Affinis, a civil engineering firm, had held an Industry Summit in the past to glean area forecasting information, along with partners’ impressions of their firm. Last year, they decided to once again host the event, but with a different set of objectives. They still wanted to gather valuable information about what was ahead for the Kansas City market, but instead of collecting brand data, they wanted to create a value-add for clients and colleagues. Before planning the event, we established the following goals:
- Position Affinis as a thought leader.
- Gather forecasting information.
- Create a value-add for clients and colleagues.
It was important to Affinis to have a combination of presentations and open discussion at the Industry Summit. They selected Jeff Pinkerton of the Mid-America Regional Council to provide insight on the Kansas City market, along with forecasting data. He shared three, major economic trends:
- There’s a shift from making stuff to coming up with ideas.
- A new definition of a strong economy is emerging.
- There has been a rise of a winner take all economy.
Jeff’s presentation was followed by an extensive question and answer session, as well as a separate, round-table discussion moderated by Dotted Line Marketing. To keep the conversation varied, Affinis selected invitees from a variety of public and private entities. Some of the attendees included government officials, individuals from area businesses, public works employees and representatives from the Blue Valley School District. With a variety of industries in the room, the discussion touched on everything from flexible workplaces to recruitment challenges.
In partnering with Affinis on this half-day event, we helped with the following items:
- Setting goals for the Industry Summit.
- Developing a project schedule and event program.
- Writing, designing and distributing emailed invitations.
- Creating an agenda and evaluation form for the event.
- Moderating the round table.
- Compiling meeting notes.
- Presenting findings.
- Providing a results report.
