If you go through any of the New York metro area’s international airports this summer, keep your A.I. eyes peeled for a blue avatar.

No, not that Avatar. A hologram of a female avatar (curiously wearing a blue blouse) will be interacting with passengers at select locations at LaGuardia, Newark Liberty or JFK international airports.

The virtual customer service agent will respond to virtual questions and otherwise make travelers feel as though they slipped into a Philip K. Dick story.

Sounds cool. Looks…meh…it’s a stepping-off point, at least.

Image (CC) SearchNetMedia

In an initiative that further consolidates their longstanding relationship, IMEX Group has agreed to a multiyear partnership investment in MPI and the MPI Foundation around a number of industry initiatives. For meeting professionals worldwide, the extended partnership means greater access to rich education, meaningful networks and higher levels of success. 

The investment supports MPI’s 2012 World Education Congress Closing General Session and European Reception, its presence at IncentiveWorks in Canada and a commitment to the U.K. research into the economic impact of events. IMEX will also make a series of investments in the MPI Foundation for the next five years and support the IMEX America Rendezvous event. Ultimately, the agreement extends MPI’s role as IMEX America’s exclusive strategic partner. 

“MPI and IMEX have a longstanding and robust bond that has far-reaching benefits for our members and the global meeting industry,” said Bruce MacMillan, president and CEO of MPI. “This agreement continues that strong relationship and proves IMEX’s commitment to the success of the event sector, and the meeting professionals therein. If anything, this investment proves that connections like ours really do change the world.” 

“We’re really pleased with the new structure of the MPI partnership that’s going to deliver huge value in a new way for both organizations,” said Carina Bauer, CEO of IMEX Group. “It includes fresh elements such as our sponsorship of the closing keynote address at WEC. We’re very excited about the changes we’ve put in place and are looking forward to rolling them out over the year ahead.”

Two awesome pieces of news that appear to conflict:

1) Elon Musk, the most interesting man in the world (co-founder of PayPal, Tesla Motors), and his SpaceX team (yeah, he founded that, too) successfully launched their first rocket for NASA.

2) Earlier this month, the Green Meeting Industry Council debuted Meeting the Future, “the world’s first guide to aligning meeting and event industry planning practices with the scientific principles of sustainable development.”

These two stories cross paths in my mind as I attempt to reconcile my love of space travel (and related dreams) with the potential environmental damage from space travel (and related industries). I remember watching countless shuttle launches from my backyard, and giggled to myself as I realized how many people on the Space Coast were likely woken up abruptly by the 3:44 a.m. launch. ☺

Space tourism via SpaceX is still years away; affordable space tourism is a lifetime away. What about sustainable space tourism?

Image (CC) uskids

The 10th annual IMEX trade show is open for business at Messe Frankfurt. This year brings 4,000 hosted buyers from more than 60 countries and an expanded education program featuring—you guessed it—MPI. But aside from the traditional education, IMEX has added some really cool "campfire" areas to the trade show floor that allow for small group education. In all, there are 130 different sessions, workshops and campfires set to take place over the next three days, including the two I blogged about yesterday, here and here. Here's a list of cool things I'm looking forward to this week.

• The new Power of 10 research report, which builds on the Convention 2020 report (I'll report on this tomorrow)
• More IMEX TV with interviews and footage from the show (Check it out here)
• Our MPI anniversary reception which is...in just a few minutes!

Our models certainly are. 

Associations desperately need to change the ways they view and engage with members, according to Nikki Walker, vice president of global association management and consulting for MCI Group, because the current model used by most organizations is no longer sustainable. Global association execs discussed why during Walker’s session on the subject today at the Messe Frankfurt Conference Center during IMEX’s Association Day. Their concerns:

• Attrition, retention and recruitment
• Differentiation among membership levels
• Country/corporate memberships with individual benefits
• Relevant member value with fewer resources
• Member/volunteer participation
• Valuable networking experiences

These issues (many of them relatively new) are being caused by a number of changes in the global marketplace, including:

• Great availability of information
• Economics (the inability to pay dues, mainly from developing countries)
• Increased competition
• Social media/technology
• Politics/policy
• Demographics (and Gen Y and Z)
• Time depletion

And because of these, the traditional bundling of services for a set membership fee may be an outdated model—especially in parts of Asia (China) where the membership standard is incompatible with corporate culture.

