April 2005 - Tours and Learning Paradigms
Part of the fun of attending conferences is enjoying the destination. Here
are some options available at the 15th International Technology, Meetings and
incentives Conference to be held in Greece on November 10-12, 2005.
1. Take a fascinating Mediterranean cruise and visit the Greek islands and
Turkey. It's a great way to see so many enchanting places without having to pack
and unpack each night. Visit the islands of Mykonos, Santorini, Patmos, Kusadasi
(Turkey).The cruise will start in Athens where you will spend one night and drop
you off in Crete just in time for the conference.
2. Go directly to the conference and take a Classical Tour by land when it's
over. Visit the Corinth Canal, Delphi and the ruins of Mycenae, then visit
Epidaurus Theater, proceed to the town of Nauplion, drive on to Mycenae. Drive
through the Peloponnese, via Tripolis & Megalopolis to Olympia, visit the site
of the Olympic Games and see the famous statue of Hermes by Praxiteles, dinner
and overnight in Olympia.
3. Go directly to the conference and when it's over - fly on to Egypt. Visit
Cairo or take a cruise on the River Nile. This is an amazing trip everyone
should experience at least once in a lifetime.
4. Stop in Rome coming or going. Perhaps see the Pope :-) but certainly enjoy
this lovely, historical city - its art, culture, music and cuisine
5. Plan your trip a a la carte. We have a 2 or 3 nights tour of Athens for those
who want to arrange their own air travel. All the other tours are also available
without airfare. For details, please send email to info1@cimpa.org (Please note:
Due to extraordinary amount of spam, all the email addresses indicated in this
message will be disabled after 2 weeks. If you want to send for information,
please do so within that time period.)
Don't delay. Even for savvy travelers, these are amazing trips to remember.
Registration is waived when you sign up for some EARLY BIRD PACKAGES. Please
sign up by June 15. After June 15, prices will change. Details at http://www.cimpa.org/tours.htm
KNOWLEDGE AT WORK: HELP US WITH THE RE-DESIGN OF THE CONFERENCE
In a blog post, George S. pinged "The key to learning is not the medium nor the
message, it is the quality of the dialog with your peers that really matters".
This struck a chord in me as I had always believed in the importance of social
learning and culture. I do believe that more is learned when learners let go in
relaxing venues than when trying to still one's mind in darkened meeting rooms;
in discourse with peers, suppliers and speakers as opposed to passively
listening to the "sage on the stage".
In conversations with meeting attendees, they acknowledged that it is the coffee
break conversation, the cocktail debate with another attendee that situates the
new concept, validates its usefulness and sanctions its legitimacy. The more I
think about this, the more I believe that meeting planners are not getting it.
When we conduct our meetings like classes are conducted in Middle School, we are
not getting it. Fundamental changes in learning paradigms are taking shape with
new links between learning, community and networking. There are exciting
emergent alternatives. And these are what we want to explore in Greece. Will you
help us? Please email me at info2@cimpa.org
CERTIFICATION
Related to the above is my growing unease about the popular practice of
determining competency with multiple choice test questions. More and more, this
seems to me a hollow exercise. More and more, the right answer to most multiple
choice questions seems to be "It depends". Experiences in communities of
practice demonstrate that no 2 situations are exactly the same. Programs and
relationships are negotiated, emergent and always in flux. Interesting meetings
always have interesting problems which call for creative solutions - not a menu
of 3 or 4 alternatives . I do not believe multiple choice questions is the way
to go. Its only advantage, as far as I can tell, is that the test is easy to
score. Problem-solving essay type questions, I believe, is more in line with
distributed, situated cognition which is what is called for in meeting
management. At CIMPA, this is what we have done for our certification programs.
For details, send email to Dr. Frances Hanson at info3@cimpa.org
TAKING MEETINGS TO THE NEXT LEVEL
This is more than just a slogan. We are treading on new, exciting grounds.
Please join us. New gold members get a chance to win an all expense paid trip to
the conference in Greece. For details, please email me at info4@cimpa.org or go
to http://www.cimpa.org/gold.htm
MOTHERS DAY GIFTS
As we celebrate Mother's Day on May 8, you may want to check out "Shopping With
A Purpose" at http://www.cimpa.org/shopping.htm For example, all PDAs are on
sale and there are instant rebates on digital cameras at Best Buy, Save up to
$350 on select notebook computers at Circuit City, big discounts on airfare and
hotel at Expedia and books at Amazon plus many others. All proceeds go to
Helping Hands Mission. Please visit www.asianleaders.org/help.htm and consider
donating an auction prize.
HELPING HANDS MISSION
Please join us on July 30-August 14 as we do what we can to help the less
fortunate. Info at www.asianleaders.org/help.htm
ASIAN ACADEMY HALL OF FAME
Asian Leaders Association is now accepting applications for the Asian Academy
Hall of Fame to be held at the Olympic Stadium in Athens on November 14, 2005.
Please send email to info2@asianleaders.org to get an application form.
Lastly, here's the email address to get a useful idea to advance your business:
Get "20 Ways to Plan For Fun and Excitement at Your Next Event" by Tom
Antion.This year, we are attaching something useful for you to keep with each
issue of the newsletter. Send a blank email to whitepaper3@cimpa.org and type
"20 Tips" on the subject line. Enjoy!
All the best,
Andrea Sigler, PhD
and the CIMPA / ALA Team
_______________________
Please visit us at our talking websites:
http://www.cimpa.org
http://www.asianleaders.org
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