By Sam Lippman
You don’t have to be in the prediction business to safely predict event organizers will see a proliferation of amazing technology introductions over the next several years.
Because Lippman Connects produces events for convention and exhibition professionals, we have the responsibility to observe and chart the burgeoning interest in event technologies. That doesn’t make us technology experts, but it gives us access to the experts, visionaries, and thought leaders.
From that vantage point, we have come to appreciate the courage it will take to navigate enterprise technology transformation in the short run. A steady stream of ingenuity always comes with just as many promises.
What we don’t have yet is a roadmap pinpointing where we are, where we’re headed, and the best possible routes. Creating a new technology silo within the organization is the one route we all know is wrong but find difficult to resist.
How can we sidestep this known pitfall? The best defense is for leaders at associations and independents to help their technology executives develop a top-level understanding of the events business.
It’s no surprise that technologists at event organizations are often recruited from other industries. Their view of what we do, can do, or should do is limited to what they see in only one event-producing organization.
No one questions their need to maintain technology skills and contacts. Is it not just as important to encourage them to gain a wider perspective on the exhibition industry? CEOs should make the effort to accompany technology officers to executive-level conferences to share insights about the exhibition business not directly related to technology.
Events are a remarkably flexible and enduring medium. The total impact of a business-to-business event is always greater than the sum of its parts. Some people will not fully comprehend what that means, but every event executive should.
To make a difference, technology executives will need to synthesize event innovations that are valuable with technologies that are practical.
Sam is the President at Lippman Connects. He can be reached at sam@lippmanconnects.com.
