{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"Meeting and Convention Bingo Card","description":"On this week\u2019s Keepin It Real, Cam\u2019s on his way home from a conference. He began making notes a few days ago about what his years and years of attending conferences has taught him. A bingo card might be fun, he says.  ----- I speak at few dozen conferences each year. My audiences are the same \u2013 thinning brown haired, slightly overweight, middle aged white guys dominate each room. These are my people. I\u2019ve learned how they like my content delivered and I do it for them each time. If I do it well, it may get me invited back. After twenty plus years, I\u2019ve seen hundreds of events, and  I\u2019ve identified some meeting and convention themes that have become entirely predictable and that resonate with my people. First \u2013 Classic rock music. It will be played as people file in on day one, during every break, and after the final keynote. It will be vanilla classic rock. Nothing too loud, nothing too rebellious. You will certainly hear \u201cRight Now\u201d by Van Halen at least once and see the thinning haired men mouthing \u201cRight Now\u201d along with Sammy Hagar, thinking they\u2019re invisible. Maybe a flash of air guitar on their thigh. You\u2019ll also hear \u201cCan\u2019t Stop the Feeling,\u201d \u201cUptown Funk,\u201d and \u201cHappy.\u201d \u201cI Got A Feeling\u201d by the Black Eyed Peas will close out day one. Count on it. Second \u2013 At least one keynoter will deliver a lesson reminding us that children are born full of curiosity only to have adults and formal schooling beat it out of them. \u201cWhy do we do this to children?\u201d they\u2019ll always ask. \u201cWhy can\u2019t we grow kid\u2019s curiosity instead of take it away?\u201d My people will nod. This content shows up at least once in every conference, guaranteed. Third \u2013 Multiple speakers will give examples of how Apple Computer does things differently. Of how Apple sees the world differently. On how Apple\u2019s competitors didn\u2019t see the iPhone coming but the evidence was everywhere. Lots and lots of references to Apple and Apple products. The speaker will extrapolate some sort of grand lesson from Apple. Count on it. Fourth \u2013 80% of presentations will use the word \u201cdisruption.\u201d It\u2019s become the meeting and convention word of the century. Someone will tell of Blockbuster being disrupted by Netflix with PowerPoint slides showing the Blockbuster logo. Of Kodak being disrupted by digital cameras, with a slide showing Kodak film next to an iPhone. Count on this, too. Last \u2013 there will at least one mention of Warren Buffett and his investing philosophy and how his philosophy applies to much more than investing.  None of my people would dare contradict a Buffett pearl of wisdom. Speakers know quoting Buffett will get lots of thinning brown-haired heads nodding. It\u2019s unimpeachable content. I\u2019ve daydreamed of making a Meeting and Convention Bingo cards with squares filled with song titles, predictable Apple stories, predictable disruption stories, and the center square being \u201cHow is everyone today? I didn\u2019t hear you! HOW IS EVERYONE TODAY?\u201d I\u2019d pass them out at one of my conferences. They\u2019d get some laughs. And I\u2019d never ever ever ever be invited back. I\u2019m Cam Marston, just trying to keep it real. ","author_name":"Keepin' It Real with Cam Marston","author_url":"https:\/\/cammarston.com\/keepin-it-real-with-cam-marston\/","html":"