This document outlines a project to compile scientific discoveries that can be applied to meetings and events to improve learning, networking, and motivation. A graduate student and tutor will select relevant studies from fields like neuroscience, cognitive science, and psychology. They will translate the scientific findings into practical tools and compile them into an easy-to-read book for meeting professionals. The goal is to professionalize the industry by applying scientific principles to meeting design and content. Sponsors will help fund publication in exchange for promoting innovation. Topics already identified relate to learning techniques like "chunking" information into digestible pieces.

1.
APPLYING
SCIENCES
TO
MEETINGS
&
EVENTS
LEARNING
|
NETWORKING
|
MOTIVATION
PROJECT
LEADER:
Dominika
Fudala,
a
graduate
student
of
Social
Sciences
at
Copenhagen
Business
School
TUTOR:
Maarten
Vanneste,
CMM
©
Meeting
Support
Institute

2. ©
Meeting
Support
Institute
PUBLISHER:
Meeting
Support
Institute,
Turnhout
(Belgium)
TARGET
READERS
Our
target
readers
are
Meeting
Professionals
interested
in
improving
the
content
side
and
the
effectiveness
of
meetings
&
events.
PROJECT
OUTLINE
Meetings
are
changing,
are
you?
Everyday
hundreds
of
inventions
see
the
light
of
day…
Obviously
not
all
of
them
can
be
applied
to
Meeting
Industry,
but
surprisingly
many
of
them
can
help
to
accomplish
meetings’
objectives:
leaning,
networking
and
motivation!
MSI
wants
to
help
you
with
the
information
overload
and
do
the
right
selection
for
you
–
that’s
why
we’ve
started
the
Sciences
Project!
Since
2006
the
MSI
has
collected
the
latest
scientific
discoveries
from
many
sources
including
Science
Daily.
From
the
75.000
articles
publishes
over
those
6
years,
we
have
republished
about
800
in
the
Meeting
Support
Institute
Knowledge
Base
that
have
a
connection
with
meetings;
every
day
we
add
the
new
ones!
(to
stay
updated
don’t
forget
to
register
yourself
for
free
at
www.meetingsupport.org)
A
Meeting
Architecture
Graph
THE
PROCESS
Among
the
latest
discoveries
in
Sciences
(mainly:
Neuroscience,
Neurobiology,
Cognitive
Sciences,
Psychology,
Sociology)
we
choose
some
that
can
be
applied
to
support
meeting
objectives:
learning,
networking,
motivation.
The
next
step
would
be
a
translation
process
–
translating
scientific
research
into
very
practical,
short
articles
collected
in
a
one,
easy-­‐to-­‐
read
book,
for
all
Meeting
Professionals!
This
is
NOT
a
scientific
book,
it
is
a
book
ABOUT
Science.
THE
OUTPUT
• an
easy-­‐to-­‐read
BOOK
including
many
practical
tools
to
be
applied
by
all
Meeting
Professionals,
interested
in
shaping
a
change…
not
a
scientific
book,
but
a
book
about
the
Sciences
•
PRESENTATIONS
that
give
an
overview,
can
be
made
available
to
schools
and
universities
with
degrees
or
courses
for
the
Meeting
Industry
•
in
conducting
this
research
we
also
aim
to
create
a
further
clarity
in
the
fundamental
structure
(TAXONOMY)
around
the
Sciences
for
meetings
and
events.
The
structure
in
the
book
could
also
be
the
fundamental
‘lay
out’
of
how
we
look
at
the
Sciences
in
meetings
and
events.
That
taxonomy
provides
structure
to
further
development
of
education,
etc.
p
2

