Today, I had the honor of presenting LinkedIn 201 as a webinar for the Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA).  LinkedIn was my first adventure into the world of social media back in early 2006 and has proven to be a very beneficial tool to me.  With over 150,000,000 users, LinkedIn is the networking site for business professionals.

Here are some tips to get the most out of LinkedIn:

Complete Profile:  Have a 100% completed profile.  Have your picture posted, at least two relevant job positions and have two recommendations posted.  List major accomplishments for each job position.  A rather new feature – Skills & Expertise – allow you to list up to 50 different skills and is great place to list key terms that can help you stand out when other users search their connections.  I am also a big fan of the Volunteer and Certification sections of the profile to highlight work that has been done to further our industry.

When setting up your account initially, I strongly recommend that you set your account as visible to others.  LinkedIn has a feature where you can see who has looked at your profile recently.  If you do not have your account visible, it shows as ANONYMOUS LINKEDIN USER.  The purpose of LinkedIn is to increase connections, not serve as a barrier to future connections.

Connections: Actively build up your connections.  Import your contact database into LinkedIn and invite them to connect.  Return from a trade show or convention and invite people you met to connect.  Be sure to edit the dry form letter and modify it to make it personable and recount how you know each other.  The personal touch goes a long way.

Groups:  There are over 200 groups on LinkedIn that are related to the events and hospitality field.  LinkedIn limits you to only 50 groups, so choose wisely.  While some groups have open membership, other may require you to be approved by the group manager before you can join.  Groups are a great way to share or find information with peers, as well as to network with like minded professionals.

I am of the opinion that many associations don’t do enough with their group pages on LinkedIn.  How cool would it be if speakers at the association’s conferences post discussion items in the months and weeks leading up to their physical presentation?   It could increase attendance at the presentation and lead to a more vigorous dialog on the topic.  Just food for thought…

Answers:  LinkedIn has a Questions and Answers section, with several related categories – Business travel, venues, conference planning, event marketing, sustainability and non-profits, to name a few.  Folks who post questions are given the option to rate the quality of the answers that they recieve from other users.  If an answer you submitted is considered to be the best answer, you are awarded with Expertise on that subject matter.  This shows on your user profile and are listed as an Expert on that topic page.  A quick and fairly easy way to build up some credibility with fellow users.

Applications:  LinkedIn has many add-on applications that you should consider using on your profile.  The Amazon Reading List lets me highlight relevant industry publications.  The My Travel application form TripIt allows my network to see my upcoming travel schedule.  The Events application allows me to indicate what upcoming conferences I am attending and see who else might be attending – I’ve made several valuable contacts with this feature.  In addition, you can have links to your WordPress blog and SlideShare presentations.  I’ve only skimmed the tip of the iceberg here!

Job Search:  One of the biggest attractions of LinkedIn is the ability to match job candidates with open positions.  There is the traditional job search feature based on keywords.  Many of the groups have jobs discussions and are quite active. 

You have the ability to follow various Companies on thier LinkedIn page and many post jobs. What’s nice, is that when you view a job posting that page also highlights similar jobs based on the job description and also indicates other jobs that have been reviewed by other job seekers.  A great tool to help you find some job listings that may not have been in your search criteria.

LinkedIn has a JobSeeker account type that costs $30 monthly ($25 monthly if paid in advance for 12 months) that offers a few perks over the traditional free LinkedIn account.  I don’t know if I would plunk down $300 for a year of job searching assistance – it justs seems too pessimistic to me.

I have a Personal Plus account that costs me just under $100 annually.  This allows me to see everyone who has viewed my account recently and a few other perks.

I would like to share a few worthwhile links that others have done on LinkedIn:

Thom Singer – Does LinkedIn Matter?

Blogotech – Top 5 LinkedIn Tips & Tricks

12 Most Little Known Tricks to use on LinkedIn

CIO – 5 LinkedIn Tips for Career Success

Leveraging LinkedIn: Tips and Tricks for Profile Success

I was fortunate to be one of chosen few to give a Bl!nk style presentation at last week’s Sustainable Meetings Conference of the Green Meetings Industry Council in Montreal.  Conceived by Judy Kucharuk, these were presentations of up to 5 minutes and at your own pace – no automatic slide changes every 20 seconds like you would have with a Pecha Kucha style presentation, for instance.  My presentation, Things that make me go hmmm?,  could mostly be described as a stand-up comedy act interwined with a few key observations regarding sustainabilty in the meetings and events industry.  What follows here builds upon one of those few lucid points.

The conference tote bag.  I remember watching my coworkers return from attending the annual conferences of IAEE, PCMA and MPI with these bags filled with handouts and tchotckes.  Finally, in 2005, my immediate supervisor was able to convince the Powers that Be that I should be sent to one of these conferences in spite of the fact that I was not in Sales. Yikes!

