Leaving on a high note
A big challenge for most, if not all, of the meetings I’ve gone to in recent years is the ending. We generally start off with a bang—someone with inside information on industry trends, or a motivational speaker of some kind, or a big production number—and work out way through the conference in a mix of sessions, hallway conversations, impromptu meetings after hours in the lobby bar, etc., etc.
But the end is always such a throwaway. For some reason, everyone is so focused on catching planes and getting home that we miss the chance to put the conference away right. I’m one of the biggest offenders, although I will stay to the bitter end of for a Malcolm Gladwell presentation, even while suffering the early pangs of what turned out to be a heck of a flu. But the energy just isn’t there 98.6 percent of the time, and we all know it, so we all book as soon as we see an opening.
Not so with this year’s Pharmaceutical Meeting Management Forum, which we co-sponsor with The Center for Business Intelligence (warning: I may be a touch biased). A big part of the reason why the energy carried through to the end? I blame this little lady (and I do mean little—she packs a lot of attitude into a small Australian package):
This is productivity expert and author Neen James, and if you were at the Forum last week in Philadelphia, you probably met her. I know you heard her unique voice at some point. She was there at the opening reception, in the front row at general sessions, tweeting from breakouts, mingling on the show floor…the woman was everywhere, meeting everyone, and if the rest of the participants were like me, you kind of had to stick around to hear her final general session presentation on productivity.
We learned if we were planners, crammers, or slammers, night owls, early birds, or hummingbirds, and how to conquer the world in 15 minutes. We made pacts with each other to check in and make sure we’re following through on commitments. It was nothing short of awesome, and left us feeling connected to each other, still a community, instead of already breaking off to rejoin our life outside of that community.
Then Christine Duffy, the conference chairwoman, picked up where Neen left off, leading a discussion of some of the key learning points people had at the conference. And while that’s a great way to keep what we learned top of mind, it can get a little, well, dull, or at least overly earnest. Not this time.
Before it could begin to get bogged down, the fabulous troupe from Boston’s Improv Asylum took over the stage to illustrate some of the points in their inimitable way. I took some iPhone videos of it, but you really can’t hear what they’re saying over our laughter so I won’t bother to post them. But they kept the energy high right until we walked out the door, and even then I felt like I could go a few more rounds. And I definitely felt like I didn’t want to wait a whole year before I could hang out with these people I’d just been sharing laughs and experiences with again.
The experience just brought it home to me how often we don’t put as much thought into how we end our meetings as we do to everything that leads up to it. This was like a double hot fudge sundae after a great meal, when all too often we just get a mental toothpick.
April 5th, 2011 at 9:45 am
Sue - You have highlighted what has been a sore point with me for years - that folks don’t really care to stick around for the conference close. It has irked me for years.
You highlight the three folks - Neen James, Christine Duffy and the Improv Asylum and their roles - but my question is: Was this a serendipitous synergy or was this planned from the start? A corollary question is – how does a planner “plan” for this this kind of serendipity? (Perhaps the content of another blog?)
Thanks so much for a great piece!
Best - Jo
April 5th, 2011 at 9:55 am
Hi Sue. Interesting article. I’m about as guilty as it gets for ignoring the end of meetings. We usually have a difficult time getting attendees to stay for the last couple of sessions, so the question arises: do you save an excellent presentation for the end of the program to motivate attendees to stick it out, or do you put that session earlier so more people are likely to be there? We’ve done both and had mixed results - I attribute this more to location and travel availability than anything else.
I’d be interested to know what other ideas we can get from planners regarding closing sessions - including some low-budget ideas for those of us with limited means. Thanks!
April 5th, 2011 at 10:48 am
Jo, I’d say it was both planned and serendipitous. Those who knew Neen from previous programs pushed to have her involved in the Forum’s closing session. Since the rest of the program is really industry-expert-driven, I wasn’t so sure about having a productivity expert close it out. But she didn’t just close it out, which is a big part of why it worked. She was a part of everything that led up to the end, face-to-face and virtually, so she was one of us by the end. Just one of us who had some great advice on how to be more productive. I’m so glad when I get proved wrong in such a spectacular fashion!
The Improv Asylum, well, it’s kind of a long story, but that was definitely more serendipitous. They also were a part of a previous session that day, so some participants had an inkling of what they would bring to the end, but the rest of us really didn’t know quite how that would play out. I love improv of all kinds, so I knew I’d like it, but I wasn’t sure about how this very serious corporate crowd would take to them. No worries there! We all laughed until we cried at some of their stuff.
I’m not sure what the costs are, but John, I would highly recommend the Improv Asylum to breathe life into a conference wrap-up session—they really were hysterical. I’m sure local theater groups and college theater departments also could work with you if a professional group is out of your price range.
I wish I had other good ideas to give, but honestly, I just haven’t experienced much in the way of good closing sessions, expensive or otherwise. Please, if anyone has, chime in with what you’ve seen that worked.
April 5th, 2011 at 6:15 pm
So great they had such a hard hitting end. A keynote and a wrap up an d improv. Awesome. If you make a close that good, why would anyone leave? They will get used to booking their flights later so they don’t miss the close
Leave a Comment
Advertisement
Subscribe to Face2Face
To receive a daily e-mail digest of face2face posts:
Contact Sue
Recent Posts
Calendar
Categories
Archives
Your Account