Name:
SSP AMPC 2021 Interview
Description:
SSP AMPC 2021 Interview
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Upload Date:
2021-05-18T00:00:00.0000000
Transcript:
Language: EN.
Segment:0 .
STEPHANIE LOVEGROVE
HANSEN: Hello, welcome.
STEPHANIE LOVEGROVE HANSEN: My name is Stephanie Lovegrove Hansen. I am the senior marketing manager at Silverchair. And I'm also the SSP marketing committee liaison to the annual meeting program committee. And I'm excited to be here today, and speaking with the three co-chairs of the annual meeting program committee. We have Lori Carlin, Yael Fitzpatrick, Cason Lynley. And just thought we would get some of your insight into the annual meeting coming up.
STEPHANIE LOVEGROVE HANSEN: I know that I'm very excited for the meeting. And I think a lot of people are. I think we all really missed it last year. And so it's been really fun for me to get a bit of a peek behind the curtain into the planning as it's come together. And I just think that everyone else, our membership, and audience would probably also appreciate that kind of glimpse.
STEPHANIE LOVEGROVE HANSEN: So thank you for taking the time to speak to me today. So first, if you could each give us a little background about your involvement in SSP and the annual meeting program committee, in particular.
CASON LYNLEY: I started volunteering with the annual meeting program committee in 2008. I haven't done it consecutively since then. I took a break and went to the education committee for a while. But then I came back. I couldn't stay away. And one of the years, in 2018, I also served on the DEI task force, back before it was a committee, liaison for the annual meeting program committee.
CASON LYNLEY: So I've been the co-chair since 2018. So this will be my fourth year.
YAEL FITZPATRICK: I've been involved with SSP in one form or another since around 2013. And I've been volunteering on a number of different committees. I've served on the membership committee and the marketing committee. And along with Lori, was involved in the branding task force that was tasked with redoing the SSP logo, a few years ago. I've been involved with the annual meeting program committee for about six or seven years.
YAEL FITZPATRICK: I'm not exactly certain. And this is my third year as co-chair. STEPHANIE LOVEGROVE
HANSEN: Wonderful.
LORI CARLIN: Yeah, so I too have a long history of volunteering with SSP. I had a boss, probably 10, 15 years ago, maybe, who was on the marketing committee and was spread too thin. So he stepped down, and recommended that I take his place, and that was my first involvement. And I worked on marketing and the branding task force, as Yael mentioned. While I was on marketing, I was the liaison for marketing to the annual meeting committee.
LORI CARLIN: So I spent, yes, exactly Stephanie, so I spent many years being involved in the annual meeting committee in that respect and seeing what was going on behind the scenes. And then, I did a stint as an SSP board member. And then, when I was coming off of the board, I thought, what am I going to do now? And so then president, I think it was Angela Cochran, invited me to the annual meeting committee.
LORI CARLIN: And this will be my second year working with Cason and Yael. STEPHANIE LOVEGROVE
HANSEN: Perfect.
STEPHANIE LOVEGROVE HANSEN: Well, very exciting, so you guys bring a lot of expertise to this role. And it's been really fun to watch, I know everyone in the industry, and every industry, has really been working on how do you shift to virtual? And how do you maintain the things that make the meeting unique? I know probably each of us have already been doing that at our organizations as well as with SSP.
STEPHANIE LOVEGROVE HANSEN: So what have you found to be the biggest challenge in making the shift to virtual?
YAEL FITZPATRICK: Lori, do you want to take the lead on this one?
LORI CARLIN: Sure. So one of the things I'll mention upfront, because I'll focus a lot on this as we go forward, is we are very much a team, but we do have certain remits. And mine, as the junior member of the team, is to focus, primarily, on the premeeting sessions. So I'll answer that question from that point of view. Keeping attendees engaged during sessions is especially important during those premeeting sessions because they're training sessions this year.
LORI CARLIN: And we're targeting people who are earlier in career and providing them with a lot of information over the course of several days. We always like to have interactivity with everything going on with the annual meeting sessions, whether in person or online. But it's even more important with these training sessions and these younger, or earlier, or newer to the industry career folks because there's just so much information that's going to be coming at them.
LORI CARLIN: And we want to make sure that they stay engaged. and especially in a virtual environment, that can be a little bit more challenging. STEPHANIE LOVEGROVE
HANSEN: Makes sense.
YAEL FITZPATRICK: So I would say that one of the biggest challenges that we've been addressing with the shift to virtual is making up for the loss of in-person networking. I think that a lot of people in the SSP community, and the publishing community as a whole, really enjoy that part of the meeting when it's in person. And people are really longing for that interconnectivity. And those serendipitous meetings where you just walk down the hallway and oh, hey, I haven't seen you for a year, or two, or 10.
