Leading Change in a Technological, Fast Paced and Multigenerational Workplace

Speaker:  Cheryl Cran, CSP

Location: Venetian Ballroom D

Having IMEX in North America is a change! When you enter the trade show you will be on sensory overload, bombarded with choices. How will you respond?  Change is constant, individual response to change is the key to innovation and integration of technology in a multigenerational workplace. 

Are you a change champion? Do you catch yourself when you are resisting change and innovation? 

Our personal responses to change and the rapid pace of our work and personal life will determine our ability to be creative, take well thought out risks, and to be fast moving in our actions while making meaningful decisions for our audiences and our clients.  In this MPI IMEX experience thought leader Cheryl Cran, CSP facilitates and guides ideas and thoughts on the future of business and how we can each harness our individual response to change to create new and exciting results in our work.  Cheryl is an expert in leadership, trends and generations with over 15 years of research and experience with top performing leaders and organizations.

Learner Objectives:

• Use practical ideas generated by your discussions and idea sharing with fellow attendees

• Practice tactical tips on change management on the trade show floor as well as when you return to work after the conference

• Understand the effects of change and how to use this to your advantage

• For your IMEX Experience:  You’ve made the step to register for the event, now what? Determine your ultimate goals for IMEX-America, learn how to maximize your experience onsite and how the time you spend in Las Vegas will impact your career and future– no matter who you are speaking to and no matter how long you have on the show floor.

• For your Career:  It’s time to get ahead of the curve, plan out your next 18 months and get to work on achieving your goals!  Take the time to learn and network with your peers and start shaping your goals and objectives, with an action plan to lead you to success. Bring back demonstrable tools for leading your team into the future, regardless of the changes on the horizon. Show the return on your investment in time out of the office at IMEX.

It's time to get strategic with virtual events! For the past few years, Virtual Events have been treated as one-offs by many companies and professionals within the industry. What are the advantages of Virtual Events and current trends? How can we adjust our planning processes to best take advantage of these opportunities? Join Sam Smith of Interactive Meeting Technology as he shares early findings from an MPI Foundation Research Study on Virtual Meetings. The study explores how leading edge organizations are integrating virtual events into their strategic meetings management programs. Be among the first to reap the benefits of this research and get a head start on integrating them into your plans.

• Identify and evaluate common virtual event strategies and formats to aid in selecting what fits best for your program(s)
• Understand the current trends from companies planning virtual events and evaluate the trade-offs in staff, resources and strategy when shifting to virtual
• Identify measurement strategies for performance evaluation around virtual events
• For your IMEX Experience: Find partners who can help you develop newly expanded ideas on strategy for your organization. Bring more informed questions to your interactions. Network with planners and suppliers who successfully organize and manage virtual events.
• For your Career: Understand the repercussions of decisions about new technology implementation and whether to go virtual or partially virtual. Gain ability to discuss how it will affect outcomes in organizational and departmental strategy.

MPI research partners from Leeds Metropolitan University present early findings from a landmark, three-year study that scrutinizes the meeting and hospitality industries. This thought-provoking session will bring the global picture of CSR to IMEX Americas as well as a glimpse into the direction of CSR in areas directly related to your work. The MPI presentation will identify key trends and perspectives drawn from an analysis of hundreds of studies, policies and papers worldwide. Presenter James Musgrave, Senior Lecturer from Leeds Metropolitan University working on behalf of MPI's global CSR study team, will draw key themes and trends together with an engaging session that aims to provoke debate and challenge meetings and hospitality business leaders to consider what and who is driving CSR and how you can work and benefit from CSR now and in the all too near future.

• Gain international insights into CSR for businesses operating in international markets
• Understand how CSR is transforming business practices and how this affects you
• Implement new CSR methods currently used within and outside the meetings and hospitality industry
• For your IMEX Experience: See the inner workings of the IMEX CSR initiatives in action with more comprehensive understanding of the decisions and trade-offs that go into producing such a large event that keeps its commitment to environmental protection and positive community impact.
• For your Career: Be inspired within your own organization, knowing what trends are on the horizon for the industry and carrying a renewed sense of what constitutes a true CSR initiative.

