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Your Experient Team

Last week my colleagues and I with the Chicago Experient office participated in our annual Summer Community Service Day.  As with last year, the project benefited Chicago public schools, and was sponsored by our events industry partner, the Nashville ‘Music City’ Convention & Visitors Bureau.

The Experient team arrived at Manierre Elementary School at approximately 8:30am on Friday, August 21.  Our Nashville CVB Hosts, Pride Haggerty & Randy Kidwell treated us to a delicious continental breakfast to kickoff the festivities.  They also supplied us with a terrific lunch to provide  a break midway through the day.

The task was to paint the Black Iron Fence surrounding the school property.  This video will recap for you the experience.  I hope you enjoy it!

It really does feel good to help “less fortunate” people and organizations with their needs and this day, while a lot of work, was fun and rewarding.

I look forward to next year’s adventure!

By Karen Watson, CMP - Experient

Can you believe three weeks have gone by since we all said our goodbyes at the 2009 e4 conference?? From the feedback Experient  received it appears everyone enjoyed and found tremendous value in the event.

I have been curious as to how many of you are already utilizing some social media applications or plan to in the future? As I awaited the results of the post event surveys I wondered what we would actually learn about our social media experience at e4?

Well, based upon the surveys received here are the findings:

• Live Webcasts –
  • 24.43% of Experient clients are already doing live webcasts.
  • 45.9% plan to do so in the future.
  • Only 29.73% have no plans for webcasts.
• Live Twitter Streams in Sessions–
  • 13.5% of clients have already utilized Twitter feeds in session(s).
  • 42.89% plan to do so in future
  • 44.59% have no plans to do so in future.
• White Label Social Networking Sites (i.e. Social Collective)
  • Only 9.46% utilize white label social networking site.
  • 45.95% plan to do so in future
  • 44.59% do not plan to do so.

As you may recall Experient asked a few questions about the experience or usage level of our audience with some of the social media applications.  At the time of registration, we learned:

• LinkedIn accounts – 219 attendees (62%) already had LinkedIn accounts and only 86 did not.
• Facebook pages – 186 attendees (60%) already maintained a FaceBook page and 119 did not.
• Twitter accounts (or “Who has tweeted?”) – only 64 attendees (21%) already had Twitter accounts with the majority (242 or 79%) answering no.

So what did that tell us? Experient needed to offer basic social media training to attendees,  on Twitter especially.

We introduced our “Social Media Tech Squad” which was fairly well utilized onsite.  In retrospect, we could have also offered webinars in advance of e4 to provide some Twitter Basic Training as well.  This might have increased usage of Twitter onsite.

I do wish we had asked the same question on usage of these social media tools, especially Twitter, to see the increased interest (out of curiosity or genuine interest) of our audience.

A few other interesting facts and figures from our survey or registration questions:

• We know people either loved or hated (and some had planned to hate it) the Power Networking or professional speed dating session.  It was an exact split on whether some of our clients will apply something like the Power Networking session in their own future conferences.  50% said yes and 50% will not.
• 70% of our attendees are morning people (and no – I am NOT one of them unless you count 1am as morning!)
• 35% of us read a book and ignore our seatmates on planes.  Another 24% put in their iPod earbuds, effectively ignoring their seatmates as well.  Only 3% of our audience talk to their seatmates no matter what…and I’ll bet we can figure out who a few of them are (but I won’t name names here).

So, in our ongoing e4 quest to learn about social media and how best to utilize it to maximize the learning experience and community around an event…our own learning continues.  Thanks for your participation in our survey and providing information we can act upon!

By Debbi Beldon – Experient

Recently I had the pleasure of reading one of my colleagues, Brenda Houlihan’s Blog entry about her experience meeting Walter Cronkite and it inspired me to share my own personal brush with fame.

