New Industry Campaign Stresses Value of Meetings

Tuesday, February 16, 2010 by Cvent Staff

Just under a year ago the meetings industry got Meetings Mean Business, a grassroots campaign to protect the millions of American jobs that depend on business meetings and events. Now, nine industry associations have come together to launch a new campaign: “FACE TIME. It Matters.“

Lead by the Convention Industry Council, the new marketing campaign will promote not just the business value but also the human value of face-to-face meetings and events.

“The FACE TIME campaign will bring home the critical “human side” of the meetings value equation. When combined with our ‘Meetings Mean Business’ effort and Oxford Economics compelling findings on the positive financial return from meetings, it becomes crystal clear how important meetings are to talent growth, business development and the economic vitality of our communities,” said Roger Dow, president and chief executive officer of the U.S. Travel Association, in a statement.

When it comes to the benefits of live events, recent focus groups and in-depth interviews conducted by Ypartnership with some of the industry’s leading executives found that:

• Face-to-face meetings build trust and relationships
• Education and training are more effective in a live setting
• Live meetings actually save time and money
• Live meetings result in a more effective exchange of ideas
• Face-to-face meetings provide the human connection that powers business

To learn more about the campaign and access tools for spreading the word on the benefits of live events, visit facetimeitmatters.org.

Underpaid early childhood professionals: Finding the path to better pay

The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) NAEYC Radio presents…Underpaid early childhood professionals: Finding the path to better pay http://www.naeyc.org/newsroom/NAEYCradio . A teacher in a preschool with a bachelors degree typically earns $10-15k less a year than a kindergarten teacher with similar preparations.  This segment discusses new insights and developments that may drive increased salaries for early childhood workers and identifies some steps individuals can take to secure better pay. Join NAEYC Executive Director, Mark Ginsberg and Rae Pica with Dr. Marcy Whitebook.  Dr. Whitebook, Ph.D, directs the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment at the University at Berkeley, which focuses its research and policy analysis on the relationship between the adult work environment and effective teaching practices, and data systems for tracking the characteristics of and investments in the early childhood workforce.

Gently Down the Stream

Why did we pick Matt Weinstein as one of our keynote speakers when he is not an early childhood expert? Well, as I mentioned before, we often go to conferences to seek out speakers we want to bring to Ohio. A few years ago, I attended the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) national conference. ASAE is pretty particular about who headlines their conferences as most of the executives attending the conference hold conferences of their own & are looking for good speakers. When I entered the room it was literally standing room only – people were lining the walls!

I wasn’t sure if I wanted to stay because I wasn’t sure it would be a good experience being so crowded. No sooner did Matt start speaking, and then I forgot the crowd & focused on his message.  Trust me when I tell you that in spite of the crowd, he had us interacting with one another, laughing & crying. Plus, for all of us early childhood folks, you have to love the title of his company – Playfair, Inc.

Again, you may be saying, I’m an early childhood professional – not an association executive, so what does he have to offer me? First, whether you’re a teacher’s aide, a teacher, director or work in some other capacity in our field, you’re bombarded daily with decisions that will affect other’s lives. In a “normal year” (if there is any such thing), your job is stressful enough, but the past year brought additional stress as a result of the national recession and our own state budget cuts.

Those of us who work in this field are here because we care. But that same characteristic tends to lead to being the caregiver for 8-10 hours a day while at work, only to come home to care for the needs of our own children, spouse, aging parents, neighbors, etc. This often leads to pushing our own needs aside. It reminds me of the directions you receive when you board an airplane, about the oxygen masks. That if you are a parent traveling with children, you need to put on your own mask first, before assisting your child. The concept is that you have to take care of yourself first, to be in the best physical and emotional mindset to care for others. 

I just read on the Internet that Matt Weinstein lost all of his life savings in the Bernie Madoff scandal – so he can definitely feel the pain of those who have seen financial difficulties in either their personal or professional lives (and sometimes both). Yet here’s what he says about wealth in these tough economic times, “The real wealth between people is created when we reach out to each other to make connections to each other, build a community together & that kind of wealth doesn’t disappear in an economic downturn. If anything, it gets stronger and stronger.”

Put yourself first for a change. Come have some fun. Take the advice of one of your colleagues who told us, “I need the professional credit, but I have the most fun doing it at the conference.”

 How has the economic downturn impacted you as an early childhood professional? Any lessons learned?

Choosing Great Presenters

This is a little scary, as I’ve never blogged before. It’s also kind of exciting because I think it will give us a better opportunity to share some of the thinking that goes behind putting together a great conference for our attendees. It will also give us a chance to hear from folks already coming to the conference and those who are still undecided about what we could do differently to make it a great conference for them.

We definitely want to lead the way in providing the best professional development that you can find in Ohio. Our staff begins by reviewing suggestions for speakers that are provided by our attendees in their post-conference evaluations. Sometimes we are able to hook up with a recommended speaker & sometimes they are already committed on the date we need them or they are out of our price range. Can you believe that some of the most well-known speakers charge $50,000+ for a one-hour keynote? I was shocked! I need to figure out what people will pay me that much to talk about. :) Seriously, I’m sure that many of them are worth their weight in gold, but unless we have a sponsor, this price range is out of our league.

The staff and Board of Ohio AEYC make every effort to attend the NAEYC national conferences and other conferences as our budget allows. The primary reason we attend is to seek out speakers and exhibitors that we want to bring to Ohio. There is no replacement for actually seeing a presenter in person. As you know, sometimes a workshop that looks great on paper doesn’t quite fulfill the promise. While we don’t have the opportunity to check out every speaker who presents at our conference, we do our best to select the best from the many (over 200 this year) proposals we receive each year. We know that many programs do not have funding to send staff to national conferences. Our goal is to bring as many national experts to Ohio as we can so Ohio’s early childhood professionals have an opportunity to learn from the best.

I hope to add a few posts in the future about presenters I saw in person and why I wanted to bring them to Ohio. I’m sure Amy, Beri & Lisa will do the same. I hope that you’ll comment on speakers you’ve seen in person – either someone who is presenting this year or someone you’d like us to bring to the conference in the future.