To be successful in this industry, especially after the last two years, you must know the essentials of negotiation and what has and must change in the way we interact. This is not a ‘sales’ course or a quick fix to your negotiating nightmares. During this session, a negotiation expert that will lead you through new tools you can put into practice immediately that will help increase your relationship building skills as well as your chances of securing deals that fit with your needs and expectations. Attend this session ready to learn some new skills, interact with your peers and then put this into practice on the trade show floor!

• For your IMEX Experience: While you’re networking, building new relationships and speaking with vendors at the trade show, you may just negotiate a deal before realizing it!
• For your Career: Every day we are faced with situations where we need to get ‘the best deal possible.’ Unfortunately, we’re all fighting for this same outcome. Learn the essentials of negotiation and make better use of your negotiation time.

You’ve heard the acronym everywhere – but what exactly is today’s definition of SMM? Strategic Meetings Management has evolved over the years, and continues to develop as a business approach. And with so much money and resources to be saved via the enterprise-wide management of meetings and events, SMM is here to stay! Attend this session, and you’ll find out why SMM is more important now than ever to your company’s risk management and bottom line. No need to wait for SMM to come to you - learn the ways you can have a direct impact on your company’s SMM efforts and lead the charge. Don’t run and hide from SMM – find out why procurement and travel management professional are so interested in these principles, and how you can increase your own strategic value with a solid understanding of SMM.

The Buy/Sell Relationship          

Speakers: Mike Pusateri, CEO; Ken McGill, EVP, Research; Jon Gray, Director, Research – Vantage Strategy

Location: Venetian Ballroom B

The downturn in the global economy has led to a shift in the competitive landscape for suppliers. They can no longer expect to win business by using a one-size-fits-all approach in their dealings with planners.  The current marketplace demands that suppliers understand the diverse needs of planners and how to effectively communicate their value proposition. This interactive session exploring game-changing research looks at key attitudinal drivers among meeting planners to understand how suppliers can make these more meaningful connections, and both suppliers and planners can emerge with a sense of partnership, more transparency, and more clearly defined expectations of each other.

Learner Objectives:

• Understand and identify the different buyer personas
• Interact with potential clients (buyers or sellers) with a deeper understanding of their needs and expectations

• For your IMEX Experience: Look at your interactions on the show floor with a new set of eyes. Your understanding of the “other point of view” will never be so keenly honed, and you will realize how to deepen your relationships and build trust.

• For your Career: Continue the trend once you are back in your day-to-day. Look more deeply into your own and your organization’s ability to be more transparent and value-driven in interactions with clients and vendors.

Advancing Your Strategic Meetings Management Program

Speaker: Cindy D’Aoust, Maxvantage

Location: Venetian Ballroom D

Many companies have embarked on the Strategic Meetings Management journey.  Often, SMM begins with the establishment of policy, centralized meeting registration and centralized sourcing.  Programs at all levels have opportunities to grow -- capturing incremental spend, reducing risk and driving value for the organization.

In this session, we’ll explore ways to identify opportunities for growth and expansion of your program -- whether it is a relatively new SMM or an advanced program.  Using case examples, we will show how companies like yours have increased their visibility and spend management, as well as increasing the effectiveness of their meetings and events.

Learner Objectives:

• Learn strategies and approaches to advance your SMMP at any stage, from new to mature

• Understand how other companies have approached the need to demonstrate increased value for their programs and discuss measure of program success

• Interact with SMMP subject matter experts and fellow attendees during a facilitated audience discussion

Meeting Design Workshop – Part 1: Expert Exchange

Facilitator: Mary Boone, Boone Associates

Speakers: Sam Smith, Interactive Meeting Technology
Midori Connolly, Pulse Staging and Events
Mitchell Beer, The Conference Publishers
Claire Smith, Vancouver Convention Center

Location: Venetian Ballroom A

Get ready for a fast-paced session with some meeting design experts! In this session, you’ll have the opportunity to hear from multiple experts in this area and you will learn about meeting design in a format you can custom tailor to meet your needs. A series of quick, informative, 10 minute presentations will bring you up to date on the latest ideas about how to strategically design and transform your meetings. Here’s a sampling of some of the topics that you’ll be able to choose from:

• Design on a Dime: Inexpensive Ways to Rev Up Your Meetings
• Tech Talk: Incorporating social media and other technologies into your meeting
• • Get Butts Out of Seats and Put the Mind in Motion: New formats and exercises to get people engaged.
• Reduce, reuse, and recycle: What to do with the content from your meeting
• Location, location, location: What do you need from a venue when you’re implementing an innovative design?