I arrive in Atlanta, check into my hotel and then head over to the Convention Center to get the lay of the land and pick up my packet at registration.  I get my badge, tickets, ribbons and everything else I need for the three days of meetings, learning and networking, but no conference tote bag.  I made a quick inquiry about getting a bag and learned that they were being eliminated in an effort to go “green.”  I think the registration worker was afraid I was going to cry by the look on my face.

I understand the concept of reducing waste by not giving out these conference tote bage, and agree with the idea of what is trying to be accomplished.  Eliminating the conference handouts, cutting down on the number of glossy brochures that destinations would give to me and fellow attendees, and the number of give away items at booths are all tremendous improvements to reducing waste and also make the return trip home so much lighter!  Proponents of eliminating the conference tote bag advocate that many of us have our fill of these from past years and having them laying around our residences and offices.  One group attempted to encourage their attendees to bring thier own conference tote bags from other events as a conversation starter in the registration area.  Great idea!  However, I don’t know how well it worked.  I didn’t see anyone run across the lobby to someone and say “You were at World of Widgets 2008 too?!?” based on the tote bags that were brought.    In the years that have followed, I have satisfied my need for tote bags thanks to the pledge drives of my local public television stations.

I’ve been to a lot of conferences since that first one in 2005.   In preparing for my trip to Montreal last week, I went to my kitchen to grab a large reusable bottle to fill up for my train ride to the conference.  Upon looking into the cupboard, I realized that I have a large number of reusable water bottles and coffee mugs. Twelve, to be exact.  Upon returning from that conference, the number is now at 13.  So, my question to you, are these resuable mugs and bottles the 2012 equivalent of the 2005 tote bag?

Should the conference mugs now be eliminated?  I can make the same arguments that proponents of eliminating the tote bag have made as proof of why these can be eliminated. 

Do we need to have some type of physical give-away at meetings and conferences?  Between conference registration fees, hotels, air fare and time away from work, there is a heavy investment by the attendee to be at the event.  I have flashbacks of being at a conference last year, where a meeting planner was complaining about the size of the fruit basket that the hotel placed in her room as an amenity.  The planner thought it should have been larger due to the amount of business her organization did with the hotel chain.  This event had several hundred planners in attendance and I wondered how many did more business with the hotel.  It has always struck me that in our industry, we are very interested in making sure we get “something” for staying somewhere or attending something.

In an attempt to wrap up this point in my presentation, I asked what could be a new giveaway at conferences for our industry and I suggested the flask.  Having seen many of my fellow industry colleagues at receptions and other functions, there could be a need for this.  This could have come in handy for me and my fellow Convention Service Managers as we dealt with the specifications some of our clients would present to us.  It could come in handy for the planner who has to deal with a uppity board member or speaker with many demands.  Hotel staff members could use this when dealing with a planner who asks “Do you know how much business I do with your chain?

What would you like to receive when you check into a conference, if anything at all?

For those interested in learning more about the Bl!nk presentation format, click here for more information.

I am pleased to present Thorben Grosser as our second guest blogger here at The Gems.  Thorben and I met earlier this year at PCMA’s Convening Leaders event in San Diego, where I was very impressed with our conversations.  I am grateful that Thorben accepted my invitation to do a guest post here. – GR

Almost three years ago, the UK version of Wired magazine was running a title story on the app economy and how Jamie Oliver had it all sorted out. At the same time, I just bought my first BlackBerry, because I believed apps are nice, but a keyboard is nicer. Now, according to a more recent Mashable article, today, there’s roughly half a million people doing nothing but apps, and even more apps available across the big platforms.

So five years after the release of the iPhone, along with its competing phones on different operating systems, you can’t miss the ubiquity of smartphones and tablets. Not even as an event professional. And I don’t mean that in a patronizing way – attending PCMA Convening Leaders for example feels like going to an Apple store. But you also quickly realize that meeting planners are among the most loyal folk out there, reluctant to change suppliers and willing to be advised by their suppliers. One example of where this can go was the Convening Leaders 2012 app, which was a terrible piece of software, being almost useless for most attendees.

Interested in doing better, and enhancing your experience by offering an app with your meeting, conference, expo or special event?

Know your event and your audience

As for anything you want to achieve inside your event, it is of highest importance that you understand your event, understand what people will attend and understand their needs.

The first question is: Do I need an app? And more often than not, the answer will be “yes”. Actually, apps start making sense quite often starting with events of only 25 people. In fact, every event you would decide to print a programme leaflet may benefit an app.

Make sure your event has free Wifi access. Seriously, I mean it. Unless you might decide to actively ban social media (Julius Solaris had a post on that, unfortunately it’s gone) and internet connectivity, make sure that you give your attendees the possibility to access the web. For free, as part of your event.