My story begins in June of 2005 while on-site in one of my favorite cities, Philadelphia, for a large, education association Annual Meeting. Our jobs provide us the opportunity to see many interesting speakers and celebrities, but I have to admit that usually once I get the room loaded, I’m off to the next task and rarely stick around to listen to the presentation. That day in June, I assumed the same thing would happen as I got the room ready and all the attendees in their seats to hear the author of the book “The Freedom Writers Diary: How a Teacher and 150 Teens Used Writing to Change Themselves and the World Around Them” – Erin Gruwell. The presentation opened with a video clip from an interview Erin had done, and by the time the clip was finished I was hooked. There was no way I could leave the room.

For those of you unfamiliar with Erin’s story, she began student teaching in 1994 in California. As a student teacher, she was assigned the lowest-performing students in the school. Many were from broken homes, had family members in jail or had even served time themselves. A few months into the school year, she intercepted a note one of her other students passed in class with a racist drawing on it. Infuriated, Gruwell told the class that that was the type of caricature that the Nazis had used during the Holocaust. When only one of the students knew what the Holocaust was, Gruwell changed the theme of her curriculum to tolerance. Gruwell took the students to see Schindler’s List, bought new books out of her own pocket and invited guest speakers.

The following year, Gruwell persevered, and reached her students by asking them to make movies of their lives, keep journals, and relating the family feud in Romeo and Juliet to a gang war. She also had the students read books written by and about other teenagers in times of war, such as The Diary of a Young Girl, Zlata’s Diary and Night. Writing journals became a solace for many of the students, and because the journals were shared anonymously, teenagers who once refused to speak to someone of a different race became like a family.

In the fall of 1995, Gruwell gave each of her students a bag full of new books and had them make a toast for change. After that, she saw a turnaround in them. The students, who school administrators had thought were not intelligent enough to read higher-level books and were destined to drop out, went on to shock everyone. All 150 Freedom Writers graduated from high school and many went on to attend college. *

But the story doesn’t end there. This year while on-site for the same conference, Erin was scheduled to be the closing keynote speaker. I did something that I have never, ever done before and I asked the Executive Director of the association for a personal favor. Nervous and shaking a bit, I asked her if there was any way possible I could meet Erin. The Executive Director thankfully was happy to oblige my request. I sat near the back of the room at the start the closing session (my radio pressed close to my ear in case I was needed elsewhere) and listened while the Executive Director introduced Erin. She spoke of a member of the Conference Staff who was not an educator that had heard Erin speak in 2005 and was blown away by her story of hope and conviction. She went on and on and I realized she was talking about me! She actually said my name and hoped she wasn’t embarrassing me.

Near the end of the speech, I moved up to the front of the room where the Executive Director was sitting as I had been instructed to and just before Erin finished speaking; she and I ducked behind the stage. When Erin came off the stage, she ran right over to me, gave me a hug, and said that she had been so moved by my story. MY STORY? Was she kidding? We were both crying a little and it was by far my most exciting on-site experience ever.

If you haven’t read the book “The Freedom Writers Diary: How a Teacher and 150 Teens Used Writing to Change Themselves and the World Around Them” or seen the movie, I highly recommend them. Not being a teacher has no bearing on how moved I was by Erin’s story. I don’t think that I’m overstating it when I say hearing her speak changed my life. What she did proves that anything is possible and that one person can make a difference in the lives of many.

We are lucky that in our jobs we get to see and meet many famous people, but how often do you get to meet someone that’s just a hero?

* From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This week I attended the ASAE Annual Meeting in Toronto, but the cool thing is I didn’t have to fly there.  I was a virtual participant!

While I obviously was not able to experience the normal networking and social opportunities that go along with physically attending a conference I was able to at least experience a significant portion of the educational content. Utilizing a live Twitter stream, marked by Hashtag #ASAE09, I attended three General Sessions (Sunday, Monday and Tuesday) following the tweets posted by virtual and live attendees.  It was a very positive and interactive experience!  Sunday’s opening session featured Gary Hamel, and was outstanding, and I wrote a blog article recapping it from the tweets that were posted.

To their credit ASAE made a significant effort to embrace and utilize social media tools to enhance the quality of this conference.  On Friday I posted an article on my personal blog (McCurry’s corner) outlining all the innovations introduced at the 2009 ASAE meeting.  To view that article please click here.

