MARCH FORTH, YES WE CAN!
In Vancouver, Washington on November 8, 2008 at the 36th Annual AEE International Conference at precisely 9:15 PM, something happened. If you were there, you know. Even if you weren’t, what this is about is the back story. And while this is a great opportunity to brag a bit about some things the host committee did, that’s not the point. The point is to recognize the intention, collaboration, and planning that went into that event. It is the same that you bring to your best programming. The back story to that event will remind you how and why you do what you do.
I saw Lou Dobbs on CNN that week. Dobbs had talked about the two presidential candidates’ campaigns. He was apologizing to a commentator who had said Senator Obama’s campaign was a movement. “A campaign is something you support. A movement
is something you believe in and belong to.” (Sic) Dobbs said he now felt it was indeed a movement. I mention this for non-partisan reasons.
When the host committee was dividing up tasks, they fell roughly into two categories. One was the core tasks at any conference; presenters / rooms / AV, service crew, exhibit hall, scheduling speakers and ceremonies, CEU’s, evaluations. Oversimplified, the core tasks have to happen. And they more typically approximate a campaign. The other category was extras; signage at the airport, planning Thursday night out, fine tuning choice of plenary speakers, T-shirt design, entertainment, and other local flavor.
The task of the host committee is to complete the core tasks, and to engage attendees in the AEE movement via shared intellectual, emotional, and physical experiences. We wanted to create a sense of place and community in two ways. We wanted attendees to taste that which already exists in the Vancouver / Portland metro area. And we wanted attendees to experience a sense of place local to the conference hotels, and a sense of community within AEE. To borrow from the 2008 Kurt Hahn address given by Bob Henderson, the strategy and solution to that was simple, complex, and in the end not too complicated.
We’ll look at two important examples. One is the Portland City Repair T-Horse. The host committee was concerned about the walk between hotels. We considered placing a coffee cart midway – complicated legally and with the hotels. The T-Horse offered an opportunity to showcase and support a local non-profit engaged in experiential community building and direct activism. They have many projects in addition to the T-Horse. They served coffee and tea for donations in the parking lot of the Red Lion Hotel. They educated attendees about their programs without giving a workshop in the conference. They loaned mugs to coffee and tea drinkers to return at their leisure. The trust and engagement in that process, we felt, fit with AEE and the host committee’s goals. If you were there, did you feel it?
The second example of sense of place and community building is on site entertainment. People are always going to go out on the town. Great! AND, the host committee felt that creating a shared experience at the hotel does several things. All who want to can come to one place to interact. It is a physical place that we have come to identify as ours, our collective place. It’s not a plenary address. It is an interactive AEE event, so in attending we also self-identify with our Association. We get to see friends, colleagues and presenters fully out of professional context. We get to feel that we are a community of peers. For example, I had a couple of first time AEE attendees comment with a mixture of shock and awe about all the PhD’s shaking it on the dance floor.
Friday night’s entertainment was fantastic. For those of you who weren’t there, March Fourth Marching Band is sort of marching band, circus side show, Burning Man Festival, funk, jazz, performance art, and more. Many of the March Fourth band members were expecting a corporate event. They were wondering if anyone would dance. They showed up polite, happy, and quietly energized. When they entered the hall, there was curiosity evident on all parts. When the first stilt walker entered the room, the energy changed. All you facilitators know that point; I felt it, you felt it, the band felt it. Yet in their preconceived paradigm, they were putting on a show, a campaign. And that’s what the first half of both their sets was; a campaign to engage our ‘corporate’ event.
How many attendees hula-hooped during the set break? How many danced with one of the dancers, or with a stilt walker? How many got down on the floor with the band at the end of the second set when they came off the stage and engaged directly with the crowd? You knew you were being facilitated, and quite well, by the band. And you bought into that campaign and created a movement. It was not just during the set break. When the first person said, “I want to do that!” (I heard it) and jumped up on someone’s shoulders, there were instantly a dozen more. The band said that in hundreds of shows, they have never seen people intentionally emulate the stilt walkers.
We didn’t know exactly that would happen. We knew something would happen. That’s why the host committee invited March Fourth to be with you. That’s what you do. You co-create that. You work with youth, adults, companies, therapists, facilitators, and now bands. You co-create an, “I want to do that!” How you do it is simple. You offer experiences. And the interactions, intention, depth, and sometimes planning and preparation are complex. But it doesn’t need to be complicated.
I am appropriating a phrase in a nonpartisan way. Yes we can, and yes we did. March Fourth said it was one of the best corporate’ (ha!) gigs they’ve had. So carry on, people! March forth with that energy, an intimate knowledge of your community, its philosophy, methodology and members. Realize, both in knowing and in making real, that you are a member of a movement.
LOOKING FORWARD TO 2009
We are very excited to announce that Montreal, Quebec, Canada, has been chosen as the site of the 2009 Annual International AEE Conference. The conference will be held October 29–November 1, 2009 at the Hilton Bonaventure in downtown Montreal.
We are currently seeking volunteers who live within driving to distance of Montreal to serve on the 2009 Host Committee. For more information or to apply, please email conferences@aee.org.
