Study Tours

Takeaways and Reflections from our Latest Study Tour

By Advisory Board Secretary Richard Steinau | Senior VP, Bellwether

Who would be crazy enough to propose building a massive pool in an NFL stadium…and then actually do it!? Aren’t there 100+ competition pools in the U.S. where this could be done without the additional expense? These were only 2 of the many questions I brought with me to the Study Tour of the U.S. Olympic Swim Trials in Indianapolis, hosted by the gracious Visit Indy.

RainFocus Study Tour

Rainfocus Insight Amplify 2024

The first Study Tour of the 2024 at Rainfocus Insight Amplify delivered key insights into the latest event management trends and more.

On January 31 – February 1, CEMA hosted its first Study Tour of the 2024 season at Rainfocus Insight Amplify, offering a unique and engaging experience with insightful content from Rainfocus and technology industry executives.

The event began with an exclusive welcome dinner by Visit Salt Lake, highlighting Salt Lake City’s bid for the 2034 Winter Olympic Games. The dinner featured speeches from Derek Parra, a 2002 Olympic Gold and Silver medalist, who shared his inspiring journey to the Olympics, and Darren Hughes, Head of the Salt Lake City Bid Committee, who provided exciting details about the city’s Olympic plans.

Salesforce 2023

The CEMA Connections 2023 Study Tour 

CEMA Study Tour at Salesforce Connections in Chicago, IL June 6-7, proved to be an enriching and enlightening experience for all participants, offering a unique opportunity to delve into the planning and execution of Salesforce’s Connections 2023 digital marketing conference. This study tour aimed to facilitate cross-cultural learning, knowledge exchange, and networking within the corporate event marketing industry.

We hosted more than 20+ event marketers and industry partners from across the country who were blown away by the level of strategy, attention to detail, and professionalism that the Salesforce strategic events team creates delivering business-critical results for their company.

Highlights of the Tour:

Behind-the-scenes: The study tour commenced with a behind-the-scenes look at the 8000 attendee event at McCormick Place in Chicago, where Salesforce strategic event marketers shared their insights into the planning and execution of the attendee journey, sponsorships, messaging hierarchy, and content strategy. Study tour attendees gained valuable insights into world-class event and production best practices.

Atlassian 2023

Atlassian Team ’23 Study Tour April 18-19 in Las Vegas, NV

Have you ever had a brilliant idea that seemed impossible to bring to life? This is where teamwork comes in. The most significant accomplishments in human history were only possible when people worked together to achieve them. Atlassian strongly believes in the potential of collaboration amongst humans and aims to showcase it at our annual event, Team ’23, which focuses on teamwork. From space missions and climate change to fixing bugs in code and remote equipment requests, no task is too big or small for the right team equipped with the appropriate apps and practices. We firmly believe that with teamwork, anything is possible no matter what obstacles are in the way or how far the goal may seem.

Our rallying cry is “Impossible Alone,” encouraging all to embrace teamwork as a means to turn challenges into opportunities. During Atlassian’s Team ’23 conference, we hosted a highly curated two-day event, CEMA Behind-the-Scenes Study Tour, that gave attendees an exclusive look into how we designed our flagship event in collaboration with our partners, creating an immersive and engaging experience. Attendees had VIP access to the James Cameron Keynote and were treated to dinner at The Venetian’s newest restaurant, Villa Azur. 

NFL Draft

CEMA Study Tour April 27-29, 2022

 

The 2022 NFL Draft Event from a Meeting Planner Perspective

Tyler Davidson

Excerpts from the article below. Click here for the entire article.

Caesars Entertainment’s program featured participation from CEMA, an 800-member-strong association of meeting and events professionals that frequently participates in Study Tours to high-profile events such as the NFL Draft.

“As event organizers and planners, we don’t often get the opportunity to go get an exclusive look at something so prestigious as this, and how it’s built from the ground up, and how it measures for success,” said Angie Smith, head of experiential events and field marketing for global software company Atlassian, who participated in the CEMA Study Tour. “With them being in a completely different vertical than us, it’s important for CEMA to offer these opportunities, because there’s so many parallels in how we do things, but at the same time it’s very different.”