To the Point By Deborah Sexton

Securing Our Future

We can’t get so bogged down in our day-to-day work that we lose sight of what’s coming up next.

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udget meeting? Check. Review of F&B contract? Check. Conference call with

host committee? Check. Discussion to explore convention and trade-show models of the future? That last one likely isn’t on your long list of to-do items.

And that’s certainly understandable. With everything on meeting professionals’ plates these days, it’s difficult to think past today, next month, or the next meeting. We live in a fast-paced, answer-every-email-as-it-comes-in world, and we are all expected to do more with less. Long-term thinking seems like a luxury. But those of us in the meetings-industry

trenches cannot afford to take our eyes off the future. How do we harness tremendous techno- logical advancements to our advantage without letting them overwhelm us? How do we develop unique experiences that continue to engage attendees year after year? How do we involve multiple generations so that everyone finds value in participating in our face-to-face events? In some instances, this may be a matter of continuing to innovate different elements of our meetings each year. Other events might call for more overhauling, even a reinvention. In any case, these are no small tasks. Recognizing this, PCMA is taking on many

of these challenging issues on your behalf. That’s why we’ve made a strategic investment in the Virtual Edge Institute, which will help accel- erate the development of standards for virtual and hybrid events and the establishment of best practices and education (see p. 14 for more). And that’s also why we’re supporting Future

Meet (http://wheredoesthefuturemeet.com), a unique project that explores — and even helps us to predict and plan for — the future of

8 pcma convene December 2011

conventions, exhibitions, and trade shows. This joint initiative, funded by the PCMA Education Foundation, ASAE Foundation, Exhibition Industry Foundation, Freeman, and Gaylord Entertainment, in collaboration with Insight Labs and Manifest Digital, was put into action at our most recent Masters Series. (See p. 18 for some takeaways from that event.) Those of you who have attended Convening

Leaders know that we also continually strive to make our annual meeting innovative. This is so that you, as participants, are engaged in the learning experience and remain eager to join us again each year. But it’s also so that you can experience firsthand some new ideas that might make your meetings more innovative. This year’s Convening Leaders will be no

different. You’ll get to customize your learn- ing experience with new session lengths and formats, you’ll get more hands-on experiences in our expanded Learning Lounge, and you’ll be inspired by our retooled Opening General Session. It’s not too late to register to join us in San Diego, Jan. 8–11 — just go to www.ConveningLeaders.org. Whether we’re investing in projects that

help shape the future of our industry or helping you to be more effective at your job today, PCMA wants to ensure that face-to-face meet- ings achieve their full potential. But that’s not just one industry insider talking to another. In this month’s cover story and CMP Series (p. 54), organizational behavior expert David Cooperrider, Ph.D., says the meetings industry is at “the eve of its finest hour.” It’s up to us to keep challenging ourselves to get our own meetings there. n

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THE FUTURE IS NOW: This month’s cover- story package and CMP Series will help quick-start your focus on the future. In these three articles you’ll find: 18 solutions to help you immediately change and improve your meetings (p. 58); David Cooperrider’s Appreciative Inquiry method for making even the largest meetings highly interactive (p. 64); and an inside per- spective on how IBM reinvented its 8,000- plus yearly sales meetings (p. 72).

Deborah Sexton President and CEO deborah.sexton@pcma.org

www.pcma.org

DEBORAH SEXTON PHOTOGRAPHED BY MICHAEL ABRAMSON; ILLUSTRATION BY JON REINFURT