WEC 2023

There are times when we seek to re-envision what the future holds for us. Turn discomfort into a wake-up call for transformational leadership and personal growth. Using a blend of self-discovery techniques and storytelling, Gaby Natale enables you to be your own change agent who sees no roadblock as insurmountable. Leaders resist change, choose comfort and remain stagnant or make conscious choices to evolve and become the change they want to see in the world. Leveraging over a decade of interviews with newsmakers, headliners and innovators, Gaby reminds audiences that visionaries and pioneers are not extraordinary people. They are ordinary people who choose to see themselves and the world in extraordinary ways. Discover actionable ways to become driven and ready for whatever comes next.

As a former corporate executive turned futurist, Elatia Abate has spent the past few years researching the impact of technology and disruptive forces on our world. Through her research, she has discovered that even though major disruptions approach at lightning speed, it’s still possible for humans to thrive. Marry theoretical and practical ideas and discover three key strategies to help you prepare for, and calmly navigate, the now and future. Elatia lays out what is currently at stake, and why “now” is the most powerful time for the future. Shift from outdated strategy and work paradigms to forward-thinking models that are imperative for success, and learn how to identify and design fulfilling opportunities despite the unknown.

You want to own and amplify your own personal brand, but you’re worried about offending your organization! They have their own branding, and who are you to create something outside of that? Let me tell you who—EVERYONE! We all deserve a professional brand, and yours is an asset to your organization, not a liability!

Learner Outcomes:

• Discover six reasons why you should create a brand separate from your organization’s brand.
• Explore how your personal brand and your organization’s brand can create a powerful 1-2 punch.
• Learn tips and talking points for having the conversation with your employer.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion is more than a catch-phrase; DEI is an essential part of how organizations hire, procure and design meetings. Applying equitable principles is more than making everyone feel welcome and mitigating biases. It is essential to a meeting’s overall business strategy. Clients and sponsors increasingly understand that all meeting attendees deserve the opportunity to participate equally. In response, they are seeking to work with companies that embrace a DEI strategy that spells out commitment to environmental and social responsibility. Join DEI expert Zoe Moore and industry attorney Joshua L. Grimes to discuss how DEI can become an integral part of every meeting. Learn how to use the RFP process to solicit venues and suppliers that will commit to using measurable DEI efforts that are both legally binding and compliant. Additionally, implement post-meeting reporting requirements to ensure that inclusivity is properly accomplished for every event as promised.

Learner Outcomes:

• Discover how supporting DEI initiatives is critical to inclusive meetings and generating attendance.
• Learn how planners can use the RFP process to seek suppliers, venues and contractors that are committed to implementing DEI practices and achieving stated goals for engaging women, minorities and workers with disabilities as part of their workforce.
• Create provisions for meeting contracts that require venues and suppliers to meet their promises of DEI practices and employment.

It’s definitely not 2019 anymore ... it’s not even 2022. Join this interactive workshop and discover how you and your hotel partners can best work together in an evolving world and continue to deliver successful and intentional events for your stakeholders.

Learner Outcomes:

• Learn what challenges hotels are facing in this era of shorter planning windows, and how to overcome them together.
• Work together with your partners on wellbeing and sustainability goals.
• Apply new knowledge to existing and new relationships, negotiations and design practices.

Wage inequality in the event industry has been a persistent problem, and women and minorities continue to face significant disparities in pay compared to their white, male counterparts. Explore the root causes of wage inequality in the event industry, such as unconscious bias, lack of transparency in hiring and promotion practices and the undervaluation of traditionally female-dominated roles. And learn about the negative impact wage inequality has on individuals, companies and the industry as a whole.

Learner Outcomes:

• Learn strategies and best practices for addressing wage inequality (like promoting pay transparency, implementing equitable hiring and promotion practices and investing in training and development programs to help women and minorities advance in their careers).
• Apply actionable advice and guidance.
• Engage in a meaningful discussion about how we can work together to bridge the gap and create a more equitable and inclusive event industry.

Small and simple meetings can represent a sizable volume of business that is also notoriously difficult to manage. Whether you are a professional planner responsible for a multitude of these events every year or a DIYer tasked with managing these types of events (often on top of an already heavy large event workload), this session is for you.

