Holy Shift!
For many of us, working from home has been integrated into our work life for many years but for most of us the shift happened suddenly and we found a corner, table, room or space to work from adjusting to family life around us, trying to be productive.
Please join us on Tuesday, May 5, while we present “Home Office Strategies: Optimize Your Personal and Business Performance” from 12 noon to 3:30PM ET. (link) During this transition, you have an obligation to yourself to understand your own personal and professional needs to function at your best to manage and keep up with the amount of information overloading our brains daily.
Corey Anker, Certified Life Coach, will share some tips on how to propel our performance from the inside out. Working at home has its advantages, but there is a distinction from working at home and being at home working.
Creating an environment that has balance supports working and productivity. Designing the space, setting up technology efficiently, and being sensitive to your physical and ergonomic needs is critical for your health and well-being. Our experts, Jeffrey Simon, Architect and Debra Duneier, Architect and Feng Shui expert will share valuable tips and information on how to increase our awareness and maximize your physical space. Sit up straight will have a new meaning after expert Karen Lunda shares her perspective on ergonomics.
We have become overnight media personalities and clearly need tips and advice to cultivate an impactful impression. Sabrina Shore will help us navigate this new reality to build a successful digital identity. Staying calm while the pressure is on is Dr. Sharon Melnick’s secret – you will learn a simple technique that will change your life – guaranteed.
And, above all, we can’t be on line in the wild frontier without knowing how – without understanding best internet practices at home and how to protect them.
THERE is a host of information here - available on demand for the week that follows to all who participate.
Office Yoga – YES! A very special closure to our conference will be experiencing an Office Yoga session with the man who wrote the book, Darrin Zeer.
Looking forward to seeing you there – at the desk, or on your mat.
REGISTER TODAY!
Working for the common good is the one thing we are all sharing right now whether in Italy, Illinois or Indonesia. “We” replaces you or I.
With this collective conscience in most people’s minds, I am reminded of the value of industry associations and the sense of community they offer. The very definition of association according to the dictionary is “a group of people organized for a joint purpose” or “a connection or cooperative link between people or organizations.” During my career, I’ve automatically joined related industry associations with the attitude that you get out of something that you put into it. Through these, involvement grew in committees and service in various board positions.
In the MICE industry, meetings, incentives, conferences, exhibitions, there is a governing body called the Event Industry Council www.eic.org The EIC is the umbrella organization for over 30 associations, all who serve the professionals who make meetings happen from hotels, DMCS, event producers, venues, caterers, planners, and all related services for those who plan, produce and organize professional gatherings. Some of these are ILEA (International Live Events Association), MPI (Meeting Professionals International), IACC (International Association of Conference Centers), PCMA (Professional Conference Management Association), NACE (National Association of Catering Executives), ASAE (American Association of Association Executives), FICP (Financial Insurance Conference Planners), ADME (Association of Destination Management Executives). They work on behalf of the industry and are related to the bigger picture of tourism and travel www.USTA.org
The collective power of these organizations is in the numbers. Membership relies on the association to represent them, and in the current environment in the meetings, events, tourism, travel industry, government has been and will continue to be made aware of the industry through its executive management in the associations.
In every industry sector, there is a specialized association or entity that brings together its members and experts to share information – for any special interest. In real estate, RealComm www.realcomm.com is one of the leading event companies focusing on the real estate and technology marketing. In retail, the National Retail Federationwww.nrf.com, and fashion, Fashion Group International www.fgi.org.
I encourage you today to research the associations and companies that focus on bringing people together because when this pandemic is over, WE will all need to come together and move forward. Because I know that #ForwardMatters tm.
The science of body language is clear: experts know that how you sit, stand and gesture tells others what you are feeling. But did it ever occur to you that how you sit, stand, and gesture might also affect how productive you are at work?
Loosen UP! The next time you are struggling for a creative thought, take inventory of your body. When your body is tight, your mind and the flow of thoughts is likely tight as well. From a physical viewpoint, when your body is contracted from fear or anticipation, there is a reduction of blood flow and oxygen. When this occurs, your brain does not get the food it needs to function and therefore your thought processes are affected. Your ability to think freely in a non-judgmental way is impeded. So, what can you do? You can loosen up so that the wiring in your brain loosens up too and the flow of energy increases.
