The Annual Conference: Don't We Deserve Better?

I have been creating a conversion on LinkedIn that I want to translate into an article to give more context around my belief that the business model of the 2-3 day annual professional conference is on the way out, and it should be on the way out.

Let me offer some color around the basis of my opinion. I have worked as a leader at the leading association in finance and was very involved in putting on the conference as well as having attended many 2-3 day conferences. I have put on professional conferences from A to Z, produced half-day seminars, and moderated and/or spoken on over 400 webinars. In addition, I have had interactions with thousands of professionals within and beyond my field, which is treasury and finance (the office of the CFO). Furthermore, I have spoken at dozens of conferences across the country over the past 10 years. I would argue that I have an educated view on all sides of the value of a 2-3 day long conference.

Ten years ago, the annual conference model made sense. The ROI to practitioners attending and exhibitors and sponsors made sense all day long. Professional content that helped make people better at their jobs and the tools available to help them do that (products and services) was hard to come by at best. We saw a high percentage of practitioners at events, as such people had great opportunities to meet people that faced the same challenges as them in their jobs and careers, and they could walk an exhibit hall floor and around the conference without being swarmed by product and service providers. Sponsors and exhibitors could meet with prospects and existing clients in one place without the noise of too many exhibitors and sponsors relative to practitioners at the conference. Also, associations offered certification credits that were hard to come by throughout the year, and the annual conference gave people 2-3 days to amass certification credits.

Things have changed dramatically, especially over the past five years on many fronts. Here are a few that I see as having the greatest impact on the value to an attendee or a sponsor or practitioners in investing in a 2-3 day long conference.

1. Practitioners are much busier, the evolutions of the treasury and finance professions are well documented.
2. Practitioners are challenged to offer the ROI of being out of the office for 2-3 days. This has significantly eroded the ratio of practitioners and product and service providers at annual conferences.
3. Practitioner participation in conference sessions has eroded, and that has damaged the overall quality of the content at annual conferences.
4. Technology has changed the way everyone communicates and collaborates, Skype, Zoom, even e-mail. Practitioners have learned the value of LinkedIn for connecting with peers.
5. Technology allows exhibitors and sponsors to communicate effectively with prospects and clients. Again, Skype, Zoom, GoToMeeting. (Not Face-to-Face in person, but a face to a face conversation).
6. Technology has made quality content much more available to practitioners. The need to pay for good content is just not there anymore.
7. Technology has made more companies hungry to connect with a dwindling pool of practitioners. That means more product and service providers with fewer practitioners.
8. Associations have had to allow more sources to earn continuing education credits. It is no longer a "must" to attend an annual conference in each recertification cycle.
9. People demand innovation in today's world. Few do it in the annual conference realm, and there is only so much you can do in this format
10. Maybe most importantly, people are also busier in their personal lives as well as their professional lives. More to do at work, less time at home. Being gone from home and work for 3-4 days is a high price to pay in today's world.

My position may not be popular, but I am ready to back it up. Anyone who wants to have a conversation about it on a Podcast I welcome your invitation.

In closing, I know all too well that nothing replaces face-to-face interactions. I speak at conferences all the time and I do stand-up comedy and Improv. That will not change.

However, expecting a practitioner or companies who sponsor or exhibitor to spend 2-3 days at a conference and get the ROI they deserve is a heavy lift at best in today's world.

Change is coming, many may not like it, but just like automation and AI, you can embrace it or watch the business of meeting the professional development needs of the Office of the CFO (or any other professions) pass you by.