There is magic among us......we just need to find it!

Have you ever wondered what you miss when you blink? On average, human beings blink approximately 15,000 times per day. Each blink lasts between 300 and 400 milliseconds (1000 milliseconds equals 1 second). I believe that in those mere milliseconds, those moments when our eyes are closed, we may miss out on magic!

During the 2012 GMIC Sustainable Meetings Conference, attendees were given the opportunity to participate in a new and innovative presentation format called Bl!nk™

What is 

Bl!nk™?

 An individual Bl!nk™ Presentation lasts for a minimum of 2 minutes and a maximum of 5 minutes. These are rapid-fire presentations meant to keep the audience engaged. High energy and fast moving!

The Bl!nk™ Presentations were “introduced so that we can get to know one another in different, meaningful ways and as a result, find connections that we didn’t know existed. These presentations are about what we miss, about discovering the magic among us”.

Created by Judy Kucharuk, Green Meeting Specialist & Sustainability Consultant with Footprint Management Systems Inc. and Elizabeth Henderson, Chief Sustainability Strategist with Meeting Change, Bl!nk™ was developed as a way to engage Association membership in an exciting new way.

Kucharuk believes that, “through the passage of time, Associations may become predictable with their conference content and the membership can disengage”. Bl!nk™ was developed to:

·   Engage new members

·   Curate content

·   Discover connections

Engage New Members: Bl!nk™ provides an opportunity for new members to introduce themselves in a unique manner which may assist them with building relationships within the Association or Organization.

Curate Content: A Bl!nk™ presentation can become a way to curate new content for future conferences and education. Through the introduction of Bl!nk™ presentations, conference organizers can see which content creates the most buzz, the most conversation, the most “retweets”, providing valuable data when moving forward with future conferences or planning educational opportunities.

Discover Connections: A famous saying is, “we don’t know, what we don’t know” and Bl!nk™ presentations can assist with discovering connections that we didn’t know were there. There is magic among us!

At the 2012 GMIC Sustainable Meetings Conference, the Bl!nk™ presentation format was introduced to the membership.

I would like to thank the following individuals who came forward with funny, engaging, inspirational and informative Bl!nk™ presentations. My deepest gratitude.

• Danielle Adams @DNACSR: “Sustainable You”
• Adrian Segar @ASegar: “Torn About Tech”
• Mariela McIlwraith @meetingchange: “Germaphobe”
• Greg Ruby @gregruby: “Things that make me go hmmmmm”
• Julie Baylor @JulieBaylor: “Sustainability comes in all shapes & sizes”
• Wendy Scott: “The Dirty Laundry of Sustainable Site Selection”
• Mitchell Beer @mitchellbeer: Standards – The Aha Moment
• Elizabeth Henderson @ehenderson: “Ode on a Bedbug”

Thank you!


Judy

Got Bl!nk?

It is amazing what happens in airports….

Last November, two gals….let’s call them Elizabeth and Judy, were sitting in the Vancouver Airport having a wee bite to eat before catching their respective flights home. They had each attended EventCamp Vancouver ECV11 and were both still glittering (a la Edward Cullen of Twilight) from the experience.

EventCamp is about experiencing new things; having the freedom to try new things in a safe environment, and as a result it had created an exciting thought pattern. Let’s just say that the synapses were firing on all cylinders.

Ideas were flying fast and furious in amongst bites of food (and yes…there may or may not have been wine….) and as they parted to walk to their departure gates, it was agreed, “Let’s talk about this some more…”.

Fast forward to the new year and Judy gets an email from Elizabeth, “So….let’s talk more about that great idea”.

And so we did and…..

Bl!nk was born.

Blink – To close and open one or both of the eyes rapidly.

A blink of an eye takes 300-400 milliseconds…or about 1/3 of a second. Think about it….33 percent of that second is given over to complete blindness (eek!)

We….as humans…blink an average of 15,000 times per day, which means that we have our eyes closed for approximately 5,250,000 milliseconds per day (seriously? Wow!)…which calculates to 5,250 seconds per day.

Blah, blah, blah…I know…I am getting to my point

Based on my mathematical calculations using an extremely sharp pencil and the Google search engine, this means that, on average, we (humans) spend over an hour each day blinking.

Really?

Honestly?

That’s wild isn’t it!

So……my question to each and every one of you is…

“Do you ever wonder what you miss?”

New for the 2012 GMIC Sustainable Meetings Conference! Bl!nk Presentations have been introduced. These rapid fire presentations lasting between 2 minutes and 5 minutes will be threaded together through the use of Weavers (no yarn will be harmed by using Weavers).

The Bl!nk Presentations have been introduced so that we can get to know one another in different, meaningful ways and as a result, find connections that we didn’t know existed. These presentations are about what we miss…what we don’t see!

Are you attending the GMIC Sustainable Meetings Conference? If so…perhaps I can interest you in a Bl!nk Presentation.

We are looking for those who are willing to share some “magic”. Share something about yourself: what inspires you, what you are passionate about. Excite us with stories of your success; empower us with stories of overcoming adversity; all in the realm of sustainable meetings and events of course!

The format is as follows:

Single presentations lasting between 2 minutes and 5 minutes; the use of power-point and video may be used to support the presentations.

The session(s) will be high energy and fast moving!

So…..are you interested? Click here to link to the GMIC Sustainable Meetings Conference website to read more about how you can participate in Bl!nk.

Hurry! Deadline is approaching.

Judy