The Conventional Wisdom at the IPI show was that the educational programs were the best ever. There were a large number of them and from what I heard both at the Temecula Group and on the floor, the quality was very good.
That being said, one comment permeated the discussions. There were a LOT of educational sessions, some conflicted with others, many people would go to one, discover they didn't think it fit what they needed or picked up literature and then left and went to another. Some though the schedule was very confusing, not unusual when there is such a large number of events.
My recommendation == reduce the number of sessions and make them very high power. If you want to keep the large number, find a way to stagger them, or configure the schedule so they are easy to find.
I'm not the guy who would do it, but there are people who do know how to do this.
Remember – most people in our industry are novices, whether they are heads of parking or line managers.
When we did boot camp at PIE a few years ago, we had more senior people in the room than entry staff.
JVH
PS: Be sure that when you have moderators for "round table" or "Power talk" sessions, you train them well. A good moderator can "make" the session, a bad one can ruin it. Moderators need to do just that, moderate, not talk for the sake of talking.
Amen on the P.S.
Posted by: Bobra Wilbanks | May 20, 2009 at 02:49 PM