3. ©
Meeting
Support
Institute
SPONSORS
The
sponsors
of
this
book
are
part
of
a
unique
project
that
leads
a
future
direction
for
meetings
and
events.
It
embodies
the
next
step
in
the
professionalization
of
the
Meeting
and
event
industry.
It
will
be
an
eye
opener
for
many
and
get
a
lot
of
attention
from
the
meeting
industry
academia
and
media.
We
at
MSI
now
from
recent
research
(Synthetron
on
FRESH,
September
18,2012)
that
a
growing
number
of
meeting
planners
in
corporations
are
interested
in
sciences.
Being
part
of
this
ground-­‐breaking
project
gives
the
sponsor
brand
a
aura
of
innovation,
creativity
and
intelligence.
In
our
communication
we
speak
of
an
‘educational
grant’
not
a
sponsorship.
TOPICS
To
date,
we
have
close
to
100
topics
just
for
the
Learning
section
alone.
We
think
that
every
topic
will
be
2
to
4
pages
in
the
book
existing
out
of
three
main
parts:
1) the
simplified
and
summarised
description
of
the
experiment,
research
or
investigation
that
was
done
2) The
‘translation’
into
a
tool
or
application:
answering
the
question:
How
can
I
use
this?
3) References
to
the
source
document
EXAMPLE
TOPIC:
Chunking
-­‐
retrieval
practice
as
an
integral
part
of
a
learning
process
1)
Summarised
Description:
This
will
be
a
short
description
avoiding
difficult
terminology
so
that
it
becomes
a
fun
and
pleasant
read.
It
describes
how
research
was
done,
what
they
found,
with
statistics
or
numbers
when
possible.
The
team
of
7
lead
by
Bobbie
Mixon
at
the
National
Science
Foundation
work
with
268
Student
at
the
Local
University
in
Oshkosh,
California.
They
gave
all
of
16
of
similar
groups
the
same
learning
content.
But
applied
chunking
to
only
half
of
the
groups.
Chunking
is
the
cutting
into
pieces
of
the
information
and
feeding
it
to
the
‘students’
one
by
one.
The
students
get
time
in
between
those
chunks
to
discuss
it
amongst
each-­‐other.
The
other
half
got
all
the
content
in
one
go
and
were
asked
to
read
the
content
from
the
book.
Both
groups
got
exams
and
the
Chunk-­‐fed
group
got
17%
higher
scores
that
the
control
group.*
2)
Application:
This
is
a
description
of
a
case
where
it
was
used
when
possible,
but
mainly
the
description
of
how
we
believe
we
can
use
this
in
meetings
and
events.
Presentations
can
also
be
chunked,
or
cut
into
sections.
Sometimes
we
ask
speakers
to
provide
us
with
three
learner
outcomes.
These
could
actually
be
the
chunks
or
sections
in
a
presentation.
If
we
tell
our
speakers
this
is
what
we
expect
from
them
they
too
will
have
17%
more
learning.
Every
speaker
needs
to
prepare
3
slides
with
a
discussion
topic
(the
main
learning
point)
and
give
the
audience
5
minutes
time
to
discuss
and
3
minutes
for
group
feedback
and
Q&A:
so
you
end
up
with
3
short
presentations
followed
by
a
discussion
moment.
*
3)
References:
All
topics
on
our
list
refer
to:
1.National
Science
Foundation
(Institution,
the
University
etc.)
2.
http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=118432&org=NSF&from=news
(URL
source)
3.
Bobbie
Mixon
(contact
person)
4.
bmixon@nsf.gov
(email
of
the
contact
person)
*
For
this
document
the
‘summarised
description’
and
the
‘application’
are
not
real.
The
contact
details
in
‘3)
references’
are
real.
p
3

4. ©
Meeting
Support
Institute
THE
BOOK
STRUCTURE
(Draft
V
0.3)
The
book
is
divided
in
Book
Sections
that
are
divided
in
Chapters
that
are
divided
in
Chapter
sections
that
contain
Topics.
After
preface
there
are
4
main
book
sections
in
the
book;
1. Introduction
2. The
science
behind
Learning
3. The
science
behind
Networking
4. The
science
behind
Motivation
Each
of
these
Book
section
contains
3
to
6
Chapters
EXAMPLE:
section
two:
‘The
science
behind
learning’
has
5
chapters:
A. EDUCATION
B. THE
LEARNING
BRAIN
C. THE
5
SENSES
D. THE
BODY
IN
BALANCE
E. THE
LEARNING
ENVIRONMENT
In
each
chapter
is
divided
in
chapter
sections
and
each
has
several
topics:
EXAMPLE:
from
the
book
section
‘The
Science
behind
Learning’
here
is
one
chapter
(D)
with
its
chapter
sections
and
topics:
D.
THE
BODY
IN
BALANCE
1. KEEP
your
BIORHYTHM
1.1 Keeping
biorhythm
on
meeting
schedule
1.2 The
relaxation
room
1.3 Sleep
May
Help
Clear
Brain
For
New
Learning
1.4 Learning
Best
When
You
Rest:
Sleeping
After
Processing
New
Info
Most
Effective
1.5 Why
Sleep
is
Needed
to
Form
Memory
2. KEEP
MOVING
2.1 Link
hands
to
the
brain
2.2 Juggling
increases
brain
power
3. KEEP
SMILING
3.1 Introduce
humor
to
learning
processes
3.2 Learning
through
entertaining
4. KEEP
EATING
4.1 Brain
Friendly
Meeting
Menus
4.2 Brain
Food
4.3 Scientists
learn
how
food
affects
the
brain
4.4 Can
Alcohol
Help
the
Brain
Remember?
4.5 Time
for
a
Coffee
Break?
4.6 Chocolate,
Wine
And
Tea
Improve
Brain
Performance
Contact
Dominika:
+32
1
444
88
31
dominika.fudala@meetingsupport.org
p
4