Keynote Sessions

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Virtual Edge Summit and PCMA Joint Plenary

9:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.

Why virtual? Why now? Industry leaders discuss why waiting is a bad idea

We’re at the beginning of the biggest shift in content delivery and engagement since Web sites were introduced in the 90s. Associations, events, meetings, media and learning will be forever changed by this complement to their face-to-face initiatives. Engagement will be 24/7/365, and member-, customer-, supplier-, employee- and partner-facing. How you respond to this shift will determine the future of your organization. Join key industry leaders as they discuss the virtual imperative and how you can reap the benefits of virtual environments.

Michael Doyle, Executive Director, Virtual Edge Institute

Chris Price, Vice President, Graphic Arts Show Company – NPES

Shirley Whelan, Director of Food & Beverage Product Development, Hilton Hotels Corporation

Kara Wilson, Vice President of Unified Communications and Collaboration Solutions, Cisco Systems

Tony Uphoff, CEO, Techweb, UBM

Chris Brown, Sr. VP, Conventions & Expos, National Association of Broadcasters

Virtual Edge Summit Keynote

3:05 p.m. – 4:15 p.m.

The state (and future) of virtual events: Attendees discuss the future of virtual environments and digital engagement with industry execs in a Town Hall Forum

Join executives from all the top virtual environment platform/producer firms for an interactive session on what’s working and what’s not in virtual events and environments. Listen as they discuss what near-term offerings you can expect from their technologies. And be prepared to provide them your feedback on what you need to improve the attendee experience, reduce complexity and cost, drive lead-gen, add interactivity and create a richer, more engaging experience.

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Thursday, January 13, 2011

Virtual Edge Summit Keynote

9:00 a.m. – 10:15 a.m.

IBM’s Virtual Event Center: IBM shares its plan for an enterprise-wide virtual environment for events, meetings and learning

Virtual Event Centers provide a great way for connecting with more people around the globe, whenever it’s most convenient for them. Hear how IBM capitalized on the rise of virtual platforms to launch the IBM Virtual Event Center to extend its reach into audiences that were previously hard to capture. You’ll learn how IBM:

• Leverages the world’s largest Virtual Event Center to reach new audiences and boost awareness and consideration for IBM’s products and services
• Uses the Virtual Event Center to expand and complement its current event portfolio while providing new business models to efficiently target key audiences
• Designed its Virtual Event Center to provide outstanding customer experiences
• Facilitates the adoption of virtual events around the world
• Plans the future of the IBM Virtual Event Center experience

Larry Cook, Manager, Events and Digital Metrics, IBM Corp

Cheryl Max, World Wide Demand Programs Director, Functional Capabilities, IBM Corp.

Fiona Bruder, Sr. Vice President, Client Services, George P. Johnson

Virtual Edge Summit Keynote

2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.

Driving Virtual Engagement: Virtual environments move us closer to building essential online human connections, but many are still seeing only a thin layer of interactivity. Learn from engagement experts how to ratchet up the engagement

The costs of unengaged audiences are huge. Time and resources are wasted. Financial goals are missed. Word-of-mouth marketing opportunities are lost. And, perhaps most critical – your chances of converting an unengaged attendee to a repeat attendee are virtually nil. Learn from experts in the field of engagement how to build emotional connections with your audience, encourage interactivity and make the most of the virtual medium.