Sadly, one major component was missing from the ASAE conference, a live webcast of their general sessions.  In my opinion this adds a blemish to what could have been characterized as a “technology homerum” for ASAE. During the conference I posted a Twit Poll asking attendees if they felt ASAE should have offered these sessions in a webcast.  Unanimously, all respondents answered “yes.”

The only session offering a webcast was one led by Jeff De Cagna (Twitter handle @pinnovation) entitled “Associations Next: Serious Questions for 2010 and Beyond.” Jeff actually webcast his session independently of ASAE, using a personal video camera.  To view an archive of this session click here.  The quality of the video is so-so, but the quality of the content is top notch.  In addition Jeff did a really nice job of connecting with the virtual audience!  One tip — when you open the video please fast forward by fifteen minutes to avoid some tech issues at the beginning.  From that point it is excellent!

It is really exciting to see the meetings and events industry demonstrate innovation and adaptivity to new ways of doing business.  Congratulations to ASAE for leading the pack with their 2009 Annual Meeting!  Not only did they serve their live & virtual attendees well, but they showed thought leadership and a commitment to the future of the industry as a whole!

This situation is a classic example of great customer service!  Many ASAE members/non-members were not able to attend ASAE in Toronto, but due to the innovations deployed by ASAE at this event, they were able to virtually connect with attendees and enjoy “cliff notes” of the education content.  I know, from my perspective, experiencing all this motivates me to find a way to attend the event live next time around.  I am gonna start saving my money now!

If you were a virtual or live attendee at the ASAE 2009 Annual Meeting how do you view the experience?  What did they do well and what could be done better?  If you did attend virtually does this experience spike your interest/desire to attend next year’s meeting live?  Please share  your thoughts with us?

Jeff Sacks, CMP

Have you ever been invited to a party that you just really didn’t want to attend but did any way since it was the “right thing to do”?  When the agenda was distributed for e4, I heard on more than a few occasions that people were jazzed about the education being offered, but “what is” and “why are” we Power Networking”?  As a mater of fact, while onsite at Gaylord National, I was speaking to one individual (who I’ll kindly refer to as Negative Nelly Networker) who told me that they were absolutely dreading the Power Networking time slot and would give anything to have a reason to not attend.

The “What is”  of Power Networking turned out to be a series of 5 minute conversations between two individuals who may or may not have known each other before they found themselves face-to-face across a 30” classroom table.  The “Why are” was clearly to have an opportunity to meet upwards of 10-15 new people in an hour’s time – and not just meeting them as in “how’s the weather” but as Keith Ferrazzi implored people to do – meeting them deeply and actually “giving a damn.”  I personally learned things about people’s families, jobs, dating activity, hopes, dreams and everything in between.  The energy in the room was palpable and people were networking their tails off.

It was a fascinating hour.  Andy Smith did a yeoman’s job of getting everyone to move along every five minutes and the group jumped in with two feet and really got into it.  As a number of us have learned post-e4, this was an experiment in networking that not even the Ferrazzi team was sure we could pull off.  They were so pleased with the results they expect to recommend this session to clients for years to come!

So…how could I experience this session and not have sought Negative Nelly out to see their reaction right?  All Nelly had to say was…”I didn’t want to leave!”  Nuff said.

Question — Have you or your organization engaged in a power networking session?  What was the outcome and why?  Please share your thoughts with us!

Michael M McCurry, CMP

As many of you know Experient concluded its 2009 e4 Conference on Wednesday, 8/5 with a free live webcast of the panel discussion “Technology and the Future of Meetings.” Great news  — if you missed the live version of this event, a free archive of the webcast is available for post event viewing.  To access it click here.

Approximately 300 ppl were present in the live audience for the event and another 216 participated virtually. The Experient  official hashtag #e4chat drew 44 active Twitter users, some onsite at the event and the rest participating from cyberspace.  To view a recap of that entire chat transcript please click here.

