Academic Ventures - Personal, Cost-Effective Conference Planning

Crowd Control: No Eye Stabs

In July 2010, two Comic-Con attendees tussled over a seat and one stabbed the other’s eye with a pen. Want more details? See http://www.usatoday.com/life/2010-07-24-comic-con-stabbing_N.htm.

While this is the first time something like this happened at Comic-Con (by far the largest comics/graphic fiction/super hero event in the United States), we’re not familiar with anything remotely like it occurring within the academic environment in which we work.

However, it did make us think. While nothing could seem more out of place than two conference attendees coming to blows at an academic conference it really would not take much to create a potential scenario.

You really all you need two things to create havoc at any event -- the right environment and the right spark.

Communication: Me vs. Us

Having your planning members agree that your committee should speak with one voice is important. Also important is further agreeing how to convey that one voice.

Here are some ideas to help:

Encourage members to consider their correspondence as well as the words they choose to clearly delineate the line between the individual and the committee. Even in spoken conversation it is important to interject, “It is my opinion” or “I think,” as well as “the committee agreed” or “on behalf of the committee,” to keep those lines clear.

When possible use an e-mail address specific to the meeting or conference instead of an individual member’s email.

It’s unlikely you might have to face a roomful of bikers (see earlier post) but conference attendees and participants can have that same level of passion for their field of research and it is a crowd you do not want to have to explain a simple misunderstanding.

Communication: Who Talks?

Typically we hear of “communication plans” in the context of a crisis. In fact, experts are dedicated solely to assisting with unenviable task of crisis communications when things go wrong.

A colleague recently shared an article about a small town’s business improvement district where a member independently distributed a document that, among other things, discouraged motorcycle parking on city streets. This person, though, failed to identify the communication as his alone and not as a representative of the district.

And even though the district, its volunteers and merchants weren’t involved or even shared that opinion, they found themselves addressing a crowd of motorcycle owners. Here’s the link to original article: http://budurl.com/bikers.

Has something like this happened to you where a member of your planning committee took it upon themselves to speak on behalf of the committee? Perhaps inviting a speaker out of turn or approving a paper without its proper review.

It is important for all planning committee members to agree to speak with one voice and to further agree how to convey that voice.