Knowledge Sessions Monday, 2 March 2009

14.30 - 16.00

The War for Talent Debate
A Facilitated Panel Discussion. Panelists:  Samme Vickers, Avinash Chandarana, Mike Southon and Graeme Codrington
In 2008 and 2009, a large population of baby boomers are set to retire, and, according to research, there will be fewer graduates with the right skills entering the market to act as “ready replacements” for those skilled and experienced employees leaving the industry. This ensures the War for Talent continues to rage as companies compete for the right human capital to give them the competitive advantage. In this panel discussion, you will be able to learn what the experts have to say and also contribute your point of view on this crucial topic.


Tough Times: How Global Markets Impact You
Daniel Thorniley, Senior Vice President, Economist Group. Kindly provided by Thoughts Leaders International
This presentation will assess what are the key drivers of the global financial crisis, make estimates for when the global economy may start to recover and why, give assessments of the global oil price and key exchange rates which will affect your business. The speech will also consider how different business sectors are being hit - industrial, consumer goods, services - and how companies globally and in the
developed markets are responding. It will also provide an overview of key global developed markets such as the US, Europe and Japan. It will be a mix of macroeconomic analysis but firmly rooted in how companies are behaving and what models and methods they are pursuing in what is the greatest economic global crash since 1929. 

The Global Business Outlook
Global Economic Outlook 

CSR: How to Measure & Achieve Sustainable Events
Hugo Kimber & Guy Bigwood
The session will provide an introduction and practical guide to measurement and achievement of clear objectives on sustainability in the planning and delivery of meetings and events. Delegates who already have a basic understanding of sustainability and are keen to advance in this increasingly important area of meetings management are ideal for this session and will walk away with the information and guidance required to make an immediate impact in the delivery of sustainable events.

Key take-ways include:

  • Establishing internal processes to provide a basis for achievement
  • The dangers of a “communication driven” sustainability policy
  • Commercial benefits of sustainable performance in a global recession
  • Existing standards – BS8901
  • What to measure –CO2, waste, water, energy and process
  • How to measure – available tools within the industry
  • Communicating results and catalysing stakeholders

Hugo Kimber is the CEO of The Carbon Consultancy and co-founder of Sustainability Intelligence. Guy Bigwood is group CSR director at MCI group. 

 Pecha Kucha Part 1 – The End of “Death by PowerPoint”
Stephane Baillee-Gee
Turn your presentations and those of your colleagues into short and effective gems. In this session, you’ll to create sense-making and transfer valuable information in 400 seconds.

Join in this session and learn:

  • How and why short presentations are more effective
  • The steps to prepare an effective presentation
  • How to deliver a Pecha-Kucha

Stephane Bailee-Gee is a consultant for Innotiimi.

Evaluating the Value & Impact of Meetings
Elling Hamso
What are you doing to evaluate your meetings and events? Is it providing you and senior executives with the data needed to determine the value of the meeting? Learn the basics of evaluation that will help you to develop a process to measure the results of your meetings and events.
By the end of this session, you will be able to:

  • Identify the purposes of evaluation
  • Describe the five levels of evaluation and measurement
  • Select appropriate data collection methods
  • Create tools that will collect the appropriate data

Elling Hamso is a managing partner of the European Event ROI Institute.

Staying in the Helicopter®: And Lead Effectively
Roger Harrop, author, non-executive director, SME business advisor, mentor and consultant focused on improved sustained profitable growth. Kindly provided by Speakers with Content
It is important that as a key member of your organisation and of the meeting and event industry that you take time out, step back, review, and hone your leadership skills from a CEO’s perspective. This interactive and participation-driven session will stimulate and challenge you to think as a strategic leader. As a result, you will gain a fresh perspective on your leadership skills and discover how you can significantly contribute to the success and growth of yourself and your organisation.

Packed with the lessons from global research, team-sharing, proven real world strategies, practical business models, case studies, stories and simple techniques, this session has been carefully structured to ensure there is real action learning - practical and effective.

Take a look at Roger Harrop's video message: Staying in the Helicopter: Effective Leadership 

Espresso Conversations @ the MPI Café
Unconference Session
Espresso Conversations at the MPI Café are your chance to discover what “unconferencing” is all about. What does an "unconference" look like? Lively. It is essentially a group of discussions where the topics and moderators are not pre-determined. Anyone can host a discussion on a topic of their choice. To host a discussion, simply sign up with your name and topic question. Alternatively, you can simply sit in on a conversation about any question that interests you.

Seating is limited, so get there early if there’s a hot topic you don’t want to miss! The discussions will start immediately at the appointed time. For your convenience, sessions will be located in the MPI Café in the Foyer Nord of the Lingotto Conference Centre.

The MPI Café Solution Room Look and Feel

  • Lots of different types of seating throughout the room…grab a chair or a sofa
  • Flip Charts and Scratch Paper at each table
  • Lively, purpose-filled discussions about the issues affecting you today

What an attendee should do?

  • Enter the room.
  • Check out the topics that have been posted in the room.
  • Either start a discussion by simply writing your topic on an available flip chart,
  • Or join a conversation on a topic that interests you.

Why should an attendee report to the MPI Café Solution Room?

  • This is the major session of the time slot. We’ll be in one room with all attendees.
  • You can find and share answers with others who are also passionate about your topic.
  • You can safely experiment with the unconference format.