With the New Year, we plan to bring in new voices from our organization and industry. Izania Downie will help highlight the global perspective within the meetings and events industry. We look forward to reading more of Izania’s posts.
I re
cently attended the Global Corporate event summit held by PCMA in Scotland. As flight sponsor I was lucky enough to get my seat at the table and I have to say that it was a fantastic program and a good starting point for the PCMA corporate membership to get together at a senior level. Amongst the fabulous networking opportunities, the sessions provided a platform to discuss common issues and sharing of ideas and event management solutions.
So when I hit Convening Leaders in Orlando last week, aside from the dolphins at SeaWorld, top of my list was to check out the new Corporate HQ stream, designed and led by the corporate task force chaired by Kelley Butler of McDonalds.
Not surprisingly I discovered inspiring content, a great format, and something for everyone in the corporate event world.
The set up was an immersive learning environment where delegates sat in brightly colored ergonomically designed chairs grouped around central sharing desks with laptops hooked up to the main screen. The interactive technology allowed for real-time feedback from group discussions to appear on the main screen. Although this technology is not unusual for the meetings I’ve attended and run over the past few years, I was reminded how much easier it makes gathering the main themes being discussed in the room and the speed at which the presenters are able to get to the core of the issues for really effective conversation. It makes the meeting far more valuable to be able to focus the discussion around areas that are of most interest to the group, and to easily capture the information for ease of sharing after the session.
Speakers presented from the center of the room in short 15 minute sets, in which the length of session was perfect to keep delegates attention with the changing between speakers fast-paced and punchy. A twist on the more traditional cabaret-style set up, the environment encouraged discussion and a relaxed atmosphere for sharing amongst the participants.
A graffiti artist capturing the main themes ‘cloud style’ was then made available to the delegates who scanned in for the sessions.
Delegates learned how to earn and maintain a seat at the table with C-Level Executives. There were workshop style activities where participants broke into teams and tackled real-life scenarios for the purpose of learning to think more strategically. Kati Quigley of Microsoft co-led a session with a neuroscience researcher on using AV to enhance learning memory and the meeting experience. Other topics covered in this stream included a session on outsourcing led by Lisa Schelle of Nike and of course the obligatory topic of measurement. Everything culminated in the final session where the ideal meeting planner of the future was profiled from all the group work done over the previous few days.
This session stream was a great step forward for PCMA, a truly valuable offering for the corporate sector. According to Sherrif Karamat, the highest growth sector for PCMA membership is corporate. If this sector is to continue to grow, programs like this along with future global corporate summits will certainly be a valuable benefit drawing more members to the association. Well done PCMA – keep up the good work!
Written By: Izania Downie
From June 10-13, PCMA will be holding its annual Education Conference. This year’s education is centered around how to get the best bottom line out of your events from attendance buiding, saving money on your events (both face-to-face and virtual) to leadership and business acumen.
Event Technology Tours
As a partner of PCMA, our Active Network, Business Solutions team will be in San Antonio. We will once again bring our popular event technology tour to PCMA Educon. The tour will highlight how PCMA is leveraging event technology from registration and session scanning to real-time data and mobile applications to deliver an engaging event experience. Sign up today for one of two tours at http://bit.ly/Educon or even suggest a time to meet one-on-one:
- Monday, June 11, 9:30 – 9:50 am
- Wednesday, June 13, 9:30 – 9:50 am
Supplier Tours
In addition to our event tech tours, we’re expanding our tours to include suppliers – how you can leverage technology to expand busines revenue, win more business and drive efficiencies for your properties. To participate in these tours, join one of the two groups at http://bit.ly/PCMASupplier or suggest a time to meet one-on-one:
- Tuesday, June 12, 9:00 – 9:20 am
- Tuesday, June 12, 2:15 – 2:35 pm
The Battle Between SMMP and Event Marketing: Myth vs. Reality
On June 11, 2012 from 3:00 – 4:00 pm, Kevin Iwamoto, an expert on Strategic Meetings Management and Vice President with Active Network, Business Solutions, will be particpating on a panel to bridge the gap between SMMP and event marketing. Kevin will provide the SMMP perspective with Elizabeth Lathan, Event Marketing Director, Dell | Global Event Marketing providing insight from event marketing.
Learn how SMMP can complement and integrate with you event marketing strategy.
We look forward to seeing you at PCMA, either in person at our kiosk located behind the registration area or on Twitter at @ActiveBusiness.
Written By: Cece Salomon-Lee
One of the general sessions at PCMA 2012 Convening Leaders Conference.
By: Eric Olson, General Manager
Active Network | Business Solutions
Last week, a promising college basketball player had to make a decision. It wasn’t a career altering decision. It was simply the noble question of whether he should “do the Dougie” at the team’s first home game.
The Dougie, for those who don’t know (I didn’t), is a dance that has reached notoriety with teenagers online. And the player, who, by the way, DID the Dougie, was one of the hottest prospects in college basketball. His decision to dance on the biggest stage of his career prompted one sports radio host to make the statement:
“Leaders,” he said, “don’t do the Dougie.”
Leaders, he argued, choose to lead. They stand out. They don’t do what others do. They exhibit maturity beyond their years. And, on the biggest stage, leaders shine. They perform. They get results.
So, as we convened our leaders in the meetings and events industry last week in San Diego for PCMA and Virtual Edge Summit, this story stuck with me and it occurred to me that our industry is at a similar decision point.
We can decide to lead. Or, we can decide to Dougie.
Convening Leaders. Converging Ideas.
