For the past 13 days, I’ve been working remotely and practicing social isolation. It’s been an adjustment and, on some days, a real struggle. If you’re like me, COVID-19 has affected every part of your daily life, both personal and professional. All of the upcoming trade shows that our team has been hard at work on are now cancelled, we’re in the middle of reimagining our annual user conference into a virtual event and our company is transitioning to a remote workforce. On a more personal level, I’ve had to postpone my upcoming wedding and honeymoon.

While it feels overwhelming at times, I know that nearly every individual, business and community is struggling with these same challenges. We are all in the midst of adjusting to our “new, temporary normal” and rethinking our strategies during this unprecedented time. In the spirit of collaboration, I thought I would share a few thoughts on how our team is shifting our events strategy. I certainly don’t have all of the answers (and certainly not as many as I’d like), but it’s been helpful for me to talk through the new process and considerations with our team.

For our events strategy, the questions that we’re asking ourselves include:

• Should we attempt a virtual exhibit booth for trade shows that we planned to sponsor in the first half of the year?
• What does a virtual user conference look like and how can we deliver value to our attendees in this type of format?
• How long should it be—do we retain our original three-day structure or make it more succinct and deliver the content within a single day?
• What percentage of the keynotes and breakout sessions should be recorded live versus pre-recorded?
• What technology do we need to leverage to be successful?

How can we keep people informed and up to date on the evolution of our conference, much of which is happening in real time?

Recently, our team decided to share a behind-the-event peek at how we’re adjusting and pivoting to a virtual conference on Planet Leadership, Personify’s podcast for association, nonprofit and event professionals.

Whether you’re a regular subscriber to the podcast or if this is the first time that you’re hearing of it, I encourage my fellow marketers and event professionals to check out our latest episode where we discuss many of the considerations that impact the transition to a virtual event.

In the first episode, which we’ve titled Getting Organized, I’m joined by my colleagues Teresa Zimmerman, Vice President of Marketing, and Rich Vallaster, Director of Client Relations and the Trade Show Wonk, to discuss our thought process and how we are rearchitecting the foundation for our annual conference. As you and your team are working on your events strategy, we hope that you gain some value and clarity from hearing about our new process and next steps.

I’m excited to share that this will be a multi-part series where various members of the Personify team share their new strategies, thought process and questions to consider as we move forward with our virtual conference. Join us!

Listen to the Episode

The post Shifting to Virtual: Considerations for Reimagining Your Annual Conference appeared first on Personify.

I’m excited to share that we recently launched a podcast called Planet Leadership where I get to do that and much more.

Why I Created Planet Leadership

I’ve been working with entrepreneurs, CEOs and some of the largest associations and nonprofits for several years. It occurred to me that I don’t think that anyone is out there telling their stories and discussing the challenges they face, especially in the association and nonprofit market. I made the decision to call the podcast—Planet Leadership—because we feature stories about leaders who are trying to change the planet every day, and in many different ways. They are advocating upon behalf of their members to Congress, providing development and training opportunities to grow their industry and profession, curing diseases, eradicating poverty, protecting our environment, creating new companies and more.

I also work in the private equity world. Some people don’t understand how private equity works and may even have some concerns and questions about the role that private equity plays in both the nonprofit market and the commercial sector. I think there are a lot of great things happening with private equity so I’m excited to bring people from that world on the podcast to explain how it’s shaping organizations of all kinds.

We’ll talk to CEOs, executive directors and leaders who may not have a big title but are doing compelling things for their organization and driving transformation. I’ll ask these leaders things like- How do you build a great culture? What’s important to think about when building a great team? How are you scaling your organization? Why have you initiated a change in leadership? When leaders are successful, what are they doing to move the needle for their organization?

A Focus on Leadership Journeys

I will be sharing stories from some amazing Personify clients who have really interesting stories about their leadership journeys. But this podcast is not just about the association and nonprofit sector. It’s not about Personify. It’s about sharing the leadership journeys of individuals who are enacting meaningful change. And, I’m excited to give some of my colleagues, partners, friends and influencers in the market an opportunity to share how they got to where they are today and their advice for other leaders.

I’ll also reveal some details about my leadership journey. In fact, we spend time talking about it in the first episode. I’ve had several people ask me what it’s like to be a CEO and run a mid-size software company. We’ve gone through a significant transformation at Personify including rearchitecting our product structure and we have bought companies from entrepreneurs who have been really successful. I’ll share the process that we have gone through when we’re acquiring a new company and let the entrepreneurs from the companies we have acquired discuss how they built and grew their organization.

Who We’ll Speak With

We’ll come out with new episodes of Planet Leadership every other week. On the podcast, we’ll feature entrepreneurs, association executives, nonprofit leaders, private equity folks and much more. These are people who are trying to make a difference in the world and do something great. Here is a sneak peek at some of the upcoming interviewees:

• Amy Porter, founder of AffiniPay, a payments technology solution for associations, law firms and accounting organizations.
• Matt Ott, founder of the nonprofit organization Black Fret that supports local musicians in Austin.
• Loretta Deluca, founder and CEO of Delcor, an organization that partners with associations and nonprofits on their technology strategy.
• Michael Wilson, founder of the company Small World Labs (which is now Personify Community) that was created to connect nonprofits and people with disabilities
• Susan Robertson, interim executive director of ASAE, the organization for association management.
• Other leaders that have a great story to tell

Wherever you get your podcasts, I encourage you to go out and subscribe to Planet Leadership. I’m excited to be on this journey and hope that you’ll join me in learning from our amazing leaders that will share their stories.

Listen to the Latest Episode

The post Planet Leadership: the Podcast for Associations, Nonprofits & Entrepreneurs appeared first on Personify.