Conference & Meetings World Issue 101 — July / August | Page 15
Business culture
Global education
PCMA VP FOR GLOBAL GROWTH AND INNOVATION, MICHELLE CROWLEY,
TELLS CMW OF LESSONS LEARNED FROM AROUND THE WORLD
y role as Vice-President of
Global Growth and
Innovation for PCMA has
taken me around the world.
In the past decade with PCMA, an
international association for business
events professionals, I’ve learned a lot
about the cultural customs and traditions
everyone should know in order to
successfully conduct international
business. What I didn’t expect was that,
despite our global economy, there is much
to learn from each other when it comes to
the future of business events.
I first realised this in 2016, when
PCMA’s Foundation released the first
edition of its Future of Meetings & Events
research that was conducted in
collaboration with Marriott International.
The goal was to challenge current
industry norms by gathering insights
from leaders outside the business events
industry. I spent part of 2016 presenting
the research to more than 10 countries.
While I didn’t expect every country to
wholeheartedly agree with the results, I
wasn’t quite prepared for how much I
learned about the localised expertise in
our industry.
My first stop was in Brussels where I
co-presented the research at the
European Association Summit with Sven
Bossu, who worked with SIBOS at the
time. Here was a group of business events
executives who were expecting to hear
how expensive these new ideas were
going to cost. Instead, Sven explained
how to incorporate the future trends
without a significant capital infusion.
This was my first lesson in looking at
things in a different way. He shared case
studies on how to integrate all of the
trends in analogue. No fancy tech needed!
He opened my eyes, and the audience’s, to
Image: PCMA VP for
Global Growth and
Innovation, Michelle
Crowley
how we can think differently and
creatively to change the experience.
In Singapore, I quickly learned the
Future of Meetings & Events trend focused
on ‘Living 360’, incorporating a wellness
component into business events through
programming and event-space design,
was something the local industry had
embraced long ago. This Singapore
audience was now teaching me about the
future and providing examples that I
could pass on to other countries.
I remember passionate opinions and
discussion in Dubai where a group of
100+ gathered in a conference room
during the IAPCO Annual Meeting.
There was a lively debate on whether the
research trends were too extreme or too
soft. It led to an exciting exchange about
how we could all progress together.
In the end, my experience yielded four
key reflections:
1.
Debate is good. We must always
question why we designed an
experience a certain way
and how could we
improve it. The participant must remain
at the centre of that design, always.
2.
Global travel is crucial to growth.
We have to provide opportunities
for everyone to cross borders so our
industry, and others, can continue to learn
from one another.
3.
Face-to-face meetings are still
relevant. While this fundamental
component of business events remains
strong, the experiences, environments
and circumstances must evolve.
4.
Stay curious. We have to keep
looking around, noticing,
challenging and exchanging.
I expected meeting members through
10 countries would have an effect on me,
but I wasn’t prepared for how it made me
more optimistic about the future of this
industry. I’m more aware of how we must
be intentional about how our community
can do more and always design with
outcomes in mind.
We have to provide
opportunities for
everyone to cross
borders so our
industry, and others,
can continue to learn
from one another.
ISSUE 101
/
CONFERENCE & MEETINGS WORLD
/
15