It is a well-known axiom among educators that different
people learn in different ways. That’s why when you put together a program, you
include a variety of different types of learning mechanisms. Alas, this is not
a lesson that has been learned by the National Investor Relations Institute.
Last month I journeyed to Seattle to attend the NIRI Annual
Conference. I had not attended the annual conference in several years and was
hoping to get updated on the latest developments in the profession. What I was treated
to was two and one half days of unremitting panel discussions. Not only that,
but most of the panel discussions featured speakers that were subject matter
experts in fields other than investor relations, so that we were hearing from
them about specialized topics as they might relate to IR. The amount of
coordination and preparation by and among the panelists appeared to be patchy
at best. There may have been good information in there, but after the first
couple of panel discussions I had gone numb.
Contrast this with TED Talks (http://www.ted.com/).
If you’ve ever seen a speaker at TED, you know a.) They are passionate about
their subject, and b.) They are committed to giving the talk of their lives in
18 minutes or less. The result is consistently fascinating information
delivered in a riveting fashion. Why can’t NIRI, an organization of
professional communicators, come up with a way to be as interesting? For
communicators, a conference full of panel discussions is the equivalent of
going to a decorators’ convention and seeing everything painted white.
So here’s a modest suggestion for the NIRI national
conference: Put out a call to members of the profession for presentations, no
more than 15 minutes in length, about something they do that is unique,
different or best in class related to IR. The best presentations would then be
featured at the NIRI National conference in front of their peers. Talk about a
chance to shine and be recognized as one of the best in your profession. At the
same time best practices would be shared in an entertaining format.
But it’s not just about sitting passively and listening to
people talk. People learn by doing as well. Interactive learning through case
studies is a great way for people to work with concepts in real life
situations. The Houston NIRI chapter has successfully used case studies at the
last two Southwest regional conferences they’ve organized and even received
awards from NIRI for them. So when the Houston chapter offered to put on a case
study at this year’s national conference, you would have thought that NIRI
would feature it as a great change of pace and a different way to impart
information. Instead, NIRI put the case study as an optional workshop after the
main conference had ended. I was participating in the case study and even I was
ready to go home by the time the case study started. As a result of the
scheduling, only 30 people out of the 1,300 that attended the conference stayed
around for the case study. Talk about the waste of a learning opportunity.
I have been making presentations for more than 30 years and
have taught in business school for 5 years, and one thing I’ve learned is that
people will remember things if you make it interesting and memorable. I hope that
NIRI learns the same lesson before the next annual conference.
Posts