• For your IMEX Experience: Strategically plan your time at IMEX-A and use this experience to help you design your next meeting.

• For your Career: Walk away with new ideas as well as the ability to focus on what matters for success in your position.  Put the tools presented and ideas you brainstormed into action.

Unsession - Future Trends: Tradeshows, Technology, Partnerships and More

Speaker: Dana Freker Doody, The Expo Group

Location: Venetian Ballroom C

What part does the trade show play in the future of the meetings and events industry? How will technology change the current trade show? These questions and more will be addressed in this session. The industry as a whole is constantly evolving and understanding what this will look like in the future will have an impact on our business. Join this interactive, attendee-driven and informative discussion to determine how many new trends will affect your organization, your relationships internally and externally, and your job.

Meeting Design Workshop – Part 2: Peer Exchange

Facilitator: Mary Boone, Boone Associates

Location: Venetian Ballroom A

This session will expand on the knowledge shared in Part 1 though it is not necessary to have attended Part 1 to get something out of this peer-to-peer learning experience. Take advantage of this session and have discussions with your peers about how to best integrate these concepts into your events. Learn and share best practices and ideas on new, innovative ways to incorporate new strategies into your event landscape. And, the experts will still be around! Take advantage of their knowledge as they’ll be available on-demand for specific, customized ideas regarding your upcoming meeting.

• For your IMEX Experience: Know what design elements make the most sense for your meetings and use this knowledge to maximize your time on the IMEX show floor.

• For your Career: Expand your network of smart peers, learn new ideas from them, and access top meeting design experts.

Navigating International C’s: Understanding Contracts, Customs, Currency and Coverage

Speaker: John Foster

Location: Venetian Ballroom B

CEO Panel – Big Ideas and Core Values

Speakers:  Rohit Verma, PhD, Cornell University

Location: Venetian Ballroom D

• For your IMEX Experience:  Use the information gained from the executives on the panel to start making new connections with key people in the industry.  Now that you’re hearing what key stakeholders want and need, you can figure out how to fulfill those needs, starting on the trade show floor.

• For your Career:  Quickly decipher what is important to the people at the top of your enterprise. Be able to contribute suggestions for program expansion or implementation that demonstrate your grasp of the important issues and wide-reaching impact of CSR and other programs.

Navigating International C’s: Understanding Contracts, Customs, Currency and Coverage

Speaker: John Foster

Planning and staging global meetings outside the United States is fraught with legal and financial pitfalls. Professional meeting and convention organizers must be understand the complexities and issues in four key areas when planning international meetings. These areas are: contracting and licensing, customs regulations, currency risks and how to manage them, and what type of insurance coverage is needed when planning meetings and conventions outside the United States. This session is for novice and intermediate level planners who plan meetings in North America, Europe, and Asia. It will be interactive. This session is interactive and individual challenges attendees are facing will be discussed.

• For your IMEX Experience:Understand more about negotiating and contracting internationally and use this knowledge in your meetings and conversations with vendors on the trade show floor.
• For your Career:Operate on a level of higher understanding and be more equipped to explain strategies for handling international risks and recognize the major areas of potential risk.

CEO Panel – Big Ideas and Core Values

Moderator: Rohit Verma, PhD, Cornell University

• For your IMEX Experience: Use the information gained from the executives on the panel to start making new connections with key people in the industry. Now that you’re hearing what key stakeholders want and need, you can figure out how to fulfill those needs, starting on the trade show floor.
• For your Career: Quickly decipher what is important to the people at the top of your enterprise. Be able to contribute suggestions for program expansion or implementation that demonstrate your grasp of the important issues and wide-reaching impact of CSR and other programs

Mix and mingle with hundreds of IMEX America attendees prior to the start of IMEX America at this MPI-hosted Welcome Reception.  This invitation only reception, sponsored by Tourism Toronto, will feature light appetizers and cocktails as well as plenty of networking.