How many of you were able to attend this year’s Cascadia Educational Conference? Held at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Portland, I was lucky enough to go and the sessions I attended were packed! (A very thankful shout-out to the River’s Edge Resort and Spa for hosting me Sunday and Monday nights!)
I drove down from Seattle on Sunday, March 4, just in time to attend the first of the breakout sessions. I went to Greg Duff’s session: Group Contracts: Interesting Case Studies. Duff is the founder and chair of his law firm’s (Garvey Schubert Barer) Hospitality, Travel and Tourism group. It was a very interesting breakout and addressed issues such as bankruptcy, the nuances of governmental contracts and blind commissions. I’m hoping to include at least one of the case studies in an upcoming issue of Northwest Meetings + Events.
On Monday, I kind of wandered into Tyson Wooters’ session: You’re Not Leading Robots. And boy am I ever glad I did. I don’t know if you had a chance to hear Tyson speak but I want whatever he’s on (for the record, he said it was “life”). Energetic, funny, and perhaps most importantly, inspiring, he was an absolute joy to listen to. My favorite take away was that we should go beyond the Golden Rule (treat others how you’d want to be treated) and practice the Platinum Rule (treat others how they want to be treated). He is based in Portland, so if you are looking for a great motivational speaker right in your own backyard, I highly recommend him!
How about you? What were some of your favorite breakout sessions from the conference?
PS: Next year’s conference heads to Spokane, Wash., at the Northern Quest Resort & Casino!
Teresa Kenney
Editor
Northwest Meetings + Events