Know (at least some of) the technology

If it comes to the technology, there are two basic concepts you need to understand: native apps and web based apps. A native app is an app that is specifically designed for a specific operating system (commonly Apple iOS, Android, Windows Phone 7 or Blackberry). The advantage is that you can fully use the device’s functionalities in every regard and it is easier to make them run without internet connectivity (stay away from native apps that require internet connectivity for running in any case). On the downside, they are more expensive to develop, mess around with app store restrictions and you need to develop a specific app for each platform. This means, if you are on budget, you need to decide which attendees are worth the money, and which are not. That’s a quite unfortunate situation.

A web based app runs in every browser. This has a lot of advantages. No more app store drama, no platform segregation, one app serves all. It also saves you a lot of money and integrating a new feature becomes much easier since you only need to update one platform. One of the repeated arguments against browser based apps is that they require a constant internet connection. That would be problematic, but also is no longer true. Modern browser apps know how to work the browser cache, and thus manage to work even with little or no connectivity, once they have been opened while the phone was connected – which is the same for native apps. There is no longer a need to be scared of well-made web apps. They might sometimes not be able to use all the phone’s features, though, but that gap is being minimized. Also, not everyone owns a fully-fledged smart phone – but even most phones offer browsers that can access these apps.

Choose

The choice of apps depends largely on your budget. If you want to build a native app for two or three platforms, you are easily looking at somewhere between $10,000-$20,000 per event. It might well be worth the money, but that’s a lot. If you are looking at web based apps, you are somewhere between $200 – $5,000.

The second decision then looks at the up- and downsides of the different kinds of apps. Many native app companies offer mobile versions of your app as an additional perk, at an additional price tag. That way, you circumvent the platform issue.

In a third decision, you should then look at suppliers. Look at a dedicated conference app provider, not necessarily your standard technology provider. The issue is that apps are not simply your programme or digital signage ported to a mobile phone – it is a whole different story. Apps follow their own paradigms and conference apps even more. Also, look at the functionality you would like to integrate in your apps. My research has shown that not all suppliers are the same – in fact, each of them has a very different personality, with different features. As an example, my interview with ATIV projected them as a conservative (conservative does not mean not innovative, but rather aware of the users’ wants), yet reliable app; EventMobi were the innovative web based app makers with beautiful interfaces; CrowdCompass felt like the hip and young company and industry leader; QuickMobile were the giants that provide top-notch apps at a high price.

And then go with your feeling – after you have spoken to some suppliers, you might just feel that they are right to work with you. After all this is a new field, and we still know very little about what works and what does not.

Implement

We have not spoken about what apps can do for your event. But there’s hardly a limit to the possibilities. The most basic elements will be speaker profiles, attendee profiles and of course the schedule. But almost every app goes further than that, interactive maps, speaker profiles, instant messaging, social media integration, live voting, sponsorship and branding opportunities and so on are just a few of the features. Once you have decided for an app, you should look at all the features you can have, make a list in order of priority for each feature, and see where you draw the line.

Also, you should offer incentives to your users to use the app instead of a printed programme. Not only will that save you money, it will also reduce the amount of resource use and ultimately the ecological footprint of your event. How about a special badge “I have gone green, did you?” to induct a sense of pride, or a special networking reception open to app users to provide real value?

Also, don’t forget your sponsorship opportunities: Cleverly done, an app can not only save you money from printing less or no programmes, but generate money as often sponsors are more willing to pay more money for mobile advertising because they also receive more value: more statistics on usage, more possibilities for interaction, better targeted audiences.

Take care

Firstly, market your app properly. A pop-up at the entrance with a QR code is a good start, but is this the best you can do? Use all your channels to make your message known, use incentives, use your keynotes and maybe even dedicate a session on it. We all are in a learning process, and we should not be afraid to learn from everyone, attendees, programmers, friends and our kids.

Different to printed guides, mobile apps can change during the event. And you should reflect that in your usage. You can change programme details on-the-go, you can push emergency messages, and some apps allow a ticket-based help system where you can support attendees directly through their apps.

Make your apps come alive by not simply putting them out there, but by using them and using their features to make your event even more special.

What are your experiences with apps? What are your worries? Please share your comments and thoughts here! I look forward to the conversations.

Thorben Grosser is about to graduate with an honours degree in event and marketing management from Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, Scotland. Having organised events for more than ten years, his current research interest lies in the link between software and events. He worked as a research assistant on writing the book Event Marketing: How to Successfully Promote Events, Festivals, Conventions, and Expositions by Chris Preston and blogs at his own website, http://thorbengrosser.eu

During my time as a Convention Services Manager, one of my industry partners referred to me as a “Godfather” on my ability to make things happen on my events. I like to think that this was because I had a very good working knowledge of my client’s events, had a thorough knowledge of my venue’s strengths and weakness, and for delivering what I promised to people.  I also owe a huge debt to a case of Diet Coke.

