CEMA Newsletter August 2022
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Kim Gishler
Executive Director
CEMA
Post-Summit time is always bittersweet. Bitter because it’s over and I have to come down from the mountaintop; and sweet because…well it just was, and always has been. I could write a book about all of the amazing experiences I had in Nashville, but I haven’t recovered enough for that, so here are the highlights.
Our Summit content team accomplished the near-impossible – top CEMA Summit 2021. They truly outdid themselves this year and their hard work was reflected in the tremendous attendance —465 Summit registrants including 180 first timers and highest session participation ever! A special thanks to Karen Galatis and StoryCraft Lab for heading up our remarkable content team.
Paul Coulter, CEMA Board Chairman, gave an encouraging State of the Association report. By the numbers, we’ve added 200 new members, achieved 86% membership retention, and going into Summit, were 41% over forecast in sponsorship support. Pretty stellar for a post pandemic year!
Each of our stellar keynote speakers brought unique, provocative messages. Mariana Atencio challenged us to show up as our authentic selves. Ginny Clark showed us how be conscious leaders and build employee loyalty through transparency, trust, and consistency. Judi Holler shared the key to being brave: understand fear and keep moving.
In our third Summit Townhall, a panel of our best and brightest event leaders shared perspectives on a wide range of topics including content, hybrid, thought leadership, diversity and the Metaverse. Yep, that’s how rich and complex our industry has become. A key insight from the panel: EMs and suppliers have to have new conversations – from what we want to what can we get, realistically.
In his ever-popular Summit industry trend forecast, Michael Dominguez shared insights into being “decisively indecisive,” and outlined several industry trends and dynamics that suggest we shouldn’t overthink what changes may or may not be structural or hardcode strategies and plans until the dust settles.
In our Summit Industry Forum, another expert panel explored how industry shifts are demanding new skills, responsibilities, and perspectives…and creating new opportunities. Two standout ideas were the new “COVID clarity” that has event pros re-evaluating our professional career choices and our evolving role as community managers – bringing people together in compelling and relevant ways.
In our three fantastic workshops, we explored how innovation, inclusion and diversity in design and planning is re-shaping event strategy; transcending industry and societal shifts through event scenario planning; and how corporate event marketing jargon has evolved. And there’s simply not enough real estate here to break down our 12 incredible breakout sessions. Suffice it to say that they were relevant, valuable, and well-attended.
As promised, our networking events were very Nashville and very awesome! Learning to line dance at the Wildhorse Saloon really symbolized the CEMA experience. We came together, each with a wide range of expertise, got guidance from real pros, lifted each other up, evolved and improved, and ultimately became a well-oiled dancing machine. Watching the sheer joy of the group made my heart soar.
I can’t say enough about our fabulous sponsors and partners. Every one of you is so much more than a vendor. You are the engine driving the Summit experience. I look forward to what we can create together in 2023.
Summit truly reflects the essence of our CEMA community: ideas, inspiration, advice, sanity checks… and a chance to come together, enjoy each other’s company and have a hell of a good time. As we come down from that mountaintop into the back half of ’22 and plan for ’23, let’s look to the Summit spirit to stay positive and inspired to always be solving and evolving. Let’s embrace resilience – when things break, we’ll pivot; when everything is in flux, we’ll pirouette. And let’s celebrate the fact that experience is our palette, and the industry is our canvas, and we can create masterpieces.
MEMBER OF THE MONTH
Marissa Dresnek
Director, Global Strategic Events – Sitecore
“Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.”
For Marissa, event planning is that job. Both rewarding and at times, a very wild ride, no two days are ever the same. Marissa has been planning a wide range of events at Sitecore, a composable digital experience platform company, for over 12+ years. Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, she has a natural interest toward discovering new places, cultures, and international destinations that drive motivation, inspiration, and new ideas.
She is passionate about creating and delivering amazing world-class brand and customer experiences, and for Marissa there is nothing more fulfilling about producing events than the end result. Seeing everyone gather in-person, connect, and share new and unforgettable memories together while learning and having fun at the same time is the best part of event planning. Knowing you play a significant role in organizing every aspect of an event from A to Z and making sure everything comes together successfully truly makes the non-stop days and sleepless nights worth it for Marissa.
As a new CEMA member and first time CEMA Summit attendee, she values meeting new people and building relationships with partners and vendors around the world.
When Marissa is not planning events, she enjoys hiking, trying new recipes, spending time outdoors with family and friends, and enjoying a glass of wine (recommendations are always welcome)!
