1 13
1 13
PCMA’S education and event staff, led by Kelly Peacy, CAE, CMP, senior vice president, education and events, laid out the meeting’s education roadmap in a video on CL’s Web site. Five core tracks were offered over the two full days of the meeting, starting with big picture or general session keynoters, moving on to “business school” lectures or thought leader sessions in each of the five tracks, and drilling down as the afternoons progressed, from industry applications to personal learning experiences, many of which took place in the Learning Lounge. “When our attendees return home, we want them to be able to take what they learned at Convening Leaders and immediately adapt it to their own organizations,” said Peacy.
In addition to offering registration at McCormick Place West, the convention center, PCMA offered attendees the ease of registering in the lobbies of the hotels in its official block. It’s such an attendee-pleaser, that there’s no going back, said Deborah Sexton, president and CEO, PCMA. Most attendees checked in on Sunday, for an opening reception that evening, with the official program kicking off the next morning at McCormick Place West.
An element of surprise—and delight—can be integral to a meeting’s success. As attendees got off their shuttle buses at McCormick Place West, the opening morning, rank-and-file members of Chicago’s unions greeted them with applause and signs of welcome. Shown is Jackie Goodhart of Omni Mount Washington Resort being greeted. Chicago’s labor challenges threatened to shake up business at its major convention center until significant reforms were agreed to in 2011 and 2012. “This was their doing,” said Deborah Sexton, president and CEO, PCMA, of the unions’ welcome, “they weren’t required to do it.”
Andrew Zolli, executive director and chief creative officer, PopTech, delivered a keynote Monday morning called Resilience and Transformation: Thriving in an Age of Volatility. After a break, Zolli traveled to the Main Stage in the Learning Lounge to do an hour-long Q&A with interested attendees. PCMA used the deeper dive approach as a follow-up for most of its keynote and thought-leader sessions, which took place in breakout rooms or the Learning Lounge.
As an interesting twist to showcase its major sponsors, PCMA introduced “Fireside Chats” on a satellite stage in the general session ballroom, where Deborah Sexton, president and CEO, interviewed the sponsors. Here “uber” partner Freeman Company’s President and COO Bob Priest-Heck chatted about how Freeman’s support aligned with PCMA’s mission and goals.
PCMA and its host partners developed messaging for the meeting with a nod to architect and urban planner Daniel Hudson Burnham, who in the late 1800s created plans for some of America’s major cities, including Chicago. "Make no little plans ... Make big plans; aim high in hope and work." The messaging was effectively sprinkled throughout the presentations over the two-and-a-half days, prodding the audience to think big. It seemed to resonate.
Convening Leaders featured its fair share of unconventional speakers, including Scott Stratten, president, Un-Marketing, who spoke about “Un-Marketing: Stop Marketing. Start Engaging.” He’s the Russell Brand of Toronto (perhaps of Canada), and while not all of his messages were home-run takeaways, his delivery—basically a stand-up comedy routine—certainly was one the audience won’t soon forget. He stayed for a Q&A, too.
Professors from the top ten business schools in the country engaged attendees at PCMA’s Convening Leaders, as they have for some years. “We aimed to give our attendees more than education credits,” said Kelly Peacy, senior vice president, education and events, PCMA. Here's a packed room, with some interesting rectangular seating, where the audience listens to George Wu, on “Effective Decision Making.” He is professor of Behavioral Science, Booth School of Business, University of Chicago.
PCMA introduced its Learning Lounge four years ago in Las Vegas to make use of an overly large general session room space. Four years later, having undergone iterations at each Convening Leaders, this year’s LL married the “learning” stations with Tech Central, in the center atrium of McCormick Place West. To say it became the beehive for the meeting is an understatement, a happy partnership between PCMA and Freeman staff. “We are the experiment for our members,” said Deborah Sexton, PCMA president and CEO. “Their members [at their conventions] don’t appreciate mistakes.”
It was SRO at Tech Central, adjacent to the Learning Lounge this year, during this presentation. Via Tech Demos, Tech Bytes, the Tech Help Bar, TechExchange, and App Alley, some 71 sessions about technology were offered throughout the two-and-a-half days.
It wasn’t all about high-tech, however, in the Learning Lounge area. These participants at a session in the Wellness Theater seemed to be able to block out peripheral noise as they did a tree pose in yoga.
When most associations and meeting planners were calling them “crazy,” PCMA stuck to its innovation some years back to make part of its meeting available to a virtual audience, creating a true hybrid meeting. Deborah Sexton, PCMA president and CEO, said the association captured approximately 70 percent of the meeting, offering it free of charge online, and she expected roughly 1,000 registrants to the virtual meeting. Incoming PCMA Chairman Ray Kopcinski, CMP, senior director, Million Dollar Round Table, said under his leadership the association will continue to take risks and innovate. During this presentation in the Learning Lounge, the architects of the hybrid meeting explained how they did it.
To complete the learning circle, this wall in the Learning Lounge allowed participants to give feedback on their experience. “Sound bleed,” seemed to be the major challenge.
