Thanks to Joan Eisenstodt for chimming in on the discussion about Jeremy Rifkin's session. Here's a part of what she had to say...you can find the rest in the comment section:
....There were so many points that both reinforced information known and provided new insights. Finding just one would be impossible. The 3 of us who talked and shared information that night believe that we need to dissect some of the points and do so point-by-point and THEN see how we can apply the learning to our industry. We have a long way to go to ensure that this industry is at the cutting edge of the world economy. We can start it here.
This is more than a gentle nudging to keep the conversation going - it's a business imperative.
Thanks, Joan - for keeping it alive.
What does everyone else think?
3 comments:
I am hoping that at least those who were at our dinner table jump in on the valuable post-discussion from this session. In an unrelated conversation today, the issue of experiential meetings was raised. A colleague is doing some neat stuff w/ a publishing co. - taking them around a state to see things that most don't see. They are experiencing, for example, some Native American rituals, and will, once experienced, discuss their value and application to what they do - and will write about them. They are going to Rte. 66 to see how it used to be. Why do most meetings stay w/ the tried and true for "off site" events? What keeps organizations from doing "site visits" to related places or businesses in which participants may have an interest .. or something diverse that allows for new thinking? Jeremy Rifkin said that meetings of the future (and I think the future is NOW!) need to be designed so differently. Then there are the issues of climate change and energy that won't be available to fuel the a/c or heat or the trucks or cars or planes. Why aren't we talking about all of these? C'mon - those who were there .. we need to move this conversation along.
This session was one of the best I've been to. It really epitomizes what a masters/executive edge type of learning should offer.
I have been involved in the past year in a large plan to grow creative services in our division and work with clients on making their meetings more experiential. The immersion of the attendee in the messaging and brand, connecting the audience more deeply with that message and branding, really needs to be the focus of what we do.
Interesting point I thought Jeremy made as it related to providing online, some of the "education/presentations" in advance (as opposed to the current practice of putting it online after the event, and then letting that be a precursor to interactive and engaged face-to-face hands on networking and practice at the events themselves.
Let's be honest, some of the "stand and deliver" type of presentations that many attendees get bored sitting through anyway, could be provided in advance via online presentations, and then onsite attendees could actually interact with the presenter in hands on labs and demonstrations, etc.
This is a huge topic and is already having impact on the directions of meetings and adult learning. We have to be the source of what's next...not what's now.
Picking up this thread of learning - and using this blog as an example of a frustration - how do we get more people engaged in the pre- and post- education and meeting discussions? What is keeping others, who were clearly engaged in Rifkin's concepts, from jumping in to discuss industry solutions? Everyone always says they don't have time - as Gail mentioned in her question - but then "they" (at all kinds of meetings) say the education opportunities are not for them. If, as PCMA has done, we all had amazing sessions, beginning the conversations to take us to the much bigger picture, and if at leaset a few people were engaged in the thoughts and wanted to take them further, how do we bring them in?
I hope we can expand this conversation to experiential education, climate change and our industry and more. I'm still talking about the session and take my notes w/ me to refer to them.
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