• This is just the information you'll need to jumpstart brainstorming and planning for 2008 and beyond. Convene is proud to present it to readers as we debut our first-ever January issue.
•  The meetings industry at midpoint 2007 couldn't have been better. The Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR) reported terrific second-quarter numbers that were expected to continue trending "up": Revenues up more than 11 percent over the same quarter in 2006, attenDance up 13.5 percent, the number of exhibitors up 4.5 percent, and net square footage up 3 percent.
• Still, only one thing remains certain: change. It keeps coming, and at a blistering velocity.
• Technology has untethered us from desks. We get information where, when, and how we want it at ever-lower costs and with ever- smaller devices. This seems to portend the demise of face-to-face engagement. But with a nod to Mark Twain, the reports of the death of meetings remain greatly exaggerated.
• "Real-time meetings will be peak experiences along a continuum," according to Jeremy Rifkin. "Engagement and education, though, will be continuous and ongoing. This doesn't overburden people who are time-starved, and it makes the peak experiences more meaningful."
• Read on. We guarantee that this is one report you will not put down. - Maxine Golding

GLOBALIZATION
Jeremy Rifkin President, The Foundation on Economic Trends, Fellow at the Wharton School, Advisor, Columnist, and Author (www.foet.org)

What do you see coming in globalization?
Rifkin: If you think globalization is about outsourcing and capital and labor flows, it's now about logistics, climate change, energy costs, and the carbon footprint. Everything we do will be based on how we address the sunset of the fossil fuel era. Your association is on the front line - especially those who deal with logistics and putting people together in time and space. What is the impact on energy to get people there?

How can we be more efficient as prices continue going up? How is this playing out? Rifkin: The great economic revolutions in history occur when we change our energy regime and then our communication regime. Think coal and steam-powered rail with printing for mass literacy, the internal combustion engine and electricity with the telephone and telegraph.

We're now on the verge of a third industrial revolution. Hundreds of millions of people can distribute information to each other. This will manage the next energy regime of distributed, renewable energies. The European Union has benchmarked that 20 percent of all energy and 33 percent of all electricity must be from renewable energy by 2020. Twenty-three states, led by California, have similar mandates.

Our astronauts have been powering their spaceships with hydrogen-powered fuel cells. It's the lightest element, it's ubiquitous, and its only byproduct is water. Imagine if I said 20 years ago that an eight-ounce device in your hands, costing under 100 bucks, would send video, audio, and text to a billion people in seven seconds. You would have said it was science fiction! I'm asking you to imagine billions of fuel cells storing renewable energy like we store information.

What will this mean to meetings?
Rifkin: Climate change and the price of energy will condition how they convene. Companies are voluntarily asking how to decrease their carbon footprint and stay in line with their social responsibility mandate. The logistics of moving exhibits are enormous. This industry has to lead in energy efficiency and alternative energies, while government will provide the carrot and stick. If people are planning conferences and not raising global consciousness, we are lost.

We will still have face-to-face meetings, because we are social animals, wired for empathy. Virtual meetings will be part of the mix but not replace the intimacy of social engagement. Real-time meetings will be peak experiences along a continuum. Engagement and education will be continuous and ongoing. This doesn't overburden people who are time-starved, and it makes the peak experiences more meaningful.

One of the ironies of the communications revolution is that it has allowed us to connect in the most complex ways, but it's also shortening each generation's attention span. Another is that the scarcest commodity today is time. Being on the cellphone 24 hours a day and getting 1,000 e-mails daily are lowering productivity. We have to allow technologies to work for us, and get much more creative with the informal relationships that develop.

DON REYNOLDS
Founder, 21st Century Forecasting, Real-world
Economist and Educator (www.donreynolds.com)
 What is the most significant development coming in globalization?
Reynolds: This will be the first year that emerging markets will contribute more (30 percent) to the global economy than developed countries (28 percent). The balance has shifted. From here on out, the United States will no longer play as large a role.

How is this playing out? Reynolds: China has eclipsed Germany as the third largest economic player, and will replace Japan as second largest in three years and the United States within 10 years. But here's the real economic story: We're seeing the evolution of an emerging market middle-class - a fertile ground for associations that want to go international. I suspect that China will have a middle class as large as the United States within 10 years, and India within 15 to 20 years. Massive numbers of people in the middle class all share common characteristics. That's the real economic story.

What issues concern you?
Reynolds: We are confronting serious environmental issues and [declining] American economic dominance. If we all are commonly bound by our desire for our children to have a better life than we have, my concern is that they won't. We need to re-instill the work ethic in children and make sure they are better educated than they are.