As a creative thinker, how are you sitting? Standing? Are your shoulders so tight they are touching your ears? Are you breathing deeply, or even significantly? Is your jaw clenched? Is your mouth relaxed? Are you making a fist? Twitching? If so, follow the rules of Arthur Joseph, creator of Vocal Awareness, and relax your tongue, teeth, and jaw. Just try it! You’ll be surprised how your entire mouth feels different and your head feels lighter.
The next time you are at a loss for an idea, get up, shake it out, and reach out. Keep your body in check and your thoughts will be strong. Once you start taking control of your body’s tensions, who knows what ideas will flow!
Dianne Devitt
The story of your life – who your parents are, where you were born, the people who surround you, your shape, build, color, personality, perception, understanding, style, character, talents, abilities, sensory development, insight, and so much more – are unique only to you. The only one of you.
How you think creatively is unique to you. It takes courage to trust your inner voice, especially when seeing something others don’t see, and to speak out with what you see. It doesn’t make you the ‘black swan’ or outcast. Rather, this spark sets you apart as a discoverer, an adventurer, someone who allows themselves to look at things differently. We are each a page in the story of the universe for one another to learn from, to grow from, to be inspired by. How your page will be written and told is being formatted right now, as you read this. If you were reading your own page, what would it say about your story?
Dianne Devitt
There are two types of planners. The first type gets an assignment and decides on a series of logistical options to make the meeting happen. These planners fill an important function, and their work will always be needed. Every live meeting or event needs a venue, a room, a layout, a design and appropriate food, beverages, and accessories. This is an extremely valuable role, as it executes and implements plans.
The second type of planner has a very different job. These planners make it their responsibility to raise the assignment, the event, their own positions, and even the profession itself to the next level. They are concerned with fulfilling strategic objectives.
Accordingly, they are concerned with flow and feel, with impact and return on event (which combines ROI, return on investment, and ROO, return on objectives), rather than just a look. They nudge their way into the corporate culture to participate at the highest level possible to earn the trust and respect of senior management and to appeal to the needs and emotions of attendees. They know it takes more than logistics to produce events that engage attendees. They defend, promote, and budget bringing on a strategic event designer to brand and create the interactive experiences that hit all the touch points and messaging.
The strategic planners make it their responsibility to deliver a meeting or event that inspires and motivates to the point of effectively communicating the intended message and increasing the chances of achieving the intended business result. They need a village! As in the productions of a film, a play, or photo shoot, they know it takes a team to work together.
Whatever your role, do the best job you can and support the growing awareness of true strategic meeting and event design.
Titles of the Future
In the context of different types of planners, let’s think about different ideas for titles. At a conference about five years ago, I asked a room of senior planners to name some titles for the future: given your role, what would you call yourself and what would you call others around you? Here is a sampling (presume the director title is followed by manager and coordinator roles).
Director of Planning and Logistics
Director of Creative and Styling
Director of Experiences
Director of Visual Dynamics
Director of Sensory Engagement
Director of Risk Management
Director of Design and Flow (Kinetic Engineering)
Leave a comment below to let me know some that you can think of, or that you are.
Dianne Devitt
I am the proud daughter of a New York Police Department detective who worked in crime prevention and safety for his entire career. My father, Larry, dedicated his life to educating people in the East New York section of Brooklyn on crime prevention and, as a result, we were influenced at home on precautions and the value of anticipating what could go wrong to address it ahead of time. What I didn’t realize at the time was how this training would affect my career in meetings and events.
Years later, on a site visit for a prestigious board of directors meeting, I was accompanied by the corporate director of security. He commented at the time that the questions I asked were questions that he would ask. He also told me that he was impressed, and that his understanding of the role of an event planner was expanded when he realized how deep the planner delves into safety and security before addressing any logistics or design. It’s learning what not to do that guides decisions to any successful meeting or event.
Risk management is a critical part of the design process. Risk management means understanding what guidelines need to be followed and what rules need to be adhered to. Risk management connects to design, because it establishes a carefully orchestrated chain of command as well as a sequence of events that is vital to the success of the event.
