10 Ways to Not Have a Boring Meeting

I'm carrying the list of "10 ways to not have a boring meeting" forward from December 2004; for some reason it disappeared from my main blog index.

I wrote it when thinking about the problem I see at many conferences ... I spend a huge amount of time speaking at organization and corporate events, and have long seen a problem where the folks planning a meeting are stuck in a creative rut. Every year, they bring in the same old "industry experts" to speak the conference. These folks come in with all the right charts; all the detailed statistics; all the deep insight into what is going on. And everyone in the room has seen it all before, and promptly goes to sleep.

And every year, they do the same old thing, with the result that everyone goes to the same old conferences each and every year, and sees the same statistics and the same charts and the same reports from the same industry experts -- and everyone continues sleepwalking along....

Look, the world out there is changing at an absolutely furious pace! People don't need reports on what is going on -- they need insight on where they are going! They don't need to hear from folks in their industry -- they need to learn from folks who are different from them. They don't need traditional insight -- they need a huge wakeup call to what is happening with their industry. That's why I wrote this post -- and why it should serve as a challenge to do things differently.

Original post from 2004:

I spend a fair bit of time on the MimList; it's a global forum of meeting planners. Someone referenced this article from Hotel and Motel Management, on the fact that many attendees at conference are finding that things are becoming a bit dull.

When I read the article, I agreed; I see many meeting organizers on autopilot, doing the same programs over and over. So I charged ahead and wrote up my thoughts on the matter, coming up with my 10 Ways to Try to Not Have a Boring Meeting:

1. Do things different. Don't do what you did last year. Set out from the start to try to do something else. *That's* your key objective.

2. Banish bad phrases. At your first meeting planning meeting, stop the meeting the first time someone says, "We've always done it that way." Stop. Pause. Deep breath. Calmly state, "And your point is?"

3. Get a 22 year old involved. They think different! They are different! They are the ones who are really bored; the rest are probably asleep. Seek their input; it's valuable and important. You can learn lots from them.

4. Forget teambuilding, icebreakers, keynotes, spousal programs, breakouts. Think of new words that mean new things. "Startling openers." "10 ideas that will shock you." "Not a keynote -- it's a dramatic wake up call." "A big group talking about big things". Whatever -- the point is to banish words *that mean the same old thing*. Banish the words -- and you are banishing a certain line of thinking.

5. Throw out your program brochure template. Hire someone you don't like to redo it. Explain what you are trying to do, and ask them what *they* think. You might find their radical ideas present a breath of fresh air.

6. Go elsewhere. Forget Vegas, NYC and Orlando. Go to Boise! Maine! Seattle! Victoria! Halifax! Cuba! Einstein said : "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over, and expecting a different result each time." If you take your folks to Vegas every 2nd year, it's just another opportunity for them to get hammered in the same bar while they wake up with the same hangover to go see the same old tired opening talk.

7. Put the seats in the opening session upside down, and face them backwards! Why not? Everyone knows that they are going to come in to this big room, there are going to find lots of seats, and they are all going to be pointed at the front. SO CHANGE IT. Radical times call for radical change -- and that's a good point to get across. Heck -- put the stage at the back of the room, and sit everyone up front.

8. Put a big "ITS RUBBER CHICKEN!" sign on your lunchtime chicken -- and have a rubber chicken for a centerpiece! We *ALL* know it is going to be chicken. It's going to be lousy. The fact is, we're bored with chicken -- so lets celebrate it! Lets' note it! Let's point it out! That itself is good for a bit of dfference!

9. Program differently! Invite a speaker you don't know. Invite someone in from an industry *totally* unrelated to what you do to talk. Do things different -- if your CEO or association head typically does the opening address, ask the newest member to say something too! In other words, do something totally different from what you do. Y'know, sort of like "opposite day," which is what my kids always suggest to me.

10. Confront boring. The fact that there is an article like this out there *IS NOT A GOOD THING*. This is an industry suffering from a deep malaise. The same programs. The same content. The same table settings. The same stuff. The same places. The same things. The same phrases.

Dullsville.

Think different, be different, do different. At least Apple had it right. So should you.

Tech key to the future of ag

Technology key to future of ag
11 November 2005
The Californian, Salinas

Industry women hear message at peninsula conference

The Salinas Californian

MONTEREY - The future of American agriculture will hinge on changes in technology and marketing, agricultural officials and an author told an audience of women agricultural leaders Thursday.

