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Please only lecture for 20 minutes

Friday, July 23rd, 2010

Adults will only pay attention for 20 minutes before you need to do something else.  Speakers – are you listening?  20 minutes.

If you can cook an entire meal in 20 minutes -  you can get all your relevant points across in a lecture.

Really look at your content.  Are your points clear and concise?

Can you get your attendees to talk amongst themselves to talk through your main points?  Will the discussion further your learning objectives?

Even if you just CAN NOT cover everything in 20 minutes, STOP, Do something else and then start up again.

Allow people to ask questions.

Allow people to discuss in small or large groups.

Prepare an activity that reinforces what you were talking about.

Just please don’t keep talking for another 20 minutes.

We all have a responsibility to make meetings and events better.  As Calgary event planners we work with speakers on the finer elements of adult learning.  We stress to our speakers to only lecture for 20 minutes at the most without breaking it up with something else.

The “anything but lecture time” can be simple – it might just be a few questions from the audience.  It just has to be a moment when someone else is talking.  It needs to be a change of pace for the audience.  Let them re-group and you’ll find they pay attention to the next 20 minutes a lot better.

What are examples of things you do at the 20 minute moment?  Or do you even wait 20 minutes?

Posted in Event Management, Increasing Learning at Meetings, Reasons to hire a planner | No Comments »

I spent a week in a “U shape” and never want to go back

Wednesday, July 21st, 2010

I spent a week in a “U Shape” set up and I never want to go back to anything else.

My week was with the “Adult Educator” Seminar Series at Mount Royal University.  Our very first class on Monday morning was set up in a U Shape.  As a conference and event planner I know the reasons to set people up in a variety of shapes (theatre, classroom, boardroom, etc) but we rarely experience being in that shape for an extended period of time.

But here we were, 28 of us, in a great big U.  The empty middle section was quickly used for a group activity to introduce ourselves.  Then it became an area where smaller groups could meet with each other.  We were in our “U” for the first 6 seminars.

Then seminar #7 had us in a traditional classroom format and I found myself resenting it.  Truly, I hated it.  No longer could I see everyone.  Now I had to look at the back of people’s heads.  Now I could also check out.  I knew my instructor couldn’t see me as well.  I think I went to facebook for a while.  I was less engaged.

We know there are better formats than theatre style and sometimes space doesn’t allow us anything else.  And sometimes our audience just doesn’t know better either.  But it’s time we started booking rooms that allow for U’s and allow for more movement.

What shape you do like to be in the most?  Why?

Posted in Event Management, Increasing Learning at Meetings | No Comments »

Meeting Planners Make the Most of Social Media

Monday, July 19th, 2010

Social media is making an impact on business and altering communications within many corporate sectors. Calgary event management companies and meeting and event planners are among those that are using social media tools to plan meetings and communicate in varying ways.

Details Inc. started blogging in 2009 as an opportunity to share information online with people in the event planning industry and friends in our social network. Social media as an event organizing strategy is growing in popularity as more companies are willing to experiment in online and interactive social circles to find what works – and what doesn’t work – for their members. From user conferences and new product announcements to online registrations, meeting planners are starting to better understand and accept social media’s growing role in event organizing.

Facebook is a social networking tool that is popular with conference professionals, and can be customized for specific groups. Through professional fan pages and customized group pages, meeting industry personnel and group members can announce upcoming meetings, register for conferences, or share vital information among those who “like” their page, friends and organization members.

Twitter is often the social space of choice for event organizers to communicate with their group members and send out location, speaker and sponsor information. Members can tweet, re-tweet and post information about meeting plans and share feedback with other followers in their social network.

Social media event platforms, such as Meet Up and Tweet Up, allow planners to communicate in real time and organize gatherings with vast numbers of personnel that have chosen to identify their group affiliation within social networks.

Though there are some Canada event planning companies and conference organizations that remain cautious about implementing social media tools, associations and planners are learning how to navigate this new terrain of social media and many are finding it beneficial for their meeting, convention, and event planning strategies.

Are you or organizations you belong to using social media to promote your meetings or events?  Tell us how it is going and share your stories with us!