And we are going to live longer than we think. If I can swab the inside of my cheek and run a biogenetic scan and find genetic deficiencies I may be prone to … early detection means cure. At some point, this will make for a radical extension of human life. So if you're thinking about retirement, think again, since your biggest fear will be living longer than your finances allow.

Even medicine today is being outsourced. Should we expect to see more of the same?
Reynolds: One of the reasons so much business has gone to China and India is that they were so cheap. But now they themselves are suffering from rapid increases in what they have to pay [for workers] and facing shortages of qualified workers. Despite the terror that everything will leave the United States, there is a counterflow. Remember the story a year ago, when Dell moved one of its call centers back to the United States because a corporate client wanted [service] people who were more culturally understanding?

Can organizations remain flexible in light of the velocity of change?
Reynolds: One of great problems is that our institutions and laws can't keep up with changes. Businesses are not looking for students with specific skills, but malleable self-starters - people who don't need an enormous amount of direction, but who possess good communication skills and the tools to come up with solutions.

How can face-to-face meetings retain their value?
Reynolds: There's an even greater need for the networking value in the hallways. I can go to an online university or a video podcast, but I lose the intangible of how the audience is reacting and [the ability to] visit with my peer group after, creating relationships that help me later.

TECHNOLOGY

Thomas Koulopoulos
President and Founder of the Delphi Group,
Lecturer, Speaker, and Author of Smartsourcing
(www.delphigroup.com)

What do you see coming in technology?
Koulopoulos: The single most important development is the affordability of computing. It goes beyond Moore's Law. It's affordability for those who couldn't even begin to buy a PC before. That's why "One Laptop" excites me. [Editor's Note: One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) http://laptop.org is a non-profit initiative aimed to equip children in developing countries with specially designed low-cost notebooks.] It may take 15 or 20 years [to bring] untapped gray matter into the workforce, but we'll have a tremendously well-equipped workforce. Second is the globalization of resources, and that's huge! I have the ability to send work instantaneously to any resource that fits the bill. I have a 24/7 organization that I can track and monitor through business process technology or performance metrics. We didn't have that capability five years ago. Those are the areas from which increases in productivity, employment, and economic prosperity will stem.

What predictions on technology's intersection with business did you get right? Where did you miss the boat?
Koulopoulos: I remember running a seminar when the Internet was starting to make its mark, and predicting that in 10 years - now - software would be free. I hadn't anticipated the degree to which open software and open source would play such a dramatic role. We consistently underestimated that people would be so participatory, giving without a direct tie to what they were getting back. They are embracing a more indirect value proposition, and Wikipedia is a great example. We also underestimated the degree to which the complexity of software would increase. With so much integration and many points of contact, it takes more time to manage, maintain, and make sure software behaves.

How is technology helping organizations manage knowledge?
Koulopoulos: Originally knowledge management was about the intermediary, some black box repository. That never worked. What works is connecting the sources. The reality is that trying to manage that process of sharing knowledge is more difficult than we thought. It is much more organic and team-based, with more participants. The Internet has convinced us we can share and yet recover benefit. Look at the magic of E-Bay, where I have the ability to understand sellers and see what buyers have to say. That is knowledge management to the ultimate degree.

What is much harder to do via electronic communications is assess how well I can trust individuals. I call it the last mile of the X-economy. When the going gets tough in a business relationship, it's ultimately the element of trust that holds the relationship together. Human beings need that face-to-face to make those assessments. Unfortunately, we become enamored of technology and set aside the issue of trust. It will haunt us.

So, will face-to-face meetings retain their value? Koulopoulos: The economic reality is that face-to-face is a more expensive communication. The real challenge is matching the communication [need] to the tool. No one of these - telephone, e-mail, or text messaging - will be the preferred communication. With five generations working side-by-side, it might take a long time to figure out which one of the tools is best.

ESTHER DYSON
Chairman, EDventure Holdings,
Investor and Author of Release 2.1 (www.edventure.com)

What's the most interesting application of technology you're seeing?
Dyson: In health, whether for detecting epidemics or just staying healthier. With the rise in genetic testing, we will really have personalized medicine. Imagine learning you have a predisposition for being an alcoholic. The information will make it easier for people to modify their behavior.

This will lead to a health information bank that is central for each person and tracks blood types, allergies, and insurance. We'll use it like a debit card is used to get money from banks around world. We accept this in banking because money is under control. The same should happen with health care, and we'll give various people access as we do with [our finances].

You've been a thought leader on technology for many years. What predictions did you get right? Where did you miss the boat?
Dyson: I'm smart enough not to make a lot of predictions! But I was overoptimistic in my book Release 2.0 - I really thought that people would become much more active and conscious about how their data is used and insist on more control over it. People, in general, are woefully under-informed, paranoid, and careless [about data use], and if that sounds contradictory, it is. I thought they would take advantage of the fact that they have more power as consumers. I instigated a YouTube video contest to produce a funny video on how cookies and data are used online, for people to watch and learn.

