dr. thea lobell: communication skills keynote speaker, trainer, and retreat leader » Conferences http://drthea.com communication skills development Wed, 18 Aug 2010 21:04:56 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 Your Snacks Are Sabotaging Your Retreats and Conferences http://drthea.com/your-snacks-are-sabotaging-your-retreats-and-conferences/ http://drthea.com/your-snacks-are-sabotaging-your-retreats-and-conferences/#comments Wed, 21 Apr 2010 16:31:43 +0000 thea lobell, ph.d. http://drthea.com/?p=476 Since retreats and conferences are often special times away from the office, meeting planners choose special treats as the snacks and meals. Unfortunately, these choices sabotage these expensive events.   After a number of experiences with the afternoon drop in activity level, I began working with clients on making positive food choices.

One area that can greatly increase the productivity of the meeting is the food selection. Snacks filled with fat and carbohydrates cause an insulin spike and subsequent crash for participants. While participants may be excited receiving hot cookies during the afternoon break, no matter the topic or speaker, they will be nodding off 45 minutes later.  Here’s an example of a snack/meals makeover I have used with clients for my 1 Day Retreat and other speaking engagements:

OccasionSabotaging ChoicesProductive Choices
BreakfastDonutsBagels with cream cheese & peanut butter
Morning BreakDanishesGranola bars, peanut butter crackers, bananas, apples
LunchChicken with gravy, rice, peas, roll, salad, and cakeBaked chicken, salad, green beans, fruit cup
Afternoon BreakCookies, ice cream barsBaked chips, packs of nuts, bananas, apples
]]> http://drthea.com/your-snacks-are-sabotaging-your-retreats-and-conferences/feed/ 0 the conference is over: 4 follow-through activities and 1 activity to avoid http://drthea.com/the-conference-is-over-4-follow-through-activities-and-1-activity-to-avoid/ http://drthea.com/the-conference-is-over-4-follow-through-activities-and-1-activity-to-avoid/#comments Thu, 04 Mar 2010 17:41:05 +0000 thea lobell, ph.d. http://drthea.com/?p=364 This is the 3rd of 3 articles on making the most of conference experiences. Once the conference is over, it’s time for follow-through with the contacts and plans you’ve made.

Post-Conference:

1.  Conduct a debriefing. The plane ride home is an ideal time.  This is time alone to review your notes, activities, and ideas from the conference. Look at lessons learned and develop a plan for idea implementation.

2.  Send a brief personal e-mail with a meaningful resource to each person with whom you wish to cultivate a relationship. Continue with this approximately once a quarter.

3.  Follow these contacts on twitter.

4.  Add these contacts to your LinkedIn group and your facebook group based on the level of connection made. If you really connected with a person add the person to your groups. If you casually met someone and they couldn’t pick you out of a lineup, do not add them.

5.  Do not add anyone to your newsletter list. This will alienate potential contacts.

]]> http://drthea.com/the-conference-is-over-4-follow-through-activities-and-1-activity-to-avoid/feed/ 0 never order room service and 5 other ways to make the most out of a conference http://drthea.com/never-order-room-service-and-5-other-ways-to-make-the-most-out-of-a-conference/ http://drthea.com/never-order-room-service-and-5-other-ways-to-make-the-most-out-of-a-conference/#comments Wed, 03 Mar 2010 22:57:45 +0000 thea lobell, ph.d. http://drthea.com/?p=339 Conference attendance

This is the 2nd of 3 articles on getting the most out of the conferences.  The 3 components of a successful conference experience are: networking, session attendance, and social networking.

Networking:

1.  Never order room service. Sharing meals is great networking. Always find other people to eat with during the conference.

2.  Sit with different people at every meal.

3.  Make contact with individuals you’ve been following. Let them know how valuable their tweets, blogs, etc. are for your work; give specific examples.

During Sessions:

4.  During sessions choose a seat in the front of the room at the end of the row and speak to everyone as they pass going to their seats.

5.  Make sure to sit to the left of the speaker. As a speaker, I find myself looking at the audience from left to right (like we read). Consequently, I tend to notice participants on the left more. Smile and nod during sessions, providing positive feedback to the speaker.

Social Networking:

6.  Tweet about interesting speakers using the hashtag for that conference, i.e. “#nsa10 in Robert Bradford’s strategic planning session, gr8 info. if ur session’s boring come over”

]]> http://drthea.com/never-order-room-service-and-5-other-ways-to-make-the-most-out-of-a-conference/feed/ 0 3 Proven Strategies for Having a Terrific 2010 http://drthea.com/3-proven-strategies-for-having-a-terrific-2010/ http://drthea.com/3-proven-strategies-for-having-a-terrific-2010/#comments Mon, 01 Mar 2010 16:05:41 +0000 thea lobell, ph.d. http://drthea.com/?p=327 I developed this system for setting myself up for success back in 2006. It has worked well for me and I hope you find it helpful.

1. Choose 5 goals for the year and write them down. This makes the goals tangible and creates momentum.

2. Choose a theme for 2010. Have you noticed that most conferences have themes that are reinforced throughout the conference? Often when you leave the conference, you may not remember individual speakers, but you will remember the theme, such as “expertise to the power of eloquence” (a theme from a conference I attended many years ago). Themes work. Whatever is consistently repeated will find its way into your everyday life.

3. Choose a theme song. Find a song that makes you smile and has uplifting lyrics. Post the lyrics nearby and listen to the song regularly.

You are welcome to download an example of my2010 motivational material. If you find it helpful, join the recently developed dr. thea facebook fan page and post a photo of yourself with the goal sheet. On April 26th, I will randomly select 1 of the individuals who has posted a photo to receive a bouquet of spring flowers.

]]> http://drthea.com/3-proven-strategies-for-having-a-terrific-2010/feed/ 0 10 Tips To Get The Most Out of a Conference Before You Even Leave Home http://drthea.com/how-to-get-the-most-out-of-a-conference/ http://drthea.com/how-to-get-the-most-out-of-a-conference/#comments Thu, 18 Feb 2010 19:02:38 +0000 thea lobell, ph.d. http://drthea.com/?p=134 Conferences require a substantial investment of time, energy, and money. To maximize this investment, I view each conference as having 3 components: pre-conference, conference attendance, and post-conference. This is what works for me.  Pre-Conference activities to maximize the conference include:

Pre-Conference:

  1. Determine 3 goals for the conference.
  2. Have all activities be in service to these goals. Examples include: meeting 2 organizational leaders, reconnecting with colleagues to form a collaboration, and learning about a new method to increase funding.
  3. Request from the organizers: an attendance list, conference schedule, and the twitter hashtag to identify the conference.
  4. Google speakers & attendees you wish to meet.
  5. Send an introductory e-mail mentioning something you admire about their work and a note about how you look forward to seeing them at the upcoming conference.
  6. If those you wish to meet have blogs, subscribe to their RSS feeds.
  7. Follow these individuals on twitter.
  8. Tweet using the hashtag and get to know others planning on attending.
  9. Schedule a social outing for interested individuals during the conference. For example, this past summer I coordinated a hot air balloon ride to get to know some other attendees at the National Speakers Association conference in Phoenix.
  10. Map out conference sessions you plan on attending.

I will post tips for conference attendance and post-conference over the next month.

An interesting article on Forbes.com by Emma Johnson provides some useful information on making the most out of business trips. She included a few of my tips on conferences. Recently, Seth Godin blogged about the importance of the big conference. As the number of conferences decrease, the importance of making the most of the remaining conferences increases. If you are going to go big, it is best to be prepared.

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