Throw us your roundtable ideas...
- Thread starter Kristie
- Start date
n57flyguy
Well-Known Member
Me too!
I tend to agree, and like you mentioned...
I guess I was just posting aloud, thinking about somethings I know people around my age struggle with while pursuing an aviation career, including myself.
Bumblebee
Commodore
You know, I was thinking about a hybrid of the suggestions previously posted. We should have a big roundtable/seminar type session, then have the different subjects that folks want to talk about in smaller sessions. We could get a preliminary idea in a poll as to who wants to attend which of the smaller roundatbles, and then schedule the sessions and the rooms. Then we could allow up to capacity for each session . . .:yar:
Seggy
Well-Known Member
I really really really think we should avoid dividing it up into smaller groups period.
Say someone hears something that they want to talk more about from a presenter during the big meeting. Why force them to be torn on making a choice between two of the smaller sessions?
Honestly, people are just going to need to ask questions. I understand group settings can be extremely intimidating, but we have all had intimidating situations in this career. It is part of it! We can have an anonymous question drop box or something like that. Have to who the question is for and have that person answer the question if one wants to remain anonymous.
I don't want smaller groups furthermore to make sure everyone out there understands everyone has important things to say, and if no one will be criticized in what they say in person, it can hopefully make one feel at ease with what they want to write their thoughts online.
Say someone hears something that they want to talk more about from a presenter during the big meeting. Why force them to be torn on making a choice between two of the smaller sessions?
Honestly, people are just going to need to ask questions. I understand group settings can be extremely intimidating, but we have all had intimidating situations in this career. It is part of it! We can have an anonymous question drop box or something like that. Have to who the question is for and have that person answer the question if one wants to remain anonymous.
I don't want smaller groups furthermore to make sure everyone out there understands everyone has important things to say, and if no one will be criticized in what they say in person, it can hopefully make one feel at ease with what they want to write their thoughts online.
Bumblebee
Commodore
I understand your concerns about folks feeling intimidated by larger groups, and I'm sure we can alleviate that with the tone we set. My feeling about having some smaller groups is that we can cover certain topics in more detail with the appropriate group. We should have a large session, but not let that preclude us from having a couple, to a few, smaller sessions that could really get deep into just one of the subjects matter.
BobDDuck
Island Bus Driver
Here's my thought (and this has been communicated via PM to some already).
One round table session. Doesn't matter how many people we have, as long as they can fit in the room.
Have a list of about 15 topics with knowledgeable people prepared to speak for about 5 minutes about a certain topic.
Person talks for 5 minutes. Moderator asks a question about it to the group. Somebody responds. Conversation gets going.
Move on to the next topic if it starts to drag, goes a certain amount of time, or gets off topic.
If we get through all 15 topics, great. If not, oh well.
The original intent of this (last year) was to provide a forum where people could ask questions of people who are currently in positions the questioners want to be in. Or think they may want to be in. By a moderated group format with everybody in one place, I think we can best achieve this goal.
Also, I think keeping the group as one follows the format of the web forum but puts it in real time. Which is sort of cool.
What do ya'll think about that?
One round table session. Doesn't matter how many people we have, as long as they can fit in the room.
Have a list of about 15 topics with knowledgeable people prepared to speak for about 5 minutes about a certain topic.
Person talks for 5 minutes. Moderator asks a question about it to the group. Somebody responds. Conversation gets going.
Move on to the next topic if it starts to drag, goes a certain amount of time, or gets off topic.
If we get through all 15 topics, great. If not, oh well.
The original intent of this (last year) was to provide a forum where people could ask questions of people who are currently in positions the questioners want to be in. Or think they may want to be in. By a moderated group format with everybody in one place, I think we can best achieve this goal.
Also, I think keeping the group as one follows the format of the web forum but puts it in real time. Which is sort of cool.
What do ya'll think about that?
Bumblebee
Commodore
I love having the large roundtable session, my only concern is that if we limit it to the one session, we will not be able to cover any issues in depth.
what if we were to call the large group session a Q&A session....and then have roundtables/focus groups off of the Q&A session that go into more detail about certain Q&A topics that came up?
we could have a panel of folks that could answer specific questions...
really, a "roundtable" is supposed to be small, topic oriented discussion among all participants...similar to a "breakout" session.
keep in mind that we really don't have money for microphones and that type of thing...we'd have to grab that scratch up from somewhere if we really need it.
we could have a panel of folks that could answer specific questions...
really, a "roundtable" is supposed to be small, topic oriented discussion among all participants...similar to a "breakout" session.
keep in mind that we really don't have money for microphones and that type of thing...we'd have to grab that scratch up from somewhere if we really need it.
You don't get any mics and stuff with the meeting rental? That seems a little odd, but possible I suppose.
Bumblebee
Commodore
I have a wireless mic rig (small enough to throw in a bag) I bet Sean could hook us up with a small powered speaker (depending on the room) and even a little mixer.
