Educational Sessions
Core Competency-Centered Sessions Help You Get the Right Knowledge
Educational sessions are organized around the nine core competencies of the CGMP, including education/programming, facilities and services, logistics, financial and contract management, technology, leadership, ethics, protocol and travel.
You can earn at contact hours toward your Certified Government Meeting Professional (CGMP) designation and Certified Meeting Professional (CMP) certification by attending educational sessions. Additional hours can be earned by registering for pre-conference sessions. Contact us with questions.
Confirmed 2023 Educational Sessions
Accessible Presentations and Content
This presentation will provide tips and tricks on how to create accessible content, ideas on how to create inclusion for people with disabilities, and how to present information effectively for in-person, hybrid and virtual meetings. Learn what accessibility is and why it matters. We’ll discuss steps to take before, during and after meetings to meet WCAG standards and how to present in an accessible and inclusive manner.
Samantha Clayton
Travel Smart 2023 – Street Smart Tips Every Business and Leisure Traveler Should Know
Back by popular demand, Detective Kevin Coffey, aka “The Scholar of Thievery” will be presenting his updated 2023 street smart travel presentation. Whether traveling for business or leisure, traveling today has very different challenges that travelers and meeting attendees need to be aware of and prepared for. When traveling today, it takes more than “just use common sense” to avoid the many pitfalls of travel, which is where “street-smart” travel awareness can make a significant difference to the outcome of
domestic and international trips. Kevin’s “what if” travel mishap avoidance tips will cover the following topics: Pre-departure considerations travelers don’t think about, new travel documents and passport guidelines, checked luggage loss/theft prevention strategies every traveler needs to know, defensive strategies for protecting a traveler’s lifeline – their mobile phone, how to prevent and respond to lost purses and wallets, women travel safety tips and must-know travel scams, and medical emergencies while traveling and what to do BEFORE they occur.
Kevin Coffey, Travel & Meeting Risk Advisor
Avoiding the 24 Biggest Mistakes Meeting Planners Make
During my career, I have given over 2,500 presentations to local, state, national, and international associations and non-profits and I have learned a great deal about what great meetings are like and the consequences of terrible ones. During this session in June, I will discuss just 24 of the most common mistakes, errors, or poor processes that I have witnessed planners make. These are just a few I will cover: Hiring the wrong speakers and listening to them as they embarrass you with almost every word. Having poor attendance at a meeting you thought would be a blowout. Getting poor session attendance for a variety of reasons. The National Speakers Association lost over 40% of their membership every year because the meetings were in July in Phoenix. One hotel lost its internet connection in the middle of a speaker’s 3-hour workshop and for the last two hours, the speaker was at a loss of what to say because their entire presentation was on a screen, so they canceled the balance of their presentation. I could go on with hundreds of examples, but why not join my session while I will give you a much longer list of mistakes to avoid? See you in June.
Tim Conner, CRG
Become a Cyber Special Operator with Practical Security for Your Meetings and Events!
We hear terms like cyber espionage, social engineering, infosec, phishing…and instantly, we envision a digital world enshrouded with secrecy and complexity. But did you know that most data breaches begin with a single human act? Come join this session as Midori guides you to think like an adversary and become a security Special Operator, defending your attendees and organization. This interactive session will be targeted to non-technical roles and you will leave with a wealth of practical, hands-on tips.
Midori Connolly, Cyderes – Cyber Defense and Response
Advancing the Principles of DEI – Respect, Courtesy, and Civility
As leaders in the meeting planning industry, we must increase awareness and acknowledge that self-reflection is a key component to advancing the principles of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. We must examine the intersectionality of diversity with the meeting planning industry to create inclusive meetings. Attend this interactive session to learn how to advance the principles of DEI.
Sharon Delvisco, Team Dynamics, LLC
Disagreement Doesn’t Have to Be Divisive
Productive conversations, even in the face of different views and opinions, are critical for wellfunctioning organizations and societies. Yet rather than engage in potentially difficult or uncomfortable conversations, many of us try to avoid them all together for fear of creating conflict. There is a big difference between healthy, productive disagreements and heated arguments. For two parties to come to a mutually beneficial agreement, there has to be a level of professionalism and respect. While navigating this territory can feel uncomfortable, it is possible for people with different points of view to have a constructive conversation. Join me for a discussion of some simple, yet
powerful tools help you speak your mind and be receptive to other perspectives to build common ground.
Nan Gesche
Protocol Requirements for Today’s Meetings and Events
Participants will understand the importance of titles, styles of address, order of precedence, proper salutations and introductions, learn the significance of proper flag placement and rules of gift giving, and discover dining etiquette from seating guidelines, napkin awareness to tableware placement.
Marla Harr
Straight Talk: Creating a Culture of Honesty and Candid Conversations
Let’s face it. Straight, honest, no-nonsense communication in some organizations today is more rare than common. Whether it’s fear of reprisal, natural timidity, or not wanting to hurt someone’s feelings, many avoid telling the truth when it needs to be told. Based on Larry’s top-selling book Absolute Honesty: Building A Corporate Culture That Values Straight Talk And Rewards Integrity, Larry shows you how to establish a culture of collaboration with candid discussions and healthy debate.