What you can’t do filters what you can do. It is always best to learn this upfront from local and destination experts and build the experience around all. In a meeting, the sense of security allows for interaction and open networking. Here are nine questions to ask with regard to risk management and planning:
1. Does the activity you are planning require a permit or license? Have you allowed ample time to secure these documents?
2. Do you understand the venue guidelines, destination restrictions, and local laws that might affect your plans?
3. What communication devices are you using, and how will you ensure there are no or minimal breakdowns? (For example, at an event when Air Force One landed, all walkie-talkie radio communication went down within a certain radius.)
4. Who is the director of security?
5. What is the procedure to follow in the event of an emergency? For your staff, for your client?
6. Have you planned a pre-meeting emergency meeting?
7. If badges are involved, how are you best designing them for ID and for staff to be able to quickly see which credentials an attendee has, and which areas are open to that attendee?
8. Have you created a physical list of your staff/team/vendors with their names and an emergency contact name and number? (We ask our vendors to supply an emergency name and number and make a master.)
9. When there are layers of security involved, who is the decision-maker? Keep this person at your side (or assign a staff person to them for your access).
At the end of the day, our ultimate responsibility is safety and security. As important as having your plans in place is communicating to attendees and guests. As it happens, I recently experienced a communication breakdown related to security. (Perhaps it was just too big an event.) Here’s what happened:
I was one of the fortunate to be invited to Madison Square Garden for the Papal Mass in September. We arrived at 2:15 p.m. (guidelines instructed guests to arrive between 2 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.). We were told to go to the end of a line to enter. Strange, but obviously a security issue, I told myself, watching the police, Secret Service, CIA, TSA, and hordes of undercover agents.
We finally arrived at the end of the line—literally 23 New York City blocks from the entrance—and waited for 3.5 hours to enter MSG. MSG can service thousands of people in minutes, as they efficiently do for games and other events. This time, though, there was so much security that I truly believe we were forgotten. The shame of this is that 23 blocks of people, more than 10,000 of us, missed the pre-Mass concert and activities because too much security was involved and it was obvious that no one was listening to the other.
This planner knows there is more, maybe that’s why a rainbow appeared in the sky to offer all hope and patience. Mass was a moving experience with no incidents and for that, I am grateful. All in a day’s work.
Dianne Devitt
You know if you have it. You know if someone else has it. And, you know if some places and things have it. In the world of style, you either have it, or you don’t. Many of you may have been told that your meeting and events are different and no one can explain why. I say, it is because you understand how to balance the sensory experience.
In the world outside of meetings and events, sense marketing has gained popularity through the growing field of scent marketing. You may be aware that many hotels and public spaces are fast learning that scent recall is far more accurate than other forms of advertising. The caveat here is that the scent must match the brand. Something masculine would not pair with a more feminine brand. Because the brain processes smell in conjunction with emotion, memory, and learning, we are more than 85 times more likely to remember something through scent, as it is connected neurologically in our brain.
Styling the Experience
In theatrical design, there are two style categories related to décor: realism and symbolism. Realism refers to the goal of creating an environment that closely resembles an actual setting with great attention to detail and nearly exact reproductions of key elements. Symbolism is the discipline that focuses on the imagination first and physical objects second: actors may gesture where a wall is to be, or a cube may stand in for a stepping stone, a sofa, or a car. Realism is natural; symbolism is imaginative.
In events, we need both. Realism keeps an event anchored to a specific theme, while symbolism liberates the imagination and awakens a sense of play and engagement. Décor, food, beverage, lighting, audiovisual, music, entertainment, and speakers are among the planner’s style tools. They are the different paint colors available on your palette to style a meeting or event, to design an experience.
First and foremost, of course, identify the level, demographics, and experience of your group. These will determine where the focus should be and what sense or senses are in play.
Here are 10 thoughts for a planning project focused on the sense of sight:
1. Choose a destination, hotel or venue that complements the group's dynamics.
2. Ensure the venue is visually compatible to the meeting theme.
3. Invest in designing an effective graphic (a picture speaks a thousand words).
4. Consider using hard-copy invitations. The look and feel of the paper in addition to the personalized touch reaps benefits in how a person reacts and responds.
5. Plan on a visually stimulating element on arrival—outside, if possible. The first impression on site must match the promise of the invitation, which will have embedded a visual image in participants’ minds.
