Five New Industry Jobs
Imagine what your future holds as the meeting sector leaves the aughts behind.
By Jason Hensel In his book, Stumbling on Happiness, Daniel Gilbert offered a great thought about predicting the future.
“Just as we tend to treat the details of future events that we do imagine as though they were actually going to happen, we have an equally troubling tendency to treat the details of future events that we don't imagine as though they were not going to happen,” he wrote. “In other words, we fail to consider how much imagination fills in, but we also fail to consider how much it leaves out.”
Meeting professionals can't afford to leave anything out of the imagination. We hope these jobs intrigue and incite you to think more about your industry and how it's growing. The only people who stay in the same place forever are dead. And this industry is anything but dead.
Hologram Specialist —In a few years, let's say less than 10, there will be a need for hologram specialists, people to work with and on holograms for meetings and events. In fact, there are already patents pending and trials taking place (e.g., Microsoft and Masergy Communications).
Director of Senses —Sense management and how to use it to amplify meetings and ROI will continue to grow in popularity and use.
Sustainability Compliance Officer —One field that's gaining steam is sustainability compliance. In the future, the meeting and event industry will be (maybe lawfully?) impacted by strict environmental rules and regulations concerning conferences.
Cultural Guides — It's not too much of a stretch to expect that within 10 years there will be people working as specific cultural guides for meetings and events to help prevent an embarrassing cultural faux pas.
Chief Connecting Officer —In 10 years, the term “meeting professional” will no longer be sufficient in describing what meeting or event planners and suppliers do. Our future fails or succeeds on what we call ourselves, so let's propose a new C acronym: CCO (chief connecting officer).
If you're curious about the future, please attend the “Next Steps for the Meeting and Events Industry” session on Tuesday, Feb. 23, at 1:30 p.m./13.30.