Meeting News - February 11, 2008 - (Page 10)

Inside the Meetings Industry Edited by Elizabeth West elizabeth.west@nielsen.com Waste Less In Seattle: PCMA’s Annual Meet Pushes Gr e e n f o r I t s e l f , i n P l a n n e r s ’ Work Green initiatives a hit with planners; education focuses on strategic value of events and sustainable meetings Seattle—Creating environmentally friendly meetings and adding strategic value were the hot topics at the 52nd annual meeting of the Professional Convention Management Association, Jan.13-16 at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center. The event, which saw a record attendance of nearly 3,400 (1,400 planners and 2,000 suppliers), built on the legacy of its “zero-waste” annual meeting in Toronto last January by tangible efforts to reduce and recycle. “We consider the effort in Seattle to have been very successful. . .and the partnership from the Washington State Convention & Trade Center was excellent,” said Deborah Sexton, president and CEO of PCMA, adding, “We want to set an example for the industry.” Breakout sessions on creating sustainable meetings were heavily attended, and PCMA partnered with the Green Meetings Industry Council to have a green booth that offered the Green Events Resource Book free to planners .The speaker for the final session was Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., a longtime green movement leader. Even with the popularity of these green elements, the event’s main education focus was on how planners can be utilized as strategic partners by their meetings clients. For instance, a rare Paul Tiffany of the Wharton Business full-day program for indusSchool leads PCMA executive session. try veterans addressed develimplementing environmentally sound opment of “service excellence” that event practices, as well as by offering satisfies clients who demand more several educational sessions on the personal levels of interaction. Partnertopic. ing with the Wharton Business School While the association could not of the University of Pennsylvania, get the Seattle event to zero-waste, the PCMA had Wharton faculty member organization and its partners made Paul Tiffany lead the session. Esteemed speakers RFK, Jr.; Paul Tiffany; and Mich Mathews Speaker Highlights fr om PCMA Missed the Seattle event? Check out our Brief Notes Capnote: Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Message: Urgency of sustainable business practices Take Away: All companies and associations must actively find ways to minimize their environmental impact and to reverse the damage that has already been done. Keynote: B. Joseph Pine II and James Gilmore, authors of The Experience Economy as well as Authenticity: What Consumers Really Want Message: Consumers’ growing skepticism of mediated and intentionally staged event experiences Take Away: Business leaders, with the help of event planners, must make these experiences more genuine to be meaningful. Presenter: Paul Tiffany, associate professor of management, Wharton Business School, University of Pennsylvania Message: Developing service excellence Take Away: Clients are more informed and thus demand more personalized service. Be prepared. Presenter: Mich Mathews, senior VP of marketing, Microsoft Corp. Message: Exceeding management expectations through good communication Take Away: Communication is critical in demonstrating the value of events to both attendees and executives. For attendees, adapt traditional and cutting-edge marketing tools to the task of event promotion. For executives, measure event effectiveness in ways attendees appreciate. Guest Appearance: Jason Alexander, Seinfeld’s “George Costanza” For PCMA’s closing luncheon, Alexander performed a 45-minute comedy routine in his alter ego, motivational speaker “Donny Clay.” Har t f o r d H o s t s H e a l t h C a r e Planners And Exhibitors Hartford, CT—The Healthcare Exhibitors Association (HCEA), whose mission is to improve the effectiveness of medical meetings and conventions and healthcare exhibitions, hosted its annual meeting, Jan. 23-24. 10 MeetingNews February 11, 2008 Meagan Johnson, the “Generational Humorist,” was a featured speaker. She discussed how each generation has unique needs, both in the office and at meetings and exhibitions. Johnson also said traditional human resources approaches don’t always retain the best people, and that getting people to work together is tough but critical to attendee and exhibitor satisfaction. Other sessions addressed the understanding of the mindset of health care professionals who attend exhibitions, differences in planning exhibitions in various regions around the world, changes in continuing medical education (CME) credits due to scrutiny from the U.S. Senate’s Finance Committee, and success stories in virtual conferences and trade shows. www.meetingnews.com http://www.meetingnews.com

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Meeting News - February 11, 2008

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