Problem Analysis Convention & Meeting Management

Overall my observation of the SWVS was very good. From the beginning stages it was interesting to see how everything came together. The first meeting that was held back in August between the hotel staff and the SWVS staff was informative and left me with many questions as to how the event would turn out. I was amazed at the transformation of the hotel and exhibit hall the day before the event. I found that the hotel staff was very helpful and that all the attendees were well taken care of. I stayed at the hotel which was a great experience. I was able to get a feel for what the attendees were experiencing.

The first day was an early one meeting with the SWVS and hotel staff at 7am. I think this was the first time I realized how large this convention really was. My first assignment was to work at the registration booth on the fist floor. This was to be many of my locations to come. Registration was quite an undertaking to say the least. Most attendees had preregistered online or by mail. The packets that were handed out had all the tickets to the events as well as schedules. There were a few mistakes on the name badges and caused some confusion. That takes me to my next assignment in the staff office to reprint and run the badges back to the registration area. I think that next year there should be a name badge booth located next to registration. I went around helping out in other areas as needed and overall the day was long but I learned a great deal.

The second day I worked on the exhibit floor and see how all the hard work pays off. Most of the booths were occupied on the floor. I was amazed at the detail that each of the exhibitors spent on the images and handout information. I continued throughout the afternoon talking to the exhibitors and checking with my fellow students on their progress. My last assignment was to go to the Texas Ballroom and see how the room was to be set up for the gala. It was informative to watch the transformation that too place in a matter of 6 hours. I opted out this evening to take some time away but spoke with everyone and they said it was a successfully evening.

Day three was the final day. Last minute lectures and exhibitors. I went back to working in many of the same areas again. Made time to do my interviews with the exhibitors and find out their thoughts and options about the conference. Around 2 pm this afternoon things were winding down there was a sense that it was time to go. I was in awe of how quickly the exhibit floor was going away and people were packing up.

Strengths of the conference were the fact there were always enough staff