Archive for » June, 2009 «

Am I The Only One Scratching My Head Going Huh?


Tuesday,  I received an email from Meeting Professionals International (MPI), an association of 24,000 meeting and event professionals regarding their upcoming conference WEC (World Education Congress) July 11-14, 2009. The email surprised me as they were offering me a special discount for virtual attendance of $299 for full access to 17 live streaming events. I would also have access to the recordings (video, audio and some synched PPT & audio) to more than 100 education sessions and access to the social conference network from Pathable.

Well, after my mouth fell the floor, I read the email again and thought, surely they jest. Then I thought, oh my, their attendance is down and they are trying to meet budget. They are hurting financially and are doing anything and everything to make money.

Then I thought, “What hair-brained staff member put this in place?” Yes, it was a corporate hairball in action with a decsion made my some executive jerk (joke?) who pulled rank, and clearly wasn’t focused on what’s best for members or providing value to members who couldn’t afford to attend in person. It was probably someone who doesn’t understand the social space and has the scarcity mentality that thinks all non-attendees will willingly cough-up $300 for a virtual attendance.  Or they’ve got some supplier who was not smart enough to sponsor free virtual attendance for anyone who could not attend face to face.

Did MPI think this through? Did they honestly think members who were not attending were going to jump up and down with glee that we had the opportunity to pay another $300 for content? Did they think about how upset some of us might be? Obviously, not. Nor did they realize the power of the social space to show that MPI does not control it’s brand anymore.  

What struck me as odd was this was the opposite of what MPI did in January 2009 for their “MeetDifferent” conference in Atlanta. Then they streamed the opening general session and other power keynotes and allowed me to particpate virtually for free. They also posted free video clips of the general sessions for everyone to see. They totally won me over and I was a proud to be a member. I had no problem renewing my $375 membership in the Spring because MPI had proven their worth to me and gave me free content in January. I was honored and willing to shout from the mountain that MPI “got it” and valued me as a member. I was willing to encourage others to become a member and became their customer evangelist. Heck, I was even willing to give up a Saturday to speak to MPI’s CLC 2009 about social media strategy. So, I’ve not been an outspoken critic of MPI in the past rather a MPI evangelist.

You see, earlier this year, I was disappointed that I couldn’t attend MPI’s WEC face to face because my 2009 travel and professional development budget was slashed. I didn’t have any money to attend, nor do I have $300 to pay to attend virtually. Nor do I think it’s worth $300 for virtual attendance. I think it ludicrous.

Then I got mad, very mad. I pay $375 a year for membership and what do I get in return? Very little. We’ll save that for tomorrow’s post. And yes, there will be more. 

What’s so sad, is that in one act, MPI has turned me from customer evangelist into an outspoken member critic. And if they think I’m going to keep quiet, they are wrong. I’m sure they think I will just go away but my membership goes through almost another year. You see, I’ve already received more than 25 direct messages in Twitter from others who are outraged at MPI’s stance. And I suspect others to speak out too. Has MPI even had to deal with bloggers yet who disagree with them? Doubtful. I expect they think they can ignore me and I will go away.

So I ask you, am I the only one that thinks MPI is going down the wrong path here? Am I the only one that thinks MPI sent a message loud and clear to me that they only value my membership enough if I pay them another $300 to receive content? Am I the only one scratching my head going, ”Huh?” 

Let them know how you feel. Post a comment here and tell them what you think.

Oh, and by the way, in case you think I’m crazy asking MPI to provide free virtual access to WEC education, see what Seth Godin has to say about free content in today’s world.

For full disclosure, I am a member of MPI and a former 1999 MPI employee. I actually used to plan WEC, PEC and Platinum programs so I’ve walked in those shoes.

Tips For Planning An Unconference: Lessons Learned From The Trenches

Yesterday, I wrote about my experience with WordCamp 2009 Dallas, an WordPress Camp / unconference for bloggers and WordPress enthusiasts. Today, here are some of my tips for those organizing an unconference or BarCamp from my years of experience planning events and meetings.

1. Connect with a meeting and event professional in your community.
Before you start your event planning, check to see if you have any meeting or event professionals in your community that understand, use and integrate Web 2.0 in their events. There are many meeting and event professionals bloggers , a vibrant group of #eventprofs in Twitter as well as two large Linkedin Groups (Event Planning & Management and Event Peeps) that understand the planning process and people dynamics of a Web 2.0 integrated face-to-face event. Contact them. They can help you with some of your venue and planning logistics.