What impact is technology advancement having on human interaction?
Dyson: It doesn't have a single impact - it affects people differently. If you want to be in touch all the time, you can. You can schedule face-to-face interactions more effectively. If you want to be antisocial, the computer allows you to avoid interaction. TV has made kids much more sophisticated, and now they can create their own world online where adults venture at their peril.

As a conference producer yourself, do you think face-to-face meetings can retain their value?
Dyson: They always had huge value and they always will. Here are three reasons: When talking to somebody, you give your full attention. You don't do that when you're watching a Webcast. Second, the best meetings are not when an audience is in front of a dark screen, but when you know you will be called on to contribute. Third, it's the knowledge that someone paid time and money to get there. In the end, if we want to learn something or interact with people, being physically present matters. You invest in startups.

Do they have a leg up on large businesses both in speed to market and productive use of changing technology?
Dyson: They can certainly move faster. But they have fewer resources and compete with other startups with the same advantages of nimbleness and openness to change. The big guys have the resources. And if you're big, you're probably trusted, but you can't change or retrain people rapidly. The grass is browner and greener everywhere.

THE EMPOWERED CONSUMER

PACO UNDERHILL
Founder, CEO and President of Envirosell Inc., and
Author of Why We Buy (http://envirosell.com)

What consumer issues are you seeing?
Underhill: One is the changing status of women. We live in a world that, in general, is owned, designed, and managed by men, and we expect women to participate in it. What's a female-friendly check-in or venue? At its meeting in Boston, the American Library Association cleverly converted every other "male" bathroom into a female bathroom for the [majority of the] 5,000 librarians there who were women.

The second issue is the transformation of "visual acuity." Thanks to the Internet, movies, and TV, the way our eyes process images is evolving faster than our written and spoken language. But we're retrofitting physical spaces for communication, rather than starting with the information architecture.

How are shopping habits and patterns changing?
Underhill: It is in the acquisition of goods that we see the most immediate evidence of the changes within our culture. The things pulling on our wallets now did not exist 10 years ago: mobile, cable TV, Internet access. We also know that the costs of housing and health care are going up. Those very close to the money are doing very well, while those at a distance are struggling.

We have spent much of our energy in retail over the past 20 years engineering costs out of the supply chain. I think we're taking a breath now and looking to the next era. Routine purchases make up 80 percent of what's in your refrigerator. What if you never had to run out of milk, orange juice, and peanut butter? That is the smart kitchen. There is no reason you couldn't give an appliance the authority to shop for you. This will be part of multitasking in the future, and it goes back to the changing status of women.

What does this mean for brands?
Underhill: The tools of the 20th century aren't working the way they used to. The concept of a brand, while extremely powerful, is no slam dunk. Cynical baby boomers are perfectly happy buying generic products, [so companies are] targeting younger people. Somewhere along the line, in addition to educating our children on health and safety issues, we as a culture also will have to educate them on consumption. There has to be something "magic" behind the brand, quality we can see, hear, touch, and smell.

So where does this leave face-to-face interaction?

Underhill: Technology follows human need to see and react to people. Social networking is in response to physical isolation issues, as business settles into a suburban campus where cross-fertilizing is increasingly different than in an urban setting.

Meetings are an informal way of having significant conversations that add to our intellectual knowledge. When someone is doing something with you, the act of learning becomes much more personal and collegial. Technology is one way to make that happen, which gets us back to social networking. We're now comfortable interacting hip to hip or cyberhip to cyberhip.

PATRICIA ABURDENE
Speaker and Author of Megatrends 2010: The Rise of Conscious Capitalism
(www.patriciaaburdene.com)

How is the empowered consumer impacting associations and businesses?

Aburdene: We often forget that approximately 70 percent of GDP [gross domestic product] is attributable to consumer spending, and consumers are becoming more and more aware of their power in the marketplace. "More is better" is being replaced by the discriminating, values-driven consumer. Nowhere is this more evident than in the whole green space, where people increasingly demand of corporations the value of sustainability in the products they buy.

The bellwether that predicted the green consumer movement was the LOHAS consumer (Lifestyles Of Health And Sustainability). They are now in the mainstream, with 60 million responsible for $230 billion in sales.

When McDonald's learned that health-conscious mothers felt guilty letting their kids eat fast food, they didn't stop selling fast food, but did start offering premium salads and a fitness campaign with Venus and Serena Williams. Wal-Mart is going after a sustainability image and has done a lot of good things regarding the environment. Are they a conscious capitalist company, which takes a holistic approach to stakeholders as a business advantage? They are not, but they're on the right track.

