Professional Development

We sit in these conference rooms for six and a half hours a day for five days in a row. When we're done, we're supposed to come out with a better understanding of what it takes to be a better (fill in the blank). This is the nature of seminars/conferences/retreats. Professionals are herded off into these hotel settings with their high ceilings and easels with chart paper, and suddenly we revert to our base instincts.
"Why can't we get the air conditioning to turn off when we come in?"
"When will the parking validation stickers be handed out?"
"What is the vegetarian lunch alternative?"
"How do you get Post-Its like this?"
It's a stirring sight, really. Watching adults mill about with no real sense of the task ahead of them except to avoid the task itself. It's a trick we learned in grade school. If we ask enough clarifying questions about process, the process might just cave in on itself. It is actually a pretty impressive sight, as trainers who came prepared to discuss the importance of the innovation of the implementation of the particular service or process that will impact the attendees are forced to scurry about researching menus and parking regulations while the rest of the crowd simmers in their minimally padded chairs.
Is it better than a day at work? Probably. Are we able to take some of our petty work frustrations out on the facilitators who won't see us again for at least a year? You bet.
See you next year at the Hilton - I hear the buffet is great!