The talk at the lunch in the exhibition hall today at Expo! Expo!, at least among us newbies to the show, was about the lack of seating for those lunching. There was only one bar-type tabletop at each food station I saw, and much of the food involved cutting with a knife. Which is pretty much impossible to do in polite company while standing up with nowhere to put the chow. People would get a plateful then go stand against the wall, either singly or in small clusters. It was a little strange, and definitely not something I’d seen before (and I’d rather not see it again, thank you). Update: I now hear there were tables somewhere in the expo, behind draped curtains. I never found them, obviously.

There’s a new chef at the Omni Hotel right across from the convention center here in San Diego, and he’s good. If you’re there, try some of the lobster corn dogs and proscuitto-wrapped duck “popsicles”—yum. The Omni also just added a tent to its 6th floor terrace, which makes it a nice, snug meeting space during the cooler winter nights (and it was pretty cool tonight). Thanks to the Omni sales staff for showing off their stuff in style this evening!

And Candelas restaurant on Third is a great spot for fine nouvelle cuisine, Mexican style. Do not miss the black bean soup or the seafood stack appetizer. And try to sit in Tony’s section: He’s an excellent waiter.

Finally, while I don’t normally care much one way or the other about hotel soaps and shampoos, the Manchester Grand Hyatt’s white ginger extract shampoo and conditioner smells amazing. I’d buy that in a heartbeat if they sold it at my local CVS.

Hey, it’s the little things that count when you’re away from home, right?

And it wasn’t even 9:30 a.m.! This actually was a fun session, with the panelists bellied up to a bar (with real bottles of liquor on it, though they only drank water) and the moderator serving as bartender, in recognition that most of the best learning takes place, well, let’s just say not in the session rooms. My favorite quote, right off the bat, from someone in the audience:

I’m noticing there aren’t any suppliers at the bar—who’s picking up the tab?

The panelists, including Jane Berzan, CAE, senior vp, National Association of Convenience Stores; Ignacio Cabrera, CEM, vp of exposition sales with the National Association of Home Builders; Tony Calcana, executive vp of expositions with ADVANSTAR; Rick Geritz, CEO, BDMetrics; and Marcus Arky, general counsel, MetroGroup; tackled a bunch of sticky issues, from what’s the most critical factor to the success of a tradeshow (delivering relevant bodies on the show floor, proving ROI to exhibitors), to what they’d change if they could (standardize regulations and union rules in all venues—this one got a big laugh, have convention centers provide more free move-in days, and have exhibitors follow up on the leads generated at the show were a few).

They also dived into whether or not to segment the trade show floor, something attendees at large shows (and smaller exhibitors) are asking for, but large exhibitors and those with prime locations don’t want. Berzan talked a bit about how her show went about doing this and getting buy-in from exhibitors. As Calanca said, “It’s a dilemma we all face if our show grows large enough. It’s hard to convince them, especially your biggest exhibitors, but they will have a better experience because buyers can find them more easily.”

And they batted around when to get a deposit from exhibitors (up front? a certain graduated percentage as you get closer in?). While attorney Arky liked the idea of removing a barrier to immediate sales by waiving up-front deposits, most of the show organizers disagreed, saying that they’d be more likely to blow off the show if they didn’t have an immediate stake in making it happen. All agreed that those who haven’t paid don’t get their booth come showtime.

As to ROI, Calcana pointed out, “We’re talking more about ROI these days because our exhibitors are asking us about it more than they used to. As the amount they have to pay goes up, so do the demands for ROI. We may not like it, but it’s an appropriate response.”

Attending the educational sessions here at the Expo! Expo! show is a little different than at other meeting industry events I’ve been to. Namely, attendance seems to be pretty sparse, so far at least. Part of the problem may be that IAEM didn’t really push the sessions much on its Web site: For example, I had no idea there were intensive three-hour workshops going on yesterday afternoon! I smacked myself upside the head after I finally registered around 4 p.m. and, after getting the official show guide, found several I really would have loved to go to (for example, the Social Media Bootcamp, led by Jeff De Cagna). Argh!

This morning, though, I got to go to a session on the art of facilitation, led by Jeffrey Cufaude, of whom I’ve been a huge fan since reading an article of his in Convene a few years back. This really should have been at least a half-day program—there was so much to cover in such a short time—but he did get through a huge amount of material and, more importantly, he also gave us demonstrations of some of the things he was talking about as he went along (such as having other ways of covering the material when things change on you).

I also loved that he explained how so many meetings cater exclusively to the extroverts among us, to the detriment of we introverts. For example, most brainstorming sessions invite people to just blurt out their ideas. Well, introverts don’t blurt. He demonstrated one way of including introverts by having us ponder the best-facilitated workshop we’ve attended, then write down a few of the ingredients that made it work.

Then we were invited to share some of those ideas with the group. Some ingredients for effective facilitation people shared were:
* A facilitator that does his/her homework and doesn’t ramble on.
* Someone who doesn’t let the most verbal person control the session.
* Someone who listens to both what is and is not being said.
* Someone who encourages “what if” thinking.
* Someone who gets people to connect with each other up front.
* Someone who keeps on task and on time.

Another point, a key one I think, was how we get sucked into what he called the “ladder of influence.” This basically is that we all come to a meeting with certain assumptions, based on the facts as we know them. The problem is that we may have different assumptions, based on the exact same data. The example he used was that he is 6′ 6″ tall and from Indiana, so everyone assumes he plays basketball. Not one of his best talents. Or that if people have their arms crossed, they must be bored, when in fact they could be cold, or just feel comfortable, or be walking around and not wanting to swat someone by accident.