“We’re restricting our sense of building a community,” Walker cautioned. Associations represent a broader community than their memberships suggest, and they need to engage on multiple levels to survive. In associations that have long survived as essential to a given industry, de facto membership is failing.

Walker suggests that many associations should begin focusing less on membership and more on communities that reflect “service users” of all types—members being one, because many professionals just don’t have the time/drive/vision to participate at that level. Future membership models may include (according to conversations during the session):

• Corporate/institutional packages
• Bulk corporate payments, but individual members
• Internet-only memberships
• Memberships that cover several associations at once
• Youth memberships (35-and-under)
• Product-based memberships at a lower cost (and with fewer benefits)
• Multi-year memberships

But, then maybe the whole idea of membership-as-an-elite-paying-few itself is obsolete. Thoughts?

According to estimates based on current rates, the world population will reach 9 billion by 2050, at which time humans will use two-and-a-half planets’ resources, which will continue to decline as consumption rises. 

And associations will have a major role to play in reversing the tide. IMEX is took on the education task this year during its Association Day today at the Messe Frankfurt Conference Center. 

Guy Bigwood, past present of the Green Meeting Industry Council and MCI sustainability director, and Lucy Goodchild, communications manager for the Global Reporting Initiative, presented an interactive session on sustainability as a driver for successful associations. (Yes, MPI has a GRI report!) 

The two shared different ways that sustainable policy can help associations increase member value, accelerate change and drive efficiency in the areas of talent, operations, products and services, education, communication and governance. But I also got some really neat takeaways from our group discussions, including these.

• Use Twitter hash tags to eliminate association emails and create networks of interest.
• Be a leader in the field of social responsibility to teach members who don’t necessarily accept the practice.
• Don’t forget that labor is part of sustainability. How do you treat your employees and volunteers?
• Think of CSR as collective, not corporate, social responsibility.
• You won’t be judged on how much they make, but how you make it.
• Showcase your members’ work in social responsibility with video and written case studies.

The Welsh town of Monmouth has embraced 2D barcodes.

(Sorry, that’s a weak opener—let’s try it again.)

Monmouth and QR codes were seen jumping the broom late last week.

The historic Welsh town (birthplace of King Henry V) now boasts more than 1,000 QR codes in its museums, historical sites and, according to the Daily Mail, even in pubs. When visitors scan the QR codes with a smartphone, they’re directed to applicable Wikipedia articles (available in 26 different languages).

And don’t worry about racking up data roaming charges on your phone—part of this six-month-long project involved installation of free Wi-Fi townwide.

This is still an early form of 2D barcodes for this type of usage. And honestly, as exciting as it sounds QR codes should be bypassed soon. Why? As long as the town has decent, free Wi-Fi, it can ditch the code scanning and develop a location-based augmented reality platform which could allow users to leave their own digital graffiti (or valuable historical data) in more dynamic forms—floating art and 3D renderings twisting before your eyes. That said, the AR option I just ranted about would cost significantly more to set up…and maybe it would be finished just in time to look antiquated.

Image (CC) throwthedamnthing

There are some new developments about the attack on our industry due to the GSA fallout since our last update (e.g., the Executive Order from the President). While there have been some positive steps led by ASAE, the way many people have not reacted reminds me of a famous social psychology study conducted in the 1960s about individuals responding better to a crisis than groups in the same situation. In the study, Columbia University students sat in a room filling out a survey. Some students were left alone, while others were in rooms with two other students. As they filled out the survey, smoke poured into the room through a vent. It continued to flow into the room until there was a haze. 

The resulting actions were quite amazing. Of the students sitting alone, 75 percent of them got up and notified someone about the smoke. However, of the three-student groups, a meager 38 percent of them reported the smoke. They sat there, breathing in smoke, each looking to the other to do something. 

For the meeting industry, that smoke pouring into the room is proposed U.S. government legislation that will limit government spending on and participation in conferences. These proposals are due to the GSA fallout. Last week, ASAE and other industry organizations delivered a letter to Congress with 2,100 signatures on it asking the government to reconsider these proposals introduced in the House and Senate. 

Think about that. Out of an industry of tens of thousands of meeting professionals, only 2,100 people signed the letter. That's unacceptable if we want our industry to survive (i.e., One Industry. One Voice.). 

We've offered several ways you can get involved. However, information can only go so far without action. It's imperative that you do something, because behavior is very contagious. Either you sit there and let the smoke in or you get up and let someone know about it. Either way, this industry's life is in your hands. 

Guest blog by John-Michael Maharaj, director of community outreach for the MPI Ottawa Chapter

Ten years ago I became aware of the need for kids to have a good breakfast to help them learn better. Children are our future, in the world and in our industry.

I started supporting the MPI Ottawa Chapter before officially becoming a member, and when I joined I immediately decided to participate in the MPI Ottawa Community Outreach Committee, which had just started to support the School Breakfast program. I have been on the committee for the last seven years, the last three years as director. I believe very strongly in the program, as there are a lot of kids who do not get a proper breakfast before school, thus are hungry and not as attentive to their studies.

On February 9, 2012, MPI Ottawa hosted our annual auction dinner at the CE Centre, in support of the Ottawa School Breakfast program. With more than 680 guests in attendance (an MPI Ottawa attendance record), everyone opened up their hearts and, more importantly, their wallets for silent and live auction items to the tune of another MPI Ottawa record: more than $26,000 raised for the program. With the generous support of our sponsors and the generous donations of auction items (more than 70), we were able to accomplish an amazing goal.

I was very proud watching the Community Outreach Committee put together such an amazing event, with such amazing results—from the organization to the collection of amazing items to our captivating live auctioneer, Ryan Watson of the Brookstreet hotel and RaisingtheBid.com. To stand at the podium and see the large amount of people in attendance, the people networking, the people bidding on the many items and knowing that this had become one of the go-to events in MPI…I felt a major sense of pride. I am forever grateful to MPI Ottawa for allowing me to be able to help the kids and also very thankful to have such a great committee to work with.

Created with the support of AVW-TELAV and the MPI Foundation, the Events for Communities of Sustainability (ECOS) Project integrates social responsibility into chapter relationships with their communities.

Smartphones are the go-to phones now for a majority of Americans. According to a recent Nielsen report, 50.4 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers own smartphones, with most of the devices Android phones (48.5 percent). iPhone users came in at 32 percent. 

It shouldn't surprise you then that text messaging is popular. It's more than that, though. It's a way to increase truthfulness. 

"The preliminary results of our study suggest that people are more likely to disclose sensitive information via text messages than in voice interviews," said Fred Conrad, a cognitive psychologist and director of the Program in Survey Methodology at the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research. "This is sort of surprising, since many people thought that texting would decrease the likelihood of disclosing sensitive information because it creates a persistent, visual record of questions and answers that others might see on your phone and in the cloud."

Researchers found that with text messaging, people were less likely to engage in "satisficing"—a survey industry term referring to the common practice of giving good enough, easy answers, like rounding to multiples of 10 in numerical responses, for example.

"We believe people give more precise answers via texting because there's just not the time pressure in a largely asynchronous mode like text that there is in phone interviews," Conrad said. "As a result, respondents are able to take longer to arrive at more accurate answers."

Changes in communication patterns and their impact on the survey industry prompted the study. About one out of five U.S. households only use mobile phones, i.e., no longer have landline phones, yet are typically not surveyed even though mobile-only households tend to differ in important ways form households with landline phones. More people are using text messages on mobile phones, with texting now the preferred form of communication among many people in their teens and 20s in the U.S. Texting is extremely common among all age groups in many Asian and European nations.

The researchers also found that people are more likely to provide thoughtful and honest responses via text messages even when they're in busy, distracting environments.

"This is the case even though people are more likely to be multitasking—shopping or walking, for example—when they're answering questions by text than when they're being interviewed by voice," Conrad said.

How does this information fit into the meeting industry worldview, especially considering the value we place on face-to-face meetings?