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Hi Scott,
Your post is right on the mark. The question is how do you tear down that glass wall? Myers-Briggs pegs me squarely as an introvert (didn't need the test to tell me that) and yet, I was able to break through the glass in just one year through social technology. I wrote a post all about it here...http://tinyurl.com/5ojgxq

Great meeting planners are masters of creating shared experiences that make the glass wall irrelevant. But building lasting connections inside a community takes more than one single experience. That's where online communities and year-round interaction with groups like the Greater Washington Network make all the difference. You have to nurture the connections and keep them fresh.

For my part, I hope to help a few more people break through the glass in San Diego. Who's with me?

I can echo this - in December 1998, I went to my very first ASAE meeting (m&t, when it still was m&t), knowing NO ONE. As a strong M-B "I," I was that poor soul who sits alone in the back corner scribbling notes all day, then beats a hasty retreat as soon as the sessions end. Frankly, the idea of walking into a reception where (it felt like) everyone other than me knew each other was too terrifying.

Two years later, I'd finally recovered from the trauma enough to go back to another m&t conference. I still didn't really know anyone, but by that point, I'd decided to make association management my career, I'd grown up a little, and I'd realized that it only LOOKED like everyone else was a cool kid and I was the only nerd who didn't know anybody.

What changed? The meeting didn't change - I did. As uncomfortable as it was, I forced myself to go talk to people. I ended up meeting a lot of really nice people who were just as unsure of themselves as I was, which started me on the road of becoming the paragon of association networking you all know now ;-)

I think the onus falls more on experienced meeting attendees to reach out to people that on the organization sponsoring the meeting. Organizations don't make connections: people do. So how are we going to reach out during this year's annual?

When I wrote this, I wasn't so much making a commentary on ASAE & The Center's meetings, which I believe have gotten progressively better in this regard (and Amy Ledoux and her team are certainly top-notch meeting planners!). What I am suggesting is that facilitating human connection should be a deliberate part of the design process for all association meetings. While I don't think we should leave this up solely to our attendees, I think Elizabeth and Lindy have both raised great questions that apply equally to the planning organization - how do we create experiences that make it easier for people to make connections themselves and how do we encourage those inside the glass wall to reach out?

What an outstanding post, Scott! I have been on both sides of that glass, and to be honest, I like being inside better than being outside!

This will be my first ASAE Annual, and I am feeling a bit overwhelmed by the amazing amount of things to do. At the same time, I think it's a great opportunity to be able to get out there and meet a whole crop of new people in the association field.

One of the great things is that since it will be my first, I am not going to necessarily know who is on which side of the glass, so even if Mr. Bigshot who I have never met is really inside, I won't necessarily know that and can approach him just like I would someone else who is outside!

Bringing your point back to my organization, at our 2009 Convention, I am going to be leaning on our event planner to include an ambassador program where when a first-timer gets there, they are paired with someone who has been to a number of these events and can make the outsiders feel like insiders by introducing them throughout the first day of the meeting. By day 2, hopefully those connections from day one will make them feel like they're on the other side of the glass!

The first day of the conference, immediately prior to the opening reception, we do a "New Members/First Timers" orientation meeting. We encourage people to sign up to attend when they pre-register for the conference, so it's on their calendar early.
At the meeting, we walk them through the conference schedule and answer questions, talk about the Society and membership to make sure they are taking advantage of all the benefits membership has to offer, and give them an opportunity to meet and introduce themselves to others who are also at the meeting for the first time.
We also encourage our Board Members to attend so that the "First Timers" automatically get to meet other folks who have been to multiple conferences in a more intimate setting than a huge reception.
This last year we had about 70 participants at the meeting out of the 650+ total participants at our conference.

I've always wondered how well "first-timers" programs work. We do them too, and I guess my thought has always been, "they can't hurt." At the very least, they give people the lay of the land, let them know what they can expect, and hopefully, make people feel welcome. Has anyone been able to measure how well these programs do at helping people to connect successfully with others at the meeting? I have to admit, we have never gone much beyond "How would you rate this program" evaluations, which tells you more about the quality of the presenters than their actually utility.

