Looking Back on the 2012 KRPA Conference and Trade Show….

…Trying to plan the perfect event!

By Doug Vance, KRPA Executive Director

I have a friend who is an executive at another non-profit association and we occasionally discuss issues related to our respective jobs.  I’m guilty of sometimes expressing my disappointment when an event I help plan falls short of expectations.

“Always remember, you can’t please everyone,” my friend often feels compelled to remind me.

While I understand that reality, I’m of the belief that you can still have a goal of having a conference without flaws. Of course, that may be one reason I don’t need to carry a comb (not needed with my haircut!).

I want things to be as perfect as possible. And, in particular, that’s a target for each conference and trade show.

When I review evaluations of a KRPA event, I’m looking more at what people didn’t like or what went wrong than I am at the compliments. 

And, as my friend suggests, our evaluations are testimony to the fact that we didn’t please everyone with our efforts during the 2012 KRPA Conference and Trade Show.  Some of it was out of our control and some of it was because a result of missing the mark in planning. And, in some instances, our attendees don’t always understand the dynamics of running this event.

Also, let me set the record straight.  Most of the comments we received were very positive and a credit to our branch chairs and overall committee.

My comments here are not intended to be critical of the feedback we receive.  I’m just interested in helping everyone have a better understanding of the reasons that go into the total planning process.

We have a good system of planning for each state conference.  It’s built on the shoulders of many dedicated volunteers from the membership who spend countless hours in developing the schedule, both the educational programs and social events.  As they say – “the devil is in the details” – and many of those details are my responsibility

Quite often, the conference evaluations reveal – in addition to offering many good suggestions - that we’ve not always done a good job at educating attendees concerning a reason for planning a particular event.

Sometimes the evaluations leave me scratching my head. As an example, we often hear two contrasting viewpoints about the same event.  For our trade show this year I have comments saying that the event was geared more toward parks and responses indicating there was not enough for parks.

Beyond what the trade show offers or doesn’t offer, there are also suggestions related to the trade show length and the need for education which makes CEU credits available.

The length and format of our trade show has basically been the same for many years for one reason.  Most of our vendors prefer it that way.  Unlike many other trade shows that I’ve seen where it’s open while attendees are in sessions and vendors are forced to sit idle in their booths in a lonesome exhibit hall wasting time, we make our trade show a showcase event with no other conflicts on the schedule. In addition, we offer events during the show that keep people in the exhibit hall. 

We survey our trade show attendees and seek their feedback.  Generally speaking, we received very positive comments about our format.

In terms of CEU’s during the trade show, that would mean an education component as part of the trade show.  Suffice to say, that’s not a practical concept to mix with a trade show.  The trade show is not an educational presentation in those terms so offering CEU’s would not be an option.

In addition to those trade show comments, we also get suggestions that we need more variety in the vendors.  Some suggest, as an example, we need to have more programmers or more equipment.  That’s great in theory, but what people need to fully understand is that we don’t select the vendors at our trade show…they select us.

The trade show is a wonderful opportunity for vendors to display their goods and services, but we do charge a fee for that opportunity which helps us generate much needed revenue.   So, we do everything possible to recruit an organization that is trying to attract a park and recreation audience. We’d love to have a broader mix of all types of vendors, but our trade show community is determined not by us…but by those who want to spend the money for booth space.

Please know we are always looking for vendor candidates.  If you have suggestions, please let us know.

There were other themes in the evaluation which we are used to seeing. I’ve learned over the years that you can count on two key aspects of event planning to draw criticism – food quality and climate control in meeting rooms.

While I saw several comments about a meeting room being either too cold or too hot, I checked with our registration desk and no one recalls complaints being brought to our attention.  If we become aware that a room is not comfortable, we will ask the hotel to make an adjustment.  Obviously, if we are not aware of a problem, it’s not likely to be fixed.

Also, I’ve found that not every human being can agree on the aspect of what’s too cold and what’s too hot.  Thus, a cold room for one attendee may be just fine for another attendee.

So, back to the theory…you can’t please everyone!

In terms of food quality, that’s one of those items that is really out of our control.   My degree is certainly not in culinary arts and not even my wife trusts me to select the menu for us at dinner.

Thus, my approach in the menu for a conference is giving that power to the hotel chef.   I let the chef know our budget, our meals and turn over the responsibility for menu choices. I, of course, reserve veto power and always share the proposed menu with the conference planning committee for approval.

Keep in mind that the cost of hotel food in recent years, like about everything else, has gone out of sight.  We have a limited food budget that often means we have to pass on that tasty Kansas beef.  In addition, we’ve sometimes been harpooned about our lack of emphasis on healthy food items.  Believe me, when it comes to criticism of food choices at the conference, we’ve connected on about all fronts and we do have good memories.

Several folks expressed their displeasure once when we had chicken (in different forms, of course) for two consecutive lunch events.  So, I now always insist with the chef that we not offer two consecutive days of chicken.  As it turns out and as several attendees pointed out in the evals this year, we had too much pasta.   I can assure you, lesson learned on that one.

Our menu also drew a couple of complaints about the lack of a dessert at the lunch events.  That was my decision and my rationale was built on two fronts.  First, I felt it was a practical way to save spending.  Most people I know don’t have dessert at lunch, so I thought it was a cost-saving measure that made sense and would allow us to spend those dollars somewhere else.  I guess the jury is still out on that decision.

Please know I consider the educational component of our conference the most important aspect of what we provide. Education and professional development should be the primary attraction of a state conference. 

As most everyone understands, all of the education and speakers are determined through the planning of our branch chairs and branch boards.  They make every effort to understand what topics are important to other professionals and they do their best to find quality speakers to present on those topics.

Like hotel food and other aspects of hosting such a large event, the cost of speakers is also challenging for our budget.  That’s why, the board last year decided to raise the cost of registration by $20 and use that increase to fuel our speaker budget.   Hopefully, that added income will help add quality in our speakers and breakout sessions in the future.

We get a wide variety of suggestions and pick up some very solid ideas which we pass to the branch chairs and their boards. 

Finally, let me also encourage anyone who cares about KRPA and wants to play a role in making our state conference better to get involved in conference planning.  The door is always open for another volunteer either by participating on a branch board, by offering to be involved in helping the local host or by just sending suggestions.

While it does involve a little work, you can gain a lot of satisfaction by bringing your suggestions to the table and adding quality to the process.  You grow as a professional and you are contributing to the welfare of your fellow park and recreation professionals.

And, if you don’t already understand, you find out like I have how hard it is to please everyone!

Doug Vance

Got something on your mind?  We invite and encourage others to share your thoughts in blog form on the KRPA website.  If have a blog, submit it for consideration to Doug Vance, KRPA Executive Director.

KRPA Blogging!