Associations World Congress
Programme
Each session of the Association Leadership and Conference & Events Strategy streams will take the format adopted in 2022 in Lisbon (bulleted below), which had excellent feedback. The Session Leader will present and facilitate discussion and delegates will contribute to the discussions and case studies.
- Introduction and challenges facing associations in the topic area
- About the delegates's specific challenges - from input provided by delegates
- Discussion among delegates on the issues and how to address them
- Case studies (x 4/5) by delegates, presented to the room of how the have addressed issues
- Presentation of other case studies by delegate's around their tables
- Exercise (subject to time available)
- Conclusions
DAY ONE - Sunday 9 July |
|
13:00 - 17:30 |
Medical Associations MeetingThis annual meeting within the congress has proved very popular each year. We examine the top issues raised by medical associations, with setting the scene, discussion threads on the top three issues, case studies from delegates presented to the room and discussed around tables, ending with the summing up.
Each delegate will be invited to share their key challenges, from which the topics will be defined for each of the two sessions. 
Executive Director
Linda is passionate about associations and is particularly active in the professional associations in her own field. She is also a consultant to a variety of associations. In 2008 she was considered one of Portugal’s five most influential people in the conference & events industry and received the education award from IAHMP. Respected internationally as a speaker she has lectured in countries such as Italy, Spain, Russia, Egypt, Cape Verde, United Kingdom, Dubai, Spain and The Netherlands. In 2009 she received the medal of honour for positive entrepreneurship in Portugal for her commitment to promoting culture and heritage and for CSR initiatives.
SessionsMedical Associations Meeting Sunday @ 1:00 PM
|
|
|
Main Congress Starts |
18:30 |
Welcome Receptionat the Palazzo degli Affari |
19:30 |
Welcome Dinnersat selected restaurants in Florence centre |
DAY TWO - Monday 10 July |
|
08:30 - 08:50 |
Plenary: Opening Session |
09:00 - 12:00Including a |
1. Critical challenges to sector-leading associations: Identifying and solving threats & taking advantage of opportunitiesWe have been adjusting our business, services and member offering in the face of disruptions over the last few years. While normality has returned, we haven't always taken advantage of the opportunities presented. How have we and can we do this? How do we face leaner competitors, be they out of new online communities, publishers or other associations expanding into our territory? During this facilitated session, delegates will consider the opportunities that others have taken, what threats are a danger to their association's position in the sector, revenue and membership, and how to ensure they are in an un-assailed position for a success. 
Managing Director
Andy is an experienced association CEO who set up his own consultancy to share the knowledge and expertise he has gathered over the past 25+ years. Wanting to add value to all associations, Andy believes in creating long term relationships and sharing best practice.
Sessions1. Critical challenges to sector-leading associations: Identifying and solving threats & taking advantage of opportunities Monday @ 9:00 AM
Twitter: @BDAandyburman
|
|
|
2. Conference Successes and Challenges - for a robust & growing futureIt’s been a rollercoaster – but what have we learnt? We went to online, to hybrid, and back to in-person, or in-person plus. We struggled with which audience to privilege. The challenges of budgets, diversity, sustainability, accessibility, increasing delegate numbers, decreasing delegate numbers – happy sponsors, less happy sponsors – we’ve heard it all. And boy did we learn fast. Learning about online delivery, pricing and marketing online events. Hybrid was expensive, technology was developing rapidly but not always effective, too often members naïvely demanded or we naïvely gave them free or very low-fee online attendance, and sponsors and exhibitors couldn't get enough out of them. In this session we bring together all that experience and learning, share what we discovered, what worked and what didn’t. During this facilitated session, delegates discuss the core new challenges, hear from each other about successes and learning moments, and how to overcome the costs and mindsets that prevent expansion, growth and greater revenue. 