6. Find a way for the staff and team to dress to complement the visual experience.
7. Give attention to the room setup. Sometimes turning a table from a square to a diamond opens energy flow and is visually balanced.
8. Open opportunities to add accents in a meeting room to enhance the branding experience without being distracting.
9. Understand the participants’ profiles and select which visuals will have the most impact in décor and design choices.
10. Focus visual attention on one element if a budget is limited or the room is large.
And one more thing to remember: It is not just what you have, but how you use it that matters. Effectively using the senses in meeting design need not be affected by budget constraints!
Dianne Devitt
Meeting planners know the feeling of standing alone in an empty, vast ballroom in the early morning hours before the sun rises or at night long after the last participant duly exits. There is something captivating that envelopes you—that sound of silence when looking out into space.
Think about space in today’s world. We live in physical places, communicate in digital places, explore outer space, and virtually visit places in the space in our minds. Above all, we continue to reach for that space within our body and soul, that place of balance. As more and more millennials enter the work space, they are searching for a physical sense of place to belong in society and work, having grown up in a digital space.
The sense of place is pervasive; it speaks to you in the silence of the room, in the silence of your mind. If silence speaks, then what should we listen to when choosing a destination, location, venue, hotel? A space where we will invite people to have a place to engage, interact, play, learn, and communicate.
Understanding how destination and venue spaces impact the attendee experience and the sense of place is an added dimension to the site-selection process. It requires a sensitivity to the lifestyle choices people are making now to maintain the balance in their own personal sense of place while they explore new experiences.
Some questions to ask yourself in the meeting design process:
1. Are the objective and goals of the meeting or event clear?
2. Does the location meet your criteria for the format of the meeting, conference, or exhibition?
3. Are there attractions, museums, venues, or locations that could offer unique opportunities? For example, during The Special Event conference in Orlando this month, the Leadership Lunch was held on the Orlando Eye. How creative to use this location, filling each car with a seasoned professional facilitating a specific discussion with a group of 8–10 participants while enjoying the experience. Everyone wins as the PR opportunities benefit The Special Event and the Eye team for future business.
4. Does the space allow for designing places to complement the profile and needs of the attendees?
5. Does the sense of place encourage attendance and pre- or post-meeting tourism?
6. Where in the space are branding opportunities? Where are they allowed? Where are they most effective?
7. Does the space allow for an event design that will maximize flow?
8. What is the vibe of the people who work there? Are they proud of the place? Is there positive energy?
9. Does an actual destination — country, state, or city — complement the theme? If you are planning a meeting with top producers and the theme is Go for the Gold, are you aware of the influence that the location you choose has on perception, behavior, expectations?
10. Certain places have spaces that are uniquely designed for specific looks or themes. If using these results in cost savings that matches the theme and objectives, then the space works. If it doesn’t, choose something else and avoid the risk of losing marketing impact
Alice peered through the Looking Glass and saw BIG and little doors. Explore the spaces. Enjoy the places and continue the search and process for the right fit.
Before your next meeting, stand alone and let the venue tell you the possibilities. And, above all, remember there’s no place like a feeling of home and home is where two or more people can meet face to face. Invite me anytime.
Dianne Devitt
Twitter allows us 140 characters to deliver a message and catch the attention of our followers to take action. That action may be to connect to an article, Web site, book, or to engage another person. Either way, it is the haiku of the Twitter experience that makes it so effective—short, to the point content that evokes and prompts a response.
Think about your meeting themes that way, too. When events first debuted as theme parties, there was no rhyme or reason for their content. The opening night of a three-day conference would be destination-focused, while the remaining two nights were focused on anything from rock-and-roll to a specific color. These days are long gone as events are now an important part of an integrated communication plan.
A theme provides unity, direction, and appeals to prospective guests to attend. A strong theme is based on the objective and goals of the meeting or event, and provides a foundation for messaging to the participants and stakeholders.
For example, I worked with a client whose company tagline was “Change the Nature of Things.” When planning the first meeting with the executive team, we presented many choices for themes. The core objective of the meeting according to the then-chairman was to give permission to the existing four silos, which hadn’t worked together in the past, to interact with one another. The theme: “Change the Nature of Things… Now.” This was so effective that the following two years’ meetings kept the same tagline with one word difference: “Change the Nature of Things…Together” and “Change the Nature of Things… Faster.”
