I learned so many things at this year’s Pharma Forum, held March 22–25 at the Gaylord National in National Harbor, Md., most of which are probably not of interest to those who don’t work in the life sciences industry. But here are nine things I thought I’d share with you all anyway. In no particular order:
1. There's a really fascinating blog about event/content marketing called JanusDialogs, written by Scott Schenker, general manager, events and production studio, Microsoft Marketing. He doesn’t post a lot, but when he does, it’s worth reading.
2. Microsoft will soon be coming out with a Skype translator that will simultaneously translate what you say in real-time to hundreds of languages. What a boon that could be for planning international meetings!
You may also want to read: 5 Things that Stress Meeting Planners Out
3. Bill Levisay, consultant and former chief customer officer (great title, right?), Bolthouse Farms, is the kind of inspirational speaker that doesn't just inspire you—he motivates you to take what he's saying and apply it to what you're doing. We're talking about it already here at MeetingsNet.
4. Coming soon: Groundbreaking on a Gaylord hotel in the Denver market.
5. Attendee surveys should be done pre- and post-event, not annually.
6. There appears to be a verb, “to iPad.” Heard several people mention that they were “iPadding” something or other.
7. When people have iPads they can use to send questions to a speaker in a general session, you get a lot more questions, but a lot fewer people standing up at a mic to ask them.
8. When the Secret Service does a security sweep during a Presidential visit to a conference next door, it can disrupt your airwaves and interfere with mics, making perfectly fine speakers sound a little like robot mice from Mars.
9. Members of Generation Z (19 years old and younger) have never lived in a time without war or recession. As MGM’s Michael Dominguez said at the closing session, “They have more in common with my grandparents than I do.”
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