Watching a Training Video Can Change Your Brain
In December 2013, 188.2 million Americans watched 52.4 billion online content videos. And they weren’t all about cats. In fact, I bet some of them were instructional videos. And just watching these types of videos can change your brain structure and increase your motor skills, according to a study from the American Academy of Neurology.
Researchers had 36 right-handed adults participate in a 40-minute training session five times a week for two weeks (I know, a lot of numbers there, but stick with me). Videos of a specific task (e.g., handling coins, cutting with scissors, etc.) were shown to half the group, who were then asked to complete the task themselves. The other half of the group watched videos of landscapes before being asked to complete the same tasks as the other group.
The groups were tested for strength and hand skills at the start of the study and two weeks later, as well as having their brains scanned to measure brain volume changes.
Researchers found that the participants who completed the training and watched the activity on the video had 11 times greater improvement of motor skill abilities, primarily in strength, compared to the landscape watching participants. The activity video watching participants also had an increase in gray matter volume. Gray matter contains the brain’s cell bodies and is often attributed to intelligence.
“Our study lends credence to the idea that even as an adult, your brain is able to better learn skills just by watching the activity take place,” said study author Paolo Preziosa, MD, with San Raffaele Hospital in Milan, Italy. “With a dramatic increase of videos available through mobile phones, computers, and other newer technology, this topic should be the focus of more research. The results might also contribute to reducing disability and improving quality of those who are impaired or who are undergoing physical rehabilitation.”
Do you use videos to help train your staff or yourself? How effective do you find them?
Polly LaBarre Named as VenueConnect Keynote Speaker
We are pleased to announce that Polly LaBarre will be our keynote speaker at VenueConnect in Portland, Oregon, July 26-29.
LaBarre is co-author of the book Mavericks at Work: Why the Most Original Minds in Business Win. She is also co-founder and editorial director of the MIX (Management Innovation eXchange), an original team member of Fast Company magazine, and a CNN correspondent focusing on business ideas and best practices.
Her specialties include helping shape the future of organizations, work, and success, with recent research centering on social innovation and sustainable capitalism.
Check out the upcoming February/March issue of FM magazine for an exclusive interview with LaBarre, and please sign-up to be notified when registration opens for VenueConnect.
Why Leadership Training for Influential Employees is Good
Every organization has influential employees, but because they don’t have a role like “manager” or “director” as part of their titles they are often overlooked for leadership training.
“It may be someone in product development who without any direct reports, plays an essential role in the selection and development of new products,” Jack Zenger and Joseph Folkman wrote on the HBR Blog Network. “It may be a key salesperson, who because of some unique connection with customers exerts a powerful influence on the organization’s go to market strategy.”
Zenger and Folkman believe that these employees are true leaders, too.
“They often get overlooked for any kind of leadership development because they don’t manage or supervise anyone and aren’t thought to need training in management basics like budgeting,” they wrote.
If you have these types of influential employees, it’s wise to invest in leadership training for them. Zenger and Folkman offer four reasons why:
1) Investing in their leadership development will make these valuable people feel highly valued.
2) Talented individuals are more inclined to stay with organizations when they feel they are progressing.
3) They will enjoy increased success.
4) Some of them could well develop into excellent managers.
Please read their article on the HBR Blog Network for the complete story. And while you’re thinking about leadership training, consider applying for the IAVM Senior Executive Symposium, May 12-15, at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. Applications close March 31.
Do Our Winter Weather Woes Suggest a Severe Spring Season?
Perhaps, when Puxatony Phil emerged from his hiding place this past February 2, someone should have shot him (with an elephant dart and gently set him back to sleep in his nest of twigs and leaves, of course). With reports coming in of record snowfalls across the country, many of us are really ready for this winter to end!
Much of the country has suffered serious winter weather woes, from the bitter temperatures in the Northeast and Central U.S. to the freezing rains and sleet experienced by Southern states from Texas to Georgia.
In fact, many news channels are projecting that the 2013-2014 Season may turn out to be one of the worst on record. Here are some snow stats from the major cities:
Philadelphia is in the midst of their 3rd snowiest winter ever with a current total of 58.7 inches and counting.
New York is reporting the 7th snowiest winter at 57.1 inches.
Chicago is digging out of its fifth snowiest season with 66.8 inches.
Detroit is coming in with its 3rd largest snowfall report of 76.4 inches.
Washington, D.C., is reporting that their 15.2 inches of snow reported at Reagan National Airport is roughly the equivalent of the past three winter accumulations put together.
All of this winter weather is just a pre-cursor to the real severe weather season, which begins in April, when snow and ice turn to straight-line winds, lightning, tornadoes, and rain. And, if the extreme winter is any indication, our spring season could be quite challenging for our venues. With this, we want to remind you to be prepared, take out your severe weather preparedness plans, dust them off, and bring them with you to IAVM’s Severe Weather Planning and Preparedness this March 4-5, in Norman, Oklahoma. The experts at the National Weather Center will help you ensure your venue is ready for what we will all hope is a mild one.
Register today for IAVM’s Severe Weather Planning and Preparedness
(photo credit: Gilles Gonthier via photopin cc)
Opportunity Worth Sharing: VMS Internships
The following article covers much of what our members already know—that their jobs are incredibly complex. They live them every day. So, why are we writing this story? Hopefully to inspire the next generation to take up the charge, and experience a venue manager’s life for just a few days, by becoming an intern at IAVM’s Venue Management School and the Graduate Institute in picturesque Wheeling, West Virginia, at Oglebay Resort.
With that, we encourage you to share this story with your college contacts, interns, Facebook followers, or through your own channels, to help us encourage students looking to enter our industry to take advantage of this opportunity.
If you are one of those people who love to multitask, keep all the balls in the air, and like to bring people together for amazing once-in-a-lifetime moments, venue management might be for you. Venue managers are cool and calm under pressure with the ability to change hats at a moment’s notice. They have a passion to learn about each area of their industries and to keep learning throughout their careers.
The variety of tasks, and the breadth of understanding each venue manager has, is quite impressive. They help handle their facility’s operations, maintenance, manage tenants, assist with performer and event contract negotiations, hire staff, manage human capital, consider legal liability, plan events and productions, oversee sales and marketing, safety and security, food service, and customer service to name just a few of their talents.
One way venue professionals expand their understanding across the entire venue spectrum is to attend IAVM’s Venue Management School and the Graduate Institute. At VMS, venue managers from all levels of their careers learn the skills and topics they need to succeed in our industry.
VMS and the Graduate Institute is a great place for students to see first hand what a venue manager is responsible for. To connect with the other people who have chosen this professional path. To network, and more importantly, to be reminded why we have all chose this business in the first place—to entertain, educate, and inspire others through joined experiences.
We asked Richard Andersen, CFE, past president of IAVM’s board of directors and a VMS instructor, what makes the school so special and why someone should intern for VMS. Continue Reading →