With the third edition of IMEX America on the horizon, the tradeshow’s organizers have announced program details for Association Focus, the pre-show “conference within a conference” dedicated to professional development and education.
The free educational event for association meeting planners and other association executives is organized in active partnership with ASAE –The Center for Association Leadership, PCMA and the ICCA. The program takes place as part of IMEX America’s “Smart Monday” education day scheduled Oct. 14.
The Association Focus program features each of the three leading industry associations responsible for designing and delivering one of three tracks of content: Executive (ASAE); Global (ICCA) and Meetings (PCMA). This allows association executives attending to tailor their education experience to match their individual needs, experience, interest levels, and current and future organizational goals.
Following a networking lunch, the event program, sponsored by Puerta Vallarta, will kick off with a keynote address by “people-centric business expert” Tim Sanders. Sanders is a former Yahoo! executive, corporate consultant and bestselling author.
Attendees can choose among three session tracks. The executive track, “Culture Change: Channeling Your Resources for Greater ROI,” will be led by Janice R. Lachance, CEO of the Special Libraries Association, and Susan Robertson, executive vice president of ASAE and president of the ASAE Foundation. The pair will share practical insights and guidance on rethinking how decisions are made in terms of the processes, products and services that keep associations relevant. The session also will focus on how to develop new organizational cultures that engender more flexibility.
In the concurrent global track, the ICCA will be leading two “wisdom of crowds,” round-table sessions to extract and share expertise on the themes “International Meetings are from Mars, Domestic Meetings are from Venus” and “Going Global: Dangers, Risks, Problems, Challenges and Other Worries that Keep You Up at Night.”
In the PCMA meetings track, delivered by Katie Callahan-Giobbi of Minding Your Business, attendees will be given “3 Key Steps to Personalize Your Attendees Experience, Powered by PCMA.”
Later in the afternoon the Association Focus program offers delegates a choice of round-table discussions across all three tracks. The facilitated group discussions will be organized by track, with topics including “Strategic Alliances & the Role of Governments in Global Expansion,” “Growing globally – Keys to Success,” “Building Partnerships in New Markets,” “Hybrid and Virtual Conferences – New Learning Formats,” and “Using Social Media and Viral Marketing to Promote Your Event.”
Registration for the IMEX America Association Focus on Smart Monday is now open. Participants are invited to attend either as part of the show’s hosted buyer program or as a buyer attendee. Full program details can be found online at www.imexamerica.com/events/forums/association-focus/.