The session featured the following oustanding panelists:

• Stephen Nold (Moderator) – Advon Technologies
• Nicole Buraglio – Hanley Wood Exhibitions
• Mike Immerwahr – Microsoft
• RD Whitney – Tarsus Online Media

(L to R) Mike Immerwahr, Nicole Buraglio, RD Whitney, Stephen Nold

For a recap of the discussion during this session about social media as well as the rest of the conference please visit my personal blog, McCurry’s Corner and view the article entitled “The New Business Culture.” There really were some terrific insights about the future of technology presented.

Adrian Mabry posting on "Tweetdeck"

A remarkable aspect of this event was the fluidity of dialogue exchanged between the live and cyber audience via Twitter.  It felt like those folks tweeting from afar were right there in the room with us.  The panel fielded questions from the live audience, but more significantly they responded to the cyber participants as well.  This is the essence and spirit of a hybrid event!!

Face2Face Meetings are so important to the culture of doing business, but it is crystal clear to me that social media will play a critical role in enhancing the reach and value of these events for months and years to come. Please make sure you watch the archive version of the webcast.  You don’t want to miss it and we would love your feedback!

Question — In your opinion what is the next step to raising the bar in creating educational content that is viewable both live and from cyberspace?  I look forward to your comments.

By Judy Kent

Thanks to all who attended our session at e4.  I hope you all enjoyed the topic.  We loved the passion that you all showed in coming up with “What will the meetings of the future look like?”.  We looked at five burning areas/questions and focused our attention on them.  Below is a recap that you as a group developed through your sharing.  Stay tuned for a great study that will be released in October from Oxford Economics on this very topic.  It will be very educational and pivotal to our industry.  We will post it once we received.

1. Grow/Retain Membership and Attendance – What role do conventions and meetings play in increasing and maintaining membership for an association, driving attendance or motivating people to attend an association’s meeting?  Will larger meetings be a thing of the past associations shift to smaller regional meetings costing less to produce?   Do you believe associations will begin merging or partnering with other similar accredited associations to build attendance?

• Considering tying together annual meeting fees with a free 1-year membership.  However, are associations doing a good job of converting non- members to members? Consensus says “no”.  This is an easy way to recruit new members.  People interested enough to attend the annual meeting should be prime candidates for membership.
• On-line tool kit – See ASAE website as they have a great justification tool kit outlining reasons why you should attend the meeting, how to calculate the ROI, etc….Don’t recreate the wheel.  Use these resources that already exist.
• Voice broadcasting – Consider having the Executive Director/President of the association do broadcast voicemails to grow attendance and retain current membership.  PCMA has done this on many of occasions.
• During a tough economy consider extending membership dues, allowing grace periods or setting up a payment plan for those that are on a limited budget or have lost a job.  It is easier to maintain a member than acquire a new one.

2. Technology – How will meetings of the future differ from those of the past and present due to the advancement of technology?  Will social networking sites and teleconferencing and video conferencing eventually totally replace face to face meetings?

• Use technology to enhance F2F meetings, especially with social media.  But don’t assume  everyone is up to date on all social media.  Provide education on how to use social media from the very basic through the advanced technology.
• Incorporate audience response systems in meetings, not just for general session but also for break-out sessions.  Interactive services are important especially with the X and Y generations.
• Don’t just use technology during the meetings but also pre and post events.

3. Marketing to Many Generations – How will the fact that we have four “generations” in the work place affect the growth of association membership and convention attendance? How do we market to the various generations so we can grow membership and attendance?

• Make certain you have an effective marketing plan that is focused on hitting all generations.
• Spend time training to educate on the various generations.
• Are you asking your members / non-members how they heard about your association and / or meeting?
• Are you maximizing your “viral” marketing ?
• Does the three touch rule apply when marketing to various generations?
• Develop focus groups representing different generations to solicit their feedback on what works and what does not work when marketing to them.

4. Deliver Increased ROI to attendees – How will meetings of the future differ from those of the past and present in order to deliver increased ROI?  What will this increased ROI look like?