A facilitator can deal with this by observing the behavior, seeing what meanings are inferred by that behavior, and deciding whether, and how, to intervene. “It’s like algebra,” he said, “the only form of math where you can get the answer wrong and still get partial credit for doing the work.” The facilitator can describe the behavior to test for different views, share the inferences, and help the group decide whether and how to change behavior accordingly. “Sometimes, you may find that different people in the group aren’t even talking about the same thing—they’re having totally different discussions without even knowing it.”

Anyway, there was such a richness of material that I can’t possibly hope to cover it all here, but hopefully I’ll be able to write it up for a future issue of Association Meetings. Even if you don’t facilitate any meetings yourself, you do have to know what to look for in a good facilitator. But really, doesn’t everyone facilitate at least a little bit, even informally?

While most bars, restaurants, and hotels that have already implemented smoking bans haven’t found it to hurt their businesses much (and some have seen an increase as a result), some casinos in Atlantic City worry as their city mulls a smoking ban. Are casinos different? Check out this article in the NYT for more.

Other articles of interest in today’s New York Times:”
Some bartenders design drinks only they can love

Is rye whiskey the next “in” drink?

I thought it was just me and my bad posture, but now science is proving that sitting at a 90-degree angle is not what humans were made for.

“Researchers at Woodend Hospital in Aberdeen, Scotland used a new form of magnetic resonance imaging to collect images from 22 healthy volunteers, who assumed three different sitting positions: slouching posture in which the body is hunched forward, an upright 90-degree sitting position, and a relaxed position where the subject reclined backward 135 degrees. They concluded that the reclined position is the best, and the forward slouch the worst.”

So, hoteliers, will we get backward-leaning chairs for the meeting space any time soon?

Via Slashdot.

We had bagpipers and kilts, the mayor of San Diego and Shamoo, then awards, awards, awards at the opening session of Expo! Expo! show. Congratulations to all who received an award tonight, but that sure is one way to slow things down right at the start. Emcee Sue Hershkowitz did a great job trying to keep it exciting, but it was asking a bit much from the crowd right up front. Or maybe that’s just me. The 60-second showcase, where four exhibitors got to give a spiel for a minute, actually was pretty fun, especially the last guy, MapYourShow.com’s sales manager Jerry Gildea, who did an aria dressed in castaway clothes about getting lost and found at shows.

My favorite part was the Evolution of Dance guy, Judson Laipply, who I posted about last spring after seeing a YouTube video of his act. He’s even better in person, and rumor has it we attendees get a chance to dance with him at the expo tomorrow. Maybe I’ll challenge him to a Deadhead tunnel dance (I tried to find a link for the unique style of dancing Grateful Dead fans indulged in, but even YouTube failed me on this one. Trust me, it’s worthy of the Evolution of Dance guy).

Heading down to the reception for a bit, but I have a feeling I won’t last too long tonight…

I’m here (finally!) in beautiful San Diego—my first time here since I was a teenager, and the weather alone is knocking me out. With a little time to kill before the opening session of the International Association for Exhibition Management’s annual meeting, I should be out grabbing some lunch and enjoying the scenery instead of catching up on e-mail and f2f! And I will. Just a couple of notes about today’s travels from Boston to Calif., via Phoenix:

I hate getting up at 3 a.m. (midnight Calif. time) for a flight! ‘Nuff said. Wait until Friday when I’m sure I’ll whine even more about my red-eye home…

Why oh why does America West have two flights leaving from Phoenix to San Diego within 10 minutes of each other at neighboring gates? If my husband hadn’t warned me about this, I likely would have gotten on the wrong flight in my befuddled state.

Hurray for CeeJay, the guy at the front desk of the Manchester Grand Hyatt, who checked me in. I have never had a smoother time or nicer, more professional check-in than I did today. I haven’t had a chance to wander around the hotel much yet, but the view of the marina from my window is spectacular! So far, two thumbs up for this place.

P.S. Please bear with me if I take a while to approve comments—I’m not sure how often I’ll be able to check in. I promise to try to get to it as quickly as I can, but it’s tougher when I’m on the road.

Not the baby and the blanket kind—the kind Kathy Sierra talks about in this post. The learner’s mind wants, and likely needs, to have something to figure out, not to have all the answers laid out for it. From her post:

In learning, the more you fill things in and hold the learner’s hand, the less their brain will engage. If they don’t need to fire a single neuron to walk through the tutorial, lesson, lecture, etc., they’re getting a shallow, surface-level, non-memorable exposure of “covered” material, but… what’s the point? Obviously this doesn’t mean you just never tell them anything period. This is about graduated hints, mental teasing, cognitive treasure hunts, sparking curiosity, etc. Things that engage the brain.

This makes so much sense to me. And when I think about it, my best learning experiences have been taught through this, to use her fabulous phrase, “cognitive seduction.”

That’s what this article says, anyway, citing some issues a large show has had with its hotel, plus rising room rates. Whether you personally love Vegas or hate it, though, it’s always going to be a meetings mecca, especially the big trade shows, IMHO.

Well, maybe not, if this Larry Mundy column is taken into consideration. Not only is it pretty funny, but it includes holiday tips like this:

In the interests of economy, few holiday parties feature sit-down dining, which is good from a labor-cost viewpoint, but pressures your F&B profitability. Luckily, there are a number of inexpensive “finger foods” that can be given fancy names and prices. An olive, speared with a toothpick to the top of a Chicken McNugget and renamed “pollo olivio,” can have a profit margin of over 50%.