Early on in my career, I had an event that was taking 3 of the 4 exhibit halls in the venue. This client was co-locating two shows (one in Hall 2 and the other in Halls 3-4) during the three days.  There were some miscommunications during the contracting phase, since there was no public entrance to Hall 2 – it was designed to be used in conjunction with either Halls 1 or 3. Hall 1 was empty on the first two days, but was contracted by another client of mine starting on the third and final day of my first client’s event.  We were able to work out a solution of using one of the entrances to Hall 1 and having the client’s decorator create a 90 foot “tunnel” out of tall pipe and drape leading to an opening in the air wall in Hall 2. My first client was happy with this solution and my second client had no issues as it was only a set-up day for their general session.

Day 3 arrives and I am in the empty Hall 1 with the staging crew for my second client.  We hear the truck outside the large roll-up door that allowed them to drive onto the floor and unload.  We started to open this door and when we were about 18 inches off the ground, I realized that the opening in the air wall to the other exhibit hall was creating a wind tunnel through my empty hall.  It was too late – all 90 feet of the tall (16 foot) pipe and drape came crashing down.  This was about two hours before the other show would open and I was horrified.

I went off to find the foreman of the decorators – John – and let him know what happened.  I sheepishly admitted to John that it was my fault and to say he was less than pleased would be an understatement.  The next ten minutes were spent with each of us standing toe to toe out on the loading dock and swearing at each other like sailors. I headed back over to the empty hall and begged the staging crew to help me reset the pipe and drape, and thankfully they agreed to help.  About 30 minutes later, John comes over with a crew to reset the pipe and drape – only to discover that the staging crew and I had about 75% of the drape back in place.  John’s crew takes over from us, and I hear two of his guys telling him that I am really not the Devil.

The next morning, I am at the gas station on my way into work.  While paying for my fill-up, off to my right is a pallet of Diet Coke cans – a 24 pack for $5.  I remembered that I am always see John drinking Diet Coke.  On a whim, I buy a case as a peace offering to John.  It was probably the best $5 I have ever spent.

I arrive at work and John is now moving another show into our other building.  Tempers have cooled over the previous 24 hours, we exchange apologies for our behavior and I give John the case of Diet Coke. 

Fast forward 6 weeks – I am awoken by my cell phone ringing at 5:30 in the morning on a day off for me.  John is now calling me in an act of desperation – he has a crew coming on duty in 30 minutes, but they forgot to order forklifts to unload the trucks and can we help him out?  I respond that I cannot authorize loaning our equipment and that I am not optimistic, but let me make a few calls.  I call my venue’s Command Center to inquire if any senior managers were on site (no) and request they page one of them to call me ASAP.  About 10 minutes later, I get a call back and I explain the situation to one of my senior managers.  I also reminded him of a favor we requested from that same decorator in the last month for an internal event of ours.  To my surprise, he agreed to help out and I asked him to call our crew leaders directly, as they would never believe this coming from me.  While he called the crew leaders, I called John back and let him know that help would be on its way shortly.  For about three hours, they were able to use our forklifts until the emergency order from their vendor arrived.

From that day on, I could do no wrong in John’s eyes.  If I needed blueprints of the exhibit hall for an upcoming show with his decorator, John would make sure I got them with 72 hours.  John would let me know when issues arose on our shows – alerting me to issues with bathrooms or overflowing trash cans.  Over the course of time, John referred his colleagues to me for assistance, and as folks switched from working for one decorator to another – I developed a pretty good network.  I would check to see if we had additional loading docks that they could use during move-in or move-out, or could they access the halls early to mark the floors (and give my crews a jump in dropping power to exhibitor booths).  My philosophy was that if I made things easier for my industry partners, it would be better for our mutual client.

Fast forward about two years now.  It is early in the morning and we are about 30 minutes from opening the doors to that day’s keynote session for my client.  My contact comes to me running, and tells me she forgot to give me specs for a meeting that will kick off in 90 minutes.  I call my operations crew to get this set done and am told that they are short-handed and are currently working on a large change-over in our ballroom for the other client in our venue.  For a few seconds, I start to panic and then I remember that my friend John is handling the other client’s show.

I run over to the other show and ask John if he could help me in getting my room set for my client.  John is reluctant at first – my show was not a client of his company.  I replied with one word – “Forklifts.”  One of my Convention Services Manager co-workers was walking through the meeting room level about 30 minutes later and saw me with John’s crew finishing the new room set.  She looked at me, smiled, shook her head and then walked away.

Last Friday, FourSquare released the designs of the five winning badges from their #VisitUS City Badge Contest.  The five cities that won badges were Des Moines, Oklahoma City, Richmond, Stamford (CT) and my hometown of Baltimore.  The Baltimore badge has been nicknamed as Charm City, a marketing tag used by the city in the 1970′s and 1980′s.

