“ It ’ s a momentous occasion .”
Rhys Saunders , MD of Lick Me I ’ m Delicious
“ You get so much out of coming to any event , I ’ ve never been to any event where you don ’ t find something you weren ’ t looking for .”
“ It has been great fun , the seminars have been really interesting and insightful .”
Julian Agostini , MD of Mash Media
Louise Dormer , BDM at The Rugby Football Union
event is to take the agreement set out in Paris and turn it into a reality . It ’ s a perfect event that enables social , economic and environmental progress ,” she said .
The Association Event Forum also heard from James Latham , producer of the JMIC ’ s Iceberg project , who led a panel discussion on ‘ The Rise of Intellectual Capitalism ’. Speakers focused on the importance of legacy impact to an association congress . On this theme , Latham stated : “ Associations are not just about disseminating knowledge . Frankly , this kind of education can and should be done online . It is important that association events offer social and public health impacts that elevate its impact above education .”
Barbara Calderwood , divisional
director engagement for associations and communities at MCI UK , added that associations needed to come together , as some were on the fence regarding change management . “ If people try to stay how they were years ago , they will fail to survive ,” she said .
The Keynote Theatre also hosted industry research specialists Explori ’ s associate research director , Guy Garside , who shared a model for proving the impact of events on business objectives .
Using metrics to measure event performance is a long-term challenge for eventprofs , Garside said , adding : “ The key theme that came up time and time again was the word ‘ impact ’. Impact on number of leads , impact on sales and brand awareness . These things are harder to measure for eventprofs .”
On Day 2 , at the show ’ s Brand Experience Theatre , Mark Ford , director of Whitespace XPO and WE Create at Whitespace Group , hosted a discussion on ‘ Why protect your intangible asset ?’ Ford showed that intangible assets have moved from 17 % of the S & P 500 ’ s total assets in 1975 to 90 % in 2020 with reference to a study by Visual Capitalist , an online data publishing site .
Within this economy of intangible assets , Ford said that “ human asset is the key intangible asset for any organisation – but more importantly than ever before so is our ability to make connections . Collaboration , teamwork , and communication spur individuals on to create good things .”
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