IMEX launches knowledge capture with free webcasts

The IMEX Group has published an extended Executive Summary of its new global meetings and events industry research study, the Power of 10 – conducted by Fast Future Research.

The IMEX Group has published an extended Executive Summary of its new global meetings and events industry research study, the Power of 10 – conducted by Fast Future Research. Responding to one of the main themes in the report โ€“ the importance of knowledge capture – all of the webcasts and presentations from this yearโ€™s IMEX in Frankfurt are now live and free to access online.

The โ€œCritical Insights and Key Challengesโ€ document details the key findings from the Power of 10 study, which was commissioned to commemorate the 10th anniversary of IMEX in Frankfurt. It is believed to be the largest foresight study ever to take place in the meetings and events industry.
The initial findings received a very positive industry-wide response when they were presented by Rohit Talwar, CEO of Fast Future Research, during the recent IMEX in Frankfurt trade show. Talwarโ€™s team undertook the research and also co-sponsored the study together with long-time IMEX partners CPO Hanser, the Frankfurt Convention Bureau, the German Convention Bureau, and Messe Frankfurt.

In particular, โ€œCritical Insights and Key Challengesโ€ outlines a number of possible โ€œscenariosโ€ for how industry development might play out around the world over the next 10 years. Using a โ€œdriving force modelโ€ to construct the scenarios, Fast Future identified two key drivers, which could have the biggest impact on the industryโ€™s success and over which there is the greatest uncertainty. These are first, โ€œmanagement focus,โ€ which is explored in all its dimensions from an emphasis on short-term operational delivery through to embracing the need for long-term strategic development. Second is the industryโ€™s โ€œappetite for change,โ€ which the report tracks in all its manifestations from โ€œslow and incrementalโ€ moving through to โ€œrapid and transformationalโ€ where the most positive long-term impact would be felt.

FOUR POSSIBLE INDUSTRY SCENARIOS DEFINED

The summary explores the possible interaction between the two primary drivers and identifies four scenarios that might result. These are defined as: Treadmill; Comfort in Chaos; Pockets of Hope; and Opportunity Fulfilled. While the first three reflect many business models that are already in evidence around the industry, it is only in โ€œOpportunity Fulfilledโ€ that the industry realizes its full potential for growth, value, and sustained profit. The summary explains that this is the only model where the industry genuinely succeeds in decoupling itself from the economic cycle by proving its value and positioning itself as a core business activity for companies and associations. In particular, this scenario is one where investment in talent, recruitment, and development pays off, helping the sector to โ€œmove from selling space and capacity to delivering business solutions.โ€ The โ€œOpportunity Fulfilledโ€ scenario also highlights the value of undertaking continuous strategic research that helps drive innovation across the value chain, capturing the return on investment for delegates and event owners, and proving the lasting economic impact of meetings beyond tourism. It is also the main scenario where real improvements are seen in the learning experience and in knowledge capture.

As Talwar explained, โ€œThese scenarios should be viewed as possible storylines to help us explore the interplay between diverse forces rather than thinking of them as predictions or forecasts. Different scenarios may play out at different times for different parts of the industry around the world โ€“ indeed this is already happening. By exploring and rehearsing the future in this way, our aim is to help the industry prepare for a range of possible futures – and to think through the longer-term consequences of the decisions they are making today.โ€

Carina Bauer, CEO of the IMEX Group, said: โ€œWe have been delighted with the positive way in which the industry has responded to the initial findings of the Power of 10 study. You can already see the insights and ideas being reflected in both the strategic and tactical thinking of event owners, venues, destinations, service providers, and associations across the industry value chain. Whatโ€™s most exciting is the speed with which this new thinking and strategic mindset is spreading through the industry globally โ€“ which can only have a positive impact on the long-term future of the meetings sector.โ€

A series of sub-reports will be released from the Power of 10 study over the course of the next year.

IMEXโ€™S OWN KNOWLEDGE CAPTURE

In its efforts to respond to the emerging delegate needs identified and live out some of the winning values captured in the Power of 10, the IMEX team has already made a series of 22 webcasts and 20 presentations from its 2012 education program available online. These vary from whole seminars captured on video to combinations of audio and Powerpoint presentations. The featured sessions include four seminars from Association Day and other popular presentations, including: โ€œSustainability – A Decade Long Journey,โ€ by Amy Spatrisano, Principal of MeetGreenยฎ; โ€œThe Sex Appeal of Big Brains: Are Tourism and Culture Being Overtaken by Intellectual Prowess in the Hunt for International Meetings Success?โ€ (an ICCA-moderated session); and Jon Bradshawโ€™s introduction to โ€œMeetology โ€“ The science behind effective meetings.โ€ Both selected English language and German language education sessions are available and will remain so for the duration of 2012.

LINKS FOR THIS STORY:

Download the extended Power of 10 Executive Summary (free) – http://www.imex-frankfurt.com/documents/IMEXPowerof10ExecutiveSummaryReport.pdf

Power of 10 launch presentation (free) – http://www.multiwebcast.com/imex/2012/frankfurt/21269/rohit.talwar.imex.power.of.10.the.future.of.the.meeting.industry.launch.of.html

View IMEX education sessions – http://www.imex-frankfurt.com/seminarpresentations12.html

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Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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