What's driving corporate social responsibility?
Aburdene: Values-driven consumers want to buy from a company whose corporate culture is in alignment with the values they espouse. They also want to work for and invest in companies that are socially responsible.

Starbucks communicates this; it is a small luxury to buy expensive coffee, but you feel good because farmers are paid a fair price, as are employees. Organizations need to get on the bandwagon.

People, though, are getting more and more cynical: "Isn't it all just greenwashing, using the environment to make themselves look good without doing good?" That cynicism marks the beginning of a new trend related to the values-driven consumer - the need for objective information. They want businesses to be evaluated by an independent third party. That's why lists like the Sustainable Business 20 (from Rona Fried's Progressive Investor at www.sustainablebusiness.com) are so important. The Sustainable Business 20 lists companies like Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Whole Foods, and Herman Miller - and for the first time, Nike - that are both financially and environmentally sustainable.

As social networks grow in use, organizations are challenged to control their brand. What are the implications for the future?

Aburdene: Brands are all about stakeholder perceptions. Nike got in trouble a few years back with regard to sweatshop labor. It used that as a serious opportunity to change. Now it's Mattel. It shows us how brand is the most important asset of a corporation.

How can face-to-face meetings retain their value, especially as technology provides new ways to connect, communicate, and teach?
Aburdene: It goes back to the trend of high tech, high touch, which has never been more important than today. The more technology options we have, such as videoconferencing, the more we desire face-to-face personal contact. That's why the meetings industry hasn't suffered, but is flourishing.

DIVERSITY & DEMOGRAPHICS

R. ROOSEVELT THOMAS, D.B.A.
CEO, Roosevelt Thomas Consulting & Training,
President of the American Institute for Managing Diversity,
Speaker, and Author of Building on the Promise of Diversity

Why is diversity so important today?
Dr. Thomas: When we started in the 1960s, it was about mainstreaming minorities and women. Today, most people define diversity as the differences, similarities, tensions, and complexities that can exist among a mixture of people who are your employees, associates, members, or constituencies. What's been ignored is the concept of diversity management: As we become comfortable with being different, how do we make quality decisions that will take us to the next level? We have to manage a growing diverse constituency or we will have serious outages.

How is this playing out?
Dr. Thomas: One CEO about to transition to retirement wanted to prepare the next level of executives to make a jump in diversity. We took his senior group through a three-day strategic diversity management program. It was not skill building; we examined the mindset and what was needed to change that mindset.

At a fundamental level, people will have to broaden the paradigms about diversity. We want to amend past wrongs where people were excluded. We want people to be treated and valued fairly. We want an environment to fully access talent. And we want the general capability to manage any kind of diversity related to globalization, technology, or acquisitions and mergers. I can't abandon one paradigm while I get my hands around the others.

What should organizations be doing?
Dr. Thomas: When people point to new strategies leading to bottom-line results, they're talking about leveraging diversity. If I get "Group A" members into my organization, will it help me sell to "Group A"? That's important. But the opportunity for gain and loss is much greater in a more complex notion of diversity. If you put two corporations with different cultures together, you have an easier time demonstrating bottom-line implications.

Diversity management will be recognized as something that requires much more in-depth education [than] training. It will get more attention as a craft, with the principles, dynamics, skills, and tactics required for mastery, practice, and continuous learning. For the CEO at one corporation, it is workforce diversity - plus functional integration, customer diversity, product strategy diversity.

Where does that put meeting professionals?
Dr. Thomas: To get gains in diversity management, you have to have innovation, and to get innovation you have to have diversity management. You can have a diverse group of people that get along great, but have difficulty making decisions. That's the missing piece. You've focused on getting the pluralism and people getting along and in the room … but quality decisions are the bottom line.

Meetings may even become more critical. If I go a year or two and only interact with you by e-mail or videoconference or Webcasting, getting together face-to-face can be an enriching experience. I've been to a lot of conventions and sessions, and it's difficult to capture the networking, camaraderie, and informal exchanges in a non-face-to-face setting.

Rich Kizer & Georganne Bender KIZER & BENDER
Speaking! Speakers, Authors, Retail
Anthropologists, and Experts in Generational Diversity
(www.kizerandbender.com)

What do you see coming in demographics?
K&B: We are a country of opposites: 73 million Millennials are aged 25 and younger, and 140 million are 50-plus. This will have a huge effect on everything we do going forward. The first challenge is meeting the needs of the Millennials. They have never known a world without computers or the Internet. They have a huge ability to multi-task and tend to get bored easily. Can you see why a training session for Baby Boomers can put a Millennial to sleep?