Managing Director
Sasha has over twenty-five years' experience of creating conferences and summits, starting her career in the commercial conference industry. She is skilled at curating and shaping events – product development, market mapping, sponsor research, speakers and marketing. Sasha is Fellow of The Chartered Institute of Marketing, The Royal Society of Arts, a visiting lecturer in event management at The University of Westminster, London and judges industry awards.
www.thebusinessnarrative.com Sessions2. Conference Successes and Challenges - for a robust & growing future Monday @ 9:00 AM 6. Re-examining the Conference Creation Process – a framework for an effective event strategy and design Monday @ 2:30 PM
LinkedIn: sashafrieze/?originalSubdomain=uk |
3. Coaching for Growth: Conversations that enable discovery and innovationHow you serve as a leader has changed. Today, being a good leader does not mean having all of the answers. It’s about harnessing the potential of others to create them. Your job is to work collaboratively To get to this place requires a shift in how you communicate with your people. Today’s high performing leaders are using a coaching skillset to support their people to reach their full potential. In this interactive session, ICF credentialed coach John Scarrott PCC, will share the principles and a practical guide to coaching. He will share the skills and qualities you need to unlock more of the
Trainer and Coach
John Scarrott is a Trainer and Coach working with association professionals on their approach to speaking, chairing meetings, presentations, communication and influence. John is a former Membership Director, with over 25-years’ experience of making presentations. He is the retained trainer in Public Speaking and Presentation Skills for the AAE and also for the Institute of Data & Marketing. John is a professionally qualified coach with a Professional Certified Coach (PCC) Credential from the International Coach Federation. He has spoken in the UK and internationally working with association professionals across Europe and in India and Australia.
Sessions3. Coaching for Growth: Conversations that enable discovery and innovation Monday @ 9:00 AM 9. Take to the Stage: Speak with confidence and highly effectively when it matters most Tuesday @ 8:30 AM
LinkedIn: /johndscarrott/ |
|
12:15 - 13:30 |
Appointments Session |
13:30 - 14:30 |
Lunch & Networking |
14:30 - 17:35Including a |
4. Association Data AnalyticsData and analytics is essential to driving success. This session will help you understand the usage of data in your association, key technologies, what to measure and how to forecast. In this session, you will gain and understanding of:
Consultant |
|
|
5. Outsourcing & sourcing: Successful approaches for the highest quality and successFrom total conference management, sales agencies to event management technologies, there are many areas you can outsource and if you are expanding rapidly or lacking expertise in critical areas, it may be essential. However, as we hear of many failures with outsourcing and even have experienced it ourself, the process needs detailed examination and learning. In this session, we will hear of key association successes and learn of the critical requirements for: agility, flexibility, resilience and mutual profit. How to make outsourcing a partnership that truly works well with gainshare outcome based models. The Global Sourcing Association will also present their case study of outsourcing everything in their association, including additionally offshoring. Learn from them also of their framework for reducing time and risk with standardisation in: Accounting, Marketing, NDAs, Confidentiality, Liability provisions and more. 
CEO Kerry Hallard - is the President of the Global Sourcing Association and CEO of the Global Sourcing Association UK. Kerry previously held the titles of CEO of the National Outsourcing Association and Director of the European Outsourcing Association and recently led the organisations’ highly successful global rebrand. Kerry’s focus is on growing the reach and the positive reputation of the sourcing industry globally, through the development and dissemination of standards and qualifications. Kerry recently established the GSA’s Standard Advisory Group, enlisting representation from 20 countries around the world, as well as senior buyers, service providers and accreditation partners. Kerry’s career spans over 20 years in strategic consultancy and corporate communications in the high-tech and business-to-business arena, representing companies to include: ICL; Lexmark; IBM; KPN Qwest; Avaya; Crystal Decisions and Cincom. Kerry received an MBA from Kingston Business School in 2004. Prior to commencing her career in communications, Kerry worked in Eagle Star Insurance Services IT department. Kerry graduated from the University of the West of England with a BA Hons in Modern Languages and Information Systems. Sessions5. Outsourcing & sourcing: Successful approaches for the highest quality and success Monday @ 2:30 PM |
6. Re-examining the Conference Creation Process – a framework for an effective event strategy and designHow do we meet post-pandemic? How do we hardwire purpose and outcomes into our event design? How do we sort through conflicting information - Back to live? Hybrid? Accessibility? Diversity? Sustainability? Responding to millennial and Gen Z desires? Now is the time to reimagine your conference, congress or summit creation process – from those very first building blocks. This session is designed to help you develop both your flagship Event Strategy and Event Design so that you and your teams have clear frameworks that you can reference throughout your event lifecycle. The session will take delegates through the Event Narrative Framework (ENF), help you articulate a great question around which to frame your event's objective, and give you the building blocks to explore designing events with a clear purpose, based on these seven questions:
The session will also show you how to take your Event Narrative Framework and take it to the next level – event design; a process to help you shape your content, experiences, showcase your associations services and benefits, and hardwire diversity and accessibility into your event design plan.
