IAPCO explores a new way of meeting and, yes, we'll do it again. 

Forty-two anxious faces sitting in a circle in a small Belgian hotel. In their midst stands a casually dressed American talking about passion, bumblebees and butterflies, the law of two feet and "when it's over it's over" 

 It's not ritual magic, an orgy or even a convention of nature lovers! It's the lst IAPCO Forum of International Conferences. 

There were some cynics among the 42 participants when they arrived at the Hotel de Lauzelle, Louvain-la-Neuve, for the Forum in March. There were still some who were not entirely converted at the final summing up. And maybe it was difficult to believe that over 20 subjects had been examined workshop-style in the past day-and-a-half without a page of printed programme. 

 Nevertheless. well over half the participants - and they were all high level professionals accustomed to structured meeting formats - said they would like to attend another IAPCO Forum based on Open Space. 

 The man in the centre of the circle was Open Space guru Harrison Owen who had come to explain how the technique works. There was no sophisticated equipment. Only pens. paper and sticky tape. He pointed to the surrounding walls. "Within an hour, that is where your programme will be." 

 He was right. Within half-an-hour, in fact. He asked participants to think of topics relating to their work which concern them strongly, passionately. The sort of issues that normally make them feel, "There's never enough time to think about what I really want to think about." 

 This was their opportunity. It was now or never to step forward, announce a topic, write the title on a large piece of paper, sign it to accept responsibility for running the session, and tape it to the wall. Quickly the subjects were sorted and given session times, each one lasting one-and-a-half hours. There were six break-out rooms so parallel workshops could be held. Participants signed up for the workshops they wished to attend, thereby forming their own individual programmes. 

 The general theme for the Forum was "Aspects of Conference Organization: to obtain higher meeting quality through marketing, sponsorship, communication, promotion." On the right is the list of sessions which emerged. All achieved with no organizing committee working months beforehand, and no argument. 

 The atmosphere was relaxed. Coffee was always on tap and nobody had to stay in a session if it wasn't what they expected. They could move about, join another session, chat in the corridor or sit quietly alone. It was all productive time. 

 The only request was that one person in each group should take brief notes on the main points discussed. They were collated and bound into proceedings books and mailed to each participant after the Forum. The theory is that, once armed with these notes and the telephone numbers of the rest of the participants, each participant now has instant access to fresh thinking on a variety of pressing issues which affect the congress industry. 

 At the conclusion several said they would have liked experts to lead some of the workshops. Open Space Technology does not lend itself to every type of meeting; if instruction or the transfer of factual information is the purpose, then you need specialist speakers. Nevertheless, at the IAPCO Forum there was usually sufficient expertise in the room for everybody to learn something new. 

 It is preferable that all participants are comfortable in one language, as the technique is not suitable for simultaneous interpretation. Once the concept is grasped, it can be used in many situations to great effect with small groups or large groups, provided there are plenty of break-out rooms. 

 IAPCO is best known for its formal training at the annual Seminars. With the first Forum the IAPCO Institute for Congress Management Training explored new territory by demonstrating a dynamic way of meeting. 

 In her introductory lecture on the eve of the Forum. London PCO Sarah Storie-Pugh asked a number of vital questions about the future of the conference industry. The Forum by no means answered them all. There is plenty of scope for years to come. 

Who attended? 

 The 42 participants were PCOs, including some IAPCO members, in-house meeting planners both corporate and association, convention centre managers, convention bureaux staff, meetings suppliers and marketing specialists. They came mainly from European countries, but also from Argentina, Indonesia, and the Czech Republic. 

 In the previous year IAPCO had sent a questionnaire to former participants at the annual Seminar, asking what subjects they wanted to discuss, their preferred time of year, duration, location and budget level. These requests were met on a majority basis. The programme took on a life of its own, thanks to the Open Space format, but the themes originally announced were covered in diverse ways.