Comments on: Meeting Innovation: PCMA’s Learning Lounge

By: John Nawn

John Nawn — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 15:25:09 +0000

I facilitated a workshop on barriers to innovation in
associations last month at Holiday Showcase in Chicago. The
original idea was to share examples of innovation but I couldn’t
get anyone to go on record with examples or case studies so I
changed the focus. The workshop highlighted how innovation works in
the for-profit world and why it doesn’t in the not-for-profit world
and guided the participants in a brainstorming session that
addressed barriers to innovation in four key areas: strategy;
leadership; processes; and resources. All the output was
transcribed and provided to the Association Forum for posting. An
article on the experience is coming out in FORUM Magazine in March.
There has indeed been little serious dialog about innovation in the
association world but that may be changing. Stephanie Schall heads
up Smith Bucklin’s Innovation Center. She wrote an article on The 4
Qualities of an Innovative Association in last month’s Association
Now (http://bit.ly/gGpuKt). Jennifer Blenkle is ASAE’s head of
product development and Innovation. Eric Lanke of WSAE
http://www.wsae.org/ just released a white paper on Innovation in
the association space. He and Jeff De Cagna have been trading posts
on their respective blogs: http://bit.ly/pJ7aa &
http://bit.ly/etmAjQ. An online community is expected to launch
soon. A possible conference (of course) is under discussion.
Hopefully, some new voices will join the dialog and we can take
things to the next level.

By: samueljsmith

samueljsmith — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 21:44:02 +0000

Hi John,

Great additions. I am sure that there are a ton of ideas out there that have not seen the light of day. I don’t feel like we have innovation labs in our industry – in the same way that we do in other industries. 3M and P&G, for example, spend billions annually where they can innovate and try new things. In the Space industry, they even have the “X prize” – a privately funded prize designed to encourage industry innovation.

On the other hand, if we look outside of the Meetings industry toward e-learning, training & development and organizational development – you can find a lot of innovation in those spaces. I think we can learn a lot (and take a lot) from the advances over there.

Thanks again for your comments and great questions. Like you I hope to see ideas like the Learning Lounge catch on at other events.

By: samueljsmith

samueljsmith — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 16:37:56 +0000

Hi Midori,

Thanks for both of your comments. Both were great additions. I agree with you that the backstage part was really cool. I liked how they made the screens visible in the front and the back. I thought that was cool.

By: John Nawn

John Nawn — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 21:02:09 +0000

Probably more than most, I was very pleased to see the
positive reception to the Learning Lounge at PCMA’s Annual Meeting.
The concept and many of the ideas that were realized in Las Vegas
had been on the drawing board for at least 5 years and I’m glad
Velvet Chainsaw helped make it happen in their own image. What
frustrates me is that it’s taken so long for a relatively
straightforward idea like this to see the light of day. Where would
we be now as an industry if these ideas were supported and improved
upon over the past five years? What other innovative ideas have
been filed away for lack of vision, fear of failure, or any of the
other traditional barriers to change? Hopefully, the enthusiasm
generated about what’s possible leads to more widespread adoption
and accelerates the pace of change that’s so desperately needed in
this and other areas of meetings. Congrats to all involved in
making the Learning Lounge the success it genuinely was. What’s
next?

By: Midori Connolly

Midori Connolly — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 00:04:33 +0000

Very interesting! That is such an astute observation Jenise. If I wasn’t there and watched the video I would think the same exact thing
Believe it or not, while in the Learning Lounge Theatres, it didn’t feel like a tradeshow at all. They did the most amazing job of constructing the hives so there was no ambient noise. While presenting, I couldn’t even hear the speaker in the booth right next to me. Amazing usage of fabric and space design!! There was the great opportunity to duck into a theatre space, or remain in the general networking hum outside of each learning area. I hope you get to join us next time!!
M

By: Midori Connolly

Midori Connolly — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 23:56:45 +0000

As I posted on Jeff’s blog – the Learning Lounge passed the “bootie test”
In other words, the litmus test for whether or not a programming idea is a good one or not: “How would my bottom feel if I was the one sitting in that chair for an hour, two hours, four hours?”
I enjoyed the Learning Lounge SO much – passed the bootie test for sure!!!! And the fact that it was backstage was even more cool. Kudos to Freeman for that one…although I could feel the pain of the poor techs who are generally so much happier hiding in video land backstage
What a great time this was.
Midori Connolly, Chief AVGirl

By: samueljsmith

samueljsmith — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 16:49:23 +0000

Hi Kevin!

I love the “lab coats” analogy. I am very happy that PCMA took on the Learning Lounge and the “Back of House Exposed” concepts. Both of those were cool innovations and fun to see. I hope that others consider these ideas for their events as well.

This was my first PCMA Convening leaders. I am already looking forward to next year and the evolution of this event. It will be fun to see.

Thanks for doing the interview, Kevin. Your natural onscreen talent made the video look great!

By: Kevin Richardson

Kevin Richardson — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 16:15:09 +0000

Sam,

I love capturing the learning in video rather than lengthy text. Pictures (moving in this case) are very powerful.

I can sum up my thoughts on PCMA 11 in two words: Lab Coats. I’ve long wanted to be a part of an event that treated the entire event as a chance to try, fail, change & succeed while sharing all along the way. PCMA accomplished that this year.

Here’s to continued lab coat learning. Thank you (as always) for adding so much to our community.

By: samueljsmith

samueljsmith — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 08:57:45 +0000

Hi Ryan,

I like how you used the phrase fall forward. I think that is a good way to look at innovation. Also, I think innovation in our industry will best succeed when you take it in chunks. Evolution rather than revolution. It has been my experience that clients are more willing to take on small bite-sized nuggets of change than big chunks. They try one thing – see the possibilities and missed opportunities – then take it to the next level the following year. Then to another level in year 3.

Your point about putting attendees at the center of the experience is a good one. I think it is easy to lose sight of the attendee when you are making tradeoffs late in the process or onsite. We need to get into the habit of constantly asking ourselves – how will this benefit (or hurt) our attendee experience?

Great comments. Thanks Ryan!

By: samueljsmith

samueljsmith — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 08:27:40 +0000

Hi Jenise,

Thanks for the compliments, Jenise. It’s amazing what you can do with an HD Flip cam and MacBook Pro.

Your observation about the tradeshow atmosphere is a good one. I think you are going to see spaces like this evolve toward the “new” museum style format. Think Coke Museum in Atlanta. There will be content zones that are marked, branded and themed uniquely. This will give people several visual cues to help with wayfinding and engagement. That’s what I see in the crystal ball anyway…