What is their impact?
K&B: They're coming into the workplace and changing the way we do business. Millennials assimilate well if they understand the parameters. They're great team players, love to participate, and love education. And they are predicted to be lifelong learners.

But instead of linear thinking - A to B to C - a Millennial's thought process moves randomly among a series of points before integrating into a conclusion. This all-over-the-place thinking allows them to process and absorb information faster. It is also likely to drive the rest of us crazy. You don't have to be the same age to connect with them, but you can't fake it either. Every company and organization needs a vice president of pop culture.

What is the second challenge?
K&B: Accommodating the Zoomers (50-plus younger Boomers). They are in the prime of their lives, healthy, happy, and far richer than any other generation. They don't look or act old, but have special needs they won't ever tell you about. We haven't yet seen many hotels or convention centers make changes, but we are slowly seeing retailers accommodate older customers: larger parking spaces, larger labels, wider aisles, non-skid floors, places to sit down, shopping carts with built-in seats and brakes to keep them steady.

We recommend businesses place baskets of reading glasses in various magnifications at registration areas and service counters. Pump up the type size in signage, brochures, newsletters, and other point-of-purchase materials. The lighting in convention center and hotel meeting rooms is not as accommodating as it needs to be.

How are organizations adapting to demographic changes in their customers and the workforce?
K&B: Businesses cannot afford to be arrogant and think they know what's best for their customers without asking them. Advisory boards that are made up of your ultimate consumer are a good idea for every business. If you want to get it right, you have to go to the source.

There's no wiggle room here: What works for one generation is Kryptonite to another. If you say to a Zoomer, "We need to think about completing this project," the Zoomer will complete the project. Say the same thing to a Millennial, and he or she will think about it, which is what you said. We can all get along famously if we just take a little time to explore what our customers want and give it to them just that way!

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY & THE? ENVIRONMENT

Andrew Savitz Senior Consultant, Sustainable Business Strategies,
Speaker, and Author of The Triple Bottom Line
(www.getsustainable.net)

Why are social responsibility and sustainability so important today?
Savitz: First, the pressures on the planet are growing enormously: climate change, water scarcity, and population growth (from 6 billion now to 9 billion by 2050). Consumers and citizens think the problems are beyond the capacity of government alone to solve. Second, the public's expectations of corporations have grown enormously beyond profit and philanthropy: diversity, child labor, human rights, the environment. People want to know what's beyond the brand. Third, consumers are beginning to vote with their wallets - there's an increasing preference to do business with companies trying to do the right thing.

How is all this playing out?
Savitz: If we can get a handle on climate change - and that is a large assumption - water will be the climate issue of the next decade. Any company that wants to grow in a water-distressed area must take precautions for its own needs, and make sure the area's needs are being met. Pandemics and disease obviously will affect almost any company that wants to work in the developing world.

The growth in population promises to be overwhelming. If China and the developing world obtain a standard of living similar to that in the developed world, it will take seven planet earths to sustain that kind of economic growth. We don't have the resources.

Companies that figure out how to turn social responsibility into opportunity will succeed. GE has realized that solving climate change is a great sweet spot. It has wind power, gas turbines, super-efficient engines, and nuclear power. It's doubled its investments in clean technology, and already exceeded revenue targets.

How can organizations make meaningful decisions on sustainability?
Savitz: The best way is to pull a group of people who often don't talk together and ask: How can our business address needs that don't now affect us, but will in the future? That was a light bulb that went off at Toyota in the 1990s: People will be more concerned about air pollution, and the price of gas is going up because it's a finite resource. It made two bets on the Prius, and both came in. Crisis sometimes precipitates action, but it's best to do it proactively. It takes a wide group, because sustainability involves everything from the supply chain to human resources. Working committees often get very innovative in coming up with new solutions with the bottom line firmly in mind.

Can face-to-face meetings retain their value?
Savitz: We're not going to be meeting face-to-face in 500 years; maybe our avatars will! I'm stretching to make a point. Your industry will have to transform, since travel has one of the biggest environmental footprints. Some companies are thinking hard about getting into the virtual meeting business. It's a double sweet spot - saving money and helping the environment. Meeting planners are the best ones to figure it out and get into that space.

Majora Carter
Urban Revitalization Strategist,
Sustainable South Bronx,
and 2005 MacArthur Fellow
(www.ssbx.org)

Why is social and corporate responsibility so important today?
Carter: It is such a boon for corporations and communities, which are underserved by government and private interests. When dollars are put into communities and spent there, this creates markets for products and service. It's an investment for healthy communities. When businesses decide to go green and invest in green industries, they're in on the ground floor of a new market. It's a smart business move. Even poor communities have money to spend.

