Conference Feedback: What did you think?
by Mark Sklarow, Executive Director, IECA
Departing NC
I am minutes away from leaving the Westin in Charlotte. That means the staff is minutes away from finalizing plans for our spring gathering in Toronto. Help us by posting your thoughts about the conference in Charlotte. What was interesting? Valuable? What worked? What needs tweaking? Please post your comments, and especially consider the new developments: more extensive, advanced-level pre-conference seminars, the Speed Meetings, Conference Central, Saturday’s Masters Class, the Friday point-counterpoint. Thanks in advance for your input!
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special needs speed meetings were fairly good. although I knew and had placed at nearly all places represented, I had a worthwhile conversation wiith more than 10 program people; usual swap is a hello and grab of a pen. this conference,with a very weak back, the swaps overwhelmed me and made me feel I’d be pushed over and trampled at any minute. i do enjoy the cocktail party atmosphere of the swap, but think speed meeting may be the way to do it.
I really enjoyed the speed meetings. The individual attention from programs, schools, and colleges was great.
The keynote speakers, especially Daniel Pink, presented interesting perspectives. I also think the panel discussion including CAFETY and IECA members and programs moderated by Mark Sklarow was terrific.
Dear Mark,
It always amazes me that you and your wonderful staff continue to top your best efforts at every conference. The Charlotte conference was the best one ever. The College Fair was well attended and for the first time, I did not get through all the tables of the colleges that were present simply because I ran out of time. The workshops were wonderful with excellent speakers, including you, as well as extremely important and informative material. Daniel Pink’s address was both interesting and entertaining, Listening to Nido Qubein discuss his life and both the hopes and confidence he has for and in the future generation was invigorating and reminded me of why I do this work.
I also found the committee meetings stimulating as new ideas flowed and new initiatives began to take shape. This is a vibrant and growing organization with good leaders at the helm and a wonderful staff helping us remain the kind of organization that people want to join in order to show their professionalism.
My thanks to all who had a hand in putting this together. I cannot wait for Toronto to see how you will top this one!
Charlotte
Mark –
Overall the conference was a huge success, but I do have have two criticisms/suggestions:
(1) In my opinion (and many others that I talked to), the hotel was not the best choice. While our rooms were nice and the conference facilities met our needs, the hotel lacked a large enough restaurant and the bar wasn’t completed. Added to this is the fact that the “close” restaurants were blocks away. Due to the small size of the hotel’s restaurant, and the location of other local restaurant, many people were late to afternoon sessions. In the future, it would be nice to be in a hotel that had multiple dining options and/or very close to multiple dining options.
(2) I would love to see break-out sessions that built upon each other, i.e., a social media breakout that continued throughout the entire conference. That way, people could really dive deep into a subject rather than get a taste of something.
That’s it for me right now, thanks for your hard work it’s greatly appreciated!
Best,
Jason