Top 10 Things I’m Looking Forward To at #PCMA11

I realize that many of you are planning to attend PCMA's Convening Leaders (Jan 9 – 12 in Vegas) and like you, I am excited to get onsite and experience the meeting. As a staff member, my involvement in the meeting and seeing all my members is one thing that I love most about my job.

The fact of the matter is, no matter how much work it is, how many early mornings or late nights are needed, or even how ugly my shoes are onsite (they are soooooo UGLY! - see previous posts), being there and absorbing the energy of our members really motivates me to work harder for you!

So, here is my first, of what may be many lists that I will be creating, top 10 list of things I’m looking forward to in Vegas:

10. Celebrating with the Award winners

9. Meeting a ton of new members

8. Giving back to the community through Hospitality Helping Hands

7. Seeing the Chapter Leaders – and celebrating the outgoing presidents

6. Party With A Purpose – enough said!

5. Kicking off a new committee year

4. Amazing keynote speakers

3. Fun and energizing general sessions

2. Fabulous evening events

1. Seeing YOU!

Let me know what you’re looking forward to…or what you hope you’ll see there. And, if it’s not already in the plans, maybe we can pull it off!

-Christine

P.S. – Don’t forget that early registration end 11/3!

Don't Talk to Strangers...and other tips for tradeshows!

It is a general rule of thumb that it is impossible to go to a tradeshow and not talk to strangers.  Well, you could if you were really looking to sabbatoge your presence there.

I recently came back from a tradeshow where I talked to a man for about 10 minutes and at the end of the conversation I thought I might have a stalker - seriously!

So I was joking with some colleagues on a new rule I was implementing for our tradeshows - don't talk to strangers.  It was pretty funny and of course I wasn't serious, but it got me thinking that as a booth staffer you need to put up with so much more than just the logistics and travel that come with exhibiting - you have to be able to deal with humanity in a professional and positive way.

To make my point, I've come up with some tips on how to be a good attendee: 

• Approach booth personnel with a smile.  Do not look like an ax murderer!
• If the show is slow and you find it fun to go around and mess with exhibitors by making up stories/professions, etc. I recommend you head for the hills.
• It is also not wise to bring up your hatred of anything that might be controversial like religion, politics, ethnicities, genders - keep it professional people.
• If you've overstayed your welcome in a booth, take the hint and move along.

Admit it - you are smiling to yourself right now because you've experienced something similar - am I right?

So, it's not just about being a great booth staffer for your organization, it's about being able to think on your feet, deal with the unpredictable, and stay professional no matter what you come across!

Have a good story to tell?  Please send it along!

-Christine

Tradeshows Revisited

We have had a busy few weeks with our tradeshow presence, and there is more coming this fall.  And, as I mentioned in a previous post, I am so not in love with how "paper oriented" tradeshows still are.  Why can't more be done electronically?

Today I come bearing the news that shipping needs to be looked at too.  For two of my recent shows I contracted for shipment through the show contractor.  Both times the shipping company refused to come to my office to pick up the shipment - they wanted ME to deliver it to them while they just parked out front.  WHAT?

I was in disbelief....and believe me the show contractor heard from me and made it right. But seriously people - really?!?!?!

Today was different... 

Today will be marked on the books as the day when a shipping company got it right.

Today will be marked as the day when the shipping company called to tell us they were on the way.

Today will be marked as the day when the shipping company showed up in my office, confirmed all my pieces were present and then THANKED ME, yes THANKED ME for using them!

Why oh why, is this the exception and not the rule? 

Please share your thoughts on this process...there has to be a better way!

Top 5 Things I Want To Read About...

Unlike a lot of top 5 lists around these days I would like to take a different approach, and thereby taking exception to a lot of the top 5 lists around these days, no offense. :+)

We all use SM for different reasons. I learn so much from my contacts on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter that if I were to give you things I don't want you to tweet about, I might miss something really cool.

