Spruce up those dreadful annual meeting stories

Although corporate meetings are heavily scripted, you can still find something exciting to write about

Watching the political conventions last year reminded me of how much the American political convention resembles the corporate annual meeting, especially if you’re the one assigned to write about it. Everything is carefully planned and orchestrated, or seems to be. There’s no real news, beyond what everyone seems to already know. And if you’re lucky, you get invited to some really cool parties.

Still, political gatherings gave us some ideas for sprucing up those dreadful annual meeting stories I’ve been reading in the corporate press for years. Here goes:

1. Don’t be so cynical. No matter how much writers complain about covering a convention—or an annual meeting—it’s still really fun to be there. Journalists work hard to perfect that I’m-so-bored-and-above-it-all look, but just try taking away that plum assignment. No matter how scripted, a convention is where everyone who’s anyone shows up.