EXECUTIVES OF THE MONTH
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Joy LynchDirector of Group Sales, Gaylord Pacific Resort & Convention Center |
Eric MedfordSenior Sales Executive, Gaylord Pacific Resort & Convention Center |
Bob ZimmermannSenior Sales Executive, Gaylord Pacific Resort & Convention Center |
Platinum CEMA member, Joy Lynch will lead the pre-opening sales team for Gaylord Pacific Resort & Convention Center as Director of Group Sales joined by Senior Sales Executives, Eric Medford and Bob Zimmermann.
Gaylord Pacific Resort & Convention Center Debuts in 2025. Located in Chula Vista, California, Gaylord Pacific Resort & Convention Center will be the premier meeting, convention, and leisure resort on the West Coast. Only seven miles from downtown San Diego, this beautiful and expansive resort is flanked by San Diego Bay to the west and Chula Vista Marina to the south, providing unimpeded views across the bay. Read more Gaylord Pacific Resort & Convention Center (marriott.com)
SPONSOR OF THE MONTH
Congratulations to XD Agency on beginning a new chapter with their recent relaunch and rebrand!
Six years after buying itself back from Omnicom Group, The XD Agency is relaunching as XD Agency (XDA), empowering a growing staff and celebrating a range of new business wins including cybersecurity platform Crowdstrike and consumer electronics brand OnePlus. In addition, the agency has been awarded expanded assignments for clients such as LEGO and Warner Media. Rapid staff expansion due to pandemic shifts—in the last 18 months staff has grown 55%—and a desire to futureproof the brand have opened this new chapter which includes a new website and positioning: “Create Better. Better experiences, stories, relationships, worlds. Everydamnday.”
The new branding was led by Head of Creative Anna Mader and Creative Director Alex Kolbe. Mader said, “This transformation has been an epic adventure in terms of what we do, how we do it and how we show up. From digging deep to redefine our values, to living them through brand actions like partnering with Ukrainian creative talent— we’re partnering with our clients to bring to life a collective desire we all share to leave this world better than we found it.”
XDA is promoting two executives who have led staff training and development: Managing Director Rachel Hermansader was named Head of Transformation, and Human Resources Director Courtney Hodges-Lanius was named Head of People & Culture.
The talent moves signal how XDA is evolving its brand and leadership team through a combination of leadership and emotional intelligence training for senior managers, plus formal mentorship and culture onboarding programs.
The ultimate goal of these moves is to “create a place so interesting you’ll never want to leave,” a vision of Founder/CEO Steve Shlansky. Hodges-Lanius said this people investment “includes upskilling in engagement technology to foster and support remote work as well as a standardization of process to support greater inclusion.”
“Our people give our agency and clients their all,” said Hermansader. “We are a community that listens, reflects and invests. Together we are creating the future we all want to see – diverse, inclusive and intentional about our work and impact in the world.”
About XDA
XD Agency (xdagency.com) is an award-winning creative agency with strong production chops designing experiences for industry-defining brands. XDA has teams strategically placed across the US with hubs in New York, Atlanta, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Founded 20+ years ago, XDA is a leader in the experience design space focused on transforming stories into shared experiences. XDA’s mission: to create better work while creating a better place to work. Current clients include Porsche, Mercedes-Benz, Warner Media, LEGO, Cisco Live, Dell, Bank of America, and Fiserv, among others.
See All the Highlights from CEMA Summit!
Three days of inspiration, community, and ideas flew by in Nashville! This year’s CEMA Summit was one for the books and you can check out all the highlights in our official wrap video below:
CEMA Summit Attendees Work Hard and Play Hard!
CEMA summit attendees learned a lot this year in Nashville, but it was far from all work and no play. There was plenty of fun to be had and new friends to be made at our 11 networking events on Monday. From taking part in Goat Yoga on the lawn of the JW Marriott to line-dancing and learning how to mix cocktails by the pool, attendees took full advantage of this chance to try something new while forming new connections.
Attendees got active on the lawn with some fuzzy friends during Goat Yoga!
Others learned some new moves during a line-dancing class.
Experts showed attendees some delicious truffle and bourbon pairings.
Attendees also had the chance to sip some drinks while learning how to preserve food, and participants got to take home a pickle jar they made.
Thank you to the CEMA Community for all the Social Media Buzz at Summit!
