Meeting Support Institute Brown's movements and Bill Clinton.
Posted February 17th, 2008 by maarten.vanneste
At my fathers 75th birthday Paul Lewi, one of my parents’ long time friends introduced me to Brown’s movement. In chemistry, Brown’s movement is known as the movement of single molecules amongst other molecules. Albert Einstein described this phenomenon in 1905 and that got him a Nobel prize. A single molecule in a glass of water is at a given moment at the bottom of a glass and a minute later it has moved by itself to the surface, no stirring needed. All chemical reactions are a result of these movements of molecules. Because they constantly move around, there is a constant colliding that, if different chemical compounds are mixed, can lead to a chemical reaction. Translating molecules to conference participants, we have a powerful metaphor for conference networking. There are two main techniques to influence the speed of a chemical process, in other words, to influence the amount of movement and ultimately the amount of chemical reaction.
The pressure cooker
As in chemistry, the more bodies move, the more chance they have for a reaction; the more participants move, the more chance they collide in and the more chance there is for a reaction or a connection to take place. To make molecules move more one can use the ‘pressure cooker’. Increasing temperature and pressure, makes molecules move more. The more they move the more they collide and more chemical reaction takes place.
The question we have to address in meetings and conferences is how to increase the heat and pressure so our molecules: the participants move more and as a result, connect more, aka networking. Think about games, surveying, storytelling best practices etc. a thousand different things you can imagine or find to increase the pressure to help you molecules to collide.
The catalyst
In chemistry, a catalyst is a third component you add to a mix of elements in order to speed up reaction between elements. Usually, very little of that catalyst is needed to get a significant increase in reaction. This is only a small amount, mainly because the catalyst is not part of the reaction; it is not consumed during reaction. A catalyst only stimulates reaction and is not utilized by it.
Again we can transpose this technique to meetings and ask the question: What or probably better who is a catalyst for networking at meetings? How can we get some of that catalyst into our participant population to increase this invaluable result of meetings and conferences called Networking?
What if you use a meeting concept like speed dating (a conceptual tool) to increase the pressure. What if your catalyst is a bunch of facilitators (the Human Tool) that break into clicks or introduce single individuals randomly? How about using the co-creation of a painting (an Art tool) to make more likeminded people meet. How about installing more salons or coffee bars in the lobby, or themed flipcharts (technical tools) to make people meet. Make sure you also look for technology in networking since a few portable devices, electronic badges, mobile phone and RFID applications (technology tools) are available on the market.
Conference organisers should look at their conferences as were it Erlenmeyers that contain participants amongst which networking happens as chemical reactions. Turning up the heat and pressure and adding some catalyst can influence the results dramatically.
Bumping into Bill.
Paul Lewi continued to share his experiences as he saw me getting fired up by his teachings of Brown’s movements. Paul is a lifelong practitioner of fundamental research, a drug designer, experiment planner, statistician, author of many articles and books and a visiting professor at the University of Leuven, Belgium. He has a special interest in AIDS and is involved in several amazing projects.
At the global AIDS conference a few years ago, Paul was one of many thousands of participants. The opening night, Bill Clinton was the Keynote Speaker and he addressed many topics of interest to the community of medical and pharmaceutical professionals. Paul enjoyed the presentation and remained seated. He has adopted the habit of remaining in the room when the session is over, just to see what happens. He does not rush of to his hotel or a dinner, but spends a few extra minutes to watch the ‘backstage’ people become ‘frontstage’ and observe the activities. In this instance, Bill Clinton remained in the room and did not seem to be leaving. Soon Paul found himself with three other AIDS specialists congratulating Mr Clinton with his presentation and discussing topics like the US financial effort on AIDS prevention in the developing world. They spend about half an hour before the former president was dragged away by his bodyguards, insisting he really had to leave now.
Paul was obviously impressed by this encounter and looks back at the balanced view and the charisma of this impressive and friendly personality. Obviously it is a rare occasion but simply by remaining in the ‘pressure cooker’ Paul now can look back at a unique experience that otherwise is sheer impossible to achieve.
Today, Paul is working on a project for AIDS prevention. Together with 3 individuals from other disciplines this new product is being developed in a shared IP (Intellectual Property) formula. Their end goal is a medicinal vaginal ring at a cost of one dollar a piece that immobilizes HIV in sperm.
His meeting with Bill Clinton certainly must give him energy to persist, and one day when real money is needed for large clinical trials, he has a connection to turn to.
Networking at conferences can sometimes take interesting turns, but one thing is sure, it is one of the most underestimated and under-researched unique characteristics of conferences.
