I've had a Rubik's Cube since I was about 12 years old. Know how many times I've solved it? Zero. It has sat in a drawer for most of its life and when I do get it out and give it one more try, I usually battle it for an hour or so and put it back in the drawer. In all of my moves around the U.S. I have always seen a need to pack it and take it with me (I guess in the back of my mind I think I'll come up with the solution one day).

So, you are asking, that's great (sad, but great) David, but what does that have to do with meetings and events? Well . . . more than you might think. I learned last night at the Opening Reception of the European Meeting and Event Conference 2012 in Budapest, Hungary (where the Rubik's Cube was born in 1974), the reason most people don't solve the cube is that they always approach the problem the same way. You have to be nimble to solve it. You have to think in innovative ways that get you to a common goal.

At last night's reception, there were two "cube experts" who could pick up a jumbled (by someone else) cube and solve it in under 20 seconds. Every single time. I stood there and watched them do it over and over and over again. It was absolutely amazing. I am sure that Ernö Rubik is more than proud that his invention has not only become a global mind-game sensation, but also has expanded the thinking patterns of the great thinkers of our age . . . and now, the meeting and event professionals who are striving to take our industry to the next level.

Photo (C) Gyula Szaffner, Budapest, Hungary