PCMA Convening Leaders: A First Timer's Impressions & Takeaways

At the First Timers' reception
Niagara Falls Tourism took green screen
photos of attendees which were turned
into souvenirs shots, printed on the spot! 

For the first time ever I attended the Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA) Convening Leaders' Conference, which was held in Boston Jan. 12-15. As a career-long MPIer, I had never attended this annual event.  My only PCMA experience had been the Canada East Chapter Conference in Niagara Falls a few months ago.

It had been a long time since I've been a newbie at anything!  Overall my impression was that this conference both pushed the boundaries and invited attendees to engage at a level I had never experienced before. Here are my top 10 takeaways:

• A Mindset of Innovation & Recognizing the Value of Failures: at the first timers' session, we were informed by Kelly Peacy, CAE, CMP, PCMA's Senior Vice President, Education and Meetings, that her team looks to innovate with session formats, room layouts and even food and beverage. She openly admitted that they know some of these innovations will fail. But they consider failures to be valuable lessons. After all, if PCMA can't take risks to show its members how to organize better conferences, who can? This was echoed by Chairman Johnnie White, CMP at the opening session. And there were a few failures, such as the "out of the box" lunch on the Tuesday which ran out of food, and the congestion problems at the Hynes Convention Centre. But somehow I witnessed a willingness to forgive BECAUSE they were trying something new. I found the attitude of the leadership and the staff to be refreshing.

ASAE President & CEO
John Graham joins
the fun at the Montreal lunch and
poses for a #MtlMoment with
fake lips!

• Embracing Social Media: aside from assigning the customary hashtag for the convention, organizers and sponsors truly embraced social media. From an Instagram contest organized by local DMC Advantage Boston, to the Tourisme Montreal's #MtlMoments lunch snapshots, there were plenty opportunities to engage through social media. A highlight for me definitely was the tweet up sponsored by Ottawa Tourism, where I finally met people in person people that I follow on Twitter: the Velvet Chainsaw's Jeff Hurt (@JeffHurt), the Tradeshow Institute's Traci Browne (@tracibrowne), the Grass Shack Events & Media's Mike McCallen (@mmcallen), Lindsey Rosenthal (@eventsforgood) and Plan Your Meetings' Kristi Casey Sanders (@PYMLive).

• Sponsorship That Matters: I loved that key sponsors did more with their dollars than just give us the usual blah-blah-blah about their destination.  There was a concerted effort to tie sponsorship to the values held by the sponsor.  I was proud to be a Canadian and to witness the leadership of so many of our DMO's in sponsoring top-notch education; whether it was Tourism Toronto and the Metro Toronto Convention Center sponsoring the opening keynote with futurist Lisa Bodell, or Meetings & Conventions Calgary sponsoring a number of smaller breakout sessions, it was gratifying to see the Canadian presence and support of thought leadership.

• Canadian Winners: speaking of a Canadian presence, two of our own were also honored with Katie Dolan of Ottawa Tourism as one of 20 in their 20s leader, Freeman AV Canada's Heidi Welker with a Chairman's award for her leadership in growing the PCMA Canada East chapter by 42% in the last year.

• Mobile Meeting Movement: on the theme of innovation and Canadian pride, the JPdL bus from Montreal to Boston was a great experience. Aside from offering a cheaper, quicker mode of transportation (with the bad winter weather the bus got us there much faster than many people who are flying!), it was a great way to network, learn and debate issues along the way!

• A Culture of Dialogue: because PCMA does not have a tradeshow per se, and because so much focus is on education, this convention felt very different from other meetings industry gatherings I've been to in the past. With a reported 50-50 ratio between planners and suppliers, I found most "buyers" to be very approachable and open to discuss their challenges or issues. One planner I met, who was also a first-timer, said that she loved not feeling like a piece of meat in a market! I even had a "very important planner" (someone whose department plans over 200 meetings a year), approach me! Yes, I was wearing a "first timer" ribbon but the whole conference had this feeling of collaboration and no "us versus them" feel.

A participant discussion board
in the Learning Lounge.

• Engaging Formats: room layouts were varied, offering so much more than just the typical theater style or half rounds. I saw theater style combined with hightop tables and stools, small U-shaped groupings of chairs and half rounds, even chevron-style "hub and spoke" set ups. Most seemed to invite more networking and small-group conversations then what we typically experience with traditional setups.

• Excellent, Practical Education: aside from four knockout keynotes, I had the privilege of learning in five excellent breakout sessions. Two qualified as traditional lectures, albeit with very energetic speakers. Two involved highly interactive presenters who engaged their audience with lots of group discussion including input from virtual participants. And one was a panel with four speakers, facilitated by a very able moderator. Except for one of the lectures which was more motivational in nature, all sessions involved highly practical advice with examples of actual meetings. It was clear that the audience craved real-life solutions and not just theory. 

