education sessions offered at the PCMA 50th Annual Meeting in Philadelphia proved to be more diverse than ever. Topics included everything from new technologies and international meeting management to multicultural issues. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, a special plenary session was added to address concerns about crisis management and emergency preparedness that had resurfaced in the meetings industry.

Realizing that learning does not end when attendees leave a session, PCMA provided opportunities for attendees to informally "further the discussion" with each other. Enter "conversation pods" - another one of the Meetings Xperiments tried by PCMA at the 2006 annual meeting.

What is a conversation pod? Throughout the convention center, PCMA placed pods of soft furniture with signage encouraging attendees to congregate and discuss the educational topics presented that day, or other pressing industry matters. The intent was to provide a relaxed and open forum for attendees to share all of the burning issues still on their minds following the close of an educational session.

Did the pods produce?

All of the attendees who took advantage of the randomly placed pods agreed they encouraged beneficial conversation. "A great place to relax and network with other attendees," was one participant's take. The only complaint: The conversation pods could have been positioned more conveniently and made more obvious. "[The pods] were great, but a little out of the way," commented one participant.

And while most of the meeting attendees do not currently implement conversation pods at their own meetings or trade shows, many participants responded that they would consider trying it. "I think it's conducive to continuing the discussion, learning from peers, and networking," expressed one attendee. "I think people would enjoy the networking environment," predicted another.

For those who thought that the pods wouldn't work at their own events, limited space was given as the main stumbling block. One participant, who seems to know her group all too well, was skeptical for a completely different reason: "My group gravitates towards the bar!" she wrote.

So even though some participants weren't sold on integrating the informal conversation areas at their own meetings, all appreciated the ultimate purpose of the experiment. "I love the way PCMA continually tries to reinvent itself," was one enthusiastic review. "It is helpful in making me think of the way I do things at my own meetings," summed up another.