• Increase networking opportunities – These can fall into several areas; peer to peer, mentor protégé, vendor/buyer and having the access to network with executive leadership.
• Educational Content – Keep it fresh and relevant, can attendees receive CEU’s/CME’s while at the meeting?  If so, it will drive ROI, provide case studies and fan panels of hot topics.
• Offer flexibility while at the meetings so attendees can still get their job done while away from the office.

5. Leverage the importance of F2F – Will the need for F2F meetings ever change or disappear? If yes, what will it look like?   If no, what will it look like?

• F2F meetings will change but never disappear.
• Technology will enhance F2F meetings but not replace meetings.
• We need to tailor F2F to service all generations and cater events to target and accommodate all attendees.
• Supplement F2F using technology rather than replacing the meetings.  Look for companies who can assist with integrating F2F with technology.
• Understand the makeup of your audience when determining what media to use.

By Brenda Houlihan - Experient

Do you get the question, “Why are you a Meeting Planner?   For myself, it was an easy transition.  I was the youngest of five children in a large Irish Catholic family.  Honestly, daily meals were food and beverage functions and birthdays were special events.  I took the skills learned at an early age and expanded to a large family of corporate and association clients ranging from 1000 – 24,000 attendees.

The food and beverage policy at home was, “If it is served, you eat it!”  There was no discussion of whether you ate meat, pasta, carbs, fish and drank milk or water.  Growing up there was no concern with fat grams, fiber, sodium or choices due to convictions.  (My mom did go through a cost cutting period where she served Carnation Instant Milk.  A one-third cup serving of NESTLÉ CARNATION Instant Nonfat Dry Milk is rich in bone-building nutrients like calcium and Vitamin D, is a good source of protein, and is fat free.  Take it from me,  I drank a lot of water during that time.)

Gone are the days of meat and potatoes. Nothing could have prepared me for the international, religious or dietary requirement of today’s conferences.   In today’s multicultural world, food choices that were once considered obscure are now part of the mainstream. Now, conference producers need to be aware of all the reasons why people choose special diets ranging from religious practices and ideological beliefs, to allergies, special diets and food sensitivities. 

Many venues will need advance notice to outsource some requests – in particular for Kosher or Halal.   However, most venues are able to respond to dietary or food sensitivities.  Over the years, the drop-down box for dietary restrictions has grown.  What is the norm?  This is really dependent on the client, the budget and the array of requests. 

At a recent corporate conference, the client responded to over 200 special dietary requests which was less than .05 % of the total attendance.  However special requests, like Halal or Kosher which need to be outsourced, can be 2x – 3x the cost of a standard conference meal.  What are the common requests I receive?  See the following list:

Halal -  Muslims which adhere to various food restrictions according to there own dietary laws in the Qur’an, the holy book of Islam. Muslims celebrate the birth of Mohammed at the end of February or early in March. During the holy month of Ramadan, Muslims are not allowed to eat from dawn to sunset.  Muslims make up 22% of the world’s population.

Kosher - Jewish dietary laws are known as Kashrut, and are among the most complex of all religious food practices. Different sets of utensils, pots, pans, plates, knives and chopping boards (one for meat and poultry and the other for dairy foods). The meal can easily be re-heated in an oven or microwave, but must be keep covered so the guest can see the rabbinic certification’s seal is intact.

Vegetarian – There are varying degree of vegetarian.   Honestly, I am frustrated with Vegans.  This specific group can range in restrictions dramatically.  If using buffets many attendees can pick and choose from buffets rather than have special order meals.  Variation of vegetarians include:

• Lacto-ovo Vegetarians eat dairy foods and eggs, as well as plant foods. They do not eat meat, poultry or fish.
• Ovo-Vegetarians eat only eggs and plant foods. They do not eat  dairy foods, meat, poultry or fish. 
• Lacto-vegetarian eats dairy foods and plant foods. They do not eat eggs, meat, poultry, or fish.
• Vegans or strict vegetarians eat only plant foods and products. The term vegan generally refers to individuals who share a philosophy and lifestyle, as well as a restricted diet. They do not eat any animal foods, eggs, or dairy products.   This includes gelatin which is an animal product and used in many sauces or recipes.

