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Joan Eisenstodt

The Power of a Lemonade Stand
Summer 2011

JOAN EISENSTODT is the Chief Strategist for Washington DC-based Eisenstodt Associates, LLC, which provides planning and management support for conferences and conventions. Joan was recently presented the Mel Hosansky Award for Distinguished Service by the International Association of Conference Centers.

MPG : What attracted you to this industry?
joan: It’s funny. I think, without knowing it, I’ve done this work all my life!

Polio was a big deal in the ‘50s and the boy next door had gotten it when our class was in the test group at school. I put on street fairs – complete with lemonade stands and all sorts of contests – to help raise money. From there it went to leadership roles in grade school and then in Y-Teens in high school to organizing events. I worked for an art museum in Ohio and volunteered at our public TV station … always doing events.

In ’78, I moved to DC and worked in membership for a short time and then got a job as the organization’s meeting planner - their first one ever. It was fate!

What makes a great meeting planner? Has this changed during your career?

It has changed tremendously over the years and is still evolving. Today, planners still need some of the same skills we needed “back then” – organization and flexibility. Now, the job also requires strategic-thinking, knowledge of adult learning, technology, nutrition, legal implications, risk planning, etc.

The need to be both a manager and a “team player” has always been there. Planners must see the big picture within their organizations and help assemble the puzzle pieces from every department. It is a very complex job.

Tell us a story about a meeting where good “collaboration” turned a bad situation into a good one.
Right after 9/11/01, as an organization with whom I’d worked to facilitate their annual meeting planning process regrouped to decide if they could hold their meeting in October, we looked at how to take their program - planned and marketed for months - and add components that would address the concerns of their constituents. We developed several alternative sessions to examine the implications of the tragedy for their industry.

The meeting went forward and, once on site, I met with the convention center to work on different (than the usual theatre, schoolroom, crescent) sets to incorporate “fishbowl” and “open space” concepts to be able to create an atmosphere that would be conducive to the needed outcomes. It was pure collaboration and the sessions were some of the best attended and most productive.

Hotels and meeting venues have been attempting to differentiate their products from their competition. Let’s talk about venues. From what you’re seeing, what do you like or dislike and why?
This question makes me laugh out loud!

First, it was the bed – Westin started with its “Heavenly Bed” and then everyone, including lesser-priced facilities, got on board. Then … flat-screen TVs, preferably bigger. Now it’s who has iPads for use in rooms for those who don’t have their own. One of the simplest things that hotels haven’t done is to have free wireless access in their guest rooms.

Travelers and meeting planners want GREAT service. Hotels are not doing much to make that happen ... instead putting money into the latest gadgets or remodeling.

Another change is check-in/check-out kiosks so that guests “don’t have to stop at a desk” and interact with a human being. It’s job elimination, not a guest-services move.

Our industry has become a commodity. We’re in the hospitality business and, to me, that word means involving people.

David Brudney’s recent article “Hybrid Meetings: An Idea Whose Time Has Come” talked about “online presence complementing and chancing physcial events.” What are your thoughts?
Here’s a few things:

1) We are “social animals.” Meeting face to face makes a difference in interaction. If we weren’t, Tweetups wouldn’t happen. Seth Godin wouldn’t create opportunities for his followers to gather together. TED (Technology, Entertainment and Design) and all its spin-offs wouldn’t be such a draw. (Editor’s note: check out www.ted.com)

2) In the early to mid-’80s, there was a fear that satellite broadcasts would take over and we wouldn’t have f2f meetings. We still did and we still do.

3) Adding new dimensions to how, where and when we can learn and interact is positive. Meetings in the past have been “flat” – we register, attend, network, learn, and leave. We take away some of what we’ve learned and we even keep in touch. Hybrid meetings, through the use of technology, allow us to seek and share ideas prior to a meeting – whether we can attend in person or not – and stay in touch throughout and following the f2f event.

4) We need to provide learners with lots of options to learn in a way that works best for them. “Best” may take into account budgets, time, abilities, interests, etc. and may include hybrid meetings.
 
5) I’ve participated in hybrids as an offsite attendee. I had to supplement my participation by exchanging texts with colleagues who were physically there so that I could get a feel for what was going on. It just didn’t work for me.
 
6) Lastly, our industry needs to look VERY BIG PICTURE. If virtual meetings become the norm, with fewer people attending face to face, what will happen to the buildings and tax base for already-suffering cities? And, what about job losses in the service sector?

What is your advice to help insure the long-term viability of this great industry?
First, we have to really think long-term. We must address different learning and participation styles – how to make meetings more involving and interesting so that people come away with information they can use immediately, connections that will enhance their lives, EXPERIENCES that will make their lives and their work better.

We need to take into account massively changing demographics. We have to start training hotel staff – sales, CSMs, catering, set-up, front desk – in how to accommodate all guests and all meetings – how what they do impacts the overall guest experience.
 
And, if we don’t start changing the meeting room set-ups and lighting and methods of delivery, I am going to do what I keep threatening to do. I’m going to take a bed sheet (I’ll pay for it!), make a big sign that says, “I’m As Mad As Hell and I’m Not Going to Take This Boring Session Anymore,” unfurl it at one of the “just like the last one” meetings … and go on strike! (Editor’s note: Joan likes Paul Radde’s book, “Seating Matters”)  

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