Improve Your Learning Environment Today

Kimberly LewisU.S. Green Building Council

Melinda KendallFreeman

Poll: What is your favorite style of session t...

Learner Outcomes:

• Better set conference rooms to inspire speakers and engage attendees

• Incorporate innovative session formats and help speakers to be more effective

• Look for non-traditional spaces that will make learning more meaningful

Creating Dynamic Conference Sessions1. Session formats2. Room sets

What session formats are there?

Panel

TV Panel Discussion

Event Panel Discussion

TV Interview

Event Interview

Short Topics

Short Topics

• Lightning Talks: 5 to 10 minute limit

• TED Conference: 18 minutes

• PCMA 2012: 3 Twenty-minute keynotes

ASHP Clinical Pearl Sessions

One idea, concept, or fact that has been useful in day-to-day practice, and may not be widely known, understood, published, or taught.

Overall Session Topic5-minute Introduction

Five 5-minute PearlsTen-minute Q & A

Five 5-minute PearlsTen-minute Q & A

Five 5-minute PearlsTen-minute Q & A

Two-Hour Session

Pecha Kucha

20 seconds per slide

20 slides

Engage the Audience

Engage the Audience

• Town Hall

• Fireside Chat

• Salon

• Structured Discussions

• Working Group

• Campground

Town Hall

Fireside Chat

Fireside Chat

Structured Discussion

Structured Discussion

Brainstorming

Problem solving

Executive roundtables

Industry issues

Working Groups

Working Groups

AIHA Breakthrough Thinking Challenge• Important issue in Industrial Hygiene

• Panel of experts – Introduces issue– Sets guidelines

• Break-out groups solve issue

• Compete to present to board

Campgrounds

Case Study

Expert outlines the situation

Audience quizzes the expert

Audience figures out the solution

Case Study

Industrial Hygiene Unsolved Mysteries

Hands-On Training

Hands-On Training

Hands-On Training

Demonstrations

Engage the Audience

Tapping the expertise in the room

Getting details from experts

News-related information

Question and answer

Problem solving

Hands-on training

Demonstrations

Salon

Reality TV

Car Talk

Project Runway

Setting the record straight.

Preparing for new regulations in the industry.

TV Debate

Moderator

Pro Melinda Kendall 1 minute

Con Kimberly Lewis 1 minute

Rebuttal Pro Melinda Kendall 30 seconds

Rebuttal Con Kimberly Lewis 30 seconds

Are Debates Appropriate for Association Events?

“The Great Debate” Debate

Poll: Who won the debate?

Talking Head

How do we get there?

• Session formats

• Call for proposals

• Best speakers

• Industry experts

• Industry journalists/moderators

• Timely or controversial topics– Trends– Technology– Regulations– Challenges

Creating Dynamic Conference Sessions1. Session formats2. Room sets

What room set options are out there?

Poll: What room set does your event most commo...

Interview

Special Sets Program

“…this luminous modern structure was ideal for every function cited in the promotional materials. But not for the people who congregated in the halls…and meeting spaces (a gray, sleep-inducing pall fell over everything, turning important after-noon sessions into flaccid snoozefests).”

Susan SzenasyMetropolis Magazine

“But as the session wound down…I realized that the only thing Annette and her cohorts could accomplish...were smart but piecemeal fixes…

The visual drone of PowerPoint presentations…the overreliance on mechanical ventilation…the standard lecture-hall-style arrangement of a podium looking out to a mass of disciplined, uncomfortable chairs…all told me that the user, once again, was left out of the design solution.

“Instead of assuming that PowerPoint presentations will be made, why not talk to graphic designers about the newest ways of presenting information?

Instead of assuming that rooms need to be 65˚F, why not consult with health specialists to discover new attitudes toward comfort in an age keen on natural light?

Instead of stiff chairs, why not ask ergonomists about new learning environments?

At a conference that’s all about positive change, old assumptions reveal themselves to be hopelessly inadequate.”

Design + Innovation

• LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design)

• It’s about the People in the building

• Break out of doing things the same way– Organizational/

Conference Priority

Hospitality Industry Pulse

– Meeting, Convention, Event Planner• # 14 on the best business jobs list • # 66 on the overall top 100 list.

US News & World Report

– The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projects meeting, convention, and event planner employment growth of 43.7% between 2010 and 2020, adding 31,300 more jobs.”

Bureau of Labor Statistics

Challenge to the Hospitality Industry

– “Outsourcing of meeting expertise is a real and steadily growing phenomenon as organizations focus more on their core competencies.”

– “some of the most successful and talked about meetings and events in the world today (TED, South by Southwest, etc.) do not have a single meeting professionals on their staffs.”

– “meeting professionals need to be adding new, more valued skills to their bag of tricks. Skills like project management, experience design, content curation...”

John Nawn

Insert Greenbuild Special Sets Video The Good

Video – Greenbuild Special Sets Program

What Did Work?

• Taking a Risk– But starting small

• Leveraging Volunteers (Use what you have)– Special Programs Working Group

• Time, expertise, work directly with speakers

• Video Taping Sessions– Resource for Future Years

Special Set Speaker Testimony

“Once we got over our initial grumbling, we committed to making our presentation an “experience.”

Being in a special set was the best thing that could have happened to our presentation. It pushed us to be more creative and it ultimately benefitted the attendees and the show.”

Jennifer Dolan, Osram Sylvania

Insert Greenbuild Special Sets Video The Bad

Video – Greenbuild Special Sets Program

What Didn’t Work?

• Not allowing presenters to opt-in– Speakers weren’t invested– Solution: Added a question to the CFP

• A New Brand– Took (3) years to gain traction

• Technical Hiccups– Stages, Screens,

Let’s Talk $$$ - Use What You Have

• Know the Value of Your Show– Innovation & Inspiration– B to B– Tent Revival– Entertainment: Maroon 5

• Leverage Partnerships– Champion (General Contractor): 3 Year Payment Plan– PRG (AV Contractor): 3 Year Contract

Let’s Talk $$$

• Low-Tech Solutions– Charrette Room

• Rented standard stage, added a banner wrap • rearranged chairs• cardboard, paper and markers

– Straight Stage• Greenhouse pieces

– Online Polling• High Engagement

> Low Cost

How We Got There

• Stakeholders– Volunteers– Presenters– Set Designer– AV Company– General Contractor– Labor– USGBC Staff

Where We Are Now

• Call for Proposals– Opt-in & Presentation Style Questions

• Special Programs Working Group– 11 Volunteers– Calls with Presenters– PPT Review– Rehearsals

Where We Are Now

4 Special Set Rooms (40% of sessions)And more to come!

Where We Are Now

Where We Are Now - Straight Stage

Where We Are Now – Theater in the Round

Where We Are Now – Charrette Room

Where We Are Now – Dogbone Stage

Creating Dynamic Conference Sessions

• Biggest Takeaways

– It’s all about the People

– Use what you have

– Don’t be afraid to Take a Risk!

Thank you for participating!

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Presenters:Kimberly Lewis, USGBCMelinda Kendall, Freeman

Improve Your Learning Environments Today