In this week’s Monday Revenues and Benefits Discussion Group, our conversation circled around conferences and their evolving relevance and impact.
We pondered upon several key questions: What are we really seeking from conferences? Beyond being a venue for an engaging party, do they foster meaningful discussions and propagate best practices effectively? Are they keeping pace with the changes in our rapidly evolving professional landscape?
It’s evident that some conferences have maintained a consistent model for decades, often featuring repetitive subjects and familiar speakers. We also observed varied approaches, such as separating awards dinners from the main events, or adopting the modernised formats witnessed in the ICT and Fintech sectors – bustling with pop-up presentations, rapid-fire discussion groups, and mingling spots like coffee hubs.
Recent conferences are starting to mirror those of 2008, witnessing a declining trajectory with fewer delegates that by 2015 saw, a dwindling number of in-person suppliers and sponsors. During the pandemic years, the move to virtual conferences for revenues and benefits was, candidly speaking, subpar.
In this current s114 environment, is a reshaping in order? Perhaps it’s ripe time to explore a new conference model: condensed, hybrid, and more budget-friendly, utilizing new technology to facilitate networking.
Stay tuned for our discussion next week, where we’ll delve into how new tech is channelling support directly to vulnerable households. Our working title is “Beyond Calculators.” Your insights will be invaluable, so looking forward to it!
The recording for this week can be accessed through this link: https://bit.ly/VNM231009.