This was my second year to attend the NSCA Business & Leadership Conference so I thought I knew what to expect.
Yes, the networking was great and I’ll get to that.
What I was taken by surprise by was the level of speakers and what I’m taking back to my day job from the event.
Handle People Differently
Both Liz Wiseman and Edgar Papke spoke about how you deal with your people in different ways. For me it came down to treating them like people and not “resources” as is the popular thing to do in business.
Captain Mike Abrashoff talked about getting to know your people, finding out what makes motivates them, and working for them. We need those folks to do their best and we need to allow them to do so.
Liz Wiseman talked about being a “multiplier” and not a “diminisher” (even accidentally). This means creating an environment where those around you have the ability to be smarter, better, and faster. This is a concept I am taking back on Monday.
Networking Nirvana
Over the course of the last twelve months I have had the opportunity to attend a number of leadership events. The NSCA creates an environment where both young up and coming leaders can mingle with the elder statesmen of the industry.
There were Millennials as well as Baby Boomers and, of course, us Gen Xers were hanging around as well. It was a great cross section of talent.
The NSCA Team
I really cannot say enough of Katie, Nick, Rachel, and everyone at NSCA. They work very hard to pull off a great event. Even with their hard work, sometimes things happen. When they do, the ringleader of them all, Chuck Wilson, steps up and makes things right.
As Mike Abrashoff said on Saturday “your ship is never going to be perfect,” but even when it’s pouring down rain in Tampa, Chuck and his team figure out a way to make sure the event goes on.
The bottom line for this director of operations is that the NSCA BLC is time and money well spent. There were 23 Randy Vaughan award winners which are scholarships to the event. This gave an infusion of youth that is lacking in some of the past years.
There were also WAVE (Women in AV) award winners and women in AV who came on their own. According to NSCA, the audience was made up of about thirty percent female.
Overall, I am taking away some great ideas, new relationships, and wonderful contacts back to Innovad. Plan on attending the 2016 event and I will see you there.
