BTC 2012 Education Programme
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Thursday 21 June 2012 |
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8.30-9.30 - Pavillion C1, Conference Area |
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Four years after the global banking crisis that drove many major national economies into recession, the meetings industry has changed significantly as a result of the new reality that the economic crisis has created: an entirely new relationship between demand and supply in the international meetings market. Success for operators in the meetings industry largely depends upon understanding the latest market trends and adapting products and services so that they correspond to what buyers actually need. The seminar explores this new relationship, identifying how buyers choose events destinations, venues and services; it provides suggestions on what operators can do to tap the new trends in demand more competitively and gives them a key to help position their products and services on the market more effectively, to increase the probability that they will be seen, chosen and valued. |
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10.00-11.00 - Pavillion C1, Conference Area |
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In this motivational seminar, Alex Bellini, adventurer, extreme athlete and solo yachtsman, explores the idea of adventure as an attitude with which to face the challenges of every-day life. Using his own experience, Alex demonstrates that the character, outlook and attitudes that are key to survival in extreme conditions are also indispensable for modern managers, their teams and colleagues. He covers the topics of team and communication, the cycle of fear and the courage of dreams, the management of failure, and passion as a driver of our actions. “Because,” says Alex, “everyone has an ocean to cross and if you do not get your bearings, you run a very high risk of getting shipwrecked”. |
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14.00-15.00 - Pavillion C1, Conference Area |
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Thousands of websites and applications for smart phones and tablets are currently available to facilitate and make meetings and events organisers’ work more efficient. It is often however difficult to find the simplest and most immediate solution to one's needs. This workshop is intended to provide participants with an integrated toolbox kit, and talk them through using it effectively. It will present free or freemium tools to manage every aspect of an event: organisation and back office, participant registration, management of speakers and their presentations, connections and video-conferencing between devices, participant involvement, sharing of work. The seminar will be practical in nature, explaining how the tools are used and what they are used for: a dedicated wi-fi connection will be available and participants are asked to bring their laptops, smart phones and tablets with them. |
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15.30-16.30 - Pavillion C1, Conference Area |
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To be successful, an event must capitalise on the environmental, historical and cultural features of the location in which it is being held. The more the meeting planner - the professional that blends the organisation of the event’s time and space – can exploit the Genius Loci, that is the destination’s (and venue’s) “personality”, its traditions, its culture, the more the event’s emotional force is likely to remain in participants’ memories, thereby making it a success. This seminar illustrates how to choose a destination and a venue based on an event’s contents and objectives, and conversely, how the characteristics of the destination and the venue may be used to service the organiser’s needs. It further explores how to establish quality indicators for an event venue that include its characteristics, service performance, availability, respect for the environment and the capacity to combine global standards and modern technology with cultural heritage. |
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15.30-17.00 - Room Diotallevi 2 |
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The Italian chapter of Site raises questions regarding the needs of corporate clients, and asks whether the tender process is the most effective tool to meet these requirements. The risk is that the competition instigated by the buyer between different agencies generates a standard proposal, when in fact, it is when the company and an established partner share objectives that more farsighted solutions are progressively developed. Enzo Mataloni, management consulting, CSR and corporate governance expert, will explore the key regulations and practices concerning Italian tender management, with a particular focus on the meetings and events industry. The seminar will examine areas governed by law and those that can only be managed by relying on ethical judgements. The issue will be explored in an interactive discussion with the public and corporate clients. |
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17.00-18.00 - Pavillion C1, Conference Area |
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How should a company’s workforce be managed during a period of crisis? What contracts should be used to take on new staff or during a temporary employment peak? Is a significant drop in sales just cause to implement redundancy schemes and/or lay-offs? This short seminar sets out some of the new tools made available by current legislation, pending the Italian Parliament’s definition and approval of labour market reforms to promote flexibility both in taking on and laying off staff. It will analyse flexibility, apprenticeships, regional- or corporate-level contracts (contratti di prossimità), company contracts, redundancy schemes and solidarity contracts, in an attempt to shed light on the aspects of employment law that typically relate to the meetings industry. |
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Friday 22 June 2012 |
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8.30-9.30 - Pavillion C1, Conference Area |
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Web 2.0 is changing buying processes also in the B2B environment: the latest studies show that almost all corporate buyers do research on the internet before beginning the purchasing process, and, according to most, word-of-mouth is the most important source of information. As a result, the information that can be found on the web on firms and what customers say about them on blogs, forums and social networks provide the most reliable picture of how a brand is seen on the market. And while companies have always listened to their customers through questionnaires, market research and customer service, with web 2.0 this process requires monitoring the ongoing conversations on the internet. The seminar will explain that listening to the web does not only mean having the technology to extract data of interest, but it is above all about having a strategy that can translate this data into actions and consequently into value. |
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10.00-11.00 - Pavillion C1, Conference Area |
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Association conferences represent a solid and growing market, less subject than corporate events to fluctuations due to periods of economic stagnation. To acquire their conferences, PCOs, destinations and events venues must however be aware of the trends that affect associations, their pre-established objectives and how their internal decision-making processes work. This seminar uses the European Society for Organ Transplantation to illustrate the management, operational and decision-making models of associations, and to explain how bids must be presented to win their events. It covers what is important for an association when it organises a conference, what objectives they set and what factors determine the success or otherwise of a bid, and how the offer should be presented. |
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CANCELLED |
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14.00-15.00 - Pavillon C1, Conference Area |
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The internet has revolutionised the way we communicate and has given a huge public a way of publishing content, coming together for a common interest, expressing opinions on products and services, or sharing information. Corporate communication, also in a B2B environment, cannot therefore disregard digital channels and the new rules of listening and discourse relating to the internet. This seminar explains how to structure a digital PR campaign: who the new target “influencers” are, the channels and tools required to connect with them, how to listen to what is said about us on the internet and to take part in the conversation by providing relevant content, and how to measure and influence sentiment about our brand. |
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14.00-15.00 - Room Diotallevi 2 |
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In Italy in the last few years, social communication has signified a whole host of diverse phenomena. According to Philip Kotler, social marketing can be defined as the use of marketing strategies and techniques to persuade a target group to accept, modify or abandon a behaviour voluntarily, in order to obtain an advantage for individuals or society as a whole. Advantages then, not profit: associations do not undertake any activity for the sake of gain, but rather to favour their members’ growth. This seminar is intended to promote debate on issues such as credibility, sustainability and the intrinsic nature of an association, including: the focus on young people and new communicaton models, but also the capacity to listen and to stimulate the development of associations’ communication as well as corporate communications, increasingly geared towards social models. |
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15.30-16.30 - Pavillion C1, Conference Area |
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This very practical seminar shows how to extend the reach of an event and presents solutions and tools to turn it into a hybrid one that can involve a wider audience. Having defined the difference between a simple virtual connection and a hybrid event, the seminar will identify the type of event most suitable for the new format, the management techniques to seize opportunities arising from them and the possible financial advantages. A check-list of necessary technologies and specific aspects of the format will be provided, with suggestions on how to promote a hybrid event on social media sites and measure its ROE (Return On Engagement). Every aspect will be analysed from different viewpoints: that of the organiser, the speaker/facilitator, the venue hosting the event and of course the “real” and “virtual” participants. Finally, some examples of hybrid events (board meetings, conventions, sales training etc.) will be analysed, showing the pros and cons of the solutions adopted. |
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