More than a Meeting
Creating an experience that gets people talking
Who's got time to go to boring meetings?
Most of us have been to more meetings than we can remember... because most meetings are easy to forget.
If you've experienced a life-changing meeting, chances are you can even remember where you were sitting.
We hear from professionals around the country that they are under stress like never before. Increasing productivity demands, time pressures, and burdensome regulatory requirements are squeezing the joy out of their work. Burnout is at an all-time high with the most common symptom being emotional exhaustion.
They come to your meeting beat up, bruised, and looking for something different. They are looking for an experience they can tell others about. They are looking for enthusiasm and hope.
The 3 Goals for Association Meetings
GOAL 1: Providing required credits
GOAL 2: Teaching new skills
GOAL 3: Creating a Shared Inspirational Experience
GOAL 1: Providing required credits
Some meetings are designed primarily to deliver required credits.
The Problem: Credits are available from a variety of sources including online. The content can be dry and boring. Engagement can be illusive and lasting change unlikely. Disengaged people don't enthusiastically spread the word so associations miss the opportunity to increase attendance the following year.
The Opportunity: Done right, live meetings can provide a level of engagement and enthusiasm that is impossible to find online. Live meetings provide a forum for better discussions with peers and an opportunity to improve retention.
GOAL 2: Teaching new skills
Some conferences are designed so people not only acquire credits, but learn new specific skill that they can apply when they return to work.
The Problem: Implementation can be variable. Without motivation to change, the skills quickly fade and, when they look back on the value of the meeting, participants report disappointing results.
The Opportunity: The best designed meetings address not only the skills, but the underlying motivation required to make lasting change. They provide a framework for implementation and focus on how to get the entire team on board.
GOAL 3: Creating a Shared Inspirational Experience
People talk about inspirational experiences. When participants tell others about them, others regret missing the meeting and make it a point to attend the following year.
The Challenge: Inspirational meetings only happen by design. When participants don't have an inspirational experience, they miss out on the opportunity to feel like they belong to something bigger than themselves. The association misses out on the opportunity to build loyalty, increase participation, and strengthen the voice of the organization.
The Opportunity: When participants attend a meeting that delivers a shared inspirational experience, it can be a pivotal event. The key is a SHARED experience: something that happens with a group of peers that inspires them to change. When people sense that they are part of something bigger than themselves, perceptions change, impact expands, and loyalty to the association grows. Members return to their organizations with an eagerness to tell others what they experienced.
Here's the key
Meeting planners want to create experiences that get people talking. The problem is that people are distracted. Meticulously crafted storytelling captures the hearts of participants because it awakens their emotions and drives engagement. Which means that the way to get people talking is to move beyond talking heads and bullet points to design an experience that engages both their emotions and their brain. How do we do that? By embedding clear content into captivating stories that speak to the heart.
Keynote Description
“I was, quite simply, on the edge of my seat during the entire talk.”
AVP Pediatrics & Obstetrics, HCA
Forged in the trenches of some of the greatest international disasters of our time, Dr. Diamond’s insights equip healthcare professionals to overcome tremendous pressure and make an impact when it matters most.
With jaw dropping stories from the global disaster scene, Dr. Diamond's keynotes reveal the mind-shift that occurs before people become burned out. With the right mindset and trench-tested tools, people renew their passion, roll up their sleeves, and make a difference that impacts teams and transforms culture. Without the right mindset, programs and policies will not lead to lasting change. It used to be all about resilience. Now it is all about unstoppable performance based on the Thriver’s Mindset .
Participants come away with
A shared inspirational experience.
Practical tools to avoid burnout and stay engaged despite tremendous pressure.
Insights how to transform “victim” team members into fully engaged and productive team members.
The mindset that will equip teams to create a culture of heroes.
A renewed commitment to stop blaming and take ownership.
New insights that strengthen the junctions between teams and transform culture.
Dan Diamond, MD
Learn to excel under extreme pressure from someone who has led teams into some of the most intense international disasters of our time. Dr. Dan Diamond came back from the trenches of Katrina with a burning question: “How is it that some people become unstoppable?” What he has discovered drives motivation, increases engagement and empowers healthcare organizations from the inside out. He is the author of Beyond Resilience: Trench Tested Tools to Thrive Under Pressure.
Dr. Diamond has a passion for equipping people to perform under pressure. He has responded to a variety of international disasters. Most recently he responded to the typhoon in the Philippines and he served as the Medical Director for Medical Teams International’s First Response Team to Haiti. Following Hurricane Katrina, he played a strategic role as Director of the Mass Casualty Triage Unit at the New Orleans Convention Center. He has been interviewed on CNN, Larry King Live and Anderson Cooper. He is a member of the National Speakers Association and the Past-President of NSA Northwest.
What others are saying:
“You wowed the group. We are still debriefing from your work with us. I feel so energized – even more than before and excited about our future. I think a follow-up group session with you would be great ”
-- Jennifer Gorman, MD Chief of Subspecialty Medicine, The Polyclinic
“Dr. Diamond captivates audiences of any size with his spot-on insights, humor, and contagious enthusiasm. I would highly recommend him as a speaker… His talks are insightful, solution-oriented, and empower the audience to take action.”
-- Meredith Abreu Ressi, President, Manhattan Research
From start (when he answered the phone rather than an assistant) to finish (a spectacular presentation), Dan was a meeting planner's dream! Rather than give an "off the shelf" talk, Dan asked many questions in a sincere effort to get to know our group. He even interviewed three conference attendees before the program. The audience enjoyed and learned from his talk. He came as a speaker and left as a friend. Hire him! You won't be disappointed.
-- Kimberly Pierce-Boggs, Executive Director AIAMC
“I have twice had the pleasure of watching Dan speak. Each was in a different size venue with very different audience, but Dan was adept at tailoring his message for maximum engagement and impact. The first time I heard him speak, I thought about his talk for several days. Ultimately, I found his TED talk and shared it with family and friends. I subsequently booked Dan to do a keynote for our conference, and he exceeded our expectations!”
-- Katherine Matos, Senior Counsel, Health and Human Services/Office of the Inspector General
“I had the great fortune to hear Dan Diamond speak at a recent leadership seminar held at Providence Health Care. Dan is an extraordinary communicator, and his presentation inspired me to think differently, to have courage, and to confront problems in health care by challenging the way we might first consider issues. His toolkit of “Triage Thinking” filled with dynamic and provocative insights should be at the fingertips of all health care leaders desiring to make a profound and lasting difference. We are on the precipice of transforming health care in the most positive and revolutionary way, and results from Dan’s insights can be replicated with great success! Thank you for such a phenomenal experience!!”
-- Donna L. Radcliff MSN, RN, CDE, Regional Senior Director, Providence Health Care
“Dr. Dan Diamond… I mean, these are the heroes of this story… It`s the people on the ground who are here, who just said, You know what? I see a need. Let`s do it…. These are the people whose stories need to be told and, you know, sung from the rooftops.”
-- Anderson Cooper, CNN