Beauty and the Beast

You know how the fable ends, right? Beauty loves Beast despite his outward appearance. Happily ever after and such. I was thinking about this beauty-in-the-beastly concept today when I challenged myself to reread the Annual Meeting evaluations from the past three years.

I did this knowing that I would be proud of the Annual Meeting team and the ways they have responded to your feedback for 2008, and that I would be reminded of some beastly things as well: the suggestions we can't quite bring to life just yet, or the comment that reminds me that I didn't do as well with communication or transparency or education as I could have in my role that particular year.

There are two things I can promise you about AM evaluations:

1. We listen.

The AMPT reads, reviews and reflects on the evaluations meeting attendees submit. Thank you for your thoughts in the past. Please, when the time comes, share them again (go ahead and mark your calendar for the week after the Annual Meeting).

2. You can't please all of the people all of the time.

We want to; I assure you we do. But as my husband says, when I want the new bag or the new shoes I found at Nordstrom (not on the sale rack...), "it's a dot edu business you're in, Ryan." Many others can back up my claim that I would love to have the the shiniest and the fanciest that convention planning has to offer. I may or may not have asked about linen napkins for the closing banquet that match the logo colors - this is how I think, people.

I point all of that out because the beauty of the evaluation is that we can improve in the ways that you want; some of the best ideas and suggestions that frame the AM experience come from them. Then there's the beast: some feedback - even great feedback - doesn't feel good to get, and even some of the best of it ends up on the cutting room floor.

This week I'm dedicating the blog to AM evaluations - each day I am committed to providing a snippet from recent evaluations to share with you how we have, or haven't, acted on them during the 2008 planning. And to tell you why.

My hope is that you'll learn a little more about what's in store, you'll see our commitment to transparency, and I can brag a little bit about the great things your Annual Meeting team has accomplished.