2. Identify the top three-five goals of your event.
Why are you holding this event? What is your real motivation? What do you want people to remember about your event? What do you want them to experience? How many people do you want to attend? What overall average score do you want from your attendees evaluations? What underlying theme, if any, do you have?

3. Location, location, location!
If you plan to make this a destination event (people traveling to it by car or plane), secure a place close to a major airport hub and transportation arteries when possible. Nearby hotels and entertainment districts are also great draws.

4. Focus on the content you want to cover first, and then find the speakers to meet that content.
This is so critical! Put an emphasis on the strategic and education design of your event, with the goals in mind. Then let the logistics add the framework to your strategy.

5. As you plan your schedule, include some adult white space for attendees to digest information, network and learn from others.
Just as in Twitter, it’s not about how many followers you have, conference planning is not about how many speakers you can cram into a day. It’s about the quality of your speaker’s presentations and the quality of the connections one can make. Don’t become the kitchen sink of conferences trying to cover as many topics as possible in a short amount of time. It’s called the “social” web for a reason and today’s learning is social as well, not passive learning from a hierarchy of expertise.

6. Once you have 50 or more attendees, it’s time to start thinking about adding some concurrent breakouts.
Don’t get mesmerized by single track versus dual tracks. Do both. Have a mix of general sessions for everyone with breakouts for niche groups. If the topic does not meet the needs of 70%-80% of your entire attendance, consider making it a separate breakout. You’re doing your attendees a disservice when you try to force a niche topic on all attendees. Remember, the event is about the attendees, not your personal choices.

7) Breakouts are not hard to organize and allow attendees a choice in their learning, which is critical to adults learning.
 Having at least two concurrent sessions, allows planners to offer beginner and advance courses for attendees, or audience specific tracks based on an attendee’s needs. Don’t focus on the fact that you’ll need more equipment to live-stream two concurrent sessions. If you only have equipment to live-stream one session, then don’t worry about capturing the other one.

8. Unconference organizers should remember that people today are learning in new ways that are collective, egalitarian and participatory.
The best conference learning occurs when there are varieties of ways people can learn from passive listening to collaborative round-table discussions to small group exercise. Retention and learning decreases the more attendees sit and passively listen, especially for eight-to-ten hours a day.

9. Consider identifying sessions based on levels of experience from beginner, intermediate to advanced.
This will help attendees and potential attendees when arranging their schedules.

10. Find some champions to follow the Twitter stream and engage virtual attendees.
If you’re going to integrate Web 2.0 Technologies, be prepare to attract a following and new virtual attendee needs will arise.

11. Evaluate, evaluate, evaluate
I strongly encourage you to consider use a speaker’s evaluation for each speaker and an overall conference evaluation. These should be more than a smile sheet and ask a variety of questions. Rank all the speakers on their overall favorable average and compare. This will help you for future planning.

More thoughts about single versus mutiple trackes.
While trying to have a single-experience for the entire audience is admirable, it is not possible. Nor does it really happen. Everyone brings their own set of learnings, skills and perspectives to an event. Each person leaves with their own takeaways and views. The Internet has turned learning on its head and no one person enters, follows or leaves the social space in a same way. Go ahead and consider a mix of single and dual tracks. Yes, your attendees will complain they have to make a choice and this is no different than entering the Web. They have to make a choice where they’re going to go and what they’re going to experience. If you only provide a single track experience, you’re going to have complaints from audience to provide multiple tracks.

I know there are many more tips. What are yours?  Add them to the comments section.

Planning An Unconference: What I Learned By Attending WordCamp Dallas 2009

This past weekend, I participated in WordCamp Dallas 2009 (#wcdfw09), an Unconference for more than 325 bloggers and new media types held at University of Dallas in Richardson, TX. John P. and Cali Lewis of GeekbriefTV spearheaded the event’s organization and secured a host of sponsors and other volunteers to assist them. As a new blogger, and a life-long learner, I wanted to learn more about how to improve my blogging skills and the use of WordPress platform. I also wanted to see how the social media pros integrated Web 2.0 tools into their events.

