2016 Member Seminar Post Event Report

NEW YORK, NY, USA - The 2016 Member Seminar, held October 16-18 in New York City, drew 120 participants, of which 97 were WTC delegates representing 67 World Trade Centers. 

This year’s Member Seminar was focused on engaging and activating our Members, new and old, with the focus of strengthening our network through knowledge and education, and most importantly, through networking. 

WELCOME COCKTAILS

The Seminar began with the Welcome Cocktails, where Members had the opportunity to reconnect with their peers over light cocktails and passed hors d'oeuvres. Rolf Draak, Interim CEO, also introduced our newly appointed Chief Executive Officer, Scott Ferguson, to the entire membership.

MEMBER ACTIVATION PROGRAM

Monday's program consisted of the new 'Member Activation Program', where participants received an overview of the WTCA global network and regional updates from 2015, the real estate and trade service components of a WTC, as well as the basics of the Digital Platform, trademark protection/branding guidelines, and an update of the new certification program. 

Each session was filled with a two-way Q&A, where Members could ask the WTCA leadership, as well as their peers questions from the previous programming. 

"THE VALUE OF A BRAND IN REAL ESTATE" - TOM GEURTS 

Tuesday's program began with our Keynote Speaker, Dr. Tom Geurts. His presentation, "The Value of a Brand in Real Estate" was focused on his study of how a brand reflects the identity that is communicated to the "audience", i.e. tenants and employees. He concluded with how the WTCA brand is unique in the fact that while different cities have different economic driver and cycles, the factor of our WTCA brand remains constant through our international and real-estate components.

48th WTCA GENERAL ASSEMBLY PRESENTATION: WTC LAS VEGAS

In preparation for the upcoming General Assembly in Las Vegas, NV, USA, Chris Meyer, the Vice President of Global Business Sales for WTC Las Vegas, gave an enthusiastic invitation and overview of the Las Vegas business culture to the participants. WTC Las Vegas also awarded surprise raffle prize winners, which included 2 wireless Sony Bose headphones and a limo ride to and from the Ciruqe Soleil show in April! We look forward to the General Assembly which will be held April 2-5, 2017. 

GET OUT THE VOTE RALLY

Ms. Charlotte Gallogly (WTC Miami), Chair of the WTCA Nomination and Compensation Committee, announced the 2017 WTCA Board Election which will be held March-April 2017. A total of 11 Board seats will be filled this election - with one or more open seats in each region. The actual nominating process will not begin until December of this year, but we encourage you to review the qualifying criteria now to ensure that you have time to satisfy the conditions for seeking election to our Board. You can find more information on the nominating process by clicking here.

WTC INNOVATIONS EXCHANGE & WTC SHOWCASE

Seven WTCs were chosen to present this year for the WTC Innovations Exchange and WTC Showcase. These World Trade Centers showcased transferable solutions and programs they currently use that can be leveraged and adapted by other WTCs.

• WTC Denver - "Reimagining Global Business"
• WTC Istanbul - "Istanbul Expo Center"
• WTC Leeuwarden - "The Benefits of Sharing Knowledge"
• WTC Los Angeles - "Thought Leadership as Revenue"
• WTC Mumbai - "Global Economic Summit"
• WTC Orlando - "Dartmouth College Partnership"
• WTC Trieste - "Commission Sharing Agreement"

 WTCA UPDATE

Scott Ferguson’s WTCA Update focused on the Association’s business plan for 2017 with 4 key points: Knowing our Members, Knowing our Markets, Building on a sustainable operation, and Protecting and growing our Brand. He also gave an update of his activity within the first 120 days since he assumed office. 

ROUND TABLE DISCUSSIONS

The 2016 Member Seminar concluded with the Round Table Discussions. This Member-driven session featured WTC representatives from WTC Cyprus, WTC Lille, WTC Noida, WTC Northern California-Sacramento, and WTC Orlando. Members had the opportunity to participate in these discussions by choosing a topic of their choice. 

Topics included: 

• Trade Missions
• Events, Trade Shows, and Fairs
• New WTC Projects and Buildings
• Developing International Business Communities through Digital Platforms
• Running your WTC as a Business

We thank all of our WTC Delegates from around the world who joined us in New York City for another successful conference. We hope to see you again this April for our General Assembly in Las Vegas! The website goes live November 16, 2016. 

All Powerpoints that were used during the Member Seminar can be found in the Resource Center.