Those of you who know me or have read this blog know that I have been a huge FourSquare addict the last two plus years.  The release of this badge was a great day at Casa de Greg and I was proud to earn the badge with my first check-in on Saturday morning. 

How do you go about earning this coveted badge.  First, follow Baltimore on FourSquare and then complete five of the 60 tips that have been left here.  Some are historical sites, some are restaurants and a variety of places that are truly unique to Baltimore.

If you are coming to AIBTM (this June 19-21), why not try to earn the badge during your stay.  Many of the 60 tips are within walking distance of the Baltimore Convention Center.  For my guests at last year’s Friends of Greg dinner during AIBTM, you have already been to three places on the list…

The text that unlocks when you earn the Charm City badge honors Bawlmarese, crabs, the Orioles, John Waters and the TV series “The Wire.” The text reads as: “Omar. McNulty. Stringer Bell. That girl in “Hairspray.” They all had one thing in common, and that’s you, Baltimore. So cheer on those Orioles, crack open a blue crab, and hon, don’t even think about skimping on the Old Bay.”

A tip of the hat is due to Tom Rowe, Director of Web Marketing for Visit Baltimore.  Tom was an early adopter of FourSquare and developed a successful strategy that earned over 1,000 followers during the #Visit US contest that FourSquare held.  There were tweets from Baltimore’s mayor, the Governor and Lt. Governor of Maryland, Duff Goldman from “Ace of Cakes” and Josh Charles of “The Good Wife,” to name a few.  Thanks, Tom!  This badge would not exist if not for your efforts.

I started writing this post in November 2011, a few days after I attended the second EventCamp East Coast. As I put the finishing touches on this, we are a little over a week out from EventCamp DownUnder.  It’s a damn good thing I don’t have to work on deadline….

Are we EventCamped out? At least, here in the United States? To date, 9 EventCamps have been planned.  The tenth, EventCamp DownUnder, will take place in Sydney, Australia on February 26 & 27.  I’m looking forward to attending #ECDU as a virtual participant, even with the 16 hour time difference!

Christina Stallings, Emilie Barta & Christina Coster #EC10

The first EventCamp had incredible buzz leading up to it.  Since then, each of the various versions that followed was accompanied by less and less excitement and energy, with the exception of the two non-U.S. camps in London and Vancouver.  EventCamp Silicon Valley wound up being cancelled.  The London and Vancouver were the only camps, in my opinion, to generate buzz anywhere near that of the original version.

As I write this, I am not aware of any firm plans for future EventCamps to take place.  There is a chance that EventCamp Europe may reappear later this year somewhere in the European Union.

Let’s take a look at the history of EventCamps. In the summer of 2009, during one of the evening #eventprofs chats on Twitter, Christina Coster first suggested having an “unconference” for the meetings and events industry and the seeds were planted for EventCamp.  Within a week, I was on a conference call with Coster, Jessica Levin and Jeff Hurt to start the planning process rolling.  Mike McAllen and Mike McCurry joined the team shortly afterwards and I left due to health and work issues.

Group Dinner at #EC10

February 2010 arrives and EventCamp is held at the Roger Smith Hotel in New York.  Attendees arrive from all over the United States and even Europe, despite a snowstorm that dropped over 2 feet of snow on the east coast (up to northern New Jersey) that Friday and Saturday.  It was a %@#&ing AWESOME weekend and I have never made so many strong connections at any industry event before or since.  There was a true sense of camaraderie among the attendees.  I remember a conversation with a handful of attendees that many of us were now “on a mission from God” to show that events could be done differently than the tried and true methods that have been used for ages.  Nearly everyone that attended hung out socially both nights as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKZSqd5Y8nA

Sam Smith and Ray Hansen take the plunge and organize EventCamp Twin Cities that September.  While the original EventCamp did have some virtual aspects to it, #ECTC is deliberately planned as a hybrid event with all the educational content streamed to a virtual audience. Additionally, there is are pods in Switzerland and Dallas that are also actively participating in #ECTC. In fairness, there is tremendous buzz online during the virtual broadcast.  So much so, that it probably helped to encourage folks to sign up for the next incarnation of EventCamp two months later.

EventCamp East Coast was organized by Traci Browne and Adrian Segar.  Not following the format of the two previous camps, this camp was based on Segar’s Conferences That Work model, where content is determined onsite by the attendee’s learning needs and what skills they have to share.  Many of the onsite attendees experienced intense personal development from the format and there was hardly any online presence as they were deeply engaged in the conversations.  In addition, there was no streaming of this event.  These two factors caused some issues, as other #eventprofs were going online to follow the conference, as they did during the two previous EventCamps, and there was virtually nothing online to follow under the #ECEC hashtag.  Some comments were made about the lack of material being generated and there was a dust-up online afterwards among the organizers of all three camps. After some cooling down, calmer heads prevailed and everyone starting playing nicely in the online sandbox again.