Since I am a professional meeting and event planner by day that earns a living planning conferences and education events, I try to manage my expectations when I attend another event. Meeting planners can often be some of the most critical attendees because “We’ve always done it better at a one of our events.” Since this event was of the Unconference variety, I walked in with the mindset to learn as much as I could about blogging and Wordpress, from anyone that would let me, even if it were just from other attendees in the hallway. At the least, I was prepared to learn what not to do when planning an event because I assumed it would be un-organized event. It was an ”Un-conference” afterall.

Well, I was pleasantly surprised both by the quality of the content and the organizational skills of volunteer coordinators. At the end of each day, I left with brain drain from trying to absorb way too much information, way too fast, in a condensed time frame. That was one of this conference’s challenges and my negatives, cramming way too much information into a short amount of time, thinking the audience would retain that information. It all became very overwhelming and will take me months to digest and discern what applies to my situation now.

I offer many hat tips to WordCamp 2009’s organizers, sponsors and volunteers. Thank you for an outstanding event and I look forward to learning from you, the speakers and attendees in the future. I also look forward to next year’s event as well.

Here’s what I learned about planning and organizing an Unconference or Bar Camp for new media types. I’m focusing on the strategic and not tactical elements of planning an unconference. I will write more about my content take-aways later this week as well as my suggestions for organizers of future Unconferences.

1) To paraphrase Margaret Mead, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed non-planners can organize an event that can change the world.”

2) Even non-planners start with strategy and goals before attempting logistics.

3) Quality content at an unconference eclipses any lack of organizational planning or logistic snafus.

4) Your social connections, both online and offline, can help you when you need it most in your planning and organizational process. (Reach out to experts and others to connect and meet your needs.)

5) Many of the new media types are very altruistic, will share from their experiences and honestly want you to succeed.

6) Venues with free wifi and adequate electrical outlets are becoming increasing critical to 21st century conferences and events.

7) More people are attending virtual meetings and events and organizers need to find champions at the face-to-face event to keep those virtual attendees engaged during a conference.

Tomorrow, my tips for non-event professionals for planning an Unconferene or BarCamp in the future.

Being Upbeat Is Your Entry Ticket Into A World Of Possibilities: An Interview With Rajesh Setty
Rajesh Setty

Rajesh Setty

Rajesh Setty’s mission in life reads like a great TV or print advertisement: to bring good ideas to life. With Love.

Rajesh has a new book out now called Upbeat: Cultivating The Right Attitude To Thrive In Tough Times and is currently doing a “Blog Book Tour.” (I am writing a review of his book for a future post.)

Founder, operating executive, board member and investor are some of the roles he has played in a few companies. He published his first book at the age of thirteen and has written several more since then. When he is not building companies or writing, he enjoys presenting at conferences and company events.

I first met Rajesh through his insightful and buoyant blog Life Beyond Code and began following him on Twitter at @UpbeatNow. His enthusatic and discerning thoughts are contagious and if you want to know what shaped his thinking, you can read his story so far here.

Rajesh lives in the Silicon Valley with his wife Kavitha and son Sumukh.

1) What motivated you to write the book Upbeat?

Jeff, first of all thank you for the opportunity to discuss the concepts surrounding the book.

The book was written during my journey of building a startup during the previous recession. While we enjoyed the entire journey, it was not easy. I documented my own learning as well as what other fellow entrepreneurs were learning and I compiled that into a book. The timing was wrong as by the time I compiled the book, the recession was over. So I just moved the project to the background and forgot about it. A couple of years later we were faced with another recession. So revisited the project and revised a few things and got the book ready again!

So, while this is a short little book, it has been in the works for a few years :)

 2) What would you say are your two most important take-aways from the book? 

 

upbeat-cover-final[1]

UPBEAT by Rajesh Setty

I will pick a couple of points that people resonated with since the release of the book: 

  1. It all starts with your daily conversations: If you want to make a BIG difference, you have to start watching your daily conversations. These daily conversations can be empowering or dis-empowering. If you don’t pay attention to these conversations, they will go towards dis-empowering as there is so much negativity all around.         

  2. Your capacity to increase the capacity of others to make something happen will determine your level of influence. As Warren Bennis said brilliantly, “When Cicero speaks, people marvel. When Ceaser speaks, people march.” If you can build enough trust that people are wiling to join hands with you and walk with you, you can do wonderful things. For that to happen, you have to be that someone who can take them to a better place that they cannot go on their own. This means that you have to be willing to listen, care and contribute to this network of yours. You basically help them first and then a sub-set of them will help you back. :)

3) Ok, I have to ask. How do you define social media?

