Connect the Dots to our Industry’s Future

Program Description: To paraphrase Yogi Berra, our industry’s future “ain’t what it used to be.” We who have been in the industry for many years have seen many changes but none like those that we are now experiencing and will continue to experience. Each “dot” connects to service standards, changing demographics, risks and contingency issues, airline instability; changing core-competencies; and ethics.

• What will the meetings/hospitality/tourism industry look like in the future?
• What core competencies will be needed to remain in or move into the industry?
• What dots will you have to connect to get to the future – for yourself, your employer, your clients, and the industry?

 From participation in this session, you will:

1. Think more and/or differently about our industry;
2. Determine the dots you need to connect to move ahead;
3. Develop a plan for our industry’s future and your future in it.

Recommended reading to stimulate thinking for the session: 

• Fast Company (any issue or on the web, http://www.fastcompany.com),
• The Futurist from the World Future Society (www.wfs.org),
• “A Whole New Mind” by Daniel Pink,
• “Hospitality 2010: The Future of Hospitality and Travel.”

Speaker:  Joan Eisenstodt, a facilitator, trainer, and meeting manager with 30-plus years experience, founded Washington, DC-based Eisenstodt Associates LLC, in 1981. In addition to her work with clients, Joan moderates an international listserv for the meetings and hospitality industry and serves as an expert witness. She is an active member of MPI, PCMA, ASAE & The Cener, HSMAI, and the International Association of Facilitators, and in her community with groups dedicated to education and diversity/inclusion. Joan's strengths for connectedness, learning, and helping others learn lead her to take a greater role in facilitating group process and training around issues of importance to the meetings and hospitality community and their constituents.

Thank you to the Platinum Program Sponsors: Canadian Tourism Commission and Partners