Salman Khan dreamt of "free, world-class education for anyone,
anywhere."  His dream became Khan Academy.

• Emotional Connection: The highlight of the convention for me definitely was Salman Khan's highly inspirational story about Khan Academy (proudly sponsored by Tourism Vancouver!).  A humble and engaging speaker, with a wonderful self-deprecating sense of humor, Khan described how he tutored his niece Nadia and progressed to posting math tutorials on YouTube to eventually create what is now the biggest provider of FREE online education, with over 10 million unique users per month.  Khan's story for me was a classic case of the law of attraction and his description of receiving a call from Bill Gates' Foundation reminded everyone that big dreams do come true.

• Technology Trumped by People: At first glance this event was heavily focused on technology. The main hallway was lined up with various app vendors, the Tech Central meeting area and Learning Lounge seemed to be touching on everything technology. But veteran delegates were telling me those areas were a lot less busy than in years previous.  Was it because they were no longer in areas adjacent to the main session?  (a "failure" to learn from?).  All I know is that in the meeting rooms, the people I was conversing with were more focused on human connection. Could it be we've had it with technology and we are now craving good, old-fashioned, human relationships? Regardless, people were talking!

The PCMA Convening Leaders Conference for me was a great way to kick off 2014. It embodied everything I want to focus on this year: authenticity, engagement, learning and innovation.  I'm not 100% sure whether I will attend the Chicago Conference next year, but based on this wonderful experience it's at the top of my list!

Speed Dating in the Meetings Industry

Speed Dating at Le Windsor Ballroom,
Montreal. Photo Courtesy of The Planner

Last Tuesday I had the opportunity of participating in a half-day event organized by The Planner/ Le Planificateur in Montreal.

This was my first ever event with this publication and I really appreciated the innovative format. First I was one of five speakers who took just 20 minutes to speak on a particular area or trend. This TED-style presentations seemed popular with attendees, many of home appeared to be younger planners, Gen X and Millennials.  And as we reported before on this blog, one of the preferences of younger planners and meeting attendees is for shorter, quicker-paced presentation formats.

The pace continued after lunch with a speed dating/timed appointments format. During this time I was able to meet with 16 meeting and event professionals out of a possible 20 timeslots.

Both formats forced me to be so much more specific in my information style. What is clearly the way the marketplace is evolving!

All in all, planners and exhibitors seemed to appreciate the value for their money and time from this event. Well done, The Planner!

Lofty Conversations on the Road to PCMA in Boston

If coming to the annual convention of the Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA) is all about learning and innovation, then taking the JPdL bus from Montreal to Boston was the perfect initiation for me.

Never mind that the bus got us from Montreal to Boston faster than flying because of the nasty weather (only a 5 1/2 drive), and had a much lower carbon footprint for the 21 passengers it carried.  With a two-hour conversation about changing practices and trends in our industry led by Mitchell Beer, CMM of The Smarter Shift and Rachel Stephan of Sensov Event Marketing, I truly felt this mode of transportation had been worth my time in the quality of the conversations alone.

One exchange focused on the use of Twitter to promote a city, attraction or venue to incoming convention delegates. I was postulating that tweeting may be a way to get around Canada's  Antispam Law; because tweets are in effect "public" messages, they likely would not be misconstrued as spam in the same way that unsolicited email would be.

I cited the example of the Boston hotel tweeting me when they saw I was coming to the convention; I mentioned this could even be used to extend special offers or even rates.

This generated a rather passionate conversation about the ethics around this kind of practice. One hotel representative pointed out this could unfairly lure away attendees to book outside group blocks, making it difficult for associations to fulfill their room commitments and possibly costing them extra fees.

She rightly pointed out that this cost could make it difficult for associations to invest in programs and education for members. We both agreed that consumers' constant quest for cheaper rates  (the Walmart effect) puts undue pressure on many associations.

While I do believe professionals should support their association, I thought it was naïve to think that people aren't going to think of their own interests first, whether it's to rack up loyalty points or get a cheaper rate. This is especially the case if they are a small business owner, or if their organization cannot afford higher hotel rates.

We both agreed PCMA has it right. The way they structured fees for this conference made it attractive to book within the room block because of a $200 differential; I know I would have been hard-pressed to find another hotel outside the block for $50 less per night (as I'm staying in Boston for four nights).

