e-Communiqué

August/September 2006

Published exclusively for members of ACCED-I

Recently my youngest son proudly gave me a T-shirt he had purchased with the design of an old goat emblazoned upon it. Over his 23 tender years of life he had heard me use the phrase “what does that old goat know anyway?” As I gazed at the colorful shirt my mind seemed to slip into a trance-like state while flashing back on 35 years of “old goat” experiences climbing mountains and grazing in the pastures of collegiate conferencing. Old timer goats, you know, are sometimes given to reminiscing about verdant pastures and the treacherous mountains of academic collegiate conferencing!

Letters and Land Phones

My trance-like state took me to the world of conferencing and how it has changed since I was a young “kid.” Conferencing people communicated and planned conferences in those days using the once ubiquitous IBM Selectrics. You know the high tech typewriters with interchangeable type font balls and correction tape. The staff prepared letters of agreement and with the same IBM, changed the type font to a “Selectric orator ball” and created participant name badges. Of course conference registrant records had to be typed and re-typed over and over again on forms, name badges, participant lists and accounting balance sheets.

The “kids” today have replaced these relics with database driven computers using software systems which manage a myriad of conference and event tasks with ease. This old goat recalls being communication-tethered in the pasture, too! Land line telephones and “walkie talkies” required a designated place in the pasture where calls could be received and sent to clients and suppliers located in distant pastures. The “kids” now use newfangled miniature cell phones with picture capabilities, Blackberries and Teo’s to instantaneously connect with “kids” located in remote places while also using the internet! How did we ever get along without these modern conferencing tools? They have accelerated the communication process significantly, but have not reduced work stress!

Big and Gooey to Lean and Organic

Goat menus and refreshments fed to the “goats and kids” coming to conferences and events have changed, too! Sweet, creamy, heavy, gooey and lots of it has been replaced with pasture menus and breaks that are lite, lean, organic and healthy. The “kids” today demand a more health conscious diet than the ole goats of yesteryear. The “kids” discovered that “more did not always mean better” and have subsequently revised conference menus and refreshment breaks to reflect their new “Personal Food Pyramid” followed these days.

Lone Ranger Goats Develop Synergistic Partnerships

The ole goat reminisced about ACCED-I conference “jam sessions” with other goats who had become revered “Lone Rangers” on their respective campuses. The “Lone Rangers” and their staff were expected to corral significant conference business annually. Some of these goats bragged about the building of stand-alone autonomous conference centers where they cared for every whim and wish of conference guests. These “centers” had become bastions of enterprise and education even though they oft times were isolated from the mainstream of campus activity.

The new “kids” were quick to discover that there is a synergy that comes from building close collaborations and partnerships with others on the campus. They soon reached out to local convention and visitor bureaus, conference suppliers and others to create a powerful conference and events base. These synergistic partnerships create goodwill and have broached the “town and gown” gap which historically has separated the campus ole goats from the local town goats.

From Slick to Touchy Feelie Marketing

This goat recalled attempting to attract customers to collegiate conference venues using “hard sell” and “slick” marketing campaigns. Such marketing was designed to appeal to meeting planners and consumers who were seeking “conferencing locations on the cheap” but wanted the competent creditability of academic institutions as the site for their meetings. This goat can still remember one such slick marketing campaign with the slogan resonating in his mind “Let Our CON - Artists Plan Your Next Conference or Event.”

The “kids” now have adopted a more “Affective Domain” approach to marketing collegiate conferences. This new approach focuses on the “what’s in it for me,” giving great personal service and pampering guests with the pitch that we do it all for you. Why, just the other day one of the “kids” came up with a practical application to this “Affective Domain” marketing philosophy with the slogan  “Your Conference or Event Your Way."

Squeezing the Goose with the Golden Eggs

For some of my ole goat campus friends, collegiate conferencing is a dichotomy. On the one hand, some believe that the main purpose of collegiate conferencing is comparable to the fabled goose that laid golden eggs. The highly valued goose supplies golden eggs at the command of the institutional CEO and campus business enterprise leaders. Conferencing is viewed by these goats as a purely business enterprise whose balance sheet needs to be monitored and closely inspected. To them conferencing means filled beds, full dining and banquet halls and an ever increasing bottom line for all campus enterprises. These goats believe that the purpose of collegiate conferencing is to generate discretionary revenue for campus leaders. Some even routinely squeeze the life out of the poor goose each year demanding more and more golden eggs. This ole goat has observed that there are many campus conference programs that have barely survived the goose squeeze by these executive officers in their effort to exact just one more golden egg from the bird.

On the other hand, the new “kids” view conferencing with a different purpose. They see conferencing as a value-driven enterprise that provides an opportunity to showcase excellence in academic teaching, service, and research as well as a means to attract potential students. Wow, what a great way to showcase the campus, attract donors, create positive public relations, and attract potential students in well planned and executed campus conferences and events. You know, I think these “kids” have hit upon an idea that will help the goose to survive by creating sustainability for collegiate conferencing in an academic environment!

Singing Kumbaya and Holding Hands

I remember when I first discovered that some of the goats in the pasture got there through holes in the fence. Many of the goats learned techniques and other goat skills through trial and error and the learn-by-doing mode. They came to collegiate conferencing through many professional tracks of preparation. Some were re-tooled coaches, others were business officers, and still others came from academic disciplines on campus. This motley group of goats ruled the conference pasture for many years. Some scholar goats developed theories to enhance conference planning through logic modeling. Others developed tools of accountability and organizational techniques. Some fostered adult learning with enhanced group dynamics which facilitated good conference design. They taught us to hold hands, singing kumbaya while we learned to stick together when experiencing uncertain times in the academy. ACCED-I became a place where the goats could exchange ideas, theories, business and educational practices and discuss what worked and what didn’t.

The “kids” now come to the conferencing pasture better prepared since many have studied hospitality management, organizational theory and principles of business management. Some even come with adult and community education degrees. These new “kids” are skilled with academic preparations that allow them to immediately apply theory to the practicalities of everyday conferencing. They come with tools to measure ROI, knowledge gained and practice adoption. They come with the ability to measure conference outcomes. These “kids” know that measuring the impacts of conference programs is critical to the future survival and success of programs. They demonstrate that their conference programs are designed, developed and orchestrated with academic purpose and that they will make a difference in the lives of those who participate in them.

Alas, this old goat is proud to have had some measure of success in advising, strengthening and reshaping the “kids” in collegiate conferencing and events. The pastures I have romped in have energized me for life. One thing I have learned along the way is that the pasture always seems to look greener on the other side of the fence. Maybe that’s because it is! After all, it is the future we are looking at. Hope to see you soon in that green pasture just over that next hill!