by Lumi Hilchey – Atout France and Helen Kang – Korea Tourism Organization
Our chapter has been off to a roaring start this year, with two exciting programs showcasing NYPCMA’s commitment to cutting-edge education and networking opportunities.
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NYPCMA Education Day – Feb 13th, 2017
Despite frigid temperatures, PCMA Education Day started successfully with a friendly breakfast that gave easy access to Innovation Hub – a display of innovative products from companies such as The Fun Department, Breather, or SlidesLive.
Complementing these products, keynote speaker Rudd Janssen (Founder of Event Model Generation & Event Canvas Foundation), offered the participants an introduction to how the Event Model Canvas can work for event design.
Since no innovative program can succeed without an engaged audience, Juraj Holub from Slido hosted a session about participant engagement tactics such as designing charming meeting spaces, or replacing keynote presentations with keynote interviews.
Next, Chris Lynn from London & Partners and Diane Brady from New York & Co. came together to share success stories and partnership opportunities related to sourcing a destination, while a panel of speakers ranging from David Adler form BizBash to Carvie Gillikin from Fourth Wall Events and Tammy Benedict from KPMG discussed more meeting and event design trends.
The Closing Session providing a networking platform for participants to further develop their relationships with industry peers (just like the Closing Reception that followed) left us energized and looking forward to next year’s Education Day.
Check out some insights from our partners.
Global Meetings Industry Day – Apr. 6th, 2017
As part of the worldwide Global Industry Meetings Day, MPI and PCMA members from the Greater New York area braved the rain to meet at the Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge, which recently underwent a $45 million renovation.
After a brief welcome by PCMA Immediate Past President Chris Lynn and MPI President Elect Joshua Novick, the wonderful Kalahari and Marriott shared their welcomes and updates. Moderator David Adler from BizBash jumped into the panel hot topic of “What should members of our meeting planning community do about questionable state and local laws affecting the meeting industry?” Featured Panelist Howard Givner of Grassroots Meetings & Events emphasized proactively staying informed and ahead of legislature to avoid being “reactive”. Diana Voto of Disney Resorts spoke of having good open dialogue to mitigate the situation as best as possible, and Michelle Russell of Convene the magazine brought the ultimate weapon of legalese for the contract terminology.
A series of six minute TEDTalk format presentations followed with Chris Kelly (Convene), Lee Moulton (Breather), Steven Feder (Zkipster), and Gilad Goren (Raleigh and Drake), four travel & meetings innovators who Mr. Adler says could be the next “superstars”. All spoke of both past and future changes in the industry and sat through a panel discussion with beers in hand to share their most important lessons learned from their startups. Much of conversation revolved around the importance of design in experience – because experience is everything. Additionally, startups need to adapt to changes and user experience data. Finally, hiiring good talent and treating them like family is key, because “a company’s culture defines its output.”