Unfortunately, in the view of one planner who was on the bus with us, hotels only have themselves to blame for this trend towards booking out of the block. He observed that if attrition causes weren't so punitive, associations probably would not be in such a situation. And privately another hotel sales representative admitted to me that she constantly fights with her hotel revenue manager, advocating for lower rates, so that associations don't encounter these room block pressures.

The final word? There really wasn't one except that conversations at events such as this are vitally important to the health of the meetings industry.  And unless we can slow down a bit, and perhaps take a bus or two, we are not likely to be able to gain a better understanding of each other's points of view.

Canada's Anti-Spam Law: a Serious Threat for Meetings Industry Marketers in 2014

When Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) comes into effect this summer, it could drastically alter the way hotels, DMOs and meetings industry suppliers market to meeting and event planners.

The law was passed in 2010, but the federal government gave businesses three years to get ready. Unfortunately, few are aware of what this is all about.  As of July 1, 2014 penalties will apply if marketers ignore what is now mandated.

New requirements include:

• Obtaining the recipient's consent PRIOR to sending an electronic, commercial message such as an email or text;
• Recording this consent in a dedicated field in your organization's database so it can be verified if there is a complaint;
• Ensuring your opt-out mechanism is easy and automatically removes a recipient no longer receives emails from you.

Failure to comply with the law could entail a $200 fine for each message (one unsolicited communication can count as a violation), and can reach up to $1,000,000 per day for individuals and $10,000,000 for organizations.

Here are three common sales & marketing practices in the meetings industry that marketers won't be able to do after July 1:

• Buy a list and eblast an offer: first of all, if you get an offer to buy lists of meeting planners and someone says you can buy or rent it to eblast, don't do it.  Or if you do it (and we say: buyer beware!), make sure it's before July 1.  After that date you will NOT be able to send an unsolicited email touting your hotel, destination or services, even if you have an "opt-out" link. 
• Eblast a tradeshow list: This one is a little less straight-forward.  If a planner came by your booth and dropped off a card, you will have six months to obtain express consent from the date of your meeting.  With express consent you will be able to continue with email marketing.  But after 6 months, if they haven't given you consent, you must stop. 
• Your hotel recently completed its renovations program and you want to eblast the news:  As of July 1 you'll be OK to email those with whom you have done business in the last two years prior to the date of the deployment.  Anyone else who was just a prospect, you have to have their express consent first.

For more information on the CASL, how it will affect the way you market you meeting venue, service or destination, join us for our webinar on Thursday, January 30, at 12 noon EST, "What the Meetings Industry Needs to Know & Do About Canada's Anti-Spam Law".  This online event is free for qualified hotel, destination and other meetings industry suppliers.

Register at: https://cc.readytalk.com/r/apk4z5xr0oq2&eom

Building Trust in the Meetings Industry's "New Normal"

Recently a good friend of mine was lamenting that building trust in NEW business relationships in the meetings industry is no longer “what it used to be.” She likened the process to dating again after divorcing her partner of 19 years… It’s a very different environment out there, due to a number of converging trends:

Online: Consumers and business decision-makers are increasingly searching for solutions online.  The Fleishman-Hillard  - Harris Interactive Annual Global Study reported that 89% of consumers research potential purchases online first.   As consumers increasingly adopt this "self-serve" mentality, business have had to respond by dramatically increasing the availability of online information.  In addition, consumers are increasingly averse to accepting intrusive marketing messages.  The result is increasingly fragmented communication channels and decreasing personal access to prospects;

Social: Two out of three Canadians report using social media, while 1/3 say they check their social media feed everyday.  The ComScore 2013 Canada Digital Future in Focus Report says the top three Canadian social media sites are Facebook, Twitter, followed by LinkedIn. In August 2013, Maclean's reported that, "19 million Canadians are now logging onto Facebook at least once every month — that’s more than half the population." And according to Canadian Business Magazine this means Canada has the highest number of users in the world, per capita.  Not only is there a proliferation of information online but this information is spun and “re-purposed” in multiple media, especially through social network sharing;

Mobile: Almost half of Canadians now own smartphones, according to new data from Ipsos Reid, while 1/3 have a tablet computer. These users expect information at their fingertips, literally. If your information isn't found online quickly, and isn't optimized for mobile devices, you're not in the market.

Younger: According to StatsCan, 1,000 Canadians are now reaching retirement age every day -- that number is 10,000 in the USA.  The recession and recent changes to Old Age Security may be delaying some leaving the workforce, but by 2014, the retirement wave is expected to hit. Boomers are being replaced by younger workers who are more tech-savvy and more comfortable with multitasking. They are used to a faster pace of change.

