Conference Content: Meeting Expectations

For years, educational content has been the driving force behind industry association meetings. It provides additional training, exposure to new ideas and concepts and professional accreditation.

But education sessions often were overlooked when people in the industry talked about the meetings, often focusing on the parties and networking events that surround the education. That’s not the case now. As the economic recession has gotten more publicity, education sessions have re-entered the spotlight at upcoming industry meetings.

“Content and education have always been a major part of what we do and will continue to be a major part of what we do,” said Lew Shomer, Society of Independent Show Organizers executive director. The SISO Executive Conference, scheduled Aug. 4-6 in New York, will dedicate the same amount of time to education as it has in previous years – but there will be changes.

Amy Ledoux, vice president of meetings and expositions for the American Society of Assn. Executives & The Center for Assn. Leadership, also said education content is a huge driver at the ASAE & The Center Annual Meeting & Expo, on tap Aug. 15-18 in Toronto.

“We don’t have more education this year,” she added, noting the meeting will feature the same amount of content as in previous years.

However, Ledoux said she has noticed organizations emphasizing the educational value of their meetings in a way they didn’t before the economy started its downward spiral.

“It’s being kind of teased up in communications and marketing,” she added. “I feel like the value has always been there, but we didn’t emphasize it as much.”

That new emphasis, in part, is a response to the negative perception of the events industry in the mainstream media, Shomer said.

Ledoux agreed. For networking, she added, “the value is hard to justify.”

Organizations identify educational components – how they relate to attendees and their jobs – to help prove the ROI and draw attendees.

“Many organizations are adding additional education if that was an area they were light on before,” Ledoux said.

However, the ratio of networking and content at SISO’s upcoming meeting hasn’t changed, he added.

“The focus on education is the same,” Shomer said. “We don’t want it to change. We think the mix is good.”

What has changed, in some cases, is the length and number of the sessions.

Shomer said the focus this year is a little more in depth than previous years, including a three-hour session on social media. Previously, three hour-long sessions would have taken place during that time.

“We’ve not really done that before because of the limits of time,” he added.

And while networking events aren’t being eliminated by either organization, cuts are being made.

“We’re trying to be more conscientious about timing and length of events,” Ledoux said, meaning if an event is promoted as two hours, it won’t go over its time limit. The overproduction of elaborate events also has been tamed, and the level of food and beverage offered isn’t the same, she added.

“You want to still provide them with the opportunity for the event, but you don’t want to be too over the top,” Ledoux said.

SISO, while keeping the same number of events and the timing of those events, also is making some cutbacks, Shomer said.

There are fewer sponsorship dollars on the table than there were in previous years, so SISO’s investment is larger this year, he added. Instead of the “73-course breakfast,” SISO’s asking “what do I really need for breakfast,” and budgeting accordingly, Shomer said.

ASAE also is making cuts in other areas, such as its spouse program.

“We actually had to look at things that were nice-to-haves, but weren’t (adding value),” Ledoux said. “For us, dollar-wise, we needed to eliminate that.”

Regardless of the economy and cutbacks at the events, though, one key component remains untouched: education.

“If I can’t produce good content, my attendees are not going to show up,” Shomer said. “The content always drives the conference.”