Larry Johnson, Johnson Training Group
Lawyers and Policies and Perceptions – Oh My! How to Stay on the Yellow Brick Road of Ethics
I was 12 when my father came home from his government job and said, “Meredith is suspected of embezzling millions.” Meredith was his longtime co-worker and a family friend. That couldn’t be! She was so warm, friendly, and always treating us to nice gifts. Oh, wait. Could you or a member of your team become Meredith? It may happen if you are not careful and proactive. What starts with a borderline ethical decision can devolve into embezzlement, or worse. To avoid crossing the line with lawyers, policies, and perceptions, here’s how to stay on the yellow road of ethics and keep you, your team, and your organization out of the woods.
Ben Lichtenwalner, Radiant Forest
Agile Management: Cultivating Emotional Intelligence to Leverage People Power
Change is rampant and occurring at a faster pace than ever before. As such, leaders must learn how to cope with change and lead through uncertainty. How leaders and their organizations manage our current VUCA Environment will have a direct impact on their resilience and team’s performance. Charles Darwin states, “The most important factor in survival is neither intelligence, nor strength but adaptability.” In the presentation, attendees will gain strategies on how to think more critically in a VUCA Environment, the ability to take stock in where they are and what steps they need to do to overcome change resistance and ultimately, how to be an effective leader during intensive change moments.
Dr. Kelvin McCree, Laser Focus Leadership Solutions LLC
Profiling Your Events for Safety & Security
While terrorism can always be a potential threat to gatherings, the encounters, confrontations, or crime experienced offsite can be just as detrimental to the overall event. Add to this when and where a riot, protest, or similar breaks out and attendees are sharing the same geographical area, and this adds to the overall potential risks.
What can meeting and event planners do to better profile their events to enhance attendee safety, onsite and offsite? What can be done to mitigate potential confrontations with other individuals or crowds they may encounter while attending? And how can such procedures best be documented for due diligence purposes, whether for legal and/or moral footing if questioned later in the courtroom or the newsroom?
Jeff McKissack, Defense by Design
Workplace Violence in Your Post-Virus World: How Do You + Your People Respond? A Tactical Approach for Violence in Your Workplace
Any employer is 18 times more likely to experience workplace violence (WPV) than a fire at work. We deploy fire prevention systems in every facility. Yet the vast majority of employers don’t do anything about WPV. Sure, your management has a WPV policy. They aren’t against it. But, there are no prevention protocols; no reporting procedures; no response procedures; no team created and deployed to command and control response; no training of employees. There has been a sharp spike in Active Shooter incidents, 70% of which occur in businesses versus campuses. There are standards and laws regarding every employer’s responsibility to protect and respond to WPV and how you are supposed to train employees.
Bo Mitchell, 911 Consulting
To Sue or Not to Sue: The Impact of COVID on Contracts
The COVID 19 pandemic raised many questions about contract language, the information included in a contract, and cancellation clauses. This simulated, informative and interactive court case explores a contract cancellation as a direct result of the impact of COVID 19. Hear about the issues from the perspectives of the plaintiff (hotel) and the defendant (client) including the reasons, rationale, and perceived impact and resulting financial losses. Learn about specific contract including language that may provide better protection regarding pandemics and similar situations. Attendees will serve as jurors, deliberating and determining the verdict.
Laurie Nickson
Grace Under Pressure: How to Think Quick and Solve Problems on the Fly
Unlike almost any other endeavor, the ability to work well under pressure, think on your feet, and solve problems on the fly is all in a day’s work for the meeting planner. This session is about how to improve your resourcefulness, see solutions as opportunities to shine, and come up with great ideas in the moment and on the spot. This is a fast-paced, fun, hands-on, and highly interactive program where you test out what you learn as you learn.
Lee Silber, Creative-Lee Speaking
Your Meetings Will Never Be the Same: Hot Technologies 2023
Will artificial intelligence take away the job of the meeting professional? And how are you keeping up with the technological advancements that impact your job and career? Do you find that you’re barely able to keep pace with the latest developments within the hospitality industry? This session reviews what’s new and way cool in technology within the meetings industry in this fun, fast-paced look at what’s here for us to use now and what’s coming in the near future, including the latest information about virtual & augmented reality, artificial intelligence, and other important tech trends.
Jim Spellos, Meeting U
Protocol and Progress
Over the past three years, many of us have had difficult but necessary conversations about our past and the symbols that memorialized that past. Those conversations have led to so much change — to the names of places, buildings, streets, and the like; to flags; to ceremonies; to how we address one another; and even to the landscape itself. Historically, though, protocol is a slow-moving industry, anchored in tradition and past precedents. And, at times, there can be perceived friction between the rules of protocol and the advance of society. But it need not be that way. In this session, we will explore how protocol professionals can incorporate new symbols and traditions into their work, how they can traverse the delicate but important conversations around some older symbols and traditions, how they deal with and incorporate change when change happens, and much more.
Chris Young, PDI-POA
Photos courtesy of Christie’s Photographic Solutions.