Affordable Meetings West (Part One)

Two weeks ago I had the opportunity to attend the HSMAI's Affordable Meetings West Conference in Long Beach, CA. AMW was a two-day, session-filled conference focused on overall meeting and event planning, including a 200 booth trade show. Being that it was "affordable" (free, actually), it was definitely bare bones and frill-free. But the content was great, and the speakers were excellent. Below are some nuggets from my favorite sessions.

Mastering Memory:

A good memory is something essential to us event planners, always running around juggling a million things at once. Did you know that you can actually improve your brain and memory function with simple training? We learned a few tricks from Scott Hagwood, author and four-time National Memory Champion. He proved himself by asking our names as we entered the room, and was able to recall all 40 or so names throughout the hour and a half session! Using his tips I can now count to 10 in Mandarin Chinese by memory, using the Roman Room technique. It's been almost two weeks, and I still remember 1 through 10! Check out the technique here:
http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTIM_06.htm

I am not a master of memory, and tend to write everything down so I don't forget. Scott says if we continue to do this, it basically gives our brain permission to forget the information. In order to train your brain to retain more info, start relying on your memory more and write less down. Start small by memorizing you grocery list rather than jotting it on your usual post-it.

I'm sure this has happened to us all at some point: You meet someone, and five seconds later you forget their name. Consciously take a moment after they say their name to process it. Usually we're too busy thinking about what we're going to say next and the name just flies out of our brain. Take the time to process the name, and repeat it back to him/her. "It’s a pleasure to meet you, Sarah." Repeat her name two more times in the conversation, and you'll increase your chance of remembering it. Then, try to associate this person with someone you already know with the same name. Example: "Sarah has blonde hair, and so does my cousin Sarah." Picture both Sarah's together, and now every time you see this Sarah with her blonde hair, you'll remember she reminds you of cousin Sarah.

http://www.scotthagwood.com/

Green Meetings:

We've written about this before, but AMW held a great green meeting session, offering even more helpful green suggestions. One of their main points was communicating your intentions to your attendees! If they know they're not getting the usual paper hand-outs and bottled water because of environmental reasons, they're more likely to get on board. If you're using recycled materials in your notebooks and are reducing the number of pages, use symbols in your materials to show this.

AMW reduced their conference journal enough to result in 80% less fiber paper usage with over 900 lbs less paper used! Not only that, but they included a page in the front of the notebook showing their green efforts compared to last year, using actual quantifiers showing this change. They also used live reusable décor on the banquet tables rather than cut flowers. Sticks, moss, and potted plants can all be reused over and over. We weren't given any handouts other than the conference journal, and all PowerPoint slides and handouts were put on a CD in the back of the book. All great green efforts!

http://www.thinkoutsidethebottle.com/

Come back next week for more on the Affordable Meetings Conference.
~Annie