Agricultural growth was the topic as about 300 people attended a dinner on the first day of the four-day American Agri-Women Conference at the Monterey Plaza Hotel and Spa.

Through workshops and field visits, the goal of the conference is to explore how pervasive change is impacting the U.S. agribusiness industry.

The ag industry must continue to listen to its customers if it wants to keep up with a fast-paced market, author Jim Carroll told the audience at Thursday's dinner.

"Innovation has swept the food sector to where the package is now the brand," Carroll said.

The infinite idea loop

If you need to understand why your markets or industry is changing rapidly, you need to watch this clip!

We live in a world of the infinite global idea loop - Jim describes open collaboration, open innovation, and the global innovation idea cycle -- trends which forever change the source of change and innovation.

Understanding the loop and learning to work within it is critical to understanding how to thrive in todays' complex economy.

Watch the clip  

How to plan for the upcoming week....

Stare at this for a while:

http://blueballfixed.ytmnd.com/

Plan your week accordingly.

Seafood, farms and innovation!

Quick: what's the average number of fridges per 100 people in China today?

If you guessed 82, you're right.

And if you knew that there were but 29 per 100 in 1990, then you have found the secret to innovation. After all, if you think about it, that's a massive increase in the potential market for food exports......

Innovative people focus on opportunity, not threat.

When confronted with the issue of globalization, most people sit back and stress out about "how bad things are going to be."

Innovators sit back and look at globalization and think, "man, what an opportunity!"

It's all in how you approach the future. Last Thursday, I gave the dinner keynote in Monterey, California for the American Agriwomen Association, and chatted with the folks about the key trends impacting agriculture. And that's the type of message I brought -- don't focus on threat -- think of opportunity! There's a lot of fridges to be filled!

This week, I'll be keynoting the National Seafood Sector Council with a similar message, and will take a look at global packaging, food and consumer market trends. Then I'll be doing an awards dinner in Wolfville, Nova Scotia for a group of community innovators. Both talks will carry a similar theme -- if you look at the future as nothing more than a threat to worry about, rather than an opportunity to be grabbed -- then you are looking in the wrong place!

Think fridges!

I found the future in manure!!

On Monday, I'll be the luncheon keynote luncheon speaker at ICE - The Tech Conference in Edmonton.

My topic? "I Found the Future in Manure: How to Capitalize on the Rapid Evolution of Science"

Here's the description for my talk:

"In the last decade, the world has seen the emergence of a globally connected scientific mind. The impact is dramatic -- while there are 19 million known chemical substances today, it is estimated that by 2025 there will be some 300 million -- and 5 billion by 2100. As Apple learned with the iPod, the discovery of a single new chemical substance can lead to the emergence of a billion dollar market, literally overnight. Since science is at the heart of every industry -- and with such rates of discovery, innovation abounds. Join leading international futurist, trends and innovation expert Jim Carroll as he explores the impact of hyper-science, and what it means in terms of bio-tech, nanotech and everything-tech. What does this have to do with manure? Join Jim and find out!

If you search my Web site a bit, you'll find the article that brought this whole topic up.

Oh, and for the fun of it, I'm going to explain the relationship between manure, a '57 Chevy, and transportation in the year 2016.

Seriously.

10 Ways to Do a Press Release That Matters

On a mailing list to which I subscribe, someone just asked how to write a great press release.

Off the top of my head, I jotted out a response. I'm on the receiving end of a ton of press releases sent by various companies because I do a lot of writing. Most are dull; contain no news; announce stuff of absolute insigificance; and really tell me nothing at all. I toss most of them.

So here's my list:

