Events are Changing … FreemanXP is thinking about the Future

Today I heard a great presentation from FreemanXP’s Marc Pomerleau.

He started off with an interesting take on one of my favorite ways to think about the oldest profession.

"Events may be the second oldest profession in the world"

This line always makes me smile. Because it’s not what you may have heard.

More that Made me Smile

Marc got us thinking with some very interesting facts, figures and pictures. He engaged us as an audience by sharing points about the rise of Kentucky Fried Chicken in China, Access to Mobile Phone coverage in Djibouti, and the seemingly innocuous connection between income and protein consumption. I’m not going to go into every point. I recommend finding where Marc is speaking next and hearing the way he expounds upon The Event of the Future.

One of the pictures he shared was from the election of The Pope in 2005 and 2013.
Notice any differences?

This was not a presentation that was exclusively focused on what the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC) could become. Of course, we got to that. But, before we went there a lot of conversation and thinking points were covered on what an event could be.

Marc talked about a lot of different types of events across several different industries – healthcare and emergency medicine were featured prominently. Some of the goals of The Event of the Future include insuring that the following points are addressed holistically:

• Technology
• Diversity
• Learning

He also spoke about the way events are changing from the traditional older formats where success was measured by growing bigger. To get us thinking about how events can be MUCH better by getting people involved. Formats where people want to engage and where they don’t just show up for the rubber chicken and free drinks.

"It's not how big your booth is anymore" ~Marc Pomerleau

No longer is it about the Tchochkes. Instead The Event of the Future will be based on experiences.

Which is right inline with the direction Microsoft is taking.
As noted in my post about The Experience Economy.

My Other Favorite Quote from Marc

I really liked this quote because it aligns nicely with another post I recently wrote about What we can learn from 40 Years of SNL.

"You don’t need to be the Sage on Stage
… You can Be the Guide on the Side"

What made me smile about this line was that it’s important to remember that you don’t always need to be the person in the limelight. Sharing, guiding and mentoring others has it’s own rewards.

 Working Hard for Every Partner

Thanks to Kati Quigley and the incredible team she has assembled to create an incredible experience for Microsoft Partners at the Worldwide Partner Conference. Kati and her team are working hard to insure every Microsoft partner gets the most out of the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC).

If you haven’t registered yet … start here:

Microsoft WPC 2015 - Innovate. Engage. Transform. Lead‎

I am really happy to be part of the Microsoft WPC planning committee and proud to be working with the International Association of Microsoft Channel Partners (IAMCP) to put time and effort into thinking about partners and the way they will experience The WPC

See you in Orlando. Look for and attend my sessions too.

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UPDATED: 27 April 2017 – The WPC has been renamed to be Microsoft Inspire. Details are here --- Register Now --- the Event ALWAYS sells out.

Here is my write up about Inspire -

Prepare to be Inspired

Image Credits: FreemanXP

Jeff is business advisor, mentor and community engagement expert. He has spent most of his career in the Enterprise Content Management industry. He brings over 20 years of Channel Sales, Partner Marketing and Alliance expertise to audiences around the world in speaking engagements and via his writing. He has worked for Microsoft, Kodak, and K2.

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