EXECUTIVE OF THE MONTH

Jon Paul Potts

SVP, Strategic Solutions, InVision Communications

Jon Paul is a proven strategic leader with deep expertise across an array of industries, from financial services and technology to higher education and healthcare. He leads InVision Communications’ strategy practice, focused on creating targeted audience engagement solutions for InVision’s clients; driving best practices in strategic planning, creative and message development, measurement and communication programs.

During his 25-plus years in the brand experience and audience engagement industry, including 14-plus years at Jack Morton Worldwide, Jon Paul has led clients across vertical industries, including TD Ameritrade, HP, Scott & White Healthcare, Arbella Insurance, Eaton Corp., IBM, Harvard Medical School, Honeywell, and the Commonwealth of Virginia. 

Prior to joining Jack Morton, Jon Paul was at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and was a founding member of the team that launched MIT OpenCourseWare, a web-based initiative that published all of MIT’s courses online – freely and openly – to a global audience of learners and educators. 

He began his career as a journalist in Greater Boston and holds a BA from the University of Notre Dame.

From the Bottom of Our Hearts – Thank you, CEMA Summit  2021 Sponsors

Content Champions

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CEMA SUMMIT 2021 Personifies the Strength, Creativity, Ingenuity and Resilience In Our Industry

Last month, 175 events industry luminaries convened at the iconic Arizona Biltmore to share insights, inspirations and ideas, and engage together in Lighting the way to Live Events.

CEMA Summit 2021 kicked off on Monday afternoon, with the first round of Ignite Sessions in which expert panelists shared their experience and insights on our most pressing issues – solving virtual and live event gaps, transforming events into digital experiences, delivering tailored, personalized experiences, that path forward with hybrid events and how to delight audiences despite new health and safety requirements. A really interesting new slant to the sessions was that the panelists were also able to engage the participants to work together brainstorm on strategies for addressing their big challenges.

Each room set-up for the sessions were “layered lounges” that delivered diverse experiences for attendees designed to promote both safety and comfort.

	Photo credits throughout article: Two Dudes Photography

There were so many brilliant insights that it’s hard to pick the most memorable ones, but here are a few gems:

• It’s time for a new ”p-word,” it’s not a pivot, it’s a pirouette. Constantly anticipating, adapting, and acting in the face of continual change.
• We need a new vocabulary for events the reflects the changing dynamics in audience experiences.
• We need to rely more on data and use AI and ML to inform event format and content decisions.
• Audiences prefer bite-sized, digestible content and the ability to curate their own experiences.
• Our role has evolved from event strategists to influencers and changers of behaviors.

Kicking off Tuesday morning CEMA’s own Kimberly Gishler was “caught” dressed for a virtual event as she pirouettes on to the live stage.

In our second Summit Townhall, the panelists weighed in on the progress and ongoing challenges we’ve faced since the “pivot” in 2020. Key insights included:

• There is value in both in person and digital, it’s not either or.
• Platforms need to allow brand essence and unique experiences to pull through.
• Digital is global and can help increase reach and remove barriers to participation.
• Consider moving from one mega event to smaller moments layered in with digital experiences.
• Don’t mess with what is working (the wisest idea!).

Presenters: Kavin Schieferdecker, Moderator, Senior VP, Convention Division, Philadelphia CVB; Colleen Bisconti, Vice President Global Conferences and Events at IBM; Vivian Eickhoff, Sr. Director, Global Events, Microsoft; Sara Straw, Sr. Event Strategy Manager at Sage; Raime Merriman, Vice President Marketing, Hubb 

At lunch we were treated to a taste of the new Smart Women/Human I Like (SWIRL/SHIRL) online meetups. Each table engaged in a fun, light-hearted icebreaker – “two lies and a truth,” and then in honor of the lunch sponsor, Visit Dallas, we each got to recount our most memorable (or notorious) Dallas experience.

After lunch we all headed over to the Innovation, Solutions and Growth Idea Builder Rooms. We put our planning skills to the test, worked in mini teams to develop event strategies to maximize reach, engagement, and ROI, and learned how to use data for building insights that can shape future events.
Among the great ideas shared:

• Content that travels to audiences through Roadshows+Pop-Ups, Brand Festivals and Community Summits.
• Compelling event result stories that match key data insights to audience interests and concerns.

During Idea Builder sessions, we were challenged to think beyond traditional models of audience engagement – to develop strategic individual moments of impact. We acknowledged that what audiences need today may not be the same in three months. We explored how to treat in-person and digital as two parts of a whole, and to deliver tailored, connected experiences in both venues.

Perhaps the biggest takeaway from the Summit was that no one really knows where this journey will end up or how long it will take. We’re all still figuring it out. We’re rediscovering our love for events and re-igniting creativity and innovation. We need to make the journey fun for teams and audiences. We’re excited about the new experiences we can create with our vision, technology, and most importantly, our passion for our craft.

CEMA Summit has always been a space for human connection and joy, so it goes without saying that it was marvelous to be there in person to reconnect and celebrate our creativity, ingenuity and resilience… and share in the joy of being a CEMA member… especially at the BIG dance-off on Tuesday night!

