MEETING DESIGN
BY JACKIE MULLIGAN
Jackie (MPI United Kingdom & Ireland Chapter) is a principal lecturer in events and
director of enterprise for the International Centre for Research in Events, Tourism and
Hospitality at Leeds Beckett University UK, with more than 20 years of experience
managing events, tourism and communications. Contact her at
j.mulligan@leedsmet.ac.uk or via Twitter (@jackiemulls).
Having lots of stuff does not make for an
effective mind—or an effective meeting.
LATELY I HAVE BEEN FEELING CLUTTERED.
Clutter had invaded my study, consumed
my living room, bloated my wardrobes
and made my kitchen cabinets a hazardous zone. My of;ice had become a no-go
area with many colleagues simply shaking their heads as they passed by. My
email clutter was similarly in disgrace.
When it crashed recently, the IT support
of;icer remotely accessing by PC made
their opinion of me all too clear, letting
out a combined gasp and sigh. I felt
justi;iably like a puppy standing next to
a very unfortunate accident. But I am
turning a new leaf.
A few weeks ago I visited a friend
who equally suffers from “clutterism.”
As I shuf;led into the guest room past
piled up boxes, photographs, art materials and ornaments, I stumbled (quite
literally) over a small stack of books
topped by The Life-Changing Magic of
Tidying Up by Marie Kondo. I could not
help but appreciate the irony of this
unopened ;ind. So I read it.
For those few who have not heard,
Marie Kondo is somewhat of a de-clutter
fanatic. Her tidying, folding and demand
to discard are revolutionizing people’s
homes and of;ices worldwide. And now I
include mine. I now have drawers that
display my clothes like elegant, horizon-
tal bookcases. My wardrobe does not
involve a losing and ever-more-ferocious
battle with coat hangers and I no longer
have to navigate a path through my
study. I have gotten rid of more than 15
bags of excess. My toiletries are catego-
rized and for every item—be it an ex-
pired pack of paracetamol (acetamino-
phen) or a dress I have never worn—I
have asked, “Does this give me joy?” and
if not, I have thanked the item and dis-
carded it. The process is challenging
emotionally and physically, but the prin-
ciple is embarrassingly simple… that
you should surround yourself with
THE MAGIC OF
DE-CLUTTERING
things that give you joy and get rid of
things that lay dormant, unused and
unloved. You should discard things that
you think “might come in useful one
day” because “one day” rarely comes
and in the meantime such items stop
you from getting to the things you love.
One of the most signi;icant approach-es Marie Kondo advocates is the categorization of “stuff.” Rather than moving and
tidying room by room, the Konmari
method involves categorizing all your
stuff wherever it is and placing it in one
(usually mountainous) pile. I had clothes
stored in ;ive (yes ;ive!) different locations, and so placing them all together
was a shock to the system. Now I may be