We go forward to February, 2011 and the original EventCamp is now branded as EventCamp National Conference or #ECNC.  The “Founding Five” organize this version at the Catalyst Ranch in Chicago and it grows from one day to three days with an opening session on Friday and a half day of sessions on Sunday.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAUUuUKQg2U

Fast forward to August!  EventCamp Silicon Valley is to be held in San Jose, followed by the second EventCamp TwinCities the next two days.  #ECSV never gets off the ground and is cancelled.  #ECTC has expanded to two days and has pods in 6 cities in 3 countries.  Having been an on-site participant in the previous 4 camps, I opt to participate in the “infamous” Philadelphia pod (see above video).  #ECTC11 had some design flaws in an overcomplicated gaming angle as well as some technical issues in involving the various pods. Exhibitor Magazine, in an editorial afterwards, declared that #ECTC had set hybrid events back several years.

A month later, EventCamp Europe was held across the pond in London.  In the weeks leading up to this incarnation, the European #Eventprofs community was excited and there was a buzz that was lacking in the earlier 2011 camps. This time, I watched virtually from the computer (starting at 4A my time).  Very informative and I enjoyed myself immensely.  This might have been due to the mimosas I was drinking with breakfast or the Google Hangout that was started by Mike McAllen (a true trooper, it was 1A his time), Gerrit Heijkoop and myself.  Over 20 different folks hung out with us during the conference and we had some great conversations about what was happening at #ECEU.

EventCamp Vancouver and EventCamp East Coast went head to head against each other in early November and probably cost each event a few attendees.  At first, the thinking was to share content and link between the two events, but the logistics fell through.  #ECEC followed its format from the previous year and added Sunday.  #ECV had the #Eventprofs in Canada looking forward to the event and, like its European counterpart, had plenty of online buzz leading up to the event and that weekend.  A few days after #ECEC, Adrian Segar tweeted that, going forward, he would be dropping the EventCamp branding from his event.

As we progressed from camp to camp, I started to hear folks commenting that “I’ve attended an EventCamp already and won’t be attending this one.” True, but these camps are not like a Burger King franchise where the Whopper is the same at every location.  The content and format were not interchangeable between Minneapolis and Philadelphia, or Vancouver and London.  Those that have been to multiple camps report some of the material being covered is beginning to become repetitive

Here, in the States, we are very fortunate to have a large number of conventions and conferences to choose from.  Maybe we are becoming jaded with having more than one EventCamp a year in the States?

What future options are there for EventCamps?

Do we have a camp based on a single topic, ala EventCamp Green? If this option is pursued, how to we not negatively impact pre-existing conferences like the Green Meetings Industry Council’s annual conference?

To those folks that supply virtual options to organizers, could we have an EventCamp Virtual where all the presenters and attendees are at their desk?

Are we having EventCamps where our audiences are?  Would you attend a camp in Las Vegas or Orlando, for instance?

A lot has changed since February 2010.  People have come and gone in the #eventprofs community.  Other industry events are trying to adapt to foster additional learning styles.  I have a tremendous respect and admiration for those that have had the courage to put on a EventCamp with the associated risks (I also think you are nuts, but that might be a good thing in this process).  A few months ago, I expressed concern that perhaps the twice-weekly #eventprofs chat were too much of a good thing as our community evolved.  Perhaps the same is true with EventCamps.

I don’t have the answers.  I hope that I am wrong in my thinking and that the EventCamp movement continues to grow.  Please share your thoughts and comments with us.  I am looking forward to hearing what you have to say on this topic.

Haven’t been to an EventCamp? Check out the upcoming EventCamp DownUnder and hopefully, I’ll see you online during the event.

Brian Billick. Lou Holtz. Cal Ripken, Jr. Ray Lewis. Art Donovan. Brooks Robinson. Johnny Unitas.  Bill Walton. Art Modell.  Marshall Faulk.

I’ve been fortunate to meet many sports greats through working in the events field over the years.  The names I have listed were all cordial and pleasant in my interactions with them.  There is only one sports legend I have ever asked for an autograph in my lifetime – Brooks Robinson.

For those not familiar with Brooks Robinson, he was a third baseman with my hometown Baltimore Orioles from 1955 until he retired in 1977 and became a color commentator on the team’s broadcasts for many years thereafter. Elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility, Brooks has a great list of accomplishments:

• 1964 American League Most Valuable Player
• 1970 World Series Most Valuable Player
• 16 consecutive Gold Gloves from 1960-1975

In 1976, outfielder Reggie Jackson was with the Orioles and supposedly commented that “If I played in New York, they’d name a candy bar after me.” Well, Jackson signed with the Yankees the following year and the Reggie candy bar debuted at the Yankees 1978 home opener.  Gordon Beard, the then Associated Press Baltimore-based sports reporter came back with a classic quote – “Brooks never had a candy bar named after him.  In Baltimore, people name their children after him.”  I have two friends that have named their sons “Brooks.”

