My life has been about questions. I think it is a deep-seated cultural/religious thing!
As Chair of PCMA’s Student Task Force, I served on the PCMA Annual Meeting Planning Committee. In that role, bouncing around session concepts, speakers and design with PCMA members and staff, it was evident that I drove Chair Neil Schriever a little meshugge! (C’mon .. no ‘poor Neil’ comments! And Neil? If it makes you feel better, I am sure my parents (of blessed memory) felt the same from all my questioning.)
Why and how?
In addition …

Posted by:
Chris Durso
Executive Editor, Convene
This post was posted, with permission, from the PCMA Convene Blog.

The PCMA Masters Series program held at the Renaissance Washington, DC Downtown Hotel last Thursday offered a terrific assortment of big-sky and ground-level insights (some of which I tweeted throughout the event), but for me the grand unifying takeaway was the fact that you can’t separate a meeting from its parent organization, and vice versa. An obvious conclusion, perhaps, especially considering the topic was “Associations and Meetings of the Future: A Look Ahead to 2020,” but …

Posted by:

Sue Hershkowitz-Coore, CSP
President/Owner, High Impact Presentations
It seems like everyone today talks about the importance of story, of telling your story and of differentiating your idea with story. Consultants and bloggers explain the different types of stories and companies jump on the bandwagon.
Why? Because a good story starts a conversation. And a conversation can start a relationship. And a relationship can move mountains.
What makes a good story? It’s relevant, authentic and intriguing (or at least interesting) to the listener.
What makes a great story? When the teller isn’t always the hero. …

I realize that many of you are planning to attend PCMA’s Convening Leaders (Jan 9 – 12 in Vegas) and like you, I am excited to get onsite and experience the meeting. As a staff member, my involvement in the meeting and seeing all my members is one thing that I love most about my job.
The fact of the matter is, no matter how much work it is, how many early mornings or late nights are needed, or even how ugly my shoes are onsite (they are soooooo UGLY! – see previous posts), being there …

It is a general rule of thumb that it is impossible to go to a tradeshow and not talk to strangers.  Well, you could if you were really looking to sabbatoge your presence there.
I recently came back from a tradeshow where I talked to a man for about 10 minutes and at the end of the conversation I thought I might have a stalker – seriously!
So I was joking with some colleagues on a new rule I was implementing for our tradeshows – don’t talk to strangers.  It was …

Sometimes I think about how lucky I am to work for an organization like PCMA that encourages risks and innovation. It keeps us sharp and on our toes and no day is like the one before. At no other time in the year is this more true than when we are preparing for our signature event, Convening Leaders, which will take place this January 9-12, 2011 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
At PCMA, we work in a true “incubator for new ideas”. Whether it is a room set, a …