Posted in Event Management, Reasons to hire a planner, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Fundraiser at Schanks North

Friday, July 16th, 2010

I participated in the Enbridge Ride to Conquer Cancer, June 26-27, 2010.  I cycled 220km (they advertised 200km but, hey, throw in another 20!)  and raised a  for the Alberta Cancer Foundation.  My team is “Team Tattoo Against Cancer” as I’ve joined my friend’s husband’s team and they are mainly tattoo artists  (and their friends).

For the past 2 years I’ve walked in the Weekend to End Breast Cancer and they were unforgettable experiences.  A scheduling conflict prevents me from walking this year but I also wanted to contribute to more than just “Women’s Cancers”.  There are too many other cancers that don’t have the profile but need the money and the research just as much.

My team decided to have a fundraising party and of course I was the  Calgary event planner behind it.  I groaned and whined a fair bit about it but reflecting on it afterwards I’m amazed.

I have to give a big thank you to Schanks North – but also to Schanks in general.  Holding a fundraiser at Schanks was the SIMPLEST thing ever. 

Schanks fully supports fundraising activities – I knew this from going to a school fundraiser there one year.  So I contacted them with the idea and we were able to secure a date.  Their fundraising package is incredibly well done and really helps groups put together a nice evening.  We were fortunate in selecting an evening that also had a hockey game and a big fight (as well as the Kentucky Derby on earlier in the day).

They put out a little spread of food for minimal cost to our group and weren’t overly concerned with our numbers provided we paid for our guaranteed amount of food.

They have a number of activities at Schanks that you can use to collect more funds.  Plus they accommodated our silent auction and encouraged us to sell the 50/50 tickets to the entire venue.  (Be sure to have your raffle license first though!)

It really couldn’t have been a better evening and all of the staff at Schanks helped to make it a great one.  In the end, our 50+ people that attended help us raise $3050 in the fight against cancer.  Not bad for a little group of people!

Posted in Event Management, Team Building, Uncategorized, Venues | No Comments »

20 slides x 20 seconds each: Pecha-Kucha

Wednesday, July 14th, 2010

Pecha-Kucha 20×20 is an event that began in Toyko in 2003.  The concept is 20 slides for 20 seconds each and presenters talk over their slides.  The slides are on auto-follow so there is no slowing the presentation down.  Presenters have to keep up to their slides.  Each presenter has a total of just over 6 minutes for their presentation.

The concept began as a way for people to show their work in a relaxed way.  And a way that EVERYONE can show their work.  Artists have a chance to quickly demonstrate their portfolio and based on the short presentations, you can have a large number of people showing their work in one event.

Calgary Arts Development has been hosting Pecha Kucha events – you can see them in action at http://vimeo.com/user885490/videos.

The next event in Calgary is on July 16th at the Olympic Plaza Stage.  Click here for more details.

I’ve been looking at the Vancouver events and admiring the collection of people they have coming out to speak.  It’s eclectic and I’m sure fascinating and exciting to have a number of people do dynamic, quick presentations on a variety of topics.

As an audience member you must at least know that if the presentation is boring at least it is less than 7 minutes long!

The Pecha Kucha website answers the question about how it is related to TED.  (www.ted.com)  Their response:

“Many people have said – “oh so you’re like a local TED!” A very nice complement but not quite right! TED is brilliant but very different to PechaKucha. TED is top down, PechaKucha is bottom up! Deanne the hooper, Astrid daughter or Marks mum could not present at TED – but they had awesome stories and creativity to at recent PechaKucha’s”

PechaKucha is trademarked and they allow one event organizer per city to not have people stepping on each other’s events.

But how about we take on the concepts and apply it to our  Calgary event planning and our presentations?  Maybe it isn’t 20 slides in 20 seconds but some other short, concise timing.  It is getting presenters to speak over their slides and to get their messages out in quick sound bites.  We have limited attention spans and our brains really can only take so much information – so give us the main points and combine it with great visuals.

How about at the next conference we have 2 speakers give 15 minute presentations with a maximum of 15 slides (1 slide per minute) and then allow the audience the remaining 30 minutes to discuss amongst themselves?  What would we come up with?  What inspiration could we spark?

Meeting Professionals International is doing

Posted in Event Management, Increasing Learning at Meetings, Reasons to hire a planner, Uncategorized | No Comments »

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