So why am I rambling on about one of my childhood heroes?  The Palm Beach (FL) Post reports that Brooks Robinson fell backwards from a stage during a charity dinner on Friday, January 27^th and suffered two fractures to his shoulder, including a broken clavicle.

According to the report, players were sitting on an elevated stage with three rows of seating, each row being higher than the row below it.  Robinson was sitting in the top row, which was not placed against a wall and only had a curtain backdrop.  Another player on the dais commented that when Robinson went to get up, he leaned back on his chair and the chair went over the side, with Robinson falling about 6-8 feet to the floor.  Another former baseball player fell from the stage earlier in the night in another incident.

Over the years, I have had my fair share of debate and conflict over stage railings with clients, venues and safety officials.  Sometimes common sense prevailed and both sides were able to come up with a workable solution to keep everyone happy.   Sometimes I spent “quality time,” after the event, in the office of one or more of my senior managers who felt that I compromised the venue and put them at a liability risk.  I’ve been lucky in that I have never had to fill out “paperwork” for an incident of someone falling from a riser.  I always believed that I took calculated risks – the last thing I wanted was to do “paperwork” if something were to happen.

My basic philosophy in regards to portable staging platforms was that the back of the stage (30 inches or higher) should always have safety railings unless it was against a hard wall, which made the railing unnecessary.  Side rails were to be added at the request of the client and wherever there was not a rail, there would be reflective tape on the perimeter of the staging to show the edges to performers.

Using a tiered staging to have a large head table set, my rule of thumb was generally if a fat person (me!) had room to maneuver around, we would be fine.  As a consequence, I usually had 8’ of depth rather than 6’ to work with.

Federal OSHA standards generally require rails for heights above 48 inches.  Some states OSHA standards may have a lower height, so you should work closely with your event manager at the venue to determine what standards need to be met.  If you have any reasonable doubt, you should put the rails in place.

Get well Brooks!

As I was growing up, I remember watching scenes on television of people traveling on airplanes that seemed to make it very glamorous. In the last 12 months, I have been on planes nearly 50 times and can most assuredly guarantee you that it is not glamorous.  It really may have been at one time, but nowadays it is anything but.  Unfortunately, over the past year, I have developed some pet peeves about being on an airplane or in an airport.

• Are there really any adults that don’t know how to fasten and unfasten a seat belt?
• I was lucky enough to fly business class on a trip to Barcelona and was somewhat surprised when I was the only one boarding the plane when business class was announced.  I was even more surprised, upon boarding the plane, when I discovered that every other business class passenger went on during pre-boarding.  Just because you spent the extra dollars for a business or first class ticket, you are not that special than those that truly need the extra time…
• When getting out of your seat for the fifth time to head up to the lavatory, how about pushing up from the armrests on both sides of you, rather than grabbing the seat in front of you where I am trying to read.  If you insist on grabbing the seat, just grab it and not my hair (I need to keep what I have left). Also, try gently releasing the seat back, rather than just letting go and catapulting me forward two rows.
• After I turn down the offer of peanuts from the flight attendant, don’t ask them if you can have mine in addition to yours.
• If you fly Southwest Airlines, understand their boarding procedures and don’t act surprised that the three of you probably won’t be sitting together when you get on the plane in boarding group C.
• If you press the call attendant button more than twice on a flight, federal marshals should be allowed to take you into custody.
• You are allowed to take two carry-on bags onto the plane.  Learn how to count and stop at two.
• I understand the desire to carry on your luggage to avoid the fees that some airlines charge (hey, check out Southwest….) but they really should fit in the overhead bins and not be the size of my Mini Cooper car.
• Learn how to walk down the aisle of the airplane without hitting every person sitting in an aisle seat with your carry-on luggage.
• When they told you five minutes ago that all electronic devices needed to be turned off, that was your clue to end the cellphone conversation.
• While walking through the airport concourse with your rolling luggage, walk in a straight line rather that weaving about like a navy ship trying to avoid a submarine attack.
• Don’t be complaining about the delay at security screening checkpoints and then have to take items out of four different bags when you get to the x-ray machine.
• TSA, I am sorry but I am still not convinced that a small jar of Jif Extra-Crunchy Peanut Butter is a liquid.  You might have convinced me if you were able to pour it out.
• If you are going to rip pages out of the in-flight magazine, just take the copy with you when you arrive rather than leaving the remnants behind for the next passenger.
• Last time I checked, all U.S. currency contains the statement that “This note is legal tender for all debts, public and private,” yet most airlines won’t accept it when I want to have an adult beverage.   I’m thinking class-action lawsuit on this one….