All Client Side Attendees at Summit Gifted Stay at Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort!!

Thank you! ALL client side event marketers who attended Summit and visited the Marriott booth to receive a leigh, were given a surprise addition of Hawaiian hospitality — a certificate for a 4-night stay at the Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort and Spa in a premium ocean front room!! The trip includes use of the VIP pool cabana on one day of choice, private dinner for 2, and 2 spa treatments at the Royal Kaila Spa.

The property revealed this year an extraordinary redesign in 2020. Located on the footprint of Queen Lili‘uokalani’s historic summer homes, the resort pays homage to its storied past by creating indoor-outdoor living spaces where “all could gather in joy and hospitality,” in keeping with the Queens’ philosophy of Hawaiian hospitality.

https://www.marriott.com/hotels/hotel-rooms/hnlmc-waikiki-beach-marriott-resort-and-spa/

Networking is Always “Spicey” at Summit

On the first day attendees chose either tequila tasting, Full Circle team building or a contest for making salsa.

While each had a festive vibe, our CEMA family brings it when the word contest is involved, and we have it on tape—watch it here.

https://video214.com/play/YDAyjLpvDUcLNfEPecjXyA/s/dark

What is extended reality?

With the rise of digital/virtual events over the last year and consensus that hybrid events will continue throughout 2022, the live event industry faces a new set of evolutionary challenges and obstacles to engaging both in-person and virtual attendees. As brands and agencies grapple with this new reality it is clear that some are struggling and others are adapting, while only a few are actually thriving. Not surprisingly the path to success for these select few has been founded on advanced innovation and creativity, delivering superior production value and higher engagement for all attendees.

WorldStage was founded over 30 years ago to embrace industry challenges and lead out in building new technical solutions with creativity and ingenuity. As a result, we continue to lead out in both developing and delivering the most innovative technology and solutions that are propelling the events industry towards more immersive, authentic experiences. One exciting innovation is Extended Reality (xR), a next-generation process that has already revolutionized film and television production and is now transforming what is possible on live and virtual events stages. xR empowers production teams to deliver Augmented and Mixed Reality within studio and live production environments. Mixed Reality (MR) combines camera tracking and real-time content rendering to create a rich virtual environment in this content can be placed on LED screens around and under people and real objects, immersing them in the space. Augmented Reality (AR) is an additional layer of content rendered as virtual 3D imagery over the live stage, providing the appearance of content sitting in (or augmenting) the real world.

xR addresses a significant challenge the industry now faces: creating an authentic, meaningful and productive digital experience for event hosts and presenters. Moving beyond the flat, static online meeting environment to one that simulates an actual stage has led back to older, outdated solutions requiring event hosts and presenters to work in front of digital green screens – a task that is daunting even for seasoned Hollywood studio actors. All too often, the result has been awkward, stiff and disoriented presentations that simply did not look or feel genuine – to audiences or the presenter. For studio production teams, a rigid, inelegant delivery means multiple re-takes and heavy post production. For event execs, it results in a subpar, uncomfortable experience for their speaking talent and more importantly, their senior executives, that can make undermine their success and credibility.

xR solves this problem by combining the physical presentation space with real-time background rendering on the LED floor and walls that works in-sync with a tracking camera. The result is a dynamic virtual presentation environment that is immersive and reactive to the presenters – so they feel and present as if they were in a real space. Another remarkable feature of xR is the ability to track movement and render a 3D background from the camera’s perspective in real time. This allows for a more “believable” interaction between presenter and environment.

An added advantage of xR is that content can be realistic, fantastical, or in-between, depending on the nature of the show and the presenter’s style. For example, a live presenter could be “placed” in a traditional stage setting, or at a themed location, or within a simulated game engine, with rich 3D graphics and multi-channel sound. Virtual AR objects and 2D content such as videos or presentation decks can also be added to the virtual environment and captured as part of the presentation. Further, xR enables experiences that are not limited by constraints of a physical location or environment. Event hosts can share a stage seamlessly with an in-person presenter or one that is literally located anywhere in the world.

As xR is an advanced and relatively new technology, there are a few important considerations when evaluating it for your event production:

• xR works best in a production environment that is meticulously planned and not subject to last minute changes.
• Because it is so immersive, the content delivered through xR should be as high quality and realistic as possible. Content quality can make the difference between a speaker being focused, crisp and compelling and being distracted, dull and off message.
• At the initial stages of using xR, it is absolutely critical to engage with experts who are familiar with the technology, production strategy, technical specifications and workflow management.

With all the exciting things we can do with new technologies like xR today, the journey back to live events is promising. Digital engagement will remain part of our event strategies and the future of virtual events will continue to be forged by exceptional creativity and innovation. At WorldStage, we are proud to be a part of this effort and energized by the countless possibilities we have to create unique, exceptional event experiences.

Richard Steinau, Senior Vice President, WorldStage
Learn more about xR Stage: HERE