“In an era when capturing live content on laptops, tablets and smartphones is intrinsic to our working lives, it is interesting to quantify the extent to which they are being used in conferences and meetings at present. With millennials “keyboarding” virtually everything from an early age, usage is only likely to increase in the near future,” said Carina Bauer, CEO of the IMEX Group, commenting on the expanding use of technology in the MICE industry.
Emphasizing the growing role that technology plays in the meetings world, key findings of new research carried out for IMEX America by Meeting Professionals International (MPI) show that more than 40 percent of the MPI Research Panel members surveyed use laptops or mobile devices to capture content realtime.
Of that group 10.5 percent of these professionals always use them for note taking and 31.6 percent use them sometimes. Handwritten notes continue to be the choice of the majority (57.1 percent) while just 0.8 percent record their observations.
In this same research conducted in May, IMEX America also asked MPI members what the ideal length of a traditional conference presentation by a single speaker should be, excluding Q&A. 43.6 percent thought 30 minutes, 40.6 percent chose 20 minutes, 15 percent said it should be 15 minutes and only 0.8 percent selected 10 minutes.
Carina Bauer commented: “When I entered the industry 14 years ago, the usual conference speech was 45 to 60 minutes. This snapshot study shows that over 80 percent of attendees favor a 20- to 30-minute speech and I would not be surprised if this trend continues to reduce with the advance of TED-style programming and the desire for people to spend time exchanging ideas with their peers, as much as hearing from talking heads. MPI’s recent World Education Congress (WEC) in Atlantic City showcased this trend well by having a great range of formats and lengths for sessions. One size fits all no longer works for the average conference attendee.”
IMEX America, America’s worldwide exhibition for incentive travel, meetings & events, will take place from October 18-20, 2016 at the Sands Expo and Convention Center at The Venetian® | The Palazzo®, preceded by Smart Monday, powered by MPI on October 17.
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eTN is a media partner for IMEX America.
WHAT TO TAKE AWAY FROM THIS ARTICLE:
- This snapshot study shows that over 80 percent of attendees favor a 20- to 30-minute speech and I would not be surprised if this trend continues to reduce with the advance of TED-style programming and the desire for people to spend time exchanging ideas with their peers, as much as hearing from talking heads.
- With millennials “keyboarding” virtually everything from an early age, usage is only likely to increase in the near future,” said Carina Bauer, CEO of the IMEX Group, commenting on the expanding use of technology in the MICE industry.
- Emphasizing the growing role that technology plays in the meetings world, key findings of new research carried out for IMEX America by Meeting Professionals International (MPI) show that more than 40 percent of the MPI Research Panel members surveyed use laptops or mobile devices to capture content realtime.
