2018 Value Summit Update: Who Do You Want to Hear in Austin and Can You Help Us “Enhance (the) Event”?

By Michael Pearsall, P.Eng., CVS, CVM, FICE, FEC – Vice President – Conferences, SAVE International

There are no limits to value in Austin and there should be no limits to the success of our 2018 Value Summit with all of us participating. This month I would like to highlight two ways you can help.

Austin is known for being a place to come and hear some good music; I want our summit to also be a place where people hear good speakers.

Following up on the two excellent keynote speakers we had in Philadelphia, we are on the lookout for some good keynote speakers for the 2018 Value Summit in Austin. We have some good leads and some initial invite letters are being prepared. However, I am interested in who our members would recommend.

Do you know a person in the Austin area who would be a good Keynote for the Summit? What great Keynotes have you heard speak at another function recently? Do you know someone our members need to hear?

If you have any suggestions on keynote speakers for the 2018 Value Summit, please contact myself or one of the other program committee members.

Another thing that can help us have a great Summit is sponsorship. We all have plenty of contacts, many of whom could sponsor the Summit. Who can you pass the message along to? Who can you reach out to? Sponsorship is very important to the success of the Value Summit, so please be sure to share sponsorship information with anyone you know in the VE community. Or you can give us their name, company and email, and the SAVE International business office will send the information to them.

The annual SAVE Sponsorship & Advertising Program information can be found on the 2018 Value Summit website at https://www.valuesummit2018.org/sponsors.

This month I have been thinking a bit about the function of both keynote speakers and sponsorship. When I did a little function analysis on “Keynote Speakers”, my initial short-list included Attract Attendees, Set Tone, Entertain Audience, Educate Audience and Enhance Event.

When I did a little brainstorming on functions for “Sponsorship”, my initial short-list included Enhance Event, Reduce Registration Cost and Showcase Industry. However, there are also some functions for the sponsors such as Promote Business and Attract Customers, and we should point these out to them. What are your thoughts on the function of sponsorship? What about keynote speakers?

I think my favorite for Primary Function for both is “Enhance Event”.

I challenge everyone to think about how you can “Enhance (the) Event” by suggesting quality keynote speakers and finding sponsorship.

Your 2018 Value Summit program committee is working hard planning a great Summit. We have many great paper submissions in and evaluation is in progress.

Please plan on being in Austin, Texas June 9-12, 2018 for the 2018 Value Summit.