A seat at the table in the age of AI

You cannot run from AI, says industry association PCMA as it sets a new Spark to our thinking PCMA is committed to blazing a trail forward for the global business events industry. In January 2023, during Convening Leaders, PCMA and CEMA president and CEO Sherrif Karamat, CAE, committed to all participants that, “We will innovate. We will take risks. We will get outside our comfort zone. And we will always do it for our audiences.” Fast forward to Artificial Intelligence (AI), which perhaps has quietly been a part of our lives for many years — or perhaps not so quietly, in the case of Siri. But since early 2023, with the widespread accessibility of tools like ChatGPT, the reality is hitting home. The potential social and economic benefits of AI are so profound that the question is not IF we will use AI, but HOW. AI, as a broader topic, has become even more popular than ChatGPT and sustainability. We can fear it. We can ignore it. But we cannot run from it. Over the last four months, the PCMA and Gevme teams have been collaborating on Project Spark, an innovation initiative built by event professionals for event professionals. Project Spark is more than a technology tool, it is a platform to foster collaboration, and the latest example of how a disruptive technology can positively impact the global business events industry. We believe three key elements are critical to ensure our industry benefits from AI – community, education, and tools. And the HOW, we believe, begins by putting our humanity front and centre, doing all we can to ensure that AI works for us — both collectively and individually — in positive ways. Innovation, specifically AI, today plays an even more significant role in the global business events industry. It plays an incredible role in replacing routine tasks to free up time for strategic planning. Ultimately, AI plays a role in every facet of event planning – for all, including associations and corporations. Business event strategists, who have long wanted a seat at the strategic table now have a tool to help get them there faster. Since launching Project Spark at IMEX Frankfurt in May, we have been receiving user feedback and refining the product roadmap, all while educating our global community through webinars, in-person tech labs and in our Catalyst Community. During the recent EduCon 2023 in Montreal, we released the BETA version of Spark 1.0 – with a 90-day free trial for all PCMA members. With fewer resources, more stress and less time, business event strategists are often in the middle of chaos. Spark will help clear those ‘to-do’ lists from routine tasks and allow for time to focus on what is possible with business events. Session descriptions, speaker bios, video transcriptions agendas and more. Spark can do in 30 seconds or less what previously took 30 minutes or more. Every so often, something comes along that transforms society and industries. Such is the case with AI.  Project Spark was designed for business event professionals to shape the inevitable change ignited by AI and not be swept away by it. We look forward to an exciting future for our global business events community.