When you want to learn about a venue or location, or you'd like the latest on trends, ask a meeting or event planner. They are paid to know. They are also trained to understand how to quickly and accurately find out what they don't know, and what clients need to know.

Annually, meetings contribute more than C$70 billion to the Canadian economy, so the professionals involved must be effective at what they do.

Every community has meeting and event planners who understand what's happening locally, and how to make things happen locally and beyond. However, these knowledgeable professionals can remain under-utilized resources for two key reasons:

• Businesses, governments, nonprofits, and citizens believe organizing meetings and events is a "no brainer". To prove themselves wrong, they achieve less, and spend more time, energy, and resources than necessary.

• Meetings have earned a reputation—largely because of the previous point—for being a waste of time, and so strategic advantages and actionable results are not standard expected outcomes—yet they should be.

Recall the variety of 2010 meetings held in your community and for your business. Some that directed actions, but others that reinforced inaction, and many that overshadowed activities and opportunities in one way or another. Could these meetings and events have been more effective, and produced more actionable results or innovative outcomes? Have citizens united to bring a message to City Hall, but had their voices lost in the drone of "we've always done it this way" political rhetoric? As we move into the "teen" years of the 21st Century, aren't we long overdue for improvements to communication that are inline with what technology leads us to believe it enables? What local resources are being overlooked in raising the public voice and tapping into evolving resources, online and off?

When Stephen Dempsey, Publisher and Editor of Meetings & Incentive Travel magazine and General Manager, Conferences and Events for Rogers Business and Professional Publishing, told the audience of meeting professionals at Canada's Meeting + Events Show IncentiveWorks 2010, "Next year it won't be binders, but iPads," there were a lot of nodding heads. The audience knew—for too many reasons to list here—that the program binders full of 2010 paper will give way to multi-tasking tablets chocked full of 2011 digital info.

Meeting professionals have to think ahead of their audiences and event sponsors. They cannot merely trot along, following trends as many businesses, professionals, governments, and consumers do.

Dempsey went on to stress that "technology must be part of meeting DNA, as it is part of audience DNA," referring to how technology must be integrated into meetings, in a manner similar to the ways it is in the lives and businesses of conference participants.

Was social media created for meeting professionals, or perhaps, by them? There's no doubt that bringing people together, and firing up thinking and discussion are key aims of these professionals and key outcomes of social media. The Meeting Industry will lead the integration of technology and face-to-face interaction to preserve its own relevance. For this and other significant reasons, if you want change and communication in your community, search out meeting and event planners for practical inspiration.

Meeting professionals know how to make a location seem important by building relevance. They can take trends in one sector, and translate them into opportunities in another. For instance, trends in travel can be reflected in your community:

• The cruise ship trend of moving from huge floating cities to intimate luxury yachts, mirrors a similar opportunity to move meetings and events, when physically possible, from standard "big city" venues to smaller more unusual venues. That is, from large scale conferences, to regional meetings reinforced by what's special about your location.

• The trend toward recreating what people typically travel distances to see has Las Vegas and Beijing hosting re-constructed wonders of the world. What ideas does that trend, turned on its end, flipped over, or viewed in hindsight, inspire about your region? What is, or could be, a surprise for visitors?

• Considerably more than half of internet access occurs through cell phones and mobile devices. Therefore, speed, clarity, relevance, and organization are now key aspects for websites and blogs. Online meetings, including teleseminars and webinars, bring hundreds together across great distances for collaboration on a common interest. Would a virtual meeting make your point?

• The trend toward recycling and re-purposing should allow great insight into combining traditionally-separate events and conferences, or apparently- differing viewpoints. Which two or three smaller events or causes, could be merged for greater-that-the-sum-of-the-whole impact? Could two communities join forces for improved returns and higher profiles for both?

Meeting and event planners think ahead, by definition. They budget carefully, and automatically include contingency planning, so the unexpected turns into opportunity not disaster. They visualize the meeting or event as a success, and reverse engineer to ensure all possible scenarios and outcomes lead to maximized returns and minimized problems. That process and philosophy can do wonders for municipal and neighbourhood projects.

Meeting planners know that face-to-face meetings hold great value in productivity and creativity. This knowledge is compounded by a shift toward smaller meetings and more localized events. Consequently, there may be more opportunities for your community in purposeful local meetings and in hosting the meetings of others, than have been evident for a while. Lay out the welcome mat, loudly and brightly, online and off, to demonstrate clear intent to bring people together.

For instance, each year in this century has had one special palindrome date. That is not a date set by Sarah Palin, but a date that reads the same in both directions. When that date arrives, it's a big deal, but only those who planned ahead gain advantage. What will you arrange to make an important point for and with your community on this year's special forward-&-backward date of 11-11-11-11-11-11? That's the 11th second of the 11th minute of the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 2011. What meeting or event could move things ahead for your neighbours—citizens and businesses?

Unless you think beyond what has been done, you'll never see what could be achieved. "We've always done it this way" thinking got us here, but what will it take to get us out of here, and on with the future?

Published: December 28, 2010

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Futurist and Strategist PJ Wade is "The Catalyst" - intent on "Challenging The Best to Become Even Better." PJ earned this title by translating the dynamic impact of Boomers and their multi-generation families into relevant insights that start people thinking and taking action—in business and in life. Author of 8 books and more than 1800 published articles, PJ encourages individuals to become their own futurist. PJ writes and speaks about the insight, knowledge and solid decision-making skills that professionals and their clients need to live and work in this vortex of change. For instance, since PJ knows that home is headquarters for the new decades-long "unretirement," she wrote the popular book "Reverse Mortgages: Best Friend, Worst Enemy...Your Choice!", which is filled with suggestions and cautions on protecting, building and managing home equity. Her new business book, "What's Your Point?: Cut The Crap, Hit The Mark & Stick!" will be published in 2012. As The Catalyst, PJ provides strategic communication, client appreciation and advanced education services to the financial, tourism, lifestyle and service sectors - and the clients they serve. A frequently-quoted financial and business commentator, PJ is a thought-provoking strategic speaker who offers practical, real-life suggestions on leaving "the box" behind and embracing Forward Thinking - a talent she regularly demonstrates in this column. For more on keynotes, blogs, books and information on a range of 21st-Century topics, visit TheCatalyst.com.