Managing Director
Sasha has over twenty-five years' experience of creating conferences and summits, starting her career in the commercial conference industry. She is skilled at curating and shaping events – product development, market mapping, sponsor research, speakers and marketing. Sasha is Fellow of The Chartered Institute of Marketing, The Royal Society of Arts, a visiting lecturer in event management at The University of Westminster, London and judges industry awards.
www.thebusinessnarrative.com Sessions2. Conference Successes and Challenges - for a robust & growing future Monday @ 9:00 AM 6. Re-examining the Conference Creation Process – a framework for an effective event strategy and design Monday @ 2:30 PM
LinkedIn: sashafrieze/?originalSubdomain=uk
|
|
17:45 - 18:30 |
Appointments Session |
19:30 - 22:30 |
Congress Party at the Palazzo GondiTaking place in the centre of Florence, the party with local wines and tuscan food and entertainment, will be an amazing evening with great fun and networking. |
DAY THREE - Tuesday 11 July |
|
08:30 - 11:30Including a |
7. Succesful Member EngagementAt the previous congress we focused on the measurement of engagement, considering also what does 'member engagement' really mean and what is useful engagement worth measuring and what isn't. In this session we look specifically at how to increase engagement and monitor effectiveness. For an area that can seem quite ethereal its important to adopt rigourous and meaningful methods. In this session you will examine successful engagement growth, discuss what member engagement means for your organisation and how to create your own system that is purposeful and delivers real results.
Managing Director
Lisa has been building powerful networks and communities for over 25 years, ensuring the groups she works with thrive and grow. After a flourishing career working for a variety of associations, membership bodies and not for profit organisations, Lisa launched her own agency, Dovetail Creative Ltd, in 2021 and now supports a variety of organisations with all aspects of community, member and customer forum engagement, events, marketing strategy, and consultancy.
Lisa is a frequent speaker and moderator at industry events and is on the board for RISE and Trade Association Forum. In addition, Lisa is involved in several mentoring programmes enabling her to pass on skills and knowledge to help others grow. Lisa has a passion for ESG initiatives and is co-producer of the Media Tech Sustainability Summit and Corporate Star Awards.
Sessions7. Succesful Member Engagement Tuesday @ 8:30 AM
|
|
|
8. unConferences and Side Events: Addressing the critical threats & opportunitiesThere are two ways you ought to be concerned about unConferences & Side events: When your annual event attracts them and when you want to create them for yourself alongside other organisation's events. Some events have become world famous due to their openness to side events. Others struggle to work out what to do with side events and communities that can emerge in parallel to summits. If your event is large enough to attract side events or if it does already, then you need to address this pro-actively to avoid them undermining your own event and your revenue. We need to consider: Do they compete? Should you accept them but control them tightly? Should you want them to profilferate? We will examine the issues, explore what forms side events can take. We will discuss the role of associations and companies in shaping or running these events. We will discuss the role played by technology to facilitate communities and unofficial programmes. And we will dig into the opportunities that can be revealed, not just in side events for your own summits, but holding side events alongside other expos and events. This session will be led by one of the most imaginative community and event creators (and one of our former keynote speakers), Mark Turrell, the creator of #unDavos. 