I think we have to be more intentional in meeting design to (1) ask people to introduce themselves to each other in sessions and (2) give lots of informal reasons for people to connect and talk so it makes it easier for people to strike up a conversation with strangers. When people are surrounded by things to comment on/talk about, it makes it a bit easier for folks whop don't enjoy initiating conversations with people they don't know to take a stab at doing so.

Bruce's experience I think will be very instructive ... I would love to hear from you here after the Annual Meeting to see if you noticed the glass wall and if so, how impenetrable it seemed! Your comments reminded me of the social network analysis used by academics in workplaces and other human communities (including temporary ones we form in alien settings and call meetings/conventions). The most influential individuals in terms of total direct & indirect connections are so rarely our 'leaders' but rather people who are open and tend to share their knowledge or in a very temporal setting like this one, their friendship.

It sounds strange, but just smiling in a crowded reception (the kind that used to terrify E--very hard to picture now!) can make all the difference to a few people and lead to new connections. I think many of us, either first-timers or people who rarely attend events outside our own association work, come with social expectations largely defined by the rules that govern our normal interation.

Most of the time we see and speak with people we know at least a little, and we meet strangers with some familiarity and comfort around us--this is my office, I know these people, here let me introduce ya to so-and-so. In a crowded hallway it feels more like a mall on Saturday afternoon or a streetcorner in downtown Manhattan--neither of them places where a smile or hi is likely to be reciprocated.

I definitely remember flying home the first couple of Annuals thinking 'it took me a couple of days to warm up' and thus feeling as if I didn't get as much out of the experience as I should have. By now I feel as if I have a license to be friendly and that makes all the difference although I sincerely doubt I'll ever be 'inside the glass.'

I feel really inspired by this topic! Interacting with more people is one of my top personal goals for ASAE's Annual Meeting this year. I am another "I" from MB, but my role is that of a very extroverted component relations person. I felt disappointed in myself after my last ASAE meeting because I didn't feel I knew anyone there. I'm going to try to get over that this year. Thanks for posting this topic!

I'm accustomed to talking to strangers at association events in Chicago. Most attendees understand the value of networking and introverts are delighted to be approached.

That strategy doesn't always work at ASAE, though (I've attended five times in the last 13 years). Some associations send more than one staffer and they travel in "packs", often because they don't want to be alone. They sit together at meals and may even attend the same educational sessions.

Other people bring spouses, and they just talk to each other or to other couples.

People with national networks are better able to connect with each other. With the advent of blogging, more people are aware of each other (even if they haven't met), so the glass wall may finally crack.

Best advice? Travel alone and approach other people who are alone. They're more likely to want some company.

In the Component Relations Section, we are hosting three group dinners in San Diego - starting Friday night for those who fly in early.

We've also set up an ASAE group for CRPs at San Diego so we can send last minute updates about where to connect.

We've been promoting heavily through the CR listserv and have some folks we've never met in person signing up.

We've been doing it for a few years now. It's been a great way to build some momentum for our section - and provide a safe space for members to connect. Plus we always have a lot of fun!

It is especially difficult for us because our audience is traditionally more introverted than extraverted. There is a big difference in attending a science technical meeting with an event filled with ceramic engineers than in attending a sales and marketing conference where there are a bigger chunk of extroverts. I have always found round table discussions or assigned seating at lunch a good way to facilitate interacting among attendees.

Megan's comment reminds me of an old joke I heard when I worked for a civil engineering association: An extroverted engineer is one that looks at your shoes when he/she's talking to you.

After working for the civil engineers, I worked for occupational health and safety professionals, and there were definitely a lot of introverts in that crowd as well. What seemed to help is a) getting staff more involved, and never assuming members on their own would mix and mingle without encouragement; and b) like Jeffrey said above, being intentional in meeting design.

(Jeffrey may be too modest to say how talented he personally is at that--I remember attending a Future Leaders Conference that Jeffrey facilitated, and he gave us about 10 different ways to meet new people while we were there. I toe the introvert line myself, so the various options and icebreakers Jeffrey gave us for meeting other attendees were a huge help to me.)

One thing I hate is a speaker directing everybody to introduce themselves to the people sitting near them. I find that intrusive.

It would be better to structure the meeting to enable people to do that on their own. Audience seating around tables (or half-tables) instead of theater style is one technique that encourages people to interact.

I started a similar jurney around 1998, not far from the time you started yours, and i'm just as happy. It's always good to hear similar inspiring stories.