Soft fabric keyboard
Meeting and event planners are often on the trot – inspecting venues, marketing conferences and travelling to local and international trade shows.

Keeping abreast of business can be a challenge, even with the growing presence of wi-fi internet access. It still means lugging that computer notebook around.

The latest generation of PDAs (personal digital assistants) has made retrieving email messages easy and now sending them has become a whole lot easier for the road warrior through the arrival of the “smart fabric” keyboard which lets you type onto a piece of fabric rather than a clunky keyboard or thumbs-only on a keyboard the size of a match box. It retails at around $250.

The makers say smart fabric technology will change the way we use our computers and other technology devices. Forget desks, consoles, and hard plastic switches – these can now be replaced by soft fabric controls – soon your phone will be something you wear, not something you carry; many of the controls on your car dashboard may soon be an integral part of the interior upholstery and you will no longer need a bag to carry your laptop in because the laptop could be part of the bag.
See www.gtechaustralia.com.au for further details.

FAST Meetings
David Pointon of FAST Meetings is pretty much stating the obvious when he says that we are time-poor and there is increasing pressure to deliver value for people’s precious time.
“Key meetings and conferences suffer this pressure, as discerning people demand more value and outcomes from meetings they attend,” he says.
“This is an issue for meeting planners, who are often asked to organise ‘the best event ever’, but they may not have control of the content and conduct of the meeting. Unfortunately, too many meetings are run along traditional lines, with an emphasis on presenters and Powerpoint which limit the extent of involvement and relevance for each delegate.
“However, a more participant-centred approach can be supported by new meeting design and facilitation methods to vastly increase engagement and take-home value.”
Mr Pointon asks what is happening in meetings and why are they no longer as effective in delivering value for time and money?
“Until now, meetings have been run along traditional lines, because leaders have assumed these approaches are still working. The structure of meetings has remained largely based upon one-way communication, despite leaders’ best efforts to motivate participation. Consider that people are often brought together at great expense, only to show them Powerpoint slides that could have been emailed and discussed by teleconference at a fraction of the cost.
“Fortunately, there are two areas that present opportunities for immediate improvement in meeting design and conduct at low cost.”

These include:
Meetings as a Process - Make it FAST
Planning and conducting meetings as a process rather than an event enables a consistent set of meeting practices to be adopted for every meeting agenda. A process such as FAST guides leaders along more productive paths, and still allows for creativity and variance required in different circumstances. FAST Meetings is a four phase process and set of meeting tools that guides the process of meetings. F is Focus, A is Awareness, S is Solution, and T, Traction.

FAST harnesses a range of conversation and decision-making methods which deliver higher levels of engagement and traction so that meeting outcomes lead to focused action. The framework applies equally well across different types of meetings, functional areas, projects and hierarchical levels.

According to Mr Pointon, FAST is easily learned and used by leaders of meetings so they can quickly enhance their effectiveness in facilitating and leading more productive meetings.
Achieving value adding outcomes
An effective meeting process delivers higher value outcomes from all meetings. By simultaneously achieving relationship, learning and alignment-type outcomes, higher levels of commitment and follow-through are achieved that determine the true value of the time and money spent. These can form the basis of planned outcomes for any conference or key meeting.
Realising value in practice
Avenue Capital Management held it’s annual conference for the past five years using a traditional speaker-based conference formula. Keen to create a more interactive, relevant and valuable program, the steering committee knew they wanted to break the mould, but didn’t know where to start.

Engaging FAST Meeting Co. early in the design process exposed the steering committee to new ways of thinking about the program. Through a number of planning meetings, the committee opened up to a wide range of new program elements, dramatically reduced the number of speaker slots, increased the focus on take-home value for delegates, and found new ways of providing value to sponsors.

The delegate experience of the conference was dramatically different. The extent of networking and interactive sessions enabled stronger relationship-building opportunities between delegates, and between delegates and planners. The layered program maintained strong interest and high attendance levels through the three days. Two keynote speakers delivered core content, and this was built on through workshop processes. Backyard Blitz identified key areas of back office improvement to be taken forward beyond the conference. A buddy process culminated in strong commitments made by individuals to business growth actions over a three month period.

Feedback following the conference showed high levels of satisfaction by delegates and strong follow through of commitments to change in their businesses.

Mark Lewin, a director of Avenue Capital Management, and the chairman of their conference committee said by changing the mould and working with a professional facilitation firm they achieved a significant step up in the value they provided to delegates.
“Of note is the high level of sponsor satisfaction, who unanimously voted it amongst the best conferences they had ever attended in their many collective years in the industry. I have no hesitation in recommending FAST Meetings to anyone who wants to adopt a more professional approach and get more out of their conferences and meetings.”

For further details contact David Pointon on david.pointon@fastmeetings.com.au.

Dancing with the staff
Enhance Entertainment has just announced a brand new concept in team-building called Dancing With The Staff, a program that encourages communication within corporate and conference agendas.

Dancing With The Staff is a collaborative, non-competitive team building program that aids people in understanding what role they play as part of a larger framework and how their efforts contribute to that framework. It facilitates communication and allows people to cross boundaries they normally wouldn’t have the opportunity to. And it’s a whole lot of fun.

“Dancing With The Staff aids participants in creating a more complete awareness of their talents and how they contribute those individual talents to a larger team,” explains the managing director of Enhance Entertainment, Gavin George.
“While drumming focuses participants on only one point - the drum - participants in Dancing With The Staff use their entire body to express themselves and communicate fully with each other.”
The program uses experienced facilitators who guide participants through each step, ensuring the comfort and enjoyment of everyone. It was recently work-shopped with a leading Australian law firm where the participation rate of 115 lawyers remained at 100 per cent from beginning to end, even though participation was optional.

Dominie Bradfield, Senior BDM, corporate and commercial of Allens Arthur Robinson, said the performance workshops were a fantastic experience and a great way to build team spirit.
“The atmosphere was relaxed and feedback from our staff was very good – we had a terrific day and learned some good things about teamwork.”

For further details contact Enhance Entertainment on (02) 9518 3944.

Employees get their swords out
When one of the big four banks recently wanted a unique team-building activity that would be successful in bringing two of its teams together to find out one another’s strengths and weaknesses, they decided it was best to send the group of employees into battle – literally.

Armed with swords and a little bit of French, the group of 22 was given the opportunity to learn the art of sword fighting in a two-hour team-building session run by Melbourne-based Swordfighting International. The session was conducted in a controlled environment run by top international fencers using special swords that are lightweight polymer, totally safe, and buzz when a correct hit is made.

Once employees were taught the basic moves – how to attack and defend – they participated in a series of strategy games and team challenges. At the end of the session the instructors demonstrated how fast the actions can be carried out, and then showed the weapons used in the Olympic sport of fencing. Drinks and dinner followed with discussion of how to foil any future opponents.

For more information on Swordfighting International visit www.swordfighting.com.au.

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