The meetings and events industry has reached a point of convergence. This could not have been clearer than at PCMA’s traditional live events conference, combined with the Virtual Edge Summit, a progressive digital show. There we saw the convergence of ideas from our industry’s leaders, who badly want to elevate the reputation of events.
Talk in the hall centered on driving engagement, delivering ROI and building the value of events, while the discussion on stage relayed the findings of a recent survey, showing that just 38% of planners use the most basic attendee management technology.
So, while there’s a convergence of thinking and a clear opportunity to change, there is a gap in action and risk taking. And we, as an industry, are left with some importance choices.
Five Lessons From PCMA. Five Choices To Lead.
Throughout the weekend there were hundreds of examples of organizations that did choose to lead. Cisco demonstrated leading the way in virtual events by fully integrating digital and live environments to drive measurable value from their meetings. My employer, Active Network, announced its plans to forge the way for full technology integration by announcing the pairing of its engagement and logistics technology with StarCite’s leading strategic meetings management platform. And PCMA itself chose to embrace technology as the backbone of Convening Leaders, catapulting the association’s event to the front of this industry.
SVP, JR Sherman, announces the launch of Active Network | Business Solutions and the acquisiton of Starcite, at the PCMA 2012 Convening Leaders Conference.
Some of the best are choosing to lead. But, most are still years behind the needs of their businesses and associations – not to mention their members and attendees.
How can we glean from the best and choose to lead as a group? Here are five choices PCMA and VES should inspire YOU to make in 2012:
1. Choose to Embrace Digital Convergence
With VES fully co-located with PCMA, the world of digital events has changed. Virtual now includes all digital content, leaving behind hard-to-understand virtual worlds for new extended definition of content. And numerous case studies showed that good digital strategy can extend the reach of events, and provide content that adds value to live experiences.
Digital content is proving to be highly measurable, interactive and directly responsible for driving interest and attendance for live events. In fact, many of the people I met had been exposed to VES through free digital content before deciding to attend.
So, good planners are left with a choice. We can decide to embrace the convergence of live and digital content – and use it to drive more value through events. Or, we can continue to ignore it and lose attendees as they choose to spend their time elsewhere.
2. Choose Technology Integration
As technology floods into live events, most organizations have purchased it a la carte. Marketers tend to choose technologies focused on engagement while meeting planners choose solutions to solve logistical problems and control spend.
With Active Network’s announcement of the StarCite acquisition, the company is showing that the events world is ready to embrace the benefits of integrated technology solutions that meet the needs of both marketing and procurement. And it makes sense because technology is designed to improve experiences, create efficiencies and drive measurable value. So, if that technology doesn’t work together and support the whole attendee journey, organizers sacrifice experience, lose valuable data, spend too much money and lose efficiencies.
Technology is only important if it drives result. So, in the maze of new technology and cool ideas, integration just may be the most important feature we choose to elevate our industry.
3. Choose to Give Up Control
The way we communicate has fundamentally changed. Attendees make buying decisions based on friends’ recommendations. They want to learn from each other. And they want content built to support their objectives.
So, the best things we can do – although tough for event people – is to hand over the reigns to our attendees whenever possible.
The Active Network Educational Pod, in the Learning Lounge of PCMA's 2012 Converging Leaders Conference.
PCMA introduced interactive “idea” areas and learning lounges this year. I heard more comments about the value of these self-guided experiences, than about the sessions. With access to people and information becoming free and easy, event-focused organizations need to drive value in new ways, like facilitating attendee-driven content and leveraging it to drive engagement.
4. Choose to Commit to the Value of Events
We hold events to sell products, services or ideas. Yet, most planners spend most of their time managing logistics trying to save costs. While that approach got us by for years, and as digital technologies open access to people and information, our industry needs to focus on improving value.
One of the saddest stories I heard this weekend was of the British government’s massive cuts in events. In a time when it’s more important than ever to share information and bring people together, the government eliminated its event’s focused department and slashed tens of millions of dollars from its programs.
And despite the fact that it could now demonstrate the value of its events, it was too late.
While it may seem difficult at times to measure engagement, there were plenty of good examples at PCMA and VES of orgs that do it well. It’s important to set value-driven goals, implement measurement tools and leverage data to drive more value to events-driven organizations.
Data is the new currency of events. It’s time to commit to treating this discipline like other marketing and sales areas that have long embraced tactics to drive value before anything else.
5. Choose to be an Architect of Engagement
It’s becoming very clear that in order to accomplish everything – and in order for meetings and events to become a thought-leading industry – the definition of a planner needs to change. And the skill sets we bring in to our organization need to expand. It’s time to become architects of engagement.
It will require more education. But, we’re an industry built on learning. It will require restructuring. But, we’re an industry built on restructuring things.
We’ll need to add skills and technologies in community building, marketing, data analysis and the psychology of learning. It’s a new challenge. But, it’s a new opportunity for our industry, steeped in a tradition of building and monetizing relationships, to once again lead the way for corporations and associations.
These aren’t easy decisions to make. And they aren’t always comfortable. Yet, if events and meetings are going to thrive, we all need to commit to growing up. We need to commit to redefining our role and our value. And we need to commit to leading.
It’s time to make a choice. Are we going to lead? Or are we going to Dougie?
Written By: Eric Olson
I attended the PCMA Convening Leaders conference in early January (Disclosure: ACTIVE Network is a communications partner with PCMA). This will be my third time attending the conference, which has a reputation for driving technology innovation within the industry. This year’s conference was no different with lunch incorporate into part of the experiment – testing different cuisines or creating a learning lunch area.
