When you name a conference with such an ambitious term as "Innovate", you immediately open up for reflections about how you live up to being innovative. Is it really OK to arrange an innovative conference in a traditional way? What can you expect from the venue, the presenters, the sponsors, the delegates. We captured a few pieces of food for thought in pictures from ESOMARs Innovate conference and ends our conference coverage with a suggestion for a very bold and creative change in the way international conferences are arranged.
Is it innovative to host the conference in the citys tallest and most boring building - a hotel that you could find an exact copy of anywhere in the world?
Is it innovative to serve drinking water in one way plastic bottles while the world is debating how to survive the global warming - in a country where you can drink the tap water?
The small glass jars with jam looks very cute, but think again about the environment!
This IS innovative, if you ask me. Fruit is a far better alternative as conference snack than pastry, but if it is not displayed well, no one eats it. This time it was eaten!
Is this innovative?
or this?
or this?
Japanese socializing with Japanese.
Chinese mingling with Chinese.
Dutch grouping together dressed in orange to watch a football game. Innovative or not, at least I have never seen anything like it at any conference before.
The main question remains unpictured: is it innovative in a world where we desperately need to reduce our energy consumption, to continue to find new locatinos for conferences all the time? It could perhaps be justified if there was a clear local connection to the event and if it attracted lots of local visitors that otherwise would never go to a conference, but this is not the case, at least not in Europe. The conferences are pretty much closed to the outer world and a large part of the delegates and speakers are the same old friends meeting each other at yet new places they don't have time or bother to take a closer look at.
Imagine arranging all ESOMARs European conferences in the same location every time. It could be Amsterdam, where ESOMAR has its headquarters, but it could just as well be Brussels, Paris, Strasbourgh, Frankfurt or any other large city which is easy to reach for many people. The benefits for the environment and our wallets would be huge:
- No need for the ESOMAR staff to do reconnaissance tours to new cities all the time.
- No need to transport staff and equipment to the event.
- The same venue could be booked for every conference - imagine the negotiating power for ESOMAR when discussing prices (it could perhaps even pay off for ESOMAR to own their own hotel and conference venue).
- Companies sending delegates to many conferences could negotiate good deals with hotels and airlines.
- Plenty of delegates could take the train to the conference, at least more than if it is arranged in Copenhagen, Istanbul or Lisbon. Cities like Amsterdam and Frankfurt also have direct flights with almost every major city around the globe.
- Delegates would have the chance to learn the city, meaning they could use subway and buses instead of taxi or could even locate bike rental firms (particularly in Amsterdam) or walk between their hotel and the venue.
Henrik Hall
SMRN