Michael Owen
With decades of experience as a provider of entertainment and event management services, Michael shares a wealth of knowledge gained through his career in the often unique and always exciting business event industry. His company, EventGenuity, LLC, produces business events throughout North America, providing an integrated set of meetings and events capabilities for corporate & association clients.
Michael has recently received the MPI RISE Award for Meetings Industry Leadership and the MPI Tennessee Chapter Lifetime Achievement Award.
A meetings industry activist, Michael has served on MPI International Board of Directors, TNSAE Board of Directors, NATD Board of Directors, and on PCMA Global Advocacy & Independent Planner Task Forces. He currently serves as past Chair of Convention Industry Council APEX Standards Committee, and as a member of The Meetings Industry Wi-Fi Coalition.
Michael is a frequent presenter at industry conferences & learning institutions, speaking on what's now & what's next in meetings & events. He has published articles in Meetings and Conventions, Convene, Meeting Mentor Magazine, Connect Magazine, Plan-It Tennessee, The Meeting Professional, Meetings Focus and Successful Meetings magazines & as a guest columnist for The Tennessean and Nashville Business Journal.
With decades of experience as a provider of entertainment and event management services, Michael shares a wealth of knowledge gained through his career in the often unique and always exciting business event industry. His company, EventGenuity, LLC, produces business events throughout North America, providing an integrated set of meetings and events capabilities for corporate & association clients.
Michael has recently received the MPI RISE Award for Meetings Industry Leadership and the MPI Tennessee Chapter Lifetime Achievement Award.
A meetings industry activist, Michael has served on MPI International Board of Directors, TNSAE Board of Directors, NATD Board of Directors, and on PCMA Global Advocacy & Independent Planner Task Forces. He currently serves as past Chair of Convention Industry Council APEX Standards Committee, and as a member of The Meetings Industry Wi-Fi Coalition.
Michael is a frequent presenter at industry conferences & learning institutions, speaking on what's now & what's next in meetings & events. He has published articles in Meetings and Conventions, Convene, Meeting Mentor Magazine, Connect Magazine, Plan-It Tennessee, The Meeting Professional, Meetings Focus and Successful Meetings magazines & as a guest columnist for The Tennessean and Nashville Business Journal.
Planning International Meetings: Do You Know What You Don't Know?
At the closing General Session of your successful 2014 conference, your President/CEO/Board Chair excitedly reveals that, "We are pleased to announce that next year's annual conference will be held in ...[drumroll]... Ljubljana, Slovenia!"
OK, so you know where you are going to go - now what? You've been planning the organization's U.S. events, but this is an entirely new and somewhat daunting animal.
Where do you start? When planning meetings outside of the U.S.,...
The Company You Keep
In business today, one fact has become clear: The ability to forge, manage and sustain strategic alliances is increasingly critical to competitive success. This session will address the benefits of strategic partnering including both supplier/supplier and client/supplier partnerships. Solid alliances can boost market share, enhance technology, increase customer service, improve productivity, and result in cost savings. Learn to recognize speed bumps, roadblocks and landmines in partnering...
Connectivity for Meetings & Events: Elevating the Bandwidth Conversation
Given the pace of technological change and consumer usage patterns, do today's planners and suppliers possess sufficient knowledge about connectivity (High Speed internet Access/HSIA) to ask the right questions and achieve the desired outcomes? Planners know about the importance of event history and understand projected needs like food and beverage consumption and attendance numbers, but many don't know how much High Speed Internet Access (HSIA) bandwidth they use, how it is being used,...
Pirates, Poachers, and Thieves: Your Organization May Be At Risk
If the word pirate conjures images of a Blackbeard, Captain Kidd, Long John Silver, or Jack Sparrow, consider yourself lucky.
Today, for a growing number of meeting planners and associations, the term has a dramatically different - but no less chilling - meaning. Room block pirates are modern-day scalawags that prey on unsuspecting organizations in an equally insidious way as pirates of old. The actions of these latter day poachers have negative impact on hotel room blocks,...
MUSIC LICENSING FOR MEETINGS AND EVENTS... Are you playing their song?
Music often is an integral part of conventions and meetings, whether incorporated during general sessions to support the overarching message or meeting theme, in breakouts as entry music, in PowerPoint and video presentations, at networking events or simply as background. At trade shows, music can be heard in many exhibits booths, sometimes as background music and other times as part of a video presentation. Meeting and convention organizers may not think twice about playing a CD,...
AUDIOVISUAL TECHNOLOGIES AND ADULT LEARNING IN MEETINGS
You approach the meeting room and suddenly enter an environment rich with sensory inputs: soft upbeat music is playing, tables are set neatly with an interesting array of materials and lush green plants are in every corner. You notice an orange up light on the far wall and a large screen in front with an intriguing image of smiling people. You see that others in the room are talking excitedly, clearly in anticipation of what's to come. Unbeknownst to you, dopamine starts surging through...
Cyber Safety for Meetings & Events: Is Your Head in the Cloud?
Is Your Head in the Cloud?
In today's connected world, it's hard to imagine a time when access to the internet wasn't within the palm of everyone's hands. Whether using a meeting app, taking notes, texting, emailing or posting to social media, connectivity is a vital part of everyday life - and every meeting. Because of this, online access is now an expectation rather than a perk. While this makes organizing and executing events a more...
The Attendee Experience: Making Your Show Count
Many meeting professionals are conservative and slow to adapt to new methods. But organizations that aren't comfortable with the risk required to deliver a fresh approach may be left behind. If you aren't adapting, participants may simply zone out, or worse, stop attending entirely.
Today, attendees of all ages expect and react positively to novelty and deviation from routine events with a focus on originality and unique experiences. Planners need to understand the importance of...
The State of Event Technology Adoption: Managing The Digital Ecosystem
Why should you care about technology adoption?"
You plan meetings and events. You know the topic is important because the board or executive team frequently throw out ideas that need to be explored. They want you to implement new technologies... anything from mobile apps, Internet upgrades, interactive technologies, new registration systems, etc.
Here's where the Technology Adoption Report comes in. Technology adoption accelerates when there are processes, standards, and...
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