Whether your meeting is meant to inspire, motivate, or celebrate, here are 10 tips to designing a killer theme:
1. Have a clearly defined objective for your event: Why are you bringing people together?
2. Begin with the end in mind: What actions do you want participants to take as a result of participating in your meeting?
3. Identify risk management concerns: Check that the theme doesn’t conflict with another company or a competitor. Ensure that the meaning of your theme will interpreted to complement your objective and goals.
4. Invest time in research. Themes and great taglines evolve after a process. A part of the process is doing research on the company, management, products, and services, and truly understanding how they work and meld together and how the meeting and event will affect all. Perhaps the logo color will affect the design or a shape of a new product or the destination where the company is opening a new office.
5. Collaborate, brainstorm, and use games and visuals to support creative thinking. Nothing like putting a word on a board and seeing where it goes. I used the word “egg” at a recent brainstorm and the results were eggsceptional.
6. Stimulate the senses: You “gotta have a gimmick” to speak to people. Don’t be afraid to have a little fun.
7. Sleep on it: Every idea needs different perspectives and time to grow and develop.
8. Focus your attention on the Big Idea that ties everything together.
9. Communicate with your advertising, public relations, and marketing colleagues to ensure the messaging is on target with the overall company direction.
10. Remember, you can know why a meeting is happening, but understanding how to tell the story takes time, work, and expertise.
Dianne Devitt
Georgia O’Keeffe said, “I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn’t say any other way—things I had no words for.”
Me, too, Georgia, except that when I wear my event designer hat, those colors and shapes are transposed from a canvas to a ballroom.
Experts know that color has an energy and other attributes that affect our well-being, safety, moods, and behavior. Designers of hotels and event venues know the physiological and psychological reactions and benefits of using particular colors. Meeting and event designers know color principles that help them transform the energy of an event and evoke a response in attendees.
Meeting planners need to realize the important implications of color choices—it’s a lot more than decor. Think about these questions, for example:
1. What are the client’s corporate colors?
What color is the logo? Many logos are transferable from one color to another based on usage but many are not. This area is monitored and controlled by in-house marketing and sponsorship and must be respected to represent a company properly.
2. How does the color translate on a foamcore sign, vinyl banner, spandex, or through a light box?
All colors used in graphics and printing are associated with a Pantone Matching System, or PMS, color. Pantone has a color guide that planners can purchase. It is critical to test the results of a PMS color on the above materials prior to a meeting. No one wants the head of marketing to enter a room and see fuchsia on an overhead light box when it should appear as red.
3. What are the competition’s colors?
Understand the correlation and how brands use color. The red of Coca-Cola, the brown of UPS, TDBank’s green, Citi’s blue, and Yahoo’s purple all have distinct correlations in our memories. This is because color is a non-verbal language. Your company’s logo and graphics are instant identifiers to the brand. For planners, this means being aware of the colors of the linens, floral arrangements, marketing graphics, etc., to be used at an event.
4. What color is the hotel space/carpet/furniture? Will it “disappear” in the dark or will it distract?
Many clients are concerned with the effect of brightly colored linens or drapes or other built-in color features of a room. My test is to look at the colors when the room is darkened. This way you can feel and see the effect. Be bold the next time you are planning a dinner and try a really bright color! Contrast works!
5. How can I give badges and signs the most color impacct?
Don’t be too creative with color on practical elements like badges and signs. We read one-inch-high letters up to 30 feet away. If you want attendee names to be seen on a badge, use a color that will provide the most contrast to the badge color. If your badge color is white, use black or dark blue but never yellow, orange, or pink, as they disappear.
6. What are the cultural influences to specific colors?
Failure to understand the meaning of color in different cultures means leaving yourself open to huge mistakes, such as using a color that means death or insult. Color responses are based on learned behavior and must be understood in today’s global society. Ask local experts when working in a destination to help you understand.
Finally, I’ll leave you with two questions.
First, does a brown piece of luggage weigh more than the identical design in white? Answer and explanation next time!
And second, what color do you feel today?
Dianne Devitt