In the meetings industry we have more specific trends:

• Virtual and hybrids meetings are extending the reach and broadening the impact of face-to-face events.

• With more content being captured and published online, attendee and non-attendee engagement can or should last much longer than just the duration of the meeting.

• Through it all, it is more and more challenging for meetings industry suppliers and destinations to distinguish themselves in their marketing. They face increasing commoditization.

All these trends are changing how people buy and sell: how meetings industry suppliers attract planners and how planners get attendees to register. It’s affecting how sponsors pick which event they associate their brands with. I could go on.  This is affecting everything.

So under this “new normal,” what are the most effective tactics you can use to improve your chances and build trust with prospects and new clients?  Here is what we found:

1.     Beef up your website:  There are two aspects to this.  With customers looking for more and better information online, businesses must invest in their online presence through Search Engine Optimization. Having an old or poorly-optimized website is equivalent to NOT have a store sign if you are a retailer.  Customers won’t be able to find you!

Secondly, don’t just have static, sales-driven information.  Offer value upfront.  Create resources that help your target audience do better.  Position your organization as the go-to source in your field with a blog, downloadable tips sheets, etc.  Helpful and continually refreshed content is the best way to truly optimize your online presence.

2.     Work your existing clients:  Building trust is harder when you don’t have an “in” so make sure you make the most of your existing customer base.  Ask for referrals and use client testimonials.

3.     Go out & network: F2F (face-to-face) is the single fastest way to improve trust.  After all, peace accords are NOT negotiated by email or conference call.  Rise to the challenge, go see prospects in person or invite them to an educational experience at your hotel or destination.

4.     Communicate every 30 days: If you don't communicate at least once every month, you risk losing a minimum 10% of your prospect’s awareness of your organization.  You need to nurture your growing relationships.  The key is to vary the ways you touch new contacts each month.  A phone call, a personal note, a visit to their office, an email newsletter, an invitation to an event... Be creative!

5.     Create alliances:  Alliances should be forged not only with people who can refer you business, but even competitors.  One independent hotel sales rep I know recently landed a large booking by reaching out to his larger chain competitor around the corner.  And how else do you create alliances except by networking?

6.     Show gratitude:  We can never do it enough.  Say thank you in a personal way.  Not by email.  Express yourself with a hand-written note, preferably on nice stationery or card.  You don't have to splurge for a gift, but if the matter was considerable, then by all means send flowers, chocolates or other choice item.  Just make sure the person is allowed to accept a gift, and that it is as personal as possible.

We hope you will find these tips useful.  Have more ways you to growg the trust factor in your new relationships for your hotel, CVB or meeting services firm?  Please share by posting a comment!

Innovation in the Meetings Industry: Lessons from #PCMACIC13

While meeting professionals instinctively know that bringing people face-to-face creates conversations and sparks innovation, one could argue the meetings industry itself really hasn't evolved all that much since business events became more popular.

Sure, we've had innovations with technology, enabling better audiovisual presentations, and even hybrid meetings. But have meeting professionals truly been able to change the way meetings are conducted, beyond the traditional lecture models and tradeshow formats we have known for the last 40-50 years?

The organizers of the first PCMA Canadian Innovation Conference (#PCMACIC13), held in Niagara Falls November 10-12, tried to explore that very issue.  It was my first time attending any PCMA event. Like many in attendance, I wasn't really sure what form innovation would take at this particular event. 

What I saw at this conference was a lot of what we have all seen in the past. Elegant staging, beautifully decorated rooms, keynote speakers and breakout sessions. What was different about this conference is that the organizers really wanted to push the envelope about how we can innovate in our business. And for this they must be commended.

I've always felt that the true test of a great conference is what stays with you long after the event has passed.  Was this event truly innovative enough to make people think differently and behave differently? 

At this conference, it was the keynote speakers that did it for me.

The opening keynote speaker, Randy Cass, was probably not the favorite speaker of the conference. Many people I spoke to, who aren't entrepreneurs, felt that he wasn't speaking to them.  One association said to me, “he didn't really have anything to say that applies to me because I work for not-for-profit.”  That was odd to me because Cass gave me one of the best “nuggets” I could walk away with…

And that was to be innovative, you have to take risks.  You cannot be afraid of failure, because failure itself can be a huge learning experience.  He quoted Sir Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin empire, as saying, “Screw it – just DO it!” (with apologies to Nike).  Unfortunately too many meeting professionals are judged only by their latest gig. Few can afford to look at failures as necessary and valuable outcomes to learn from. 