What developments do you see coming, and how are these playing out?
Carter: People are starting to see sustainability as an opportunity. The only problem we're having is that it needs to be green for all. You don't have to be rich to be green, and it's not only a niche market you're serving. The investment needs to be made for a "green collar" workforce that can do these jobs and create the products and services. We need something like a Marshall Plan, where government not only supports enterprises and businesses that can compete to improve the environment and create jobs, but narrows the gap between rich and poor. And it will help us not outsource jobs.

What turned you into an environmental and community activist?
Carter: The seminal moment came after living back in the neighborhood of my childhood, when [there was a plan] that would have brought in more waste [to the community]. That was when I realized the possibilities if we actually took control and became more active. Our budget of $950,000, though, is tiny compared to what we do.

What knowledge must organizations acquire before they can make meaningful decisions on sustainability?
Carter: They definitely need to work across communities, businesses, and government, and with other community groups. The latter is often really hard, with the scarcity of resources. I guess that's human nature, but I think there is plenty out there for everyone. It's relationship building, in an open, honest, and transparent way.

We're seeing that exchange happen. People are interested in [sustainability] on so many different levels. I'm co-founder of Green for All, and our goal is to move the green economy so that it crosses race lines and ethnicities. There are about a quarter of a million green jobs around the country. So many people have been left out, but the circle is growing.

How can planners make a real difference in changing habits and patterns?
Carter: The first thing would be to green up your own operations and practices. When I go to conferences, it's always unbelievable to me how they are done in the least sustainable way, with paper products and the kind of food served. Start asking providers for locally grown food. Get someone to pick up the task of composting. Expect suppliers to be green. Make your own buildings green. Purchase clean energy to power venues. Then promote all that.

Bradley D. Weaber, CMP
Executive Vice President and Chief Customer Officer
Experient

Globalization will have the biggest impact...
Everyone, including us, is scrambling to get in on the action. As we continue to have roadblocks in bringing people into our country, we're looking outbound, especially since global organizations are having their meetings elsewhere. We have developed an international division; working with alliance partners around the world will give us contacts in virtually every country. It is what customers want, and it is consistent, consolidated, and easy to implement.

The technologies that will make a real difference in our meetings...
I see smart phones taking over for registration, where your phone becomes your name badge and with it you can buy commerce on the show floor. People have limited time to attend meetings, and we'll use online community sites for a single event as an accelerator. Emerging technology, though, is quite expensive, although it holds the hope of productivity gains, lowered costs, and increased value. If you want to stay ahead of the curve, you must have plans in place and money to prepare for it.

Social responsibility is huge...
And the newer generation is more aware and concerned. We'll start to see more organizations looking at eco-friendly buildings. People have to revisit their budgets, since social responsibility doesn't come cheap. They'll be changing the model, with much less consumption of food and materials. But as one planner put it, "My fear is that as I become socially conscious, that will become another profit center for a facility."

Deidre Irwin Ross, CMP, MHA
Director, Conference Services
American Library Association (ALA)
The opportunity for ALA...
Is in globalization. With the growth in prosperity, China and India represent big markets for ALA products. We're aggressively recruiting international librarians at our conferences. And we're moving towards better distribution of our products worldwide with print-on-demand options that reduce costs.

The greatest impact on our operations...
Technology. We have an ALA office in Second Life and hold meetings there. We [produce] Webinars and online courses to deliver information to librarians who can't come to meetings. We're talking about doing podcasts from our conferences, and already there is a lot of blogging. We have an ALA wiki, and the conference wiki alone gets more than 50,000 hits. And one of our cutting-edge members is going to start an online professional network for members - like a social networking site. We think that is a major trend and very relevant to our younger members.

How we're thinking differently about our use of resources...
At our last annual meeting, we learned that the waste we recycle is subtracted from the garbage we have to pay [to have removed]. So if we recycle one ton of garbage out of 10 tons, we only pay for nine tons. We're also looking to lay out the day better so we don't need so much busing for the more than 28,000 people who ride the buses an average of six times a day.

Jeff Singsaas
General Manager of Corporate Events and Microsoft Studios
Microsoft Corporation

I am most focused on...
Technology and the empowered consumer. The sophistication level of consumers is growing exponentially every day. People still want face-to-face contact, but the relationship is being extended and enlarged. We are finding that they want to have information early and remain in contact after. That requires a good technology plan.

Our biggest challenge...
There is so much out there competing for the consumer's attention that rising above the noise level with something of value is difficult to do. For meetings, there is only so much time, travel resources, and attention bandwidth. You have to have a compelling story for people to come and participate. So we are doing three things: making sure we have a clear fit for events; leveraging how people deal with relationship sources; and defining a common digital event marketing platform so format and content are consistent and predictable. The technology that is making a difference… Social interaction software. It's one of the really powerful products we use on site. People can log in and connect with others with like interests. Certainly for the size conferences we produce (from 2,500 all the way up to 20,000), the cost of this software per deployment is insignificant.