For me, social media is an opportunity to make a bigger contribution. It is an opportunity for everyone to make a difference – make this world a better place.

Social Media is a place where new relationships happen, new ideas sprout and spread. It is a inherently democratic in the sense, where great ideas accelerate and stupid ideas get slammed in breathtaking speed.

4) What social media platforms do you use and why?

I use a number of tools. Here are a sub-set of them:

  • Twitter – to listen and learn, to build new relationships, to share insights, to participate in conversations and to help spread good ideas.
  • LinkedIn – for mostly business relationships
  • Facebook – for mostly non-business relationships
  • Squidoo – to create destination pages on a few topics that are of my interest

5) Did you use any social media platforms to help you write or market the book and if yes, how?

Yes, most of my books (at least the core ideas) of my books are first written on my blog (and now on Twitter.) I get feedback from readers well before it gets into the form of a book.

I also use social media to market my books and this particular interview is an example of one way to spread the message and if some people get inspired by what I have to say they might go and buy the book.

Books make something sort of a finality but through social media one can extend the conversations before and after the book is published and that’s what I aim to do.

The side benefit of sharing insights and ideas generously (on social media or elsewhere) is that you get to see what resonates well people that I want to reach via my books. When my ideas get validation via feedback and conversations, I can invest further in developing those ideas for my books or eBooks.

6) You use @UpbeatNow as your Twitter name as well as the book name. Why the name Upbeat?

Being Upbeat is like an entry ticket to whatever you want to do. Imagine someone attending a job interview and not being upbeat. Imagine a wannabe entrepreneur preparing his business plan not being upbeat. Imagine someone writing a first book and not being upbeat about it. It is almost a given that one needs to be upbeat. Not only that, since the time lost will never come back, they have to be Upbeat Now. Hence the name @UpbeatNow :)

7) How do you use Twitter and what have you learned about using it that you would recommend to others?

I use Twitter for the following:

  • Build new relationships
  • Spread new ideas
  • Engage in conversations
  • Listen to the marketplace
  • Write books

I am new to Twitter so I may not have a lot to contribute in terms of advice but here are a few things that I can share:

  • Twitter is a tool just like many other tools. Don’t be fascinated by the tool. Get fascinated by what you can do with the tool.
  • Share and Contribute something of value and people will follow you. Without that, even if people follow you, it won’t be of much use.
  • 140 characters seems like less. It’s a lot if you use it carefully.

Thanks Rajesh for sharing and for the inteview.

Did you get his two takeaways? Those alone were worth reading this post! Look for my book review of Upbeat comsing soon.

My 6-26-09 FollowFriday Twitter Picks

Here are my June 26, 2009 #followfriday Twitter picks:


Nonprofit

@RJLeaman – Rebecca Leaman, nonprofit conduit, assocition thought leader, blogger behind Association Jam.

@pinnovation – Jeff De Cagna, nonprofit social media strategist and implementer, change strategist, blog: Principled Innovation

Meeting & Event Professionals

@JessicaLevin – Jessica Levin, CMP (Certified Meeting Planner), association professional, social media swami, great motivator

@MichaelMcCurry – Michael McCurry, Integrated Meetings, Event & Social Media Pro, McCurry’s Corner blog

Social Media

@jowyang – Jeremiah Owyang, Forrester Researcher and Social Media Strategist, Web Strategy blog

Environmental Advocate

@parkhowell – Park Howell, Sustainable Green Advertising, Social Media, Word Of Mouth, Blogger and Environmental Maverick, ParkHowell.Com, A Brighter Shade Of Green blog

Professional Speaker

@sklososky - Scott Klososky, professional speaker on Web 2.0+, technology and technology consultant (integrates Twitter, SMS with his presentations and audience participation), Technology Story blog

Authors, Bloggers & Writers

@stevekayser – Steve Kayser, snarky, thoughtless leader, world class (minus the cl) charismatic provocateur with a heart, Riffs, Tiffs and What Ifs blog

@UpbeatNow – Rajesh Setty, author, blogger, motivator, insightful and inspirational writings, technology thoughts, Life Beyond Code blog

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