Uncover myths about the small meeting management process that will help you understand how to best address misperceptions, remove barriers and ultimately implement solutions to manage this book of business more efficiently. Unraveling the myriad technical, legal and business issues that arise, get tips so you can stay focused on what matters most—the meeting itself!

Learn how technology can act as an "assistant" on this scope of work by automating details and freeing you up to focus on the larger, more complex events and budgets. Finally, ideas and issues will be workshopped with attendees to uncover solutions that are specific to their business resulting in actionable takeaways for each participant.

Learner Outcomes:

• Identify potential issues and solutions to streamline planning and managing small events.
• Find the data you need to help justify expenditures on planning and technology.
• Ask and answer the right questions when looking for a turnkey solution.

During this interactive session, get updates on major global compliance issues from a panel of experts ... and discuss their compliance challenges. Discover "upskilling" and resources to help medical meeting planners succeed, including certificate programs, venue certification and more.

Learner Outcomes:

• Hear global updates on medical meeting compliance.
• Discover resources and "upskilling" opportunities to help you succeed.
• Get answers to your specific questions around compliance.

Meeting fatigue is real. Learn from recent research and benefit from collected event best practices about the effects of fatigue on attendee engagement. Learn the traps that impact meeting fatigue, including mental fatigue, social attachment, self-efficacy and behaviors. Work with others to workshop a simple framework to rethink two-three elements in one of your upcoming meetings to better minimize fatigue and drive engagement.

Learner Outcomes:

• Discover the social cognitive factors that impact engagement.
• Incorporate attendee motivation into meeting purposes.
• Apply a simple framework to manage fatigue versus engagement in meetings and events.

Attendees will rave about your event app if they see the value. Are you maximizing its full capabilities? In this workshop, learn how to design an event app, foster networking opportunities, add sponsorship value and create a hybrid event environment available on mobile app and web browser. Bring your cell phone and/or laptop to check out the event as we build it!

Learner Outcomes:

• Design and set up a dynamic event app to keep attendees connected, informed, and engaged.
• Apply best practices for networking, sponsorship, engagement, branding, and features that are tailored and intentional for your event.
• Launch a hybrid event, including live streaming, networking, on-demand capabilities, and engagement extending beyond your event.

Audiences and brands alike are re-evaluating how and where they invest their time, money and resources. From content models to expanding collaborations, join GPJ CEO Chris Meyer and explore emerging trends that will shape the future of experiences through 2023 and beyond.

Discover the evolution of experience design, how the blurring boundaries between work and home life impact experience planning, the use of events as content studios, the role strategic partnerships play in elevating experiences and the expansion of inclusion to encompass a wide range of individual needs and unique differences.

Learner Outcomes:

• Explore the evolution of experiential events (multidimensional, immersive, and personalized).
• Extend the life and value of your events.
• Apply inclusion to encompass a wide range of individual needs and unique differences.

With travel restrictions during the pandemic, corporations felt the negative impact of on both business results and company culture and morale. Companies are once again planning reward travel to incent and motivate high-performing teams, but with notable differences. Drawing on the recent SITE Incentive Travel Index research, we’ll look at how choices for destinations and programming are shifting for incentive travel in the near future.

Learner Outcomes:

• Apply recent ITI report outcomes about qualifier and planner behaviors.
• Understand incentive travel as a key business driver for corporations and destinations.
• Adapt your strategy for hosting or designing incentive programs.

Three years into menopause, Ciara Feely finally started to figure it out. From feeling lost, broken and confused, she'll share her journey to a mindset of empowerment and a fresh perspective on what menopause can teach all of us. Whether you are in it, entering it, over it or want to understand it more, this conversation is for EVERYONE. Join this guided discussion with practical exercises to work through menopause and raise social awareness on a time of life that few speak about, yet everyone experiences in some way.

Learner Outcomes:

• Apply tools and techniques to nurture, support and grow during this life stage.
• Gain alllyship from being able to talk about menopause in a supportive environment.
• Leave with the confidence boost to embrace change instead of running from it.

You never want to miss an opportunity to connect, so in this hands-on session work on understanding, organizing and delivering an elevator pitch. Be prepared, appropriate and timely by having a systematic approach that allows you to be unique, memorable and meet the objective.

Learner Objectives:

• Discover why authenicity is critical for a successful pitch.
• Learn how an organized pitched can be critical.
• Discover the power of concice language.