How we are thinking differently about our use of resources...
The whole notion of conducting events in a green space will get more traction the more this industry thinks about it collectively. We must leverage how people learn, and engineer with an eye toward conserving resources. If it were easy, we would have sorted it out already.

David A. Weil
Senior Director of Convention and Trade Show Services
SmithBucklin Corporation

The two trends that impact our events day-to-day…
Technology and the empowered consumer. Associations can't be doing things in cookie-cutter mode. It's really important to be nimble, shed the "sacred cows" they don't need, and differentiate with information. There is a lot of clutter out there. But that's a great advantage of associations - we are a legitimate information source, a trusted brand. Technology is helping us customize the content and event experience attendees want, when they want it: Webinars, podcasts, online learning, videocasts. It's important to tune to what they need through on-site focus groups and segmented research.

We always focus on speed of information...
Things are moving so quickly that associations must make sure the money is there to understand the changing landscape. Because we can see what's happening with other groups, we've created an innovation process that [identifies] products we can help develop based on member need. For a nursing group, we [created] video learning that includes nurses, doctors, technicians, and patients, and it's updated on a regular basis. It wasn't even a possibility three or four years ago. Education and technology are coming together.

Events save on the environment...
If each person traveled individually to meet with suppliers, the carbon impact would be that much greater. Green meetings are even better. And because social responsibility is huge, leaders of associations get energized when we come up with ways they can give back. People want to make a difference.

Steve Drew
Assistant Executive Director for Scientific Assembly and Informatics
Radiological Society of North America (RSNA)

Our greatest opportunity is...
Globalization. More than 30 percent of professional attendees are from 100 countries. It used to be enough to send invitation letters. Now, these have to be personal with an authorized signature, and people have to go for visa interviews. While we haven't seen a decline since visa issues started, in the best of all worlds RSNA would see growth.

Technology will make big changes...
In how we do things. We'll use RFID badging for every one of 30,000-plus professionals, monitor attendee behavior through video, and use audience response systems in courses. These will help us better understand what people are taking advantage of and make the meeting more convenient for them. RFID will have the biggest impact. We're pilot testing it with 12 major exhibitors, who will customize information for attendees as they come into their booths.

We're trying to make RSNA small and useful…
Rather than big and unwieldy. We're using integrated education - vertical courses on a given subject with their own faculty, traditional and hands-on instruction, and scientific sessions. And we created a second event, "Highlights of RSNA," to give people who don't get to the annual meeting an opportunity to get some education. Years ago, with the inefficiencies of face-to-face, I would have said there is no way it could survive. But I couldn't be more wrong. People will tolerate travel to a certain extent because they still want human interaction. The conference is protected time.

Kent E. Allaway, CEM, CMP
Director, Meetings & Trade Shows
Produce Marketing Association

Three trends go together for us...
Globalization, technology, and demographics. How will the world economy, pandemics, and superbugs impact the face-to-face piece we often take for granted? There is an explosion of country pavilions on our show floor. Four reps work for us in different countries, and we have common interest groups in Australia, New Zealand, and Mexico. But while we can bring in more business from around the globe, there is more competition. We also have to educate a new, younger workforce, which is social in a different way. Yes, we are doing Webinars and e-learning, and posting workshops online after the show, but none is a replacement for the meeting.

The technology that will make a difference this year...
On-site badge pick-up using touchscreens, modeled after the airline kiosk. Members who have pre-registered swipe a card and their badge prints out. It takes about two minutes and helps us keep people from standing in line. Technology is also replacing some of the back end: presentation management, workshop signs fed digitally from that system, marketing across electronic media, 65 percent of registration online.

The impact of environmental issues...
An internal taskforce is looking at our carbon footprint in the office and at meetings. Offsets may be the road we take. But with all the trash 800 exhibitors and 16,000 attendees produce, it's very hard to recycle cardboard boxes, which are often damaged. A lot of members are moving to reusable packaging, and that will become one of our central pieces.

Susan Newman
Vice President of Conferences
National Retail Federation

The biggest impact on my organization...
Is coming from the rapid changes of movement within technology. Everything - from what you can do on a cellphone to blogging - is changing the way our meetings are done. Keeping consumers' attention is much more challenging. The empowered consumer is making the decisions, and retailers must change the way they're doing business. Blogging can be a good thing or bad thing depending on what is being said, and for better or worse this free PR is tied up with the company's brand.

How our meetings are reflecting these trends...
We matchmake exhibitors and attendees, which is a great use of technology pre- and post-show. They are able, through their cellphone, to upload the schedule at a glance, which is streamlining the process on site. Our store of the future, Exploration 08, has cityscape demos of how people will be shopping 24/7 with cellphones, GPS through cellphones, and interactive billboards. We've also developed 10 pavilions on the show floor, like the Dream Green Pavilion, which shows how retailers can become socially responsible and make their bottom line.

How we are thinking differently about our use of resources...
We have put a lot of conversation into this. I did some research with convention centers we use. Most have not made large steps in being environmentally aware. Yes, they turn off lights when we leave, but there are no guarantees that when we're separating plastic and paper, those are not being put back together at night.

Charles D. Yuska
 President and CEO
Packaging Machinery Manufacturers Institute

The most significant trends for us…
Globalization and technology. The United States is the largest packaging market in the world, but Procter & Gamble is building more plants outside the United States because that's where the people are. Our industry sources locally wherever they can, so will trade shows follow? We are using the Internet, Web site, and technology to promote and market our shows, educate our exhibitors, and help buyer and seller more easily find each other.

Our biggest challenge…
To find ways to make our big, complicated show user-friendly, enhance the experience for both attendee and exhibitor, and create a community. We tested a personal desktop object with about 100 exhibitors, giving them resources and reminding them of deadlines. We'll roll it out to all next year. MyPackExpo will communicate "365" with attendees; by downloading the icon to their desktop, they give us permission to interact with them.

We also launched PackExpo TV at the show, videostreaming news, interviews, and product introductions; the online video is archived.

How we are thinking about sustainability…
Wal-Mart announced a year ago that it won't buy from suppliers unless they reduce packaging and waste. It is not a fad; it is here to stay, and the entire industry is scrambling. Our show was all about sustainability. We see growth opportunities with different exhibitors, materials, and processes.

I've had several members say to me that we need to walk the walk. After the show, there's a pile of trash and cardboard. The trade shows in Europe are ahead of ours; exhibitors are required to separate what they leave behind. The building, cleaning contractor, and show must work in partnership. We're going to start on that for next year.

Susan Katz
Director of Corporate Events
True Value Company

The most interesting thing I'm seeing…
Is technology - using it, bringing it to the forefront, and keeping current on it. We're looking at how to use social networking sites to maintain relationships and talk to our co-op members about the value of face-to-face, even though people are migrating to other ways of meeting with each other. We need to make the case for why they need both in their lives.

Our greatest opportunity…
To do something meaningful and draw people along in the same direction is with greening. We see it as low-hanging fruit, visible to membership and with immediate payback. Recycling waste and badge plastics at meeting sites and getting rid of plastic water bottles are little things that make an impact.

The biggest threat to our face-to-face meeting environment…
Is technological. How do we maintain the value of face-to-face when buying can be done from a person's desk, where you can see a picture, place the order, and get education? The value is in the interaction that happens [on site], and the focus must be on education - how to keep our membership at a competitive advantage.

The amount of information…
Thrown at me on a daily basis is overwhelming. Our industry is made up of details, and they explode exponentially. How can I keep up the pace, take information, translate it, and get it to the people who need to deal with it? How do I filter what is important and what can be put off?

Joan L. Eisenstodt
Chief Strategist
Eisenstodt Associates

All five trends, and climate change, will tremendously impact…
People's ability to attend meetings. Curbs on travel, areas of the world under water or in a drought (as in Atlanta), crumbling infrastructure, and how cities in the United States and elsewhere will provide power and water for living will influence how and where meetings are held - and drastically change commerce. RFPs need to change, but clients don't want to go there. We need to look at world conditions that may impact us five years out. I'm horrified at those who haven't read the Hospitality 2010 report. [Editor's note: A PDF of the report by Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu and the Preston Robert Tisch Center for Hospitality, Tourism and Sports Management at New York University can be downloaded by going to: www.deloitte.com/dtt/cda/doc/content/ba_hospitality_2010.pdf.]

The challenges of demographic change…
While some groups are beginning to look at the future of meetings from the demographic trends in their industries, I don't think most are paying attention. With the shifts around the world where people live and/or work, we will need to know more languages, cultures, and customs … and we're not ready. Everything - globalization, diversity, and social responsibility - ties in with the empowered consumer. People want transparency and are challenging groups to be so.

The impact of technology...
Is cumulative, and it's not generational! People expect a greater ability to engage with others as a result of the continuing virtual interaction. Yet it puzzles me why association members are not more actively engaged. I had a conversation with an association executive who asked, "Why can't we get members to communicate in blogs and listservs?" It should be liberating, but some people are already overwhelmed by e-mail. They don't quite know how to manage it.

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