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Ok, I will admit it: I am a Vegas virgin. So this trip for the 2009 Event Solutions/Catersource Conference will be my first adventure in the glistening city of big bright lights. It strikes me as funny that Vegas is one of those places you feel you inherently know, even without being there, thanks to a multitude of television shows an movies shot on location. The Bellagio fountains, the Casino floor, the Luxor hotel: all somewhat "iconic" images in my mind I should be sure to recognize right? The question becomes will the illusion of television be as good as the illusion of reality.
Off the plane at 11:04 PM and what is the first thing I see: slot machines. The wait for bags in the airport is an exercise in realizing just how BIG this place wants you to think that it is. Billboards tout top talent (or those who were once talent, but now have a show in Vegas). Jumbo trons blast entertainment options. And yet, there is something dated about these advertisements, there style and deliver hint at an inauthenticity. But what in Vegas is authentic, other than perhaps your experience of it. Is the city anything more than a vehicle to create whatever you want in? Just don't look behind the curtain?
My cabbie takes me on a ride (which how 10 minutes cost me $35...) on the highway past the strip. And there it is: the bright lights, the beaming building screaming for my attention. Despite their enormity, they look smaller than I had hoped. But more so, there is a lacking vibrancy to this place. Maybe it is the lack of business in this economy at this moment - but the lights, the signs, the buildings themselves seem of a decade ago. Plaster casts trying to be exactly what they are not: real.
So now I wait for a burger which should arrive by 1:00 AM I am promised. The walls of my room are paper thin, cause I can hear the conversations clearly of my neighbors next door. The Las Vegas Hilton in my first impression lacks a luster I was hoping for. Again, for the third time tonight my environment feels dated. Only two hours here and I feel disillusioned already. Like my last trip to Disney World, when I hoped on the "It's a Small World" ride. Then again there was something nostalgic about that ride. And Vegas feels nostalgic too. But can something be nostalgic the first time around?
As I prepare for a presentation at Event Solutions Conference next week in Las Vegas, I find myself thinking about how to bring life to my usually dull topic of ROI. What is it that makes a good speaker? A great presentation? Well I received a less in that today thanks to my friends at Martin Bastian Productions, who hosted a speaker's showcase at the W Minneapolis-The Foshay. Peter Sheahan, an Australian mate - thinker and (I would say philosopher at heart) gave the most thrilling 45 minute "presentation" I have seen in a long time. And he did it on the topic of Generation Y (in the workplace, more or less).
And why was this presentation absolutely brilliant? Because he didn't tell me what I thought I knew. He didn't share conventional wisdom. Instead, I as audience member was presented with a man who simply was completely passionate (and well versed and curious and uniquely interested) in his topic, or more appropriately in the idea of having a conversation about that topic. Sure some of my favorite tricks were inside the talk in order to bridge the initial gap at the start of any presentation when the speaker alone on stage under spotlight must address an assuming audience - the sharing of personal stories, the humorous connections with appropriate self-deprecation (what a terrible word, how about self-humanization) as a vehicle in which to share one's story and provide the bit of truth which gets a group of people thinking - but not 5 minutes in, I think the room was sold. And precisely because this man was so authentic on stage (and in and amongst the crowd). The sheer power of his energy and passion to converse and facilitate the constant, silent thought generating in the minds of an audience throughout the room was fantastic to watch. He wasn't trying to be flawless or even get you to agree with him - he was fully engaged in the sharing of knowledge for the audience to self-generate the implications, realities, shift of opinions or even to shift the entire presentation based on an answer. I wasn't given a speech or a presentation. I was invited into a dialogue. And that was incredibly refreshing and I only wish I was still inside it. If this is the future of where meetings and events are headed (and it is - I honestly believe there is a way to re-envision the "meeting" to take the best of what learner generated content is on the web and merge it with the powerful thing which happens when people sit down in a room together) I am more than excited.
Peter if you find this, I want to talk more. But not right now. I have work to do before next Wednesday...
Social Networking has found a host of new sites to call home – websites that is. But whether you have a profile on Facebook or are building your connections on Linked-In, the downside to online networking is that your connections require connectivity! So here is a novel idea: instead of inviting new contacts to My Space, consider hosting them at your actual space. Around your table perhaps…
Spice up your next night-in by inviting a group of people who only have YOU in common. Host a dinner party for guests who do not know each other but you think should. They could be the five most interesting people you know, or 10 friends each from a different time of your life. Sure enough you are bound to mix a bunch of people who could grow to be great connections for each other. As host, you simply provide the venue in which these natural connections can take place over cocktails and cuisine. And as your evening progresses, the conversation is sure to be fascinating. Social networking in person; what a crazy concept!
Fast Tip: Looking to jump start the conversation at your next dinner party? Try Party Topics (www.tabletopics.com). Available as coasters, napkins or place cards, Party Topics offer 12 starter questions sure to get the conversation going.
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