Because everyone could use a little inspiration, we want to put together some photo galleries of really well-executed general session stage sets. So consider this a call-out to agencies, production companies, AV producers, and general contractors to send us some examples of sets they’re most proud of. It’s not going to be an award type of thing, but the editors will go through submissions and pick the ones we think are extraordinarily cool, just great theme showcases, or otherwise interesting/inspiring.

We would want to include the meeting organization’s name, the theme, the date, and the venue. Of course, we’d give credit to the event producer. Deadline is May 5.

If you want to play, please send submissions to spelletier AT meetingsnet DOT com.

I love a good spoof as much as the next person (I still think the Alaska Air spoof site was hilarious), but I’m not so sure The Meeting Guru promo for ASAE’s upcoming annual meeting works quite the way they hope it will. At least, not for the numerous people I’ve heard from who didn’t take the time to dig around the site long enough to figure out it’s a spoof and took it at face value. Or those who got it was a spoof and just think it’s a little too close to home (I think I’ve sat through a general session or two given by this guy’s brother) to be truly funny? Then again, I’ve heard others who think it’s just brilliant. I’d be curious to know what you think.

One of my favorite sessions from this year’s Pharmaceutical Meeting Management Forum that we cosponsored last month with The Center for Business Intelligence was one led by our Medical Meetings social media columnist, Brian McGowan, PhD. I cornered him after his session and asked him to give us a few thoughts he took away from the session. Here’s what he had to say (and big thanks to Brian for being such a good sport about doing this):

It took me forever to get around to posting this, but speaker and productivity expert Neen James took a few minutes at this year’s Pharmaceutical Meeting Management Forum to share a quick tip:

Thanks, Neen!

You have to love this, the “What Not to Present” contest, being held by Infocus. Here’s the skinny from the Infocus site:

“Send us the worst PowerPoint slide you’ve ever seen or created yourself (we won’t name names unless you really want the recognition). Once you submit your slide, we’ll post the worst slides as examples of “what not to do” here in the InFocus Labs.

“To enter, follow @InFocusCorp on Twitter and send us an example of your worst PowerPoint slide via any Twitter photo application (Twitpic, etc.) For example, take a screen shot of the slide and upload it to Twitter. Then tell us in 140 characters or less why this is the worst PowerPoint slide you’ve ever seen or created.

“Over the next three weeks, we’ll compile all the terrible slides and randomly select three winners who will win a variety of prizes including an IN1501 short throw portable projector. We will also provide tips and tricks from PowerPoint experts to help improve the world’s presentations and PowerPoint design skills. Read the rules and regulations below if you want to participate.

“Good luck! We’re cringing with excitement.”

(Thanks to @cmeadvocate for the pointer! And you’re right, someone in continuing medical education has a great shot at the dubious honor of winning this one.)

I always thought product placement in TV shows and movies was brilliant (when integrated into the storyline as almost a character itself, as the Park Hyatt Tokyo was in “Lost in Translation“), annoying (when noticeably being shoved down the viewer’s throat, as Apple laptops are in pretty much everything on TV), and scary (when not noticeable until someone points it out and then it’s so obvious you feel stupid for not seeing it sooner). So I’m not sure what to think about Morgan Spurlock’s documentary called “POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold,” or what to think about Hyatt being one of the products being placed for a price in this “story about product placement in a documentary film deriding product placement, paid for entirely by product placement.”

It does show a certain sense of humor on the hotel chain’s part, that’s for sure. I liked this bit from the writeup: “For its part in Spurlock’s film, the hotelier received a commercial within the movie as a bathrobe-clad Spurlock enjoys the comforts of a Hyatt hotel room. At a preview, that clip won audible laughs. ‘We didn’t cringe at all,’ [John Wallis, Hyatt’s global head of marketing and brand strategy] said.” Well, that’s good anyway.

But it all does make me wonder if we couldn’t do a better job of incorporating product placement into sponsorship for meetings and trade shows? I mean, having names and logos on banners and badges and water bottles (for those who haven’t gotten the word yet that it’s greener to replace the bottles with water stations) is all well and good, but there must be some more creative ways to make sponsors more integral to the meeting. Anyone have any good examples of effective product placement in conferences? I’d love to know what people are doing.

I had to take the What Room Are You? quiz on checkyourroom.com just because, well, I can’t seem to resist these things. I have to admit the rooms it came up with are lovely, and the description (”You are the romantic room: You feel best in warm, cozy rooms and want your hotel room to be like a home away from home”) is pretty much dead on. What type of room are you?

Congratulations to the 2011 Harris Poll EquiTrend Travel Brands of the Year:
Airline: Southwest
Full-service hotel: Hilton Hotels
Luxury hotel: Omni
Mid-market hotel: Holiday Inn
Extended Stay: Homewood Suites
Cruise lines: Norwegian Cruise Line
Rental cars: Enterprise
Amusement attractions: Disney World

Keys to success seem to be providing good value, choice, flexibility, and transparency.

Or should that be meditate at meetings? According to this article, asking participants to meditate for 10 minutes before the meeting can result in more focused people and better outcomes. The research, conducted by the Kyoto Convention Bureau, may only pertain to meetings in Japan, where meditation is much more a part of the culture than in the U.S., but I bet if we could get more people to try it, we’d get similar results from taking a few minutes to clear our minds and focus our attention.

It’s funny how we first tried to recreate things we love about our 3D world to our online haunts, finding ways to share photos, memories, and connections. And now some are flipping that desire and bringing what we like about our social media haunts to real-world events. Check out Samuel Smith’s post on how some event organizers are using RFID and social media to help attendees scratch their digital itches IRL. Very, very cool.