A Hats-On Approach for Creative Meetings
by Harvey ChipkinCan wearing different colored hats lead to a better meeting?
Yes, according to TJ Johnson, program manager for the International Legal Technology Association, who gave a presentation at MPI’s World Education Congress last month called “Live the Dream: Creative Decision Making for Association Planners.”
Johnson talked to Travel Market Report about how planners might think differently about their meetings – and provide more value for attendees.
Why the title “Live the Dream?”
Johnson: Whenever I get evaluations back from attendees and talk to other planners, it always seems that none of us get the time to do the things we would like to do or be creative. We wanted to find out if there are ways we can live out the dreams we have in our heads. I’ve found that all planners are more creative than they think they are. What gets in the way of creativity is working in associations with limited budgets, and colleagues who tell you not to change anything.
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How did you come to focus on creativity in meetings?
Johnson: I was an IT director in a law firm and came in to ILTA as a volunteer to handle meetings. I spend a lot of time figuring out how to provide more value for attendees. Our own annual conference is a five-day event with over 200 educational sessions and people get tired of the same thing. We have been looking at ways over the last few years to provide alternative sessions.
What are some techniques for generating creativity?
Johnson: Brainstorming is one technique. The focus is on quantity where everyone can just call out ideas and criticism is not acceptable. It’s a way to get ideas out while suspending judgment on them. Another possibility is mind mapping – drawing a diagram that outlines information. It’s usually around a single word or phrase in the center and you add associated ideas, words and concepts.
What about those hats?
Johnson: There are several variations on that. One is to have everybody at a table wearing different colored hats and each plays a specific role. One would be the planner, but the others would be the banquet manger, the CEO, etc. It gets everybody thinking outside their usual role and understanding how the other people think. Or you can have everybody wear the same hat – each becoming, say, the CEO of your company – and see what comes out of that as far as their outlook on what a meeting should be.
What have you tried at your own conferences?
Johnson: We’ve done it all – full-on bar camps (user-generated meetings), TED style sessions (modeled after the high-powered events that tend to focus on technology and entertainment), and anything else we find at MPI and other meetings. This year we have two huge meeting rooms at our venue and we will set up the rooms depending on what attendees want to do in those rooms. We are telling the hotel to prepare all possible room configurations – tables ready to be put in or pulled out, electronic white board, projectors and screens, etc.
Isn’t that risky?
Johnson: We have a large number of volunteer conference committee members, each responsible for a certain number of sessions. A specific person will be in charge of each of these two rooms. They looked at all the proposals and are prepared for anything. This will work and people will go to see what’s going on.
How do you plan your own annual conference?
Johnson: We have 30 people working on content. We collect every possible topic idea and come up with about 600. We go through them and prioritize during a full day meeting. We look at areas of focus that we need to cover. Once we get that area of focus, we figure out the target audience.
We are also looking at alternative options for each session. Do we need an expert? Or should we have peer sharing or problem solving session? You have to be flexible. There are ways to create sessions without an expert or a panel. But even with traditional structures, you can be creative. On one panel this year we are bringing in seven people who have transitioned in their careers in the last year. Each will talk for nine minutes. One was laid off but managed to find a new position.
