DailyPost 382
CONFERENCE CONSULTANTS
Conferences have for long remained the flavour of the day. With every passing season the themes change and the ongoing cycle of conferences keeps gathering strength from strength. Cyber Security is the sought after theme of the day and organisers are getting into it, lock, stock & barrel. As expected, the likelihood of profit decides the topic location, participants & the like. What happens to the theme nobody is aware of.
Unfortunately, the event managers / management companies are the arbiters of conferencing in at least the public domain ones in this country. With no knowledge of the topics they handle , it is just a logistical exercise like a marriage party. Even the most serious of the lot don’t end up in any worthwhile documentation and to expect a linear progression in the maturity of topics is expecting a bit too much.
This crash commercialisation has not allowed the birth of a genre which can be termed as conference consultants. A group of professionals who could guide these logistic magicians on the structure, content & direction of conferences in different areas / sectors. They know the takeaways based on requirements and also how to elevate the professional participants to next higher level . They can also create a follow through mechanism, so necessary to bring in the desired change.
Conference consultants would be the subject matter experts who over the course of years have gained expertise & experience in organising worthwhile conferences. They would also understand the way technical sessions can be designed & would be extremely comfortable in getting the right speakers. They are connected to their domain experts, their capabilities & their flair to connect / communicate & get them on board. The nexus of sponsorship, speakers, participants needs to be broken. Conferencing is not in their DNA, it’s like any other trade.
WORTHWHILE CONFERENCE CONSULTANTS CAN MAKE CONFERENCING AN INTELLECTUAL TREAT.
Sanjay Sahay