IAEE Robert L. Krakoff Future Leaders Institute

As a Young Professional you should really consider attending the Future Leaders Institute. I attended in 2007.  It was a great learning and networking opportunity. The Institute led me to my current role of being the Chair of the IAEE Young Professionals Committee – Jeanavive Janssen – Event Productions Inc. 2007 Future Leader Institute Alumni

An intimate learning experience, the IAEE Robert L. Krakoff Future Leaders Institute, Sponsored by ICAT Logistics, Inc. brings together 30 individuals interested in learning more about themselves so they can be effective strategists, team contributors, group facilitators, innovators, learners, coaches and much more. A highly interactive curriculum integrates theory and practice to ensure Institute participants leave capable of both thinking better and doing better.

Through your active participation gain a greater understanding of:

• Your personal and professional values and how they affect the choices you make.
• Your own leadership/work style and how to leverage your strengths and manage around your weaknesses.
• How effective teams and work groups form, what inhibits groups from achieving synergy, and what desirable interventions leaders make to enhance group effectiveness.
• What is required to “mobilize others to want to struggle for shared aspirations” (The Leadership Challenge definition of leadership) and how well you currently engage in the behaviors most associated with leadership effectiveness.
• Processes and tools for increasing your strategic understanding of needs, trends, issues and how to create and manage processes and solutions that deliver the greatest value.

Does any of this sound familiar?

◊ Yes ◊ No
1) What once started out as a job for you has now turned into your career and you want to become a better contributor to this profession that now is an important part of your identity.

◊ Yes ◊ No
2) The quick fix solutions and top ten list ideas that once served you well are no longer adequate for the challenges and opportunities you face in your work.

◊ Yes ◊ No
3) You have been around long enough that you know it is helpful to shake things up, to step away from your natural comfort zone, and to stretch your thinking about what you do and how you do it.

◊ Yes ◊ No
4) You see the integral value that events and exhibitions offer to your organization’s stakeholders and you want to develop your ability to be more strategic and generate more innovation.

◊ Yes ◊ No
5) While you have developed an expansive list of people you can call if you need someone else’s take on a situation, you are more interested in developing more meaningful relationships with a group of colleagues that can be a source of community for you now and in the years ahead.

If you answered “Yes” to one or more of these descriptions, then you should apply to attend the IAEE Robert L. Krakoff Future Leaders Institute, sponsored by ICAT Logistics, Inc.!

Join IAEE as a student member!

IAEE offers student membership to individuals enrolled full time in a college or university approved by the IAEE Board of Directors. While student members do not have voting privileges, they are allowed to enjoy IAEE benefits including chapter participation, web conferences, IAEE publications, and much more!The rate for student membership is only $35 annually. To take advantage of IAEE’s student membership, visit http://www.iaee.com/join/.

Questions: Contact IAEE at (972) 458-8002 or email us at membership@iaee.com.

Welcome to the Young Professionals Web Lounge

Welcome to the Young Professionals Web Lounge, launched January 2008. This is Jeanavive Marie Janssen, and I’m very excited to be the Chair of the New IAEE Young Professionals Committee. Our goal is to engage and recognize newer members of the exhibitions & events industry as well as recruiting new talent.We’re currently developing our mentorship programs, guides for creating attractive multi-generational events, and customizing educational programs.

As a member of IAEE, your input is essential to the success of this committee we need your support. So, if you are a Young Professional or wish to be a mentor, please contact me at: jeanavive@eventproductions.com

I’m really passionate about this new step the association is taking and I’m looking forward to working with you as we welcome the next generation of event professionals.

Thank you! Jeanavive Marie Janssen, Event Productions Inc. Chair YP IAEE, Vice Chair IAEE NCC

Technology & Young Professionals

An observation from Nora Johnson, YP IAEE (Secretary):

Just this morning, I was reading a recap of perspectives and
discussion topics brought up at Expo! Expo! Two documents were sent
my way, including a recap from this year and the recap from last
year. In both, there is a glaring similarity where the younger
generations were discussed: the inevitable connection of younger
generations and newer technologies.

Granted, younger generations are using newer technology, and they are
doing so more easily and efficiently than others. However, this has
always been and will always be the case, from the time that fire and
steam engines became the way of the day to the first transition from
typewriters to computers.

One of the challenges we will face as a committee is to get people to
see beyond the technology. Why are younger professionals using
technology? How, when and where are they using it? Technology is a
tool. What the younger generations consider “valuable” extends beyond
the tools.

Example. As a committee, we’ve already touched on this by looking at
the need to change the “speaking-head” format of session programming.
Some may be quick to say that we need blogs and live polling – via
technology offerings or text messages. We need to get people past
that. We need to have people look at what is no longer favorable
about the past structure and what can be changed based on those
findings. It may be seating arrangements, the length of the sessions,
the depth (not breadth) of information covered, etc.

If we only stop at technology, our industry will miss the boat. This
is more an opinionated-musing/blog/post. Please let me know if this
is what we are okay with as a committee, or if we’re looking to keep
this forum business-task oriented around our meetings. Either way
works for me.

Thank you,
Nora

The Generation Gap – PCMA Article

There has been a lot of great groundwork laid by various Industry Associations and I am happy to be a part of the launching of the new IAEE Young Professionals Committee. I am looking forward to having the opportunity to collaborate with other Association leaders such as PCMA and MPI who have been working on this generational question for years. Jeanavive Marie Janssen – YP IAEE Chair

Check out this PCMA article from 2001 -

The Generation Gap - Nancy Mann Jackson
Convene Magazine PCMA December 2001 Read the Full Article, lots of great info.

(Jackson) ” Optimum learning occurs when generational differences are understood, appreciated, honored, and shared.”

(Jackson) “One of the trademarks of Xers, Wyess noted, is their willingness to speak up against the status quo. Now that younger attendees are willing to voice their displeasure about instruction that doesn’t meet their needs, other groups are also reaping the advantages.

What is most remarkable about training Generation Xers is that the training approaches that work well with them make sense for almost everyone, regardless of age, Shari Caudron wrote in Training and Development. Some of the Xer preferences she suggested that seem to work for every age group include focusing on end results, placing learners in control, providing flexibility and a choice of ways to learn, and emphasizing eye-catching visuals.”

(Janssen) I think that this is an excellent point, that enhanced programs developed for Young Professionals will not exclude other generations but will make programs attractive to multi-generations – this is a win-win for everyone involved.

From 2001 to the Present:

PCMA Students Speak: The Future Is In Their Hands

Heidi Genoist — Tradeshow Week, 1/14/2008

“With an aging population at the helm, all the convention and exhibition industry’s trade associations – not just the Professional Convention Management Assn. – are working to cultivate a pool of viable future leaders.”

Meet Nancy Johnson, new sub-committee Chair

Meet, Nancy Johnson (Gen X) sub-committee head for “developing and attracting new talent” to the industry.

“I would love to work more with high schools and even college departments to get information on our industry out there. I had such a hard time when I went back to school for my certificate. They only taught meeting planning and special events classes. I knew I wanted to do trade show mgmt right off the bat, but I was discouraged from pursuing that avenue. I’m very glad that I kept at it because I’m now doing what I love to do. My motto is “I don’t care about the size of the muffin”, which is why I’d never want to be a meeting planner.”

Read Nancy’s Letter to her Mentors and Teachers: