Frankfurt, May 19 2014 – “Save People Not Associations” by Irving Washington, Director of Operations at the Online News Association, was among the 10 track-led sessions available to over 300 association executives at the annual IMEX Association Day at the Sheraton Airport, Frankfurt.
Washington’s session highlighted how easy it can be for associations to lose sight of the fact they exist to serve people when pressures such as dwindling revenues, data management or new technology adoption force them to focus on organisational issues instead.
Washington’s session was one of four choices for delegates in the day’s operations track. Later in the day, Ajay Bhojwani, Managing Director, of MCI Middle East, shared his knowledge and experience of the fast-growing Middle Eastern association sector with “Entering New Markets – Doing Business in the Middle East”. The operations track sessions concluded with a focus on marketing by Willis Turner, CAE, CME, CSE and CEO of Sales & Marketing Executives International, Inc with “Five Ways to Improve Your Association’s Marketing.”
This year’s IMEX Association Day three-track programme (operations, meetings and executive) covered issues that are challenging many parts of the meetings industry in different ways. The programme also offered insight from ICCA on why “big data’ is a big issue” and how digital platforms are transforming expectations about learning, professional development and community or customer engagement. Also involved in shaping the day’s programme were ASAE: The Center for Association Leadership and PCMA. Both offered association delegates sessions focusing on ‘Member Engagement Models’ and the ‘Evolution of the Annual Meeting’.
Kick-starting the executive track was a panel-led session with Davi Kaur, Head of the Congress Unit for the European Cancer Organisation (ECCO); Benita Lipps, Executive Director of the DaVinci Institute; Annalisa Ponchia, Executive Officer at the European Society of Organ Transplantation (ESOT) and Christoph Raudonat, Director of the European Society of Association Executives (ESAE). In “Designing for Strategic Impact – Association Events that Matter”, the panel shared their experience and knowledge of using carefully crafted meetings and events content to identify and deliver core value and drive long-term impact.
Five one-hour interactive, expert-led sessions rounded off the day. Each focused on a current industry challenge and encourage moderated small group discussion on: “Sustainable growth and innovation”; “Generating new revenues through diversification”; “Activating and engaging audiences and stakeholders in a digital world”; “Technology trends for valuable delegate experience and RFPs, tenders and bids – successful negotiations”. Summing up his experience during the day as a second-time attendee, Per Ankaer of the Nordic Urogynecological Association, said: “It’s my second time here and I’ve really enjoyed the sessions so far. The format of these sessions has really encouraged interactivity. The opportunity for two-way dialogue brings the sessions to life – you can ask questions and learn from the input of others. I’ve been able to tightly plan my day – identifying sessions in advance as well as having an idea of who I’d like to speak with. Would I return next year? Absolutely!”
Another delegate, Rob Eskes of CIM Global, Netherlands, explained: “The sessions I attended were great – incredibly insightful. It was so interesting to learn from a real life case study and understand how a large association keeps track of their events, how they innovate and attract new members. I’ve gained some really useful knowledge which I can use when I get back to the office.”
A number of meetings industry organisations supported this year’s event: Business Events Sydney, Experient, Meetings & Exhibitions Hong Kong and the Vienna Convention Bureau.
