lessons learned – conclusions arrived at
Konstantinos Konstantinidis, M.D., Ph.D.
Director - ExCtu - addressing the Health Tourism Sector "Builder Class" (a.k.a. the "growth makers" and “developers”) with originated T-shaped knowledge for thinking and doing.
…all are not created equal
To illustrate the article (on MICE events and Speakers) I have used the front covers of two books:
In all aspects of life, we have the “vital few” and the “inconsequential many” – and the world of “Health Tourism MICE events and speakers” is no exception.
On a number of occasions, I have let it be known that I spent something like 10 years as an invited and hosted speaker at international Health Tourism events getting to know and understand how Health Tourism, then, worked – in order to see how it could be made to work better (? https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/reason-i-participated-health-tourism-mice-events-constantine-g26of/ ?).
Parallel to this, I also got to know and understand quite a bit about the corresponding MICE industry and speakers.
The conclusion I arrived at is that both, events and speakers are “stratified” (i.e., not all are created equal).
This in turn, led me to group events and speakers into two “classes”:
?Speakers
…and the spoken word
With regards to speakers, somewhat irreverently, and in private, I speak about the:
For the talking heads, one of the main objectives is to promote – and further boost – their “personal brand” (it’s all about the speaker).
For the wise heads, one of the main objectives is to promote – and further boost – the “service brand” (it’s all about the service).
To highlight the distinction between the two classes of speakers, in one LinkedIn article I talk about those who "make the noise" and those who "make" (? https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/industry-players-who-brag-bluster-argue-konstantinidis-m-d-ph-d--cglif/ ? ).
MICE events - increase in number - drop in quality and value
…and the need to Stratify and Rate
As part of the ExCtu Health Tourism Watch agenda – I keep track of and document the Health Tourism Events being staged (during any given year) – and - as with the quality of speakers - I stratify and rate them.
Presumably, one attends a “live” event in order to get what cannot be got through other channels / outlets / media – and the “what” are becoming fewer and fewer.
In spite of this, the number of MICE events is steadily increasing (with their quality and value steadily decreasing).
It is no exaggeration to state that practically every “destination” now, stages a Health Tourism MICE event.
Stated a little differently, we have “Event Inflation and Commoditization” – a state of affairs I refer to as an “embarrassment of riches” (too much of a good – or bad - thing).
We have more events than we know what to do with.
During any one year, there are a lot more events than one can “digest” and capitalize on.
And we are experiencing “MICE event fatigue” – for the cure of which is: “the more you know the fewer you need”.
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When it comes to Health Tourism MICE events, I also make a distinction between the "impactful" vs the "impression-creating".
For the most part, these MICE events are "carbon copy" vanity platforms - staged opportunistically "at the drop of a hat" - providing an opportunity for self-promotion and posting of selfies and group photos.
As already intimated, with experience, one comes to the conclusion that “the more you know the fewer you need”.
BTW, needless to say, the organizers of all these MICE events, invariably declare that they were a “success”.
the optimized & rationalized event”
…for the Internet Century
In view of the “embarrassment of riches” phenomenon, and basically, to provide a cure for event fatigue – and the overabundance of events - I preemptively designed an event, which I refer to as the "optimized & rationalized event for the Internet Century” (? https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/health-tourism-conference-model-internet-century-constantine/ ? ).
More specifically, Contemporary Health Tourism (i.e., Health Tourism Transformed and Repurposed) foresees the existence of an optimized and rationalized “Conference, B2B Meetings and Exhibition” combo, designed as a Blue Ocean (for which competition is irrelevant), to serve as the sector Flagship Event.
This event, which has now been designed, is an EMVIO entity (meaning that its evolution has been “designed in”).
See: the Distinguishing Features of the "optimized & rationalized" Health Tourism Event - which make it “attractively different” -? https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/distinguishing-features-optimized-rationalized-health-constantine/ ? .
Incidentally, the event model can be regarded as the continuation and further development of the model pioneered by Hadi Malaeb.
To put things into perspective - and extend due attribution - I need to remind that the “Conference, B2B Meetings and Exhibition Combo” event model was pioneered by Hadi Malaeb ( ?https://lnkd.in/dVpxjiVh ?) with the first - 2006 - World Health Tourism Congress (WHTC) in Wiesbaden, Germany, at which I was an invited and hosted speaker (I was also an invited and hosted speaker at all the annually staged WHTC events – over several years).
the preconditions for “high probability of success”
…an event model which is beyond expectations
As I have repeatedly pointed out (a lesson learned from Nassim Nicholas Taleb), for an event to have a high probability of “real” success, in needs to be something beyond expectations (and ideally, “way beyond expectations”).
The objective way to determine “success” begins by ensuring that the event is associated with a set of OKRs (? https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/events-objective-way-determine-success-constantinides-m-d-ph-d-/ ?).
Furthermore, the event should have an Architect and a Civil Engineer - complementing each other (? https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/impression-creating-vs-impactful-mice-event-constantine/ ?).
A MICE event should, at the very least:
In terms of “supply side Stakeholder Base”, the event should include:
Furthermore, in terms of scope, the event needs to address all 8 of the segments (ht8):
With regards to this see: the MICE Events supply side Stakeholder Base - Expanded and Integrated - addressing a broader Market -? https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/mice-events-supply-side-stakeholder-base-constantinides-m-d-ph-d-/ ? .
And of course, with the "optimized & rationalized event model (associated with a high probability of success), the event organizer will not need to resort to clever marketing tricks and gimmicks to sell it ( ?https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/health-tourism-mice-events-purpose-innovation-okrs-constantine/ ? ).
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