Creating engagement at Meeting & Events

Associations have to respond to the fact that mobile devices and interactive web 2.0 services have become a key part of everyone’s professional lives. It’s no longer just the young techno-geeks that expect websites & mail outs with responsive design, as well as digital interaction and mobile event apps onsite.

A workshop created to explore this very topic is taking place on Monday 6^th July at the QEII Centre, London – as part of the 2015 Association Meetings Conference. The workshop will focus on gameficiation and live interaction before, during and after events, and will present  some tried and tested mobile tools for member engagement at conferences and beyond and show that these do not have to cost the world in order to be effective.

Also being discussed is the topic of hybrid membership models and how they impact on the younger generation. In a world of free online communities and multiple careers, prospective younger members are getting more selective about how they interact with associations, face-to-face and during events.  They expect to be able to determine the value that joining - both as a member and a delegate - will provide.  While many associations are still keeping traditional fee-based models, others are switching to freemium or hybrid approaches to attract new and different members and integrate these in their meetings strategies. 

The Conference’s theme - Shaping Your Meetings for the Future - Educate, Connect and Inspire - is suitable for both domestic and international in-house planners and agency personnel working with associations. Speakers include personnel from The International Association for Professional Innovation Management, The Royal Society of Medicine, TFI Group and The European Society of Association Executives (ESAE).

Conference session topics include:

• How to innovate on a budget: What can associations do to transform and update their events at low cost?
• Meeting Planning as an evolving profession: Looking to the future of the PCO and the Association roles.
• Crystal Balls & Toolkits – Technology, Sponsorships and Destinations
• Meeting Planning as an Evolving Function

The event content, which has been created by Linda Pereira, Conference Chair and Executive Director, CPL Events in partnership with the ESAE has been crafted to address the specific needs of UK and international association meeting and event planners, PCOs and AMCs. 

The Association Meetings Conference 2015 is held on the eve of The Meetings Show and is free to attend for those attending The Meetings Show as hosted buyers. The hosted buyer programme will match and adapt to buyer schedules and business needs to provide buyers with several attendance options. This includes one or two day stays, complimentary travel and accommodation for up to two nights.

The Meetings Show is the UK’s premier event for everyone involved in organising meetings. The show will take place on the 7^th – 9^th July 2015 at Olympia, London and offers the UK’s broadest range of domestic and international exhibitors including destinations, major hotel groups, venues and technology suppliers. Running alongside the exhibition is a series of networking events and an extensive education programme delivered by industry leaders and business heavyweights.

Hosted buyer applications and visitor registrations are now open: 

www.themeetingsshow.com.

(Photo: Linda Pereira, Conference Chair and Executive Director, CPL Events)