Industry conferences are evolving
Written by Rick Grant on November 21st, 2009
We’re seeing and hearing some great comments about the recent Distressed Servicing 2009 Conference that was developed and presented by EuroCatalyst and our friends at Housing Wire. No one from RGA attended the event, but then only about 300 people in the industry were invited, among them, some people who really understand that part of the business.
At least that’s the message we got from this recent post on Agent Genius. Brandie Young writes:
The organizers brought together C-Level (COB, CEO, COO, etc), high-level executives from across the servicing value chain (and around the globe), economists, GSEs and others for a series of peer-to-peer, brutally candid conversations lasting two days. The concept was to foster open, candid sharing and panelists were asked (and answered) challenging questions.
We’re very happy to hear that the show was a big success. We’re starting to get used to the fact that everything Paul Jackson is involved with turns to gold.
To be fair, DS2009 wasn’t the first conference industry built around a critical issue that attempted to really open up a dialog among all interested parties and add value to the conversation. We were involved in the Veros Predictive Methods Conference for a number of years and were very impressed at how the company overcame barriers between competitors to get analysts, risk managers and executives into sessions where they could work through real industry problems together.
In the end, Brandie at Agent Genius is right, it comes back to the content you deliver. But I don’t see how that has anything to do with whether you make a profit or not. Being cheap doesn’t necessarily guarantee a higher value.
That said, I do feel that trade organizations have a responsibility to offer more in the way of training and thought leadership to their members. Offering killer events, whether live or virtual, is one great way to do that.
2 Comments at "Industry conferences are evolving"
Wow – “the” Rick Grant pinging to my post? I’m humbled and flattered.
A comment or two regarding your statement “But I don’t see how that has anything to do with whether you make a profit or not. Being cheap doesn’t necessarily guarantee a higher value.”
I’m not sure where that comes from … My point was conferences need to be about educating, not profiting. I didn’t mention being cheap. In fact, per head cost DS2009 was no slouch when it came to expense – the multimedia and interaction I’m sure cost a pretty penny.
Higher value is IMHO purely content driven. And, if the content and value derived from attending is valuable enough one can reasonably argue it’s worth a high admission price.
Net-net – conferences should strive to earn their money back … perhaps with a little spare change. But at a time when the industry needs it most, don’t sacrifice relevant value for a quick profit via conferences.
Cheers!
Brandie
Thanks for the comment, Brandie. I guess I jumped to the conclusion that if organizations didn’t treat conferences like profit centers they would be cheaper, which would not have a direct impact on their content.
We’re on the same page. It’s not about the price, it’s about the information delivered. Organizations that think they can stay alive during difficult times by making a few bucks on a hastily planned and poorly implemented trade show are mistaken. Great shows like DS2009 drive that point home by providing a killer alternative.
Thanks for what you do, Brandie. I look forward to your next piece.
Rick.
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