For many years, Ann Becker and Associates has provided full service meeting management for the annual grantee meetings of two programs of the NSF Directorate for Engineering: the Engineering Research Centers (ERCs) and the Industry/University Cooperative Research Centers (I/UCRCs). More recently, ABA began providing similar services to the Office of Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation (EFRI). These annual meetings have become pivotal in strengthening the capacity of the grantees and providing insight to inform the continuous development and refinement of each of these programs. Prior to the meetings, Ann Becker and Associates guides NSF staff , consultants, and grantees through an extensive planning process to design agendas that not only reflect the changing issues of a maturing program but also meet a number of disparate objectives, including introducing new grantees, sharing the past year’s research developments, promoting productive collaboration, and providing an overview of plans for the coming year. Each meeting is unique with fresh content and creative new formats introduced regularly.

Client:

Erikson Institute

Projects:

The Erikson Institute asked Ann Becker to guide its staff through refining the planning process for an international symposium on early mathematics education scheduled for April 2009. After addressing basic issues such as purpose, target audiences, and pricing, Ann led the staff through a program design discussion that resulted in development of a more in-depth agenda, additional variety in program design, and suggestions for format innovations. Together, they also considered how best to design, locate, and facilitate breakout sessions to be as productive and effective as possible.

Client:

Burnham Plan Centennial Celebration

Projects:

The team planning the inaugural events for the Burnham Plan Centennial Celebration asked Ann Becker and Associates to assist in developing a detailed conceptual planning framework. Starting with clarifying the goals, objectives, and desired outcomes, Ann and the team considered the key questions and tasks relating to program design, marketing, budget development, on-site materials, and miscellaneous issues such as making the events appropriately “green,” and engagement techniques for audience participation. Ann also helped the team make resource decisions for tasks best matched with existing internal capacity and those specific tasks best suited to outside contractors.