Diabetics - With diabetes, your body’s insulin cannot perform this task properly. A diabetic diet helps you schedule your carbohydrate intake so that your cells can get the glucose that they need. 

Gluten free (Celiacs) - Almost 3 million people have celiac disease, which is an inability to tolerate gluten.  Gluten is a protein found in all forms of wheat (including durum, semolina, and spelt), rye, oats, and barley.  It’s one of the most common genetic diseases, yet most people don’t know they have it.  And millions more people are allergic to wheat, which is one of the top eight allergens. 

Indian – There are diverse dietary restrictions in India, and these may affect the foods that are served. Lamb, chicken, and fish are the most commonly served main courses for non-vegetarian meals as they avoid the meat restrictions of the religious groups.

• Hindus do not eat beef and many are vegetarians.
• Muslims do not eat pork or drink alcohol.
• Sikhs do not eat beef.

As with any large line item, you will need to confer with your client and their confort level in responding to special requests.  Many venues will match pricing for vegetarian or dietary restrictions.  As suggested, the catering will need to outsource Kosher and Halal to preferred vendors.

All my buffets now are clearly labeled and the hotel provides “caution” for foods that may contain allergens.  You will want to respond to requests, but more important you will want to insure the safety of your attendees with allergies.  What you don’t know – could kill them!

Although an individual could be allergic to any food, such as fruits, vegetables, and meats, there are eight foods that account for 90% of all food-allergic reactions. Consult (http://foodallergies.about.com)  for details on these allergies; milk, egg, peanut, tree nut (walnut, cashew, etc.), fish,  shellfish, soy, and wheat.

Now pull out those catering menus and get to work.  Remember  – it is not just meat and potatoes any more.

Debbi Beldon, CMP — Experient

Just got back from e4 – what a terrific time we had networking with clients, partners and colleagues. I learned a lot too. For instance, I learned that people really will follow me on Twitter, even though I’m not exactly sure why yet. I learned that I need more than five hours sleep a night and apparently that I get cranky if 45 minutes goes by without eating something. I also learned that it is unwise to drink an entire Diet Coke if the session is going to be 90 minutes long and the bathroom is a mile and a half away.

But seriously, I also had the pleasure of attending the closing general session where we learned from Roger Dow, President and CEO of the US Travel Association about what’s going on with the events industry.

Roger shared a number of interesting facts with us, such as:

• 1 in 8 jobs in the United States are related to travel and tourism
• Meetings and events contribute $101 BILLION in spending in the United States
• A survey of Chief Marketing Officers indicated that meetings offer the highest Return on Investment of any marketing channel
  

  Roger Dow

With facts like that, it is shocking to me that our industry is facing such scrutiny. How can people, including our own government not understand how valuable our industry is to the economy of our country? According to Roger, part of the issue is us. He says that “we can no longer afford to play to not get hurt; we have to play to win.” The meetings business is America’s Industry – travel and tourism plays a role in every state.

Paco Saldaña

I was moved by the story of Paco Saldaña. Saldaña, director of guest services at the Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island, Fla., was chosen by thousands of his peers to be the new ‘Face of Travel.’ More than 16,000 people participated in the Faces of Travel contest creating and voting on hundreds of videos submitted from around the country. Paco Saldaña was selected as the industry spokesperson that embodies the vitality of travel and the importance of increasing travel to and within the United States. Unfortunately, when business meetings and events are cancelled, its people like Saldaña – not corporate CEOs – who pay the highest price.

We must speak out to change the perception of our business. Perception does not pay the electric bill, or feed our families. We are all the “Face of Travel”. So put a “face” on our industry – write letters to elected officials, post articles about the meetings industry on your Facebook page, Linked In, and Twitter. Tell your family, friends and everyone you meet what you do and how important it is to our country and our economy.

“What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us are tiny matters compared to what lives within us.” – Henry David Thoreau