Making connections
You'll probably think I'm a sick person, but I really love working annual conferences. I loved them at my last association, and I love them now that I'm with ASAE & The Center. I'm not saying I could work at that pace forever, but three days of nonstop action and pulling together as a team of staff and volunteers really is fun for me.
That said, I think my favorite memory of yesterday is just a small moment in time: An attendee asked me for more information about crowdsourcing and how it could be used for learning programs (following a Learning Lab presentation). I suggested that he look at what NTEN is doing with their community-driven agenda for their Nonprofit Technology Conference. The more I described it to him, the more obvious it was that this was exactly the information he needed, and it was a great feeling.
What I really loved was knowing that I was able to provide the right information at the right time for this attendee. You get some of that via social media (Twitter in particular is helpful for those kind of quick, do-you-know-how-to-do-X questions and answers). But it's even more fun to have the opportunity to share such information face to face.
I can't be the only person who loves to make those kind of connections, and have the opportunity to share my knowledge in a direct and helpful way. What can be done to maximize those opportunities to put people with information together with people seeking it (especially at a conference the size of Annual Meeting? Designated discussion tables during breaks? Have you seen other conferences do this kind of thing well?
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Comments
I'm actually right there with you--I LOVE working annual meetings too. I love the pace (for a few days), the excitement, and of course the opportunity to be among the people we work all year to support but usually can't even picture in our minds' eye.
I'm not sure what the best way to facilitate these kinds of connections in person at meetings might be; ideally every staff person would take the time to engage members, greeting them and in the course of that exchange ask if there was anything specific they need help with or have questions about.
Although it's not related to in-person meetings, I've been having great experiences engaging with members in this way via our Facebook page recently. While it's not face-to-face, members are starting to see our Facebook page as a place where they can receive personalized answers to questions they might have, and for whatever reason the practice seems to be catching on--posts asking for specific help are increasing.
http://www.facebook.com/asha.org
Posted by: Maggie McGary | August 17, 2009 9:53 AM
Low-tech and in-person: have people in a session individually stand and ask the question for which they need answers. The speaker sits and then everyone who can answer that question stands. The questioner now knows who to network with after the sessions.
Higher-tech: do the same thing with Tweets and Twitter.
Regardless of the approach, we need to have a lot more of this going on at conferences if we expect people to invest the time and money it takes to attend them.
Posted by: Jeffrey Cufaude | August 17, 2009 10:38 AM