MMCS Events It's all about Networking - 3 ways to boost networking during your event

Article Information

  • Posted By : Marina Vatav
  • Posted On : Oct 03, 2014
  • Views : 1699
  • Category : Planning
  • Description :

    With 67,000 members, the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) is one of the largest professional associations in the US. They organize close to 400 events a year in the United States and abroad with one approach in mind: It's all about networking.


Overview

  • With 67,000 members, the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) is one of the largest professional associations in the US. They organize close to 400 events a year in the United States and abroad with one approach in mind: It's all about networking.

    New York National Deal Making Conference 2013New York National Deal Making Conference 2013

    Their flagship events: RECon, taking place in Las Vegas, and The New York National Deal Making Conference gather tens of thousands of retail and real estate professionals from around the world to meet and strike deals.

    The New York National Deal Making Conference to kick off on December 8-9, 2014, at the Jacob K. JavitsConvention Center is expected to drive 10,000 attendees, and showcase over 400 exhibitors. It is an appointment-driven show. Its attendees are actively filling their calendars with business meetings during the two-day event. This is one of the reasons why registration starts as early as eight months prior to the event; once an attendee is registered they can start networking.

    There are a few ways that ICSC encourages that kind of interaction:

    1. Online access to the event attendees and exhibitors

    The organization publishes on its website the list of both event attendees and exhibitors. Members of the organization can login and access the direct contact information of the event participants to set up appointments.

    2. Networking events before and after the exhibiting hours

    The organizers encourage their attendees to interact with exhibitors by walking directly into their booths during the exhibition. However, they also organize breakfasts, cocktail receptions, etc., to create additional networking opportunities in a less formal setting.

    3. Using the Mobile technologies

    This year the organization is offering a mobile app so that once the participants register, they can see on their phones who else is going. They can even use the app to find a coffee shop or restaurants near the event location, and invite other attendees to a meeting.

    "You think of a shopping center: you've got a developer that would develop a project, and once they built the facility, they go out to the retail community to have the retails occupy that space. Those are primarily the core of our membership as an organization—retails and developers. It's a natural progression to have both parties at this event that we like to call networking sessions, which is basically putting two people together so they can negotiate a deal at one or multiple shopping centers throughout the country, or the world," noted Tim McGuinness, Staff Vice President, Global Trade Expositions, ICSC.

    This year's New York National Deal Making conference will take place in a new location - Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. The organizers promised to have "blockbuster speakers”, “power sessions” and, more importantly, unlimited networking, as much as your calendar can take.