Yours truly with PCMA CIC closing
Keynote Speaker, Amanda Lindhout

Similarly the closing speaker gave me another precious “ah-ha” moment.  There probably wasn’t a dry eye in the room after Amanda Lindhout recounted her story of survival and compassion from her 15-month ordeal as a captive of Somali insurgents. Standing behind a lectern with only a hand-held microphone, she did not use any fancy visuals.  Her words and remarkable poise were enough for the audience to imagine all that they needed to understand her poignant message.

And from this I understood the power of storytelling.  Not to take anything away from the wonderful work that my AV friends do in the business, but human beings sharing stories can be more powerful than any production.   

So how could PCMA organizers kick it up a notch for next year’s conference in Montreal?  Here are a few ideas to start the conversation:

- Allow people to discuss the issues that they care about in a non-structured format. Have an unconference! We have a few experts in this industry that could lead us through a discussion like this such as Adrian Segar, Jeff Hurt or Chris Brogan, to name a few;  

– Enable people to experience peer-to-peer coaching. This involves having individuals share with their problems are and having the group offer potential ideas to remedy the situation. Sometimes the best solutions are not from so called experts but rather our own peers!

- Instead of traditional lecture formats, let’s have learning labs and hands-on workshops where people can design an actual conference program, marketing program, or other components of a conference.

– Bring experts who are not from the meetings industry. I love professional speakers (and clearly the above two keynotes are amongst the best from NSB), but maybe we need to hear from adult learning experts, sociologists or brain scientists so we can learn how face-to-face interaction truly leads to innovation.

This PCMA event helped open my eyes to the need for more innovation and story-telling in the meetings industry. Congratulations to the host venue, the Niagara Falls Scotiabank Convention Centre, co-chairs Chuck Schouwerwou and Heidi Welker, and the entire Organizing Committee!  

P.S.  I look forward to lending a hand next year for the conference which is planned for Montreal in late November. 

7 Things First Time Home Buying and Content Marketing Have In Common

My fiancée and I recently bought our first house. Having chased this dream for two years, finding the perfect starter home made me realize how similar the experience can be for hoteliers and DMOs contemplating content marketing for the first time.

So if you are looking to get into blogging or an e-newsletters series to help you increase your attraction factor to meeting and event planners, consider these tips:

1. Never rush into the first idea that comes to mind: We thought the very first house we looked at was a winner. Within 6 months of losing the opportunity to another buyer, we could not see ourselves living there. So while strategizing about creating content for your hotel blog, take a step back and ask "Is this the best content for what we want to achieve?" Perhaps you need the input of a content strategist, or a few meeting planners, to ensure your content is on the mark. 
2. Keep trying: After every house we lost, got outbid on, or just couldn't secure; we were devastated. But we persevered and found the one. The same applies to content marketing. This is a process that may take time, and you may not get it right immediately. But keep trying, and you will start to attract more readers – and eventually, more leads! 
3. Use trusted sources: When buying a first time home, you get information from all over the place. Some good, some not so good. When creating content for your destination or hotel’s blog or e-newsletter, solidify your position by citing your own organization’s experts AND the occasional outside source. Your Conference Services may be a great gal, but if you can also show that her team building ideas are based on recent research at Harvard, you’ll elevate the trustworthiness of your content. 
4. Ask for help: Never assume doing it all yourself is the best process. Upon visiting what we thought was the dream house, an inspector found major deficiencies. So it goes for content generation: make sure you have several people committed to generating ideas and contributing. And get help to proof before you post! 
5. Checklists, checklists, checklists: Finding the perfect home consisted of forming a checklist of everything we wanted, needed, and could live without. Checklists are a great way to ensure you don’t miss some of the necessary fundamentals along the way – does this content give at least one valuable tip to a meeting planner? Does it link to more resources on our website? Does it have a call-to-action? Etc. If you have a checklist of the elements that your content need to have at the start of the campaign, then you are more likely to stay on track. 
6. Filling the space: When buying a house, you need to account for the space you have, furnishings you have and what you’ll need to get. It’s the same with content marketing. Ensure your material doesn’t feel cramped. Fill it with useful information – content that a meeting planner would find valuable. Never just fill space with promotional stuff. Adapt your layout to what has worked in the past but don’t be afraid to change things around once in awhile. 
7. Get Social: When you move into your first house, you need extra hands, so you reach out to your social network. The same can be said with your content marketing. Posting your material to social media will bring in those extra visitors you need to ensure the campaign is successful. Never be afraid to use every tool in your marketing arsenal to publicize your content. Just make sure you balance your stuff with other engaging social media tactics. 

Taking simple tips like these are a great way to tighten up those offers and if I may impart one final tip, make sure your campaigns are organic. Take lessons like these, life lessons, to move forward and grow in content creation.