Professor of Global Strategy at Hult International Business School
Mark is a strategist, author, and entrepreneur. His work combines collective intelligence with networks, complex systems, behavioral science and neuroscience. He is the founder of Orcasci, a consulting firm designing scaling and network strategies with recent clients including the $1m Global Teacher Prize with the Varkey Foundation. Previously Mark co-founded Imaginatik plc, a pioneer in crowdsourcing and collaborative problem solving for innovation. During his 16 years at Imaginatik, Mark worked with hundreds of companies, including Allianz, Bayer, Cargill, IBM, Merck, Novartis, Pfizer, Whirlpool and Xerox. The World Economic Forum nominated him a Technology Pioneer and a Young Global Leader. Mark is a Professor at Hult International Business School.
Sessions8. unConferences and Side Events: Addressing the critical threats & opportunities Tuesday @ 8:30 AM
Twitter: @@mark_turrell |
9. Take to the Stage: Speak with confidence and highly effectively when it matters mostAn association leader is expected to be a comfortable presenter. Speaking and presenting during meetings is a frequent occurence, but then there are the bigger occasions. The audience is larger, the
This session will support you to make the most of these opportunities. ICF credentialed coach and experienced trainer and speaker, John Scarrott (PCC) will share his proven approach to success. This session will support you to create a step change in your approach to speaking, look forward to your next opportunity to speak, and be ready harness the occasion to raise the profile of your association.
Trainer and Coach
John Scarrott is a Trainer and Coach working with association professionals on their approach to speaking, chairing meetings, presentations, communication and influence. John is a former Membership Director, with over 25-years’ experience of making presentations. He is the retained trainer in Public Speaking and Presentation Skills for the AAE and also for the Institute of Data & Marketing. John is a professionally qualified coach with a Professional Certified Coach (PCC) Credential from the International Coach Federation. He has spoken in the UK and internationally working with association professionals across Europe and in India and Australia.
Sessions3. Coaching for Growth: Conversations that enable discovery and innovation Monday @ 9:00 AM 9. Take to the Stage: Speak with confidence and highly effectively when it matters most Tuesday @ 8:30 AM
LinkedIn: /johndscarrott/ |
|
11:45 - 13:00 |
Appointments Session |
13:00 - 14:00 |
Lunch & Networking |
14:00 - 16:00
|
10. Go Global: exploiting potential for international growthAll associations have the opportunity to grow their membership and services internationally. It's an opportunity that when planned carefully can provide greater influence, a global presence, and a substantial revenue stream. The last few years has changed so many aspects of how business is done internationally - new opportunities have arisen and others have closed. Tim Whiteman, an expert in international growth, will introduce the critical aspects for success. He will lead the discussions and case studies, and present his own experience of growing associations and businesses while facilitating an exchange of ideas and best practice. The session will cover:
Chief Executive Officer
Tim is a successful entrepreneur and association CEO with a proven track record in
growing the presence of SMEs internationally. Recruitment, retention and development
of the right multi-cultural and multi-lingual staff are key to this success, especially when
many will be working remotely.
Skilled at communication, recruitment and brand reinforcement in commercial and not-
for-profit organisations, Tim’s company Lüminic provides project and part time work as
needed.
Tim is at ease with challenges and thrives in multicultural, multilingual situations. He
grew up in Nigeria, Germany and the UK and has been settled in Basel, Switzerland
since 2000. He has extensive experience of working with Chinese businesses.
Tim is a published author and former journalist who has launched 11 successful trade
magazines. He has spoken at countless industry events around the world in English,
German and French and looks forward to working with you!
Sessions10. Go Global: exploiting potential for international growth Tuesday @ 2:00 PM |
|
|
11. Association Awards Success StoriesDuring this session you will examine the successes various associations have had with their projects, and which were finalists in the International and European Association Awards. SPE PetroBowl Championship (Winner, Best Digital Transformation) International Social Housing Festival (Winner, Best Event of the Year) AIPH World Green City Awards (Finalist, Best Event of the Year) Love Your Eyes Campaign (Winner, Best Campaign of the Year) The Global Skills Matrix (Winner, Best Education or Professional Development Offering) Introduced by Anca Urdea, Association Awards & Success Stories Manager at AAE |
|
|
|
16:00 |
Congress Closes |