The CEMA community showed up in full force not only to the JW Marriott Nashville but also on social media! This year’s event saw unprecedented engagement across LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Here are a few stats that highlight just how much buzz there was:
For the Pre-Summit “Invite a Peer, Plant a Forest” contest on the InGo platform
- More than 50% of CEMA attendees referred to their network by posting on LinkedIn
- Attendees sent 160 personal invites to their network, posted 126 posts
- In total more than 250k people reached through CEMA Summit registrant’s networks
During CEMA Summit:
- 42k impressions to CEMA posts
- 500+ reactions, 40+ comments, 27 shares
- More than 100 organic posts on LinkedIn by CEMA Summit attendees
Thank you to everyone who took the time to share their photos, experiences, and takeaways. You truly demonstrated the power of the CEMA community and showed the business world what an unforgettable experience Summit was.
Technology Update from CEMA
As you may know (or now you do), CEMA is transitioning our member database to Salesforce as part of our ongoing back-office technology integration/optimization with PCMA. While our database will remain discrete, we will get a significant boost in performance and capability – including the ability to better customize our content delivery so that you are getting optimal value from your CEMA membership.
You may see a copy of Convene magazine show up in your mailboxes coming from CEMA. This is a sneak peek of a new member benefit we’re planning for 2023!
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Move forward with PCMA and CEMA at Convening EMEA!
Join CEMA and PCMA, along with events professionals from across the globe, as we create the tools you need to thrive tomorrow. Do you have a team in EMEA who can’t always come to CEMA Summit? Here is a wonderful opportunity to provide them with amazing educational and networking opportunities with their peers.
Convening EMEA will take place Sept. 28-30 in Vienna, Austria and will bring together an international community of your peers to explore future trends, share innovative ideas, and build an action plan to drive business forward. CEMA’s rising chairwoman, Colleen Bisconti from IBM will be leading a keynote.
Get guidance on the following and more:
- How to have uncomfortable conversations and drive change
- Engagement strategies to increase value and reach new audiences
- Where workforce & workplace meet in a new environment
- Intentional data measuring
The agenda also features two CEMA sessions tailored to your needs:
Goals and Measurement – The key to delivering sustainable events
The era of sustainable events as an optional ‘nice to have’ is over. Learn how to engage suppliers across the stakeholder supply chain to take sustainable steps at your events to gain more business and meet the expectations of our future generations. Understand how to use tracking and measurement tools to reach your goals and incorporate clear standards in your RFP’s. Create sustainable events and experiences while creating an economically and environmentally sustainable future.
Panelists:
– Jason Megson, Managing Director, Freeman EMEA & Chair of the Advisory Board, isla
– Lisa Van Rosendale, Senior Vice President, Freeman
– Anna Abdelnoor, Co-Founder & CEO, isla
High potential partnerships: How to Capture a New Era of Opportunity
Catalysed by our new realities and spread across the event industry’s entire ecosystem, successful alliances and powerful partnerships are now built on a modernizing set of strategic pillars and operational frameworks. Through the lens of a leading global experience agency and their work with world-shaping brands, our experts will share their unique perspectives on the opportunities that lay ahead. By opening their partnership playbook and sharing recent success stories, we explore the innovative approaches for a new generation of high-potential partnerships.
Panelists:
– Dena Lowery, COO, Opus Agency
– Kim Kopetz, President, Opus Agency
Form connections that will help you lay the foundation for a better future. Together we move forward. Learn more and register today.
Upcoming Events
October 18-19 Behind-the-Scenes Study Tour
Join the Marriott Washington DC team to tour their experience center and R&D innovation lab. This tour will focus on “Culture Should be a Competitive Advantage. Stay tuned for more details.
CEMA Educational Webinar
October 26, 11:00 PDT
EX = CX How a Successful Employee Experience Fuels a Strong Customer Experience
Join InVision Communications and J.D. Power, as we explore how your ability to engage and inform your workforce, aligning them on your corporate goals and the role they play in executing against those goals, can be the answer to a successful customer experience that fuels sales, innovation, and long-term growth.
What you’ll learn:
- Employee communications pitfalls and roadblocks
- Multi-channel messaging approaches
- Strategies to align your employees’ day-to-day workflow to your brand vision
- Real-world examples and case studies from Healthcare to Tech, from Retail to Industrial Manufacturing
Speakers:
– Jon Paul Potts, SVP, Strategic Solutions, InVision Communications
– Michael Vermillion, Senior Managing Director, Global Business Intelligence, J.D. Power.
We’ll be sending an invite email soon.
Career Opportunities
Project Manager, Marketing Event, Rockwell Automation; Conference/Meeting Planner, The Bowen Group; Virtual Marketing Manager, Lynn Hazan & Associates; Director, Event Project Management, Event Manager, Senior Product Manager, and other job opportunities at George P. Johnson. Click here for these and other job opportunities.
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