So here's my list of what I want to read:

1. New and hot bloggers - please keep telling me who you're reading. I often go visit and have found some extemely interesting business perspectives/tips/tricks. Don't stop touting interesting people (or people to follow/friend/fan).

2. Work projects - if you are working on a project that someone out in the SM world could help you with...don't hold back - collaboration is one of the key things SM give us access to!

3. Great restaurants - while I often get hungry, and therefore sometimes angry, when I am not eating delicious food like you - I still want to hear if you're having a fantastic meal and where. It expands my knowledge base and gives me options of places to try.

4. Photos of your vacation, dog, cat, baby, husband, wife, friends, etc. - while we are connected to each other through SM we don't see each other F2F very often, if ever, so if you stopped posting photos of personal interests that are important to you we might not ever get a chance to learn more about you, find more commonalities between us, and therefore build a stronger relationship with you.

5. Interesting news - even if it's not industry related, you never know where you will get the inspiration for your next big idea. Post it especially if it's industry related...we all want/need to know - don't hold back.

For me SM gives me an opportunity to meet and connect with interesting people - if you stop doing the above because someone created a list that said you should stop doing these things, most likely I would stop following you because I wouldn't believe there was a person behind the name...

Agree?

Volunteers That Are Rockin My World - Go Membership Committee!

Hands down my Membership Committee is rockin my world these days.

I am so lucky to have an awesome membership committee that will tackle anything I put in front of them - always completing committee assignments on time and with a smile. In addition, they are so supportive of my goals for the year - I truly feel like I have an extension of my team with these dedicated volunteers.

So, as a group, they are my selection for most awesome volunteers this week!

Here's the list - give them some props next time you see or talk to them:

Robert Donahue, Disneyland Resort - Chair

Tom Casadamont - I&MI Media

Mike Dickinson - Travel Planners

David Fine - Broadmoor Hotel

Sherry Franklin - Renaissance Nashville Hotel

Adriana Molina - Starwood Hotels & Resorts

Armando Lazarte - Holiday Inn Express Springfield

Angela Musial

Greg Newton - Ottawa Convention Centre

Chris Nord - Hershey Resorts

Melissa Riley - Destinatio DC

Michele Sawka - Minerals, Metals and Materials Society

Belinda Waldo - Associated Luxury Hotels

Judy Wander - International Council of Shopping Centers

David Peckinpaugh - HelmsBriscoe, Board Liaison

Thank you thank you thank you for all you do for me and PCMA!

-Christine

Death by forms!

As I prepare for five tradeshows in the next 60 days - I have to tell you I'm going a little bonkers making sure all the paperwork is filled out correctly and completely.

Thing that amazes me are all the paper forms still - why can't I do more online? I am filling out at least five forms per show for a 10 x 10 booth.

I think there is a real opportunity here.

I work in the event/tradeshow/association business - so I get it. There are many many players to make a tradeshow successful - I know that. So I'm not so much complaining, well...I guess I am complaining...but I'm pushing us to come up with some better best practices here.

The opportunities are endless - one form with all the stuff, electronic forms, one payment form.

What I would love is an electronic checklist that helps walk me through the event start to finish to make sure I get all the right forms filled out and that I opt out of services I don't need.

Someone out there has to be doing some innovative work with this - please let me know what it is and I will promise to help spread the word!

Volunteer Recognition - Traveling Super Stars!

I had the honor of traveling throughout Mexico in May with some spectacular PCMA members to talk about PCMA membership and trends in the meetings industry.

For this incredible dedication to PCMA and the industry I recognize:

Johnnie White, Cardiovascular Research Foundation

Leigh Wintz, Soroptomists International of the Americas

Dean Martin, Microsoft

David Peckinpaugh, HelmsBriscoe

Gary Schirmacher, Experient

We didn't just hit one city - we traipsed the entire country. Starting in Cancun, traveling to Mexico City and finally in Cabo San Lucas...all over a four day period.

Many thanks to Jesus Aparicio, Eventia for his personal attention to making sure these events were all a resounding success.

I'll write more about the sessions that were presented - as that is worthy of its own blog...so stay tuned!