Doug you seem to have experience at this…any ideas? What do we do and probably more important…what do we not do?
I used to do a lot of this type meetings in the Navy. For three of the last 51/2 yrs I was a training facilitator for small and large group seminars, command training and organizational effectiveness seminars, etc. I used to travel around the country on a training team setting up training sites and such for Total Quality Management training and Leadership “stuff”.
In answer to your questions. The first thing we used to always do is set up the ground rules of how we were going to operate our meetings. This was a group discussion, the rules were written down as participants came up with the rules then posted. Whoever is running the show has to basically be part traffic cop, time keeper, referee, social director, etc. It works 10 times better if there are two people running the event. The first thing to remember these people are all there on equal footing. There are no super stars and there are no novices. The exchange of information has to be first and foremost something of value to them. These are adults (mostly) and they are there on their dime so make it worthwhile, germane to the purpose of the meeting. Fillers just piss people off.
Plan the meeting to have 45 - 50 min sections with breaks in between each, even if you are in the middle of something hot, otherwise you start losing the support of the crowd. Then they turn ugly. Most of us have to pee once in a while especially the old guys with prostates the size of grapefruit. At a couple training sessions at the last two Nachi conventions there were speakers who spent the first 45 mins telling all us how great they were and half the class got up and went to the bar. I know because we were already at the bar.
As I said earlier, one of the first orders of business is to establish what you want your organization to be about, establish goals, have a mission statement, elect a by-laws committee if one is determined to be needed. Don’t get too deep into the weeds at the first meeting. All that crap will change anyway. This should just be to lay the cornerstone(s) get out the “need to know” stuff now, the nice to know and the outer ring of useless BS will come later…much later. (Someone needs to keep minutes and get a roster with all the participants’ vital information.)
Finally, have some fun and go home with a slew and a network of new friends.
Doug,
I think maybe you HAVE planned a couple seminars.
Damn I am glad I asked for your input Doug…Thanks a ton, Hopefully John will use your information.
I certainly will use Doug’s input.
Day 1 is the basics of Insurance inspections.
9:00 am
All about four points in the morning, how to do them and plenty of tips and tricks.
Frank from the insurance center of central Florida, a multi-lines agent, will talk on how wind mits affect premiums.
12:00 Lunch will be catered by Jason’s Deli - Time to talk and mingle
Bill York will speak at 1:00 and then we will discuss some more wind mit stuff.
Dennis Bonner will update us on having Nachi inspectors doing Citizens re-inspections and getting on the “preferred list”
Several inspection related prizes will be given out including a Werner multi-fold ladder and a Zircon MT6!
I recommend that we all go to dinner/bar after, possibly Applebee’s or Friday’s
Day 2 is all about furthering the inspection business in Florida
Zoe will talk about Flnachi
Wayne about the inspectors council
How we got here and were we need to go.
Followed by a discussion on what we can do to help and what else do we need to do. Everyone will be given a chance to speak but time will be limited. I will control the mic.
The dinner is a great idea. Whenever we could, we would have an informal “ice breaker” get together the evening before so folks could meet. We referred to it as our “gripping and grinning” event. This is usually only possible for those people who show up the day before, get settled into their digs and want to unwind a little in a strange town. As the locals we would steer them away from the nefarious establishments and if we were the out of towners expected the locals to do the same for us. Sounds like you guys will have a great time. Could be a good liberty call.
I will work on that one!
btw: we have 45 people scheduled to attend on Friday, about 25 will be there on Saturday
John,
Two things:
Please check out the sunshine rules and Surban/Oxley law - there are many things especialy costs and pricing that according to these rules should not be discussed in a meeting of this sort.
Second even if not for distribution consider audio taping at least the Sat. meeting. It becomes a great resourse to record meeting minutes from and as a verbatim archive in case questions arise at a later date.
I am not sure how either one of these apply to us:
The Sunshine Law establishes a basic right of access to most meetings of boards, commissions and other governing bodies of state and local governmental agencies or authorities.
Sarbanes–Oxley contains 11 titles that describe specific mandates and requirements for financial reporting.
I have no intention of discussing any pricing. When inspectors get together it is never a good idea to discuss money.
I really don’t think this is an “organizational” meeting…I think its just a get together.
Either way, it is always a good idea to inform everyone that may be speaking in a public format not to discuss specific pricing. As we all know, this could be construed as price fixing. No harm in setting the presidence before anyone accidentally screws up. Fees and pricing have been brought up numerous times on the message board, which leads me to believe that the possibilty of an improper discussion exist.There is always someone out there looking to stir the pot.
I know at all the board meetings we have for the other organizations I belong to we always have a breif statement read aloud of what is apropreate discussion and what is not. Pricing is always mentioned as NOT to be discussed and like Dennis I’ve seen it on this message board. In fact some one posted at least one poll asking what price we charged. I wasn’t sure how either would apply (especialy since we don’t know where the meeting will end) but wanted to make sure you had looked at it so it wouldn’t become an issue.
Update:
There will be about 60 people there on Friday! I expect about 30 on Saturday.
Be safe driving in to Melbourne.
See you there!