An Event Professor’s Neuroscience Bookshelf

Janet Sperstad, a CMP Fellow, is professor emeritus at Madison College in Madison, Wisconsin, where she founded the nation’s first associate degree in meetings and events management in 2002. Sperstad, who was inducted into the Event Industry Council Hall of Leaders in 2017, is a pioneer in another area: incorporating the principles of mindfulness and neuroscience into her event management courses as well as keynotes and workshops presented around the world. Sperstad, who holds an executive master’s degree from the NeuroLeadership Institute, was the show’s first guest. convene‘s podcast launched in 2016, in which she talks about mindfulness and meetings. “When I think about mindfulness and bringing it into our world of events and meetings, it’s really about creating space in the brain to think more deeply, to drive deeper moments of meaning, to make connections, and to create Some blanks.”

When we asked Sperstad to recommend a book for event professionals, she shared four classics. Each one, she says, “changed my world and opened the door to neuroscience for me.” They include: