Generation Z and MICE industry
Mariska: Sometimes I have a feeling that the MICE industry is running behind and we miss opportunities. And I think also now with TikTok so it would be great to see in the future that also destinations, technology partners, suppliers, trade shows, anyone who’s active within the industry, also the event planners, they will also focus more on the next Generation Z.
I think that we’re still missing that, for example if you go to a regular trade show. If IBTM was there now, on a normal way, then the average age I think it would be around 35 or older that you would see in Barcelona. You don’t see many young people normallyon events like these. So I think, one to embrace the next generation and want to feel them welcome. GenZ people approach is different, the way how they work is different. I think it’s very important to be on and at least watch TikTok and other social media platforms where young people are active.
Our guest, Nyomi Rose, talks about the next generation Z and MICE industry. She is very passionate about it. I think there’s also, and not only within our industry, a huge gap between the difference in generations. Nyomi, how do you see that evolving? Because you’ve mentioned a very funny example. You went for a job interview, and you got some standard questions, which I found really embarrassing from the person who did the interviews in the past. I think there’s again, same like TikTok, a lot of misconception and misperceptions about Generation Z.
Nyomi: I’m a young event professional, a lot of people don’t know how young I am. I’m 20 years old, turned 20 in August. I’ve done enough to really build a lot of my learning and development and skills through social media, which has really helped me. And especially when, like you were saying, I went to a job interview, and people usually don’t realise how young I am, and feel, then that I’m not very capable, because of my age, but then they bring me into the interviews, thinking how experienced I am.
You know, there’s still lots of different misconceptions about young people and the MICE industry. And I really just feel like, people need to embrace, meet embracing people. And I feel like it really starts with representation. If you really want to be forward thinking destination or event really bringing a wide audience andputting people on the panel speakers, you need to be open minded.
We are talking a lot about the future of the events industry. There’s no young people on the panel discussions on many events. I will say even more, there’s not a lot of young people who are signing up for the MICE industry trade shows tickets. People have got to realise why is that happening. Because we’re not being included? How do you communicate with Generation Z on social media? I hate to say it, but maybe you are doing boring content?
Mariska: It’s true. I’m a Dutch, so I am allowed to say it. I’m talking now in general. And like I said, it’s not adapted towards your generation, also that we still sense that and also the way how we reach out to you. And like you said, you don’t call and you prefer to speak with a chatbot or perhaps via Instagram chat function or messenger. And but it’s often not used in the regular communication from events and meeting planners.
Trade shows and events fitted to Generation Z
Jaro: Is your generation actually interested in trade shows and events in the MICE industry?
Nyomi: I feel like we can make people interested in anything, if we understand that generation. Sso for example, we have trade shows, if you go for example on TikTok, you can see that there’s a trending hashtag at the moment where people are showing the cars, trips, places, their makeup and so many different other topics. It’s such a variety and there’s trade show that are out discussing different things like that. And so I feel like it’s important that people really understand that we are interested if you make us interested, so instead of using content that is usually used for old, don’t want to say older, but you know from my experience, my experience generation.
Sorry, guys, but my experience generation I feel like they have their different type of content. They’re targeted differently, because that’s what interests them, that’s what brings them and you can’t then use that same type of content and then expecting people to then be interested. You’ve got to think creatively, you know, TikTok is all about inspiration, entertainment and education. It’s all in an authentic wat, where I feel like we can really see a lot of people who are trying to sell stuff.
You know, a lot of companies, for example in the UK, we’ve had a lot of discussion about the supermarkets who all came together for Christmas to share the hashtag, which was stand against racism. But the thing that they did with that is that they didn’t put any actual actionable things behind that campaign, they didn’t really actually engage with anybody, they just expected to put it out there. And for a lot of love to go, their way, and it didn’t necessarily go their way, because it was performative. You can’t expect to put things on them, people just go across and a lot of the younger generation are more analytical, we can really pick things apart.
We’re very good at looking back at the history of these companies finding out who was working in these companies, and really, dig deep into understanding who these people are. And I feel like, when we are creating content, we really got to make sure that it’s not just bare content, if we’re really wanting to bring young people in, really talk to them, offer them opportunities, embrace them into the actual event design, embrace them into the schedule, and go to work where they usually hang out, which is places like TikTok and Instagram, and which is doing a lot of video content.
And I feel like that is how we can make people interested. But like I said, you’ve got to make interesting content the way you actually understand. And like I mentioned at the beginning, if you’re saying, send me an email, and let’s book a session, I can tell you categorically that young people will not email you to be interested. Like we’re saying chat boxes, simple forums, where you don’t really necessarily have to talk to anybody. And that sounds like we’re a generation who don’t want to have human contact where we’re all about that. But we’re all about automation and things being simple, and not having to take the long way so I feel like that has really got to be understood as well.
Less is more
Jaroslaw: You mentioned that you’re overwhelmed by Facebook, right? There are so many features and options on Facebook. Do you look for more simple solutions in consuming content?
Nyomi: Yes, I was just gonna say that I completely agree. In fact, Facebook and a lot of other social media platforms are trying to be everyone and everything at the moment. But things like Facebook, the reason that then I feel that they’re not able to grow, it’s because they’re trying to do two things at once. And also the whole user design is just not appealing. Personally, I find it very confusing, there’s things at the bottom, things at the top and things splash in the middle of the screen, things pop up from the left to the right. And on Facebook nothing is very simple.
Whereas if you look on the TikTok platform interface, it’s got none of this sort of banners at the bottom, the video is actually the background for the whole time. There’s not much advertisement on TikTok (for now). You just got to follow ,like, comment, and share. And you can just swipe. How simple is that. And that’s why a lot of people love TikTok, because its simplicity.
MICE industry and social media in the era of COVID-19
Mariska: There’s a huge potential out there for TikTok and influencer marketing in the MICE industry. How do you see that evolving specifically for our industry, because the meetings and events industry is not so active. And we talked most about diversity inclusion, which is also of course, a hot topic in our industry. And how do you see that? Well, in your ideal world, what are your predictions? Or how do you see TikTok and events industry evolving? Would love to hear your opinion about that.
Nyomi: I feel like before COVID happened there was a lot of interest and MICE event professionals were actually really using social media and actually understanding it. And this was before TikTok the platform that we see it is now. And but the content that you can create on the Tik Tok platform, it’s so crucial just to actually, and that younger generation, because as much as we can say, you know, if we’ve got an event, and it’s for something that might not necessarily target the audience.
The younger audience can still learn from that. And then from those event professionals see behind the scenes we have, that they put together an incredible show, you know, meet industry speakers, that I feel like that the MICE industry is going to have to, it’s just, I feel like it, there’s not two ways about it, I feel like it’s going to have to use TikTok. And the way that the MICE industry is going to be able to do that is by opening the doors to younger people. People who know TikTok to come in and say, ‘Look, let me show you how to use this platform, and let me show you how this can work’.
I feel like that’s how the MICE industry can really start leveraging themselves. But I think it’s really important that when the mass industry just come on conferences, that they’re not creating content or creating advertisements, because like I was saying, TikTok is for Generation Z and the young people have so much content, and so much advertisement shown to everybody and think every action. Everybody can agree that every time you go on to all these other social media apps, or even when you just look at Google Search, you’ve got Facebook ads popping up, you’ve got Google Ads popping up, people trying to sell you stuff. You want to watch a YouTube video, and you’ve got an advertisement.
The importance of data
Mariska: I also like to TikTok because I’m Dutch, very straight to the point and we like very practical, easy to use tools. I want to mention something that you highlight is about data. And I think we need to have another conversation about data because we think we need 30 or 45 minutes to cover that topic. It’s really interesting that you do a research upfront with who you’re going to see and that you can see what kind of content the company even a person that you would speak within the company that you will say okay, over three years ago, he worked for another company which did not perform well or that company had a scandal or a claim or whatever. So it’s very interesting that you searched those data. And I think that’s still a very underestimated value within he MICE industry.
And like the younger generation, you grown up with social media, with the importance of those data and analytics. And I think that our generation is now with the digital world and being forced to be online, we’re now getting used to work with the data and analytics, but it’s still not at the forefront, and especially from meetings and event industry. I think that’s also perhaps one of the reasons why I’m not sure why they’re perhaps scared to use online platforms, or social media platforms like TikTok.
Nyomi: Yeah, and I feel like it’s very interesting, especially with the use of data, I feel like people are saying in the comments as well that a lot of the MICE industry are using traditional methods methods, like print media, emails and banners and things like that. And that sort of data, it can’t necessarily be as predictive, I can’t be as analytical as social media and digital media is, but in terms of TikTok`s algorithm, so there are data analytics, you know, if you create your TikTok account for a professional reasons, you can then see all your analytics and see, really, who’s watching when, when’s the best time to post etc.
But in terms of the general events industry, trying to use data more. I feel like, we’ve really got to make sure that we’re actually empowering our employees first, to really get them to understand the importance of data. So instead of just, putting out surveys, or things like that, we’ve got to be more creative with how we’re going to try and feed that data. And instead of asking simple questions, getting to know those people a lot more and connecting with them, is how you can really create, better data for you to then analyse, but then also using data, after your event to really help you with improvements.
And really just growing, as growning as a company or as an event, it’s really important that you actually look and analyse that data, you really manipulate it to understand why are people acting like this, or why people are interested in this, or that it’s really important that you can then look at that data to recognise there’s not a lot of young people here.
Now, why is this, is it because of these reasons xxx, and it’s important that you then create that data and then share it with people, too many people are keeping data to themselves. And people don’t realise that data is meant to be shared, obviously, with them legally. And but that data is meant to be shared to your community. And if you are sharing data that’s saying, ‘look where we recognise the gap here, like you know, come on community, let’s bring this, like, let’s go this new direction’. That’s what it’s supposed to be used first to help you improve and continually develop, but a lot of people don’t necessarily know how to do that. So that’s where it’s important that we are empowering people to use data, and not for it to be such a thing where it’s oh my gosh, like numbers and numbers, etc. It can be a lot, it can be a lot simpler than a lot of people usually make out to be.
New opportunities
Mariska: I think in general, it has a lot of opportunities. So hopefully now with the push of the younger generation, we’re able to share experiences and to see also how important our industry is. Because that’s actually also what it’s about, and why are so many impact on local economy, because so many suppliers and supply chain is involved in the entire industry. And it’s indeed by bringing people together.
We need to be an example. We need to be that inspiration for others also to follow us. I think sometimes we need to be not saying that leader but sometimes you need to take the lead.
Nyomi: Yeah, the importance that we’re all here to help the MICE industry grow. You know, we really need to make sure that the 2021 plan is to grow the industry and to make sure that we come back even stronger. And the only way we can do that is by bringing more people together. And not excluding different generations, but embracing each other, all of our different thoughts, ideas and experiences. I feel like that’s just so important for 2021. But also, I was gonna say, check out the Word of MICE TikTok Challenge, because we put out some really great advice and on how you can create that content on TiTok, and I believe you have to see change because we will have something coming out in the new year. So if you do want to understand how to Tik Tok, go look through that blog, and you can really sense that your tiktok journey, but I’m always here to help out.
#AssociationsSpace – one of its kind in the MICE industry
Guest post by Nadia Rubtsova – Associations Space emcee and Helsinki MICE Ambassador
We started the #AssociationsSpace on Twitter Spaces in May 2021 with the goal to engage with associations on a different level. During the pandemic, a lot of associations were going through difficult times on different levels.
We wanted to connect and to maintain the relationships with associations. A place where they can share their knowledge and insights, and not to forget to a place where they can learn and interact with other associations. Because many associations were facing similar challenges. A simple tool, a place with easy acces and conversations which are short, engaging and snappy. The ones that everyone could listen to on a break or when having a walk. And more over, a virtual safe place to meet and to connect.
What are Twitter Spaces and how do they work?
The audio format of Twitter Spaces gave us the perfect solution for a 20 minute chat for this particular audience. Easy to use for the participants, no subscriptions, no camera. With one click you can join the conversation and with one click you can leave the conversation without disturbing the audience. These chats are the equivalent of a networking break at an event, where you exchange ideas and pick each other’s brains.
The three roles in Twitter Spaces for participants in the audio of the Twitter event. Each participant has different options:
- Host – Has the highest level of privilege. The administrator starts and ends the session in the room and has the ability to speak independently. Additionally, it can add new participants, mute and even remove participants.
- Speaker – You can add up to 10 speakers at the same time in your spaces. Of course, it is not recommended that everyone talks at the same time. To become a speaker in a room, the administrator can invite you, which you can approve or reject. Second opportunity to speak, you can request a role that the Twitter room host must approve or reject.
- Listener – a guest who may listen to the speaker and respond by sending emoji. Currently, there are no restrictions on the number of listeners.
One competitive advantage of Twitter Spaces over Clubhouse is that Twitter offers an opportunity to continue the conversation after the talk ends. Anyone attending can also tweet, share a link, or chat, and you can invite anyone to join as a listener.
If you already have a Twitter community, it’s easy to promote your talks on Twitter Spaces and invite participants to various conversations. It’s a winning tool to use for the destinations and event professionals to position themselves as knowledge experts and leaders in the market.
The future of associations
My top key learnings from my conversations with various associations representatives on Twitter Spaces are:
- We received insights from the associations that we would have never received otherwise, such as how virtual events have transformed the associations’ engagement with their members.
- Associations will play an even bigger role in the near future if they manage to keep up with the digital transformation and add value for their members through various activities.
- Building a community of engaged members has the central focus. People don’t want to lay bricks, they want to build a cathedral. They want to create or be part of the legacy of the association.
- Destinations are ready to host safe events and the associations are planning hybrid or in-person events for Q4 2021 and 2022 onwards.
- Sustainability in events will be the NEXT big thing that everyone will focus on and will talk about. This will be a must-have not good to have. Sustainability will become the cornerstone of the association’s strategy and its events (online and offline).
Eventprofs and destinations on Twitter Spaces
Me and the speakers, industry experts and association executives, absolutely loved the format of the #AssociationsSpace. Along the way, I also learnt a thing or two about how to moderate them in the best possible way and how to keep the conversation going in a very natural way.
A piece of advice I can share: prepare your notes and schedule conversations upfront with your speakers, but give it a natural flow. Addressing a spontaneous question or sharing your own thoughts would only foster the discussion and it will be easier for people to listen.
I was extremely concerned about the audio experience that our listeners would have. Making sure that there are no long pauses, that thoughts are expressed in a clear way is key as people don’t see you and they rely entirely on one sense- their hearing.
We were promoting the series every week on LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram. The best response was through the target channels, which are Twitter and LinkedIn. We could see how easy it was to create a community of followers, and some of them joined us every week.
Additionally, we could pre-schedule the Twiter Spaces beforehand which made it even easier for people to tune in. We kept the conversation going in the tweets section after the session.
By running the #AssociationsSpace,I managed to grow my Twitter account. This tool is amazing for cross-promotion and to grow your online presence. On LinkedIn, thanks to the initiative, I built stronger relationships with the associations who were engaging, which is the main purpose.
?️ Thank you all for joining #AssociationsSpace talks every Wednesday with @NadiaRubtsova & her special guests?️ @antti_lumi @cgoradesky @BlomsterPaula @iamronlim @healthandthings @charlottejotten @MayKingTea & Paulus Torkki
➡️ https://t.co/emWWbgk89P… #eventprofs #associations pic.twitter.com/0hLyjbftJi— wordofmice (@wordofmice) July 30, 2021
As we were collaborating with Helsinki Marketing, we managed to boost visibility and created tremendous exposure for the city of Helsinki in a different and unique way, positioning it as one of the most sustainable MICE destinations. This format helped to stay in touch and engage with the target audience in a very authentic way.
All in all, I’ve received many messages from our listeners saying that it was a great initiative and a niceexperience. To be continued…
About the author
This blog post has been written by Nadia Rubtsova, the creator of the Business & Events Academy, an online platform for personal and professional education for event professionals. Nadia has more than 10 years of experience in the events industry and for the past years she was working for the European Health Management Association as the Events & Partnerships Manager. Nadia is 2021 Helsinki MICE Ambassador.
The future and trends on Instagram in 2021
Welcome to the second series of the B2B Influencer Marketing Chat Series. We continue our conversation with Phil Gonzalez. In this post we will focus on the future of Facebook`s platform and trends on Instagram in 2021. Read the first part of our interview Influencer Marketing on Instagram.
Tips and recommendations for Influencers on Instagram
Mariska Kesteloo: Phil, how do you see Instagram evolving? Because like you said, it started as a small start-up. And then the entire evolution of communities and influencer marketing came. And you see now that influencers became really fragile. Because if Instagram closes tomorrow your account, which is possible, then of course the influencers also lose their jobs including their followers and the content. So it’s a really fragile structure because the Instagram profile is not their own platform.
I remember that Jaro (Jaroslaw Marciuk) and you also had issues with your Instagram communities during the US presidential elections. So how do you see that evolving? So how do you see Instagram regulations? Do you have any tips for influencers, how to become less dependent on the Facebook platforms?
Phil Gonzalez: I think that the first thing is that all the influencers are quite aware that today our life and our professional destiny are in the hands of Instagram. Every day I talk with influencers who write to me and say – Phil, my reach on Instagram is going down. I reply to them – Yes of course, and you can be sure that in the next year your reach is going down because they are interested in that. They classified us and they say you are a usual content creator and pro content creator.
These people (pro content creators) make money on Instagram. Facebook is going to decrease the reach of their posts on Instagram. So, all these people will be interested in putting some money in advertising so at least Facebook will make some money from influencers. Okay, so that the first step.
My recommendation to influencers is that you have to be the brand that will not depend on Instagram anymore. It’s the case of my friend, the cook. She’s a cook, she’s on TV, she writes books. Tomorrow if Instagram goes down, she will be known for her personality. We have to take the opportunity as influencers to build prsonal brand.
That’s why many bloggers changed their Instagram handles to their real names. They used to have a brand name in blogs, and they changed it to a real name because they understood they had to build their own and strong personal brand. My tip for people on Instagram would be that.
The future Instagram
I may predict that Instagram is going to decrease the reach and they are going to do something new on Instagram. That’s my intuition, I think they will try to get some money on influencers. The first step would be with shopping, they are very interested in promoting shopping ads, shopping on Instagram, and Instagram Checkout.
They will propose the Instagramers and the influencers to put stickers on their pictures to be like a kind of affiliation program like Amazon. So that would be a way to say that you can earn money, so we control you.
Secondly, they will propose to the content creators to have pre-rolls on the IGTV. What would it mean? Like be the company that we start to say before to contract fee, I will say Phil, give me I will go to Instagram and say I want pre-rolls in the channel of Phil. So Phil will have only a small rate of this 50% or 40% but not 100% of the campaign anymore. (Jaro – do you get this?)
Why Instagram disables accounts?
Mariska: So you will see it actually evolving to a more commercial channel and less content. That’s really, really interesting. Before we go to the questions you can also say what happened to Instagramers Community and also Jaro`s community, it was closed down. It also means that some people are very afraid and dependent on Instagram.
Phil: Yes, right now we have big complications, we have big problems on Instagram. Currently, Instagram is pursuing and trying to fight against bots. That’s something they never solved very well, really. I think that if I work with Instagram, I would have said you should have done it before, much before and we didn’t have this problem of bots, fake news, fake likes and ghost followers etc.
Instagram is now very aware that they have a huge problem with the American Congress. Instagram and Facebook can have an impact on the elections and can make an impact on fake news. Now they are fighting against accounts that can be a network. So Instagramers (also called Igers) is a network is all over the world. So, they think that we can be an organized network that tomorrow could provoke change in the opinion of the people. That is why Facebook is deleting our accounts one by one and we have to ask to restore them.
I would say to people that have accounts, that may look like a bot or like republishing other people’s posts, you have to be very careful with that. Instagram is going to fight against organized networks all around the world, even if they are a nice community like ours.
And the second thing is that yesterday they change the legal norms. You have to read very, very well the last updates of Instagram Community Guidelines and Instagram Terms of Use. I think many accounts could be blocked or closed just because they are not following the rules they implemented yesterday.
Trends on Instagram in 2021
Mariska: It’s really interesting and for us, it means we need to be up to date with the regulations on Instagram. We also have a question about trends on Instagram. Any predictions for 2021?
Phil: Ok, let`s talk about trends on Instagram in 2021. I can give you some tips for the future. I think it’s quite clear with the last changes in the usability of the navigation of the app these last weeks. I don’t know if you saw that we have like right now different frames of the app. If you manage several different accounts, you will see probably that your different accounts are not the same. Okay? Instagram app has like three or four different frames right now. And I think that they are testing what is the best way.
Reels and Shopping
This last change made us nervous. Now at the bottom of the screen you can see Shopping and Reels. Another frame is the one with Explore, Reels and Shopping. Another one is Shopping, Reels, Explore.
But let’s say that shows clearly the trend. In 2021 Instagram Checkout is the big game of Instagram. I think they will implement the big stores, big brands on Instagram so you can pay directly from the Instagram app to Zara, H&M, Nike etc. Thanks to Instagram Shopping, they will give more opportunities for small shops to do their business on Instagram and trying to get some commissions on the payment. That would be big stuff.
IGTV – video on Instagram
Now let`s talk about IGTV and the new Instagram feature – Reels. I think Mark Zuckerberg, before the COVID-19 came, was thinking of attacking YouTube through IGTV. He developed it and announced it. The new separated application IGTV was prepared to receive a lot of longer-form videos. But what did happen?
Mark Zuckerberg was about to explain to the people that we could have money through new video features. They were preparing a strategy to say to YouTubers – come to IGTV and you will have money.
TikTok vs Instagram
Suddenly Trump says I’m going to close TikTok in the US. Mark Zuckerberg decided to stop IGTV. I think he waits for a moment and will not going to fight against YouTube now. Facebook has more interest in promoting Reels. It will try to win the game and focus on short videos on Reels. Personally, I think, even if TikTok will have problems in the US, it will not change much. I think the people that use TikTok will not use Instagram Reels as they use TikTok. Why?
In my opinion, it’s not the same mood. Probably I can be a user of Instagram, but when I want to do something special I will go to TikTok, and probably I will share this video on Instagram because I have my biggest audience there. Reels is a thing that people don’t quite understand. They say Reels it’s a kind of Story, but they don’t understand that new feature.
In 20201 we will have to be very focused on what’s going to happen with Reels and further developments of Instagram Shopping and Checkout.
Instagram Campaigns
Jaro: Can you share your experiences as an influencer in the campaigns with destinations or hotels? We know from your profile that you’re an ambassador of a chain of hotels. So what’s your experience as an influencer?
Phil: Travel and destinations have been the most promoted in all history thanks to Instagram. There were so many destinations we didn’t know through the leaflets, catalogs, or even websites. When the travel destinations started to be promoted by blogs and travel bloggers, who started to give a lot of information about places all around the world in their blog. And then a little bit of Facebook. But really the explosion, the biggest the massive promotion of destinations in the world has been on Instagram.
For example, now you go to a place, a very special place in Spain, the lavender fields. Certainly, people go there because they saw it on your influencer pictures. There are like 10 spots that you will see dozens of times in traditional publications, but there are a lot of spots that people discovered thanks to Instagram. So for me, it’s unbelievable, that there are people in agencies and even DMOs, still doubting the importance of Instagram in this area.
Is it worth creating new profile on Instagram?
Jaro: The final question to Phil. Is it still worth starting a new profile on Instagram?
Phil: Now? Yes, I think so. Sometimes I have to be very careful because I am a 10 years old Instagram user, so sometimes I say Instagram is bad, but that’s not true. You have still a lot of opportunities on Instagram.
If you start on Instagram now, you have to start with very interesting content, you have to upload a very differential value on your content and may really create a community. And that means that Instagram is terribly time-consuming. And I say to all companies and influencers – you’re will not do Instagram properly with 10 minutes a day, forget it!
Mariska: Yes, indeed Instagram is really time-consuming. I think you need to choose wisely which platform you’re going to use. Thank you so much Phil for your insights about Instagram and also to hear your vision about the future of the platform. Thank you so much for your time. I hope we will meet all on Instagram – we’re on Instagram so you can follow us you can follow Phil @, Jaro @ and me @. So thank you so much for joining and your engagement.
And see you next week Thursday at 1pm where we talk with Tim Williams, the CEO from Onalytica about B2B influencer marketing. See you and thank you so much.
The second season of B2B Chat Series
Welcome to the B2B Influencer Marketing chat series where we talk about B2B influencer marketing in the world of MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Events). We speak with people from all around the globe about the role, the meaning, impact and possibilities of B2B influencer marketing. You can listen to us and our guests on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts.
We launch the second season of B2B Influencer Marketing chat series in November 2020. Follow us on Eventbrite and signup for coming chats with influencers, CVB`s representatives and many other interesting guests from the MICE industry and Social Media world.
Sign up for our next episodes of B2B Influencer Marketing Chat Series: World of MICE – events on Eventbrite registration.
About our host and Instagram influencer – Phil Gonzalez
Philippe graduated in Administration and Business Management. He participated in several “start-ups” in the early 2000s until he joined Orange´s content management team in Spain. Later, he worked for 8 years as Head of Digital at Amc Networks International in Spain which is a leading broadcaster of television channels and produced successful series like ‘Mad Men’, ‘Breaking Bad’ and ‘The Walking Dead’.
In 2011, as a hobbyist, Philippe started a blog called www.Instagramers.com and then founded the Instagramers Network, the most important Instagram fans’ association in the world. Instagramers or #IGers is a congregation of millions of members in more than 500 cities in more than 80 countries. #IGers has more than 500 million pictures tagged on Instagram and is one the hashtag most used ever.
In 2014, Philippe inaugurated the very first Instagramers Gallery at Fundación Telefonica, Madrid, a place where mobile photography is considered as a new form of social art.
He works as Brand Ambassador for companies like Heineken and Leica in Spain. He is a digital consultant, conference speaker and teacher too. He published five books till now, three of them about Instagram and two about “Executive Mindfulness” and “Digital Disconnection”. You can follow Phil on Instagram @philgonzalez and LinkedIn.
Event Talks Eventowa Blogerka Podcast with Mariska Kesteloo
In April and May, Mariska Kesteloo travelled around Poland in her camper. Agnieszka Ciesielska recorded a podcast with Mariska in Poznan. Agnieszka is an eventprof and blogger from Poland. You can visit Agnieszka`s blog here Eventowa Blogerka.
Agnieszka and Mariska’s talks are endless, especially as they are skimming around the discussion about the approach to the new reality, survival, and development in the coming months.
Listen to the conversation on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts or here on Anchor.
After a few moments, the two ladies feel that they have found a common understanding. Their MICE market perception is similar, although the places where they live and work seem distant…We invite you to an interview recorded by Agnieszka Ciesielska with our own Mariska Kesteloo .
The conversation covers several important aspects, some of them still relevant:
- Agnieszka asks about #MariskaJourney Mariska’s trip to Poland in her camper, plans for the subsequent visits to other cities, and what she went through a year ago in her private life. It is a touching story of a woman who has lost the closest love of her life in an unequal struggle with the disease.
- Another Agnieszka`s question is about her observations on the constantly flowing refugees from Ukraine and how to continue to support them. The topic is already getting not very popular… our national optimism died out at the beginning of May. At that time, when we were recording our conversation, Polish people had a massive record of energy supporting our neighbours from Ukraine.
- Behind us is not an easy business time, pandemic, downtime, and no orders. Whether Poland or the Netherlands, where Mariska lives. Our reality has hit our businesses very hard. The impact on the meeting and event industry was huge at that time. Conflict escalation in Ukraine forced people to flee their homes, seeking safety, protection, and assistance. In the first five weeks, four million refugees from Ukraine crossed borders into neighbouring countries and most of them to Poland. How can the event industry be reborn in such a dynamic situation? What is Mariska’s advice? How to keep doing what we love continuously? How to find a golden means for life in such brutal pandemic or geopolitical times?
- At the beginning of pandemia Aga started providing online events on online avatar-based platforms avatarland.eu. Mariska company: Word of MICE is the first and only global influencer community for the MICE industry. How do our businesses change at different times of the year? What can we advise our colleagues in the MICE industry for the future?
- In the post-pandemic world, we can hear about a trend to redesign marketing strategies and information shared with tourism as new possibilities for Event Managers: new destinations, experiences, and services positively influence our clients? Are we ready to define it from the begging?