My friend, Bill Geist, has posted a series of Air Laws over on his excellent blog that you really should check out if you have any interest in tourism and destination marketing.

What have I missed?  Feel free to add to this list by making a comment below!

Enjoy your flight! As they say as you are deplaning, buh-bye!

The recent tragedy of the cruise ship Costa Concordia serves as a vivid reminder to those of us in the events industry that we need to prepare for possible emergency situations at our events. I’ve been involved with events since 1978 (there were no child labor laws back then).  Since that time, I’ve seen a plethora of incidents occur: Heart attacks, Childbirth, Injuries, Suicide, Public intoxication, False Fire alarms, Fires (with real flames), Property damage, Flooding, Public fighting

First step – Analyze what risks are likely to occur during your event.
You are not going to be able to plan for every contingency. I was working at an event this past August, when the east coast earthquake struck. To be honest, we hadn’t planned for the earthquake as one of the possible incidents. But we were able to adapt our planning that we had done on how to evacuate in case of other emergencies.

Second step – Develop an emergency procedures plan.
What is the chain of command? Where is all of your event team staying? What steps need to be done to mitigate further damages or injury. Be sure to share this plan with your supplier partners as well. There are several simple steps that you can take to minimize your risks in several areas.

While on site at an event, walk the necessary evacuation routes to ensure that all are passable. This should be repeated daily. One time, we had a room change overnight and this is what was found the next day. Medical emergencies are probably the most common situations that occur at events. Most venues provide or require organizers to have some medical coverage.

If you do multiple events a year, consider purchasing a portable Automatic External Defibrillator (AED) machine and get trained how to use it. Have you considered taking a basic first aid course? The Red Cross offers training at many local community colleges at minimal cost.

I am going to let you in on a little secret. I am out of shape (really). My family has a history of heart disease. I really, really would not mind having many people, who know basic first aid and how to use an AED, hanging out around me at most industry events. One more thing, there are Good Samaritan laws to protect those that come to the aid of others.

Do you serve alcohol at your events? Depending on where you are located, there could be laws that could make you liable as the host if the guest were to cause harm to others due to intoxication. Make sure that your servers have had some form of alcohol awareness training. Better yet, consider taking the course yourself – approximately $50 and 4-5 hours will get you a three year certification from a program like TIPs (Training Intervention Procedures). Spending some time prior to your events to minimize risks and plan for contingencies will save you time and money in the long run.

Note: This post was originally published by me on January 20, 2011 at Liz King Events, where I am a guest blogger.

With 2011 now in our rear view windows, I would like to take a minute to reflect on a few items that happened last year:

THE GOOD

PCMA unveiled its Learning Lounge at last year’s Convening Leaders in Las Vegas to rave reviews.  Featuring a behind the house look and short, interactive presentations on a variety of topics, the Learning Lounge was the talk of the event.  Kudos to Dave Lutz and Jeff Hurt for partnering with PCMA to create this new look educational project.  I look forward to this year’s version in San Diego!

Congratulations to Steve Knight and Reed Travel Exhibitions on the successful launch of AIBTM – The Americas Meetings and Events Exhibition in Baltimore.  TSNN honored AIBTM as Best in Show for their Events Excellence Awards.  It is very rare for a new launch to be recognized immediately as one of the best shows in the industry.  AIBTM returns to Baltimore this June 19-21.

The Baltimore Orioles announce the return of the cartoon bird logo to their caps for the upcoming baseball season.  While the Orioles wore a similar logo during the 1966 – 1988 seasons, they won 3 World Series, 3 American League Championships and appeared in two other playoff series.  During the other years with the other cap, the Orioles have only two playoff appearance.  Let’s hope this leads to the Orioles first winning season this century.  Please.

THE BAD

The tendency of the major associations in the meetings and events industry to bog down thier general sessions with a endless procession of sponsors and propaganda before the speaker ever appears on stage.  One group went over an hour into the 90 minute time slot allotted for the general session before we even heard the speakers name.  Rumor has it that PCMA is going to buck this trend with their upcoming event in San Diego.  I can only hope so!

Another troubling trend is that many of the major industry events insist on including a “State of the Industry Panel” on their agendas.  I sat through three of these sessions in 2011 and walked out of one.  It was original a few years back, but it now has been overdone and needs to be given a rest.

THE UGLY

Prior to the start of the 2011 NCAA football season, the Terps of the University of Maryland unveiled new uniforms and helmets that could be mixed to create 32 different uniform combos.  After warming up before the home opener versus Miami on Labor Day, the Terps changed into a unannounced 33rd uniform they called Maryland Pride.

Based on the Maryland state flag, the uniforms caused a great deal of discussion and nearly brought down Twitter with all of the comments it generated.  That night was the highlight of the Terps season unforuately.

Yes, this uniform is ugly.  I also like them and since the University of Maryland system is my alma mater, you better not say anything bad about them….