Plan Ahead Events

For those of you who couldn’t attend the PCMA Convening Leaders meeting in Dallas and missed the live webcasts, don’t fret, we’ve got you covered. We took diligent notes and are sharing our take-aways with you. Below is a compilation of the morsels and nuggets that are not to be overlooked.

Airlines & Meetings: A CEO Conversation

Don’t let the title fool you – this conversation was between CEO’s, not for CEO’s, and is perfectly relevant for those of us with big dreams that are still moving up the ladder. The two guest speakers were Gerald Arpey, CEO of American Airlines, and Gary Kelly, CEO of Southwest Airlines. Props to Southwest! If avoiding the monster known as O’Hare Airport wasn’t enough, they offer free 100-calorie packs AND peanuts, no luggage fees, cocktail coupon books, VIP … I mean open … seating for all, and flight attendants donned in shorts and polos. What’s not to love! Back to the task at hand … due to the economy, business travel is at a decline. Airline companies are trying to keep their fares low but are finding it difficult to stay out of the red. Travel is essential for business activity, and with the decline in travel more and more businesses are starting to turn towards technological availabilities, such as webinars and video conferencing. Arpey believes that technology is an enabler of more travel.  Although there are no statistics to back this up, he believes that by the use of technology, more people will want to travel to certain places for vacations, meetings and conventions.

Beyond the Crises, Redefined Lifestyles, the Ultra Modern Firm & the New Social Economic Landscape

During the introduction, a few interesting statements were made; (1) more and more companies are beginning to show environmental efforts to “greening” the earth. For example, Fairmont Hotels grows over half of their own vegetables. We LOVE that! (2) Face-to-face meetings are the most efficient way to do business and (3) go Chi-Town! The Convention Center Auction is being held at McCormick Place in 2010. Dr. Kjell Nordstrom, author and world renowned researcher on corporate strategy, globalization and leadership, suggested that the use of technology has somewhat made us become invisible to the eye. We do a lot of our business over the phone, through e-mail, etc and this leaves a gap; a gap between both partners and a gap between ourselves and the rest of the corporate world. A way to fill in the gap is by collaborations and by going to meetings and conventions where we can transfer our knowledge to others. Dr. Nordstrom made some great points, and gave us an insatiable desire to go shopping at the same time! So kids, the moral of the story is that face to face meetings matter and that technology is no replacement for personal contact. Are we dinosaurs? No. Technophobes? Ewww, we hope not. We’re just big believers in the power of personal interactions and relationships.

The State of the Meetings and Travel Industry

Due to the economy, an increasing number of people are focusing on the affordability of travel. They still want to go to the same locations, just for less. People are able to use technology to view the best prices for all types of airlines. Because of said technology and the use of cell phones, more meeting planners are feeling under pressure to get more done in the 8-hour day. Eight hours, ha! Business meetings that include traveling are making a comeback and showing corporate profitability. In 2009 business meetings that involved travel were down, while local meetings went up. The panel of speakers also felt that face-to-face meetings are the most important and more effective than video conferencing and other means of communication via technology. That seems to be the common thread in all of these sessions.

Develop Your Story of Success

Malcolm Gladwell, the incredible author of Blink and The Tipping Point, headed up this session. We took away an intriguing statement made by the new Chairwoman of PCMA, paraphrased as [The unexpected positive effect on adversity is to focus on someone else.] Our interpretation of that statement is that it’s more about your clients than it is yourself. If you please your clients, you will be successful.

Thanks for the juicy nuggets, PCMA!

-A collaboration by Cathy Wojcik and Kiley Corban