30was the percentage of people who formu-
late a response to the first few words of a
statement and really do not hear what is
being said.
I would be interested in hearing what
some of your listening tips are. Do you find
that you are formulating a response rather
than really hearing what is being said
— and not just the words, the facial expressions, intonation, and body language?
What do you do to keep your mind in the
conversation so you hear everything? Are
there barriers to hearing sometimes?
Tanna Mc Tee-Pearman, National Sales Manager,
Silver Legacy Resort
One piece of advice I recently heard was
to repeat the words that you hear being
spoken in your head as you are listening.
It helps you really focus on what the other
person is saying and stops you from formulating your own response right away.
Lisa Bower, President and CEO, Plus One Meetings
Maybe it’s just me, but sometimes I get
distracted by what is going on around me,
instead of maintaining eye contact. When
there is an option, I select a seat with my
back to a window or anything that might
vie for my attention. Or maybe I just have
a really short attention span!
Donna Hill, Senior Sales Manager, Indiana
Convention Center and Lucas Oil Stadium
Donna, great comments and suggestions.
I know exactly what you are saying, and
yes, I sometimes think I have that “shiny
object” syndrome.
I believe it’s the business we are in, constantly moving, and I have to force myself
to stop, take a breath, listen, and wait to
make a comment, hoping that in the meantime, it will not pass out of my head and I’ll
forget before I have the time to voice it!
Vanessa Kane, CMP, CMM, Manager, Meetings,
Events, and Exhibits, Veterans of Foreign Wars of
the United States
COMMENTS
1986: Video Games
Our Online department this month (p. 44) is about how to determine the ROI of virtual and hybrid events. Thirty years ago, an article in the Summer
1986 issue of Convene was similarly concerned with the
state-of-the-art in event technology: “Video for the
Meeting Planner.”
Written by the then-president of a then-AV company in New York
City, the three-page article begins at the beginning: “As the use of video
at professional meetings becomes more common and its application as
a communication tool more diverse, basic knowledge of terms and their
applications becomes increasingly important.”
A few key takeaways:
› “Exhibitors using videotape to demonstrate their products tend to
employ the three-quarter-inch format even if the original was produced
on one- or two-inch tape.”
› “If you are willing to invest a few thousand dollars in home equip-
ment, you can easily fulfill your own documentation needs, while pro-
viding in-house staff access to it for other purposes throughout the year.”
› “The most common concern is whether the taping will interfere
with or disturb the meeting and will the video lights affect the projection of
the slides, blind the speaker and/or segments of the audience. With good
planning and proper selection of a production crew, the answer is NO.”
› “When playing back prerecorded tapes, you should use a video
monitor as opposed to an ordinary television receiver.”
Is our point to laugh at all this and congratulate ourselves on how far
we’ve come? Not at all. The article is practical, thorough, and jargon-free —
exactly the type of useful content we’re still trying to provide 30 years later.
And 30 years from now, we hope readers won’t be laughing at our
coverage of virtual and hybrid platforms, even as they enjoy a Convene
article about the new consciousness-sharing technology that allows
remote attendees to experience a meeting at the neurological level. Or
whatever else comes next. .
