over a three-day conference that is traditionally filled with intense educational programming. This year’s Forum included 40workshops and
two daily plenary sessions covering such complex topics as advancingwomen’s rights in the Middle East, security risks, the state ofphilanthropy, and accountability to beneficiaries and donors. “The Forum started out as a ‘talking heads’ conference,” said BarbaraWallace, InterAction’s vice president ofmembership and standards,who has been planning the yearly gathering for the past
manufacturers, to the Peace Corps, the World WildlifeFund,andsuchinternational-development educational institutions as Tulane and Brandeis universities.Givenabagandalist ofobjects tocol- lect, attendees scoured booths intwoseparate halls for items suchas chocolateBand-Aids, jumpdrives, keychains, Post-It notes, and rubber panda bears. Open bars and food stations offering Thai
noodles andMexicanfish tacos were setupinboth halls, while live jazz and South American music addedto the festive mood.“Wemadesure the hunt was scheduled after the [first] day’s final plenary at 4 p.m.,”Wallace said, “so everyone could unwind and network.” When their bags were full, participants hand-
ed over their business cards for the final drawing. First prize was free registration to next year’s Forum, second place was a SPOT Connect GPS unit thatworks where there is no cell service, and