At my fathers 75th birthday Paul Lewi, one of my parents’ long time friends introduced me to Brown’s movement. In chemistry, Brown’s movement is known as the movement of single molecules amongst other molecules. Albert Einstein described this phenomenon in 1905 and that got him a Nobel prize. A single molecule in a glass of water is at a given moment at the bottom of a glass and a minute later it has moved by itself to the surface, no stirring needed. All chemical reactions are a result of these movements of molecules. Because they constantly move around, there is a constant colliding that, if different chemical compounds are mixed, can lead to a chemical reaction. Translating molecules to conference participants, we have a powerful metaphor for conference networking. There are two main techniques to influence the speed of a chemical process, in other words, to influence the amount of movement and ultimately the amount of chemical reaction. The pressure cooker
As in chemistry, the more bodies move, the more chance they have for a reaction; the more participants move, the more chance they collide in and the more chance there is for a reaction or a connection to take place. To make molecules move more one can use the ‘pressure cooker’. Increasing temperature and pressure, makes molecules move more. The more they move the more they collide and more chemical reaction takes place.
The question we have to address in meetings and conferences is how to increase the heat and pressure so our molecules: the participants move more and as a result, connect more, aka networking. Think about games, surveying, storytelling best practices etc. a thousand different things you can imagine or find to increase the pressure to help you molecules to collide.
The catalyst
In chemistry, a catalyst is a third component you add to a mix of elements in order to speed up reaction between elements. Usually, very little of that catalyst is needed to get a significant increase in reaction. This is only a small amount, mainly because the catalyst is not part of the reaction; it is not consumed during reaction. A catalyst only stimulates reaction and is not utilized by it.
Again we can transpose this technique to meetings and ask the question: What or probably better who is a catalyst for networking at meetings? How can we get some of that catalyst into our participant population to increase this invaluable result of meetings and conferences called Networking?
What if you use a meeting concept like speed dating (a conceptual tool) to increase the pressure. What if your catalyst is a bunch of facilitators (the Human Tool) that break into clicks or introduce single individuals randomly? How about using the co-creation of a painting (an Art tool) to make more likeminded people meet. How about installing more salons or coffee bars in the lobby, or themed flipcharts (technical tools) to make people meet. Make sure you also look for technology in networking since a few portable devices, electronic badges, mobile phone and RFID applications (technology tools) are available on the market.
Conference organisers should look at their conferences as were it Erlenmeyers that contain participants amongst which networking happens as chemical reactions. Turning up the heat and pressure and adding some catalyst can influence the results dramatically.
Bumping into Bill.
Paul Lewi continued to share his experiences as he saw me getting fired up by his teachings of Brown’s movements. Paul is a lifelong practitioner of fundamental research, a drug designer, experiment planner, statistician, author of many articles and books and a visiting professor at the University of Leuven, Belgium. He has a special interest in AIDS and is involved in several amazing projects.At the global AIDS conference a few years ago, Paul was one of many thousands of participants. The opening night, Bill Clinton was the Keynote Speaker and he addressed many topics of interest to the community of medical and pharmaceutical professionals. Paul enjoyed the presentation and remained seated. He has adopted the habit of remaining in the room when the session is over, just to see what happens. He does not rush of to his hotel or a dinner, but spends a few extra minutes to watch the ‘backstage’ people become ‘frontstage’ and observe the activities. In this instance, Bill Clinton remained in the room and did not seem to be leaving. Soon Paul found himself with three other AIDS specialists congratulating Mr Clinton with his presentation and discussing topics like the US financial effort on AIDS prevention in the developing world. They spend about half an hour before the former president was dragged away by his bodyguards, insisting he really had to leave now.
Paul was obviously impressed by this encounter and looks back at the balanced view and the charisma of this impressive and friendly personality. Obviously it is a rare occasion but simply by remaining in the ‘pressure cooker’ Paul now can look back at a unique experience that otherwise is sheer impossible to achieve.
Today, Paul is working on a project for AIDS prevention. Together with 3 individuals from other disciplines this new product is being developed in a shared IP (Intellectual Property) formula. Their end goal is a medicinal vaginal ring at a cost of one dollar a piece that immobilizes HIV in sperm.
His meeting with Bill Clinton certainly must give him energy to persist, and one day when real money is needed for large clinical trials, he has a connection to turn to.
Networking at conferences can sometimes take interesting turns, but one thing is sure, it is one of the most underestimated and under-researched unique characteristics of conferences.
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- Brown's movements and Bill Clinton.
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