Seggy
Well-Known Member
This is what should be done. I nominate you as the moderator!
If an attendee wants to go into depth about a certain issue they can take notes and it would be their responsibility to seek out more information about it. Whether it be from the presenter, ask a question on here, or research it themselves.
I think we should just call in 'Rountable Sessions-JC Style'
There is a ton of information out there in this industry. I know Ethan can moderate this to have a discussion among those attending. If one wants more information they will need to find a way to get it themselves! Might force them to walk up to someone about a point and network when they might have not!
I think we should really give it a try. What is the worse thing that can happen? Last year quite frankly, we just winged it and it was very informative and helpful.
We have a baseline let us think outside of the box and maybe try it this way. If it doesn't work we can try something else in 2009!
My opinion.
BobDDuck
Island Bus Driver
The difference in opinion I am seeing relates to the depth of information we are trying to provide. On one hand it would be nice to allow everybody to see/hear/participate in everything. On the other hand it would be great to allow people to get into in depth discussions about specific topics that interest them.
My personal preference (and this pertains to the fact that I am much more of a big picture person) is to go with the more general, moderated Q&A with a focus on several (read: 5-10) topics with the possibility of more if stuff moves along quickly. I fully agree that people may lose interest in somethings so time management will be critical. Obviously certain topics are going to be more interesting for some then others and that is certainly something we will have to work around.
The problem I see (for me personally anyways) is if we break out into small groups of 10-20 there may be multiple sessions I want to participate in but because this will all be happening at the same time I will have to chose which one I want to attend, or it may be decided with a certain work group filling up (how do we decide who gets to go to what? Site Seniority?)
A possibility (and I don't know how the master schedule is coming together) is to have the Q&A session as one of the first events and then schedule a few "focus group" meetings over the next day or so that people can sign up to attend if that subject interests them. I can see this for something like "unions" and "training study habits" and maybe "CRM". If they aren't scheduled for conflicting times people can go to multiple ones but they can also me limited to a workable number by a first come first serve sign up.
Again, that is depending on space available and how we can work around other events.
I'd be happy to moderate, but I think Mark's faith in my skillz might be slightly misplaced
My personal preference (and this pertains to the fact that I am much more of a big picture person) is to go with the more general, moderated Q&A with a focus on several (read: 5-10) topics with the possibility of more if stuff moves along quickly. I fully agree that people may lose interest in somethings so time management will be critical. Obviously certain topics are going to be more interesting for some then others and that is certainly something we will have to work around.
The problem I see (for me personally anyways) is if we break out into small groups of 10-20 there may be multiple sessions I want to participate in but because this will all be happening at the same time I will have to chose which one I want to attend, or it may be decided with a certain work group filling up (how do we decide who gets to go to what? Site Seniority?)
A possibility (and I don't know how the master schedule is coming together) is to have the Q&A session as one of the first events and then schedule a few "focus group" meetings over the next day or so that people can sign up to attend if that subject interests them. I can see this for something like "unions" and "training study habits" and maybe "CRM". If they aren't scheduled for conflicting times people can go to multiple ones but they can also me limited to a workable number by a first come first serve sign up.
Again, that is depending on space available and how we can work around other events.
I'd be happy to moderate, but I think Mark's faith in my skillz might be slightly misplaced
we only have 2 rooms. one large, one small. I figured the focus groups would be by "first come, first serve" sign-in sheet. just like we did last year. We'd put the sign up sheets out 2-4 weeks in advance.
could have the Q&A session from 10-12 on Monday with focus groups later in the afternoon (in the small room) to expand on the QA session....that way, we can hold the recruiting event on monday afternoon in the big room.
there's always going to be sessions that you'll have to choose from. There are a ton of sessions that i'd like to go to at my APA conference but i can't be two places at once. that's just how most conferences go. it's a matter of trying to offer something for everyone all the time.
We could also hold another QA session on Tuesday morning or more focus groups.. and then have the guest speaker in the afternoon. with NJC that evening.
BobDDuck
Island Bus Driver
How much time are you giving to the recruiting event?
I like that idea of having the Q&A from 10-12ish, break for lunch if people want and then have some focus groups in the early afternoon (2-4?) with the recruiting event 3-5 or 6? I guess if the groups want to meet again, then they have all morning Tuesday.
When is the celebrity speaker making his appearance? Also, what (if any) tours do we have set up? I know this is veering the thread off topic a bit, but things I'd like to do: throw the hike in on Sunday morning or early afternoon, and a trip to Hoover Damn on Tuesday morning (back in PLENTY of time for the main event Tuesday night).
We don't have a set schedule yet but 2 hrs worked pretty well last year.
we don't have any tours set up as of yet. we're still VERY preliminary.
We don't have any meeting space on Sunday... so really, Sunday or EARLY mornings would be the best time for the tours
we don't have any tours set up as of yet. we're still VERY preliminary.
We don't have any meeting space on Sunday... so really, Sunday or EARLY mornings would be the best time for the tours