• Change the focus. It's not a press release - it's a news release. It should have news.
• Make it new. It should say something your audience hasn't seen before. They're jaded. They'll say ho-hum. They're bored with press releases. "Been there, done that." You've got to swat them on the head.
• Get a different droid. Make it different. These folks likely see a zillion PR releases that all look the same, written by PR-droids in PR-factories with tiny-little droid-computers that spew out droid-PR-rubbish. Read what they wrote, and write it differently.
• Give the facts. Provide interesting tidbits, statistics, factoids. Most people today have the attention span of your average rock, and you've got to connect with their innermost-hyperself. You've probably got about 5 seconds to get their attention. Use it well.
• Keep it short. Short.
• Don't be dull. Avoid the same old long drawn out boring quotes. "Mr. Peter Didsworth, an expert in our industry, and a distinguished individual of long accomplishment, noted that it was time .... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz." Every press release has them, and people hate them. Don't boast.
• Do the work. Give them the story, nicely packaged and put together. I find that most news people are lazy. Sorry! But if this is so, prepare the story for them -- so that they can rip and rewrite. Want to read tomorrow's news? Go read a press release wire today. It's all right there.
• Give them bullets. People love bullets. I think people like bullets these days more than they like sentences. Sentences are just too much work. Bullets are better!
• Make it fun! Most people are so bored with routine that you'll hook them if you can make them laugh.
• Make it personal. Find out the 100 people who really care about who you are, and send it to them. Send it invidually. Personalize each note. Take the time to 'relationize' with them.
• Make it a list of 10 things. People like lists of 10 things. Then add an 11th item pointing this out, which will make people chuckle. If people chuckle, they remember you.

My dad....

Every year as November 11 approaches and we remember wars past, I put up a TV clip featuring my dad.

Al Carroll was a World War II veteran, and was proud of the service he gave to his country.

He never really talked about the war too much -- but certainly made sure that young people understood what it was about.

He was involved in a junior high school program just before he died 7 years ago ..... doing just that. It's worth a watch.

Watch the video clip

10 More Ways to Instill Innovation

My post yesterday (10 Signs that you've got an innovation dysfunction) generated a bit of e-mail with a few questions as to what else you can do to stir up an innovative culture.

With some 80 keynotes under my belt through the last year, I've seen some of the best and worst approaches to innovation and creativity. Analyzing what I've seen, I've come up with a quick list of 10 more things that smart, innovative companies do to create an overall sense of innovation-purpose.

• Heighten the importance of innovation. One major client with several billons in revenue has 8 senior VP's who are responsible for innovation. And the fact is, they don't just walk the talk -- they do it. The message to the rest of the company? Innovation is critical -- get involved.
• Create a compelling sense of urgency. With product lifecycles compressing and markets witnessing fierce competition, now is not the time for studies, committee meetings and reports. It's time for action. Simply do things. Now. Get it done. Analyze it later to figure out how to do it better next time.
• Ignite each spark. Innovative leaders know that everyone in the organization has some type of unique creativity and talent. They know how to find it, harness it, and use it to advantage.
• Re-evaluate the mission. You might have been selling widgets five years ago, but the market doesn't want widgets anymore. If the world has moved on, and you haven't, it is time to re-evaluate your purpose, goals and strategies. Rethink the fundamentals in light of changing circumstances.
• Build up experiential capital. Innovation comes from risk, and risk comes from experience. The most important asset today isn't found on your balance sheet -- it is found in the accumulated wisdom from the many risks that you've taken. The more experiential capital you have, the more you'll succeed.
• Shift from threat to opportunity. Innovative organizations don't have management and staff who quiver from the fear at what might be coming next. Instead, they're alive from breathing the oxygen of opportunity.
• Banish complacency and skepticism. It's all too easy for an organization, bound by a history of inaction, to develop a defeatist culture. Innovative leaders turn this around by motivating everyone to realize that in an era of rapid change, anything is possible..
• Innovation osmosis. If you don't have it, get it -- that's a good rule of thumb for innovation culture. One client lit a fuse in their innovation culture by buying up small, aggressive, young innovative companies in their industry. They then spent the time to carefully nurture their ideas and harness their creativity.
• Stop selling product, and sell results. The word solution is overused and overdone, but let's face it -- in a world in which everything is becoming a commodity and everyone is focused on price, change the rules of the game. Refuse to play -- by thinking about how to play in a completely new game.
• Create excitement. I don't know how many surveys I saw this year which indicated that the majority of most people in most jobs are bored, unhappy, and ready to bolt. Not at innovative companies! The opportunity for creativity, initiative and purpose results in a different attitude. Where might your organization be on a "corporate happiness index?" If it's low, then you don't have the right environment. Fix that problem -- and fix it quick.

A Keynote for the Swiss Innovation Forum

It has been confirmed -- I'm one of the keynote speakers for the upcoming Swiss Innovation Forum, to be held in Baden, Switzerland (outside of Zurich) on January 24, 2006 ....

Details can be found on the Website (German only)

You can also try a Google translation of the page