YAEL FITZPATRICK: And so we've been exploring ways of-- while realizing that we can't recreate that, maybe creating possibilities to adequately replace that in some way.
CASON LYNLEY: And just to add to that, I think one of the things we did this year, for the first time, is we had two subcommittees. One that was focused on virtual first and how to approach that. And then a second subcommittee on networking and how to really think about it from the virtual perspective. And not, as Yael said, not trying to replace what happens in person but trying to find ways to have people connect more in a more personal or even one-on-one opportunity, throughout the conference.
CASON LYNLEY: STEPHANIE LOVEGROVE
HANSEN: Yeah,
STEPHANIE LOVEGROVE HANSEN: and that's a really interesting point. The whole virtual first thing and thinking about networking from a virtual first perspective. I think, last year everyone was looking to take what they had already planned as an in-person meeting and shifting it to virtual. Whereas this year, starting from virtual, you have the opportunity to really take advantage of some virtual best practices and really make sure that the format and the content go hand in hand a little better.
STEPHANIE LOVEGROVE HANSEN: And so from that perspective, what has been the biggest opportunity in shifting to virtual?
CASON LYNLEY: Yael, do you want to start off on this one?
YAEL FITZPATRICK: Sure. I think I'm actually going to use the answer that I had to your next question for this. Something that we're considering a really great opportunity from the shift to virtual is, we have started a new initiative. This was an idea that came from the virtual-- no, was it the networking?
LORI CARLIN: The networking.
CASON LYNLEY: Networking subcommittee.
YAEL FITZPATRICK: OK, sorry. So we had a really great idea come forward from the networking subcommittee which was to form what we're calling, conference community groups. It's going to be the first year we've done something like this. And it's an attempt to give people a professional family of sorts to attend the meeting with, so that people don't feel as isolated when everybody is staring at a screen from their own home or office. So people have the opportunity to opt into these conference community groups.
YAEL FITZPATRICK: They're going to be small groups of up to about six people apiece. And we're going to aim for a mix of first time attendees, and longtime veterans, people from different sectors of the industry, people from different career paths. And we're establishing some touch points where people can meet up virtually throughout the meeting to just touch base, check in with one another, exchange thoughts or ideas that they're having about the meeting and hopefully feel a little bit more connected.
YAEL FITZPATRICK: STEPHANIE LOVEGROVE
HANSEN: Wonderful.
CASON LYNLEY: And I think, the other big opportunity, Lori and I have the same sort of answer, is expanded reach. We're hoping that more people will be able to attend since there isn't the expense of travel. Lori, do you want to say more about that?
LORI CARLIN: Sure. I mean, and I would say, absolutely, that's one of the things that we think is a big benefit of the virtual. And when it comes to the premeeting, these sessions were set up to encourage organizations to send their more junior staff, maybe folks that didn't normally go to an annual meeting. And when we would be in person, the idea was that we would look at those local companies and we could say, from a marketing perspective, a commute away.
LORI CARLIN: You can send folks, now, to the annual meeting for a day. They can get training. They can meet some folks. And it's a good opportunity for them, but it was very localized to people who could get in their car, or get on a train, or a bus and go for that one day and not have that travel expense that Cason mentioned. So now, we have an opportunity to really open it up, really broadly.
LORI CARLIN: And not only within the United States but elsewhere for anyone who really wants to get training on the journals or the books area of the business and may not know all the different areas may want to understand their career path to be able to participate. STEPHANIE LOVEGROVE
HANSEN: Yeah, that's great.
STEPHANIE LOVEGROVE HANSEN: You're right, that's a huge opportunity. That's something we've seen in our own events. It's no longer restricted by organizational budgets, or by family obligations, things that prevent you from traveling. Anyone can attend these kind of events which really makes it exciting. You get a whole different kind of audience attending. So that is a huge opportunity. And as such, that might bring some people that haven't been attending the meeting historically.
STEPHANIE LOVEGROVE HANSEN: So what tip would you give attendees to make sure that they get the most out of their attendance?
CASON LYNLEY: I would go back to what Yael mentioned in the last question, which is the conference community groups. We're really excited about those. And I think, this has been something that we've talked about in the annual meeting program committee is, especially if there's a first time attendee, how overwhelming it can seem because there's so much information and so many people on and trying to find your feet can be hard.
CASON LYNLEY: So we're really excited that-- I hope that people will take the opportunity to sign up for these groups because I think it will help tremendously. Not only for the first time attendees, but also just give an opportunity for people who are regular attendees to get to know a smaller group of people better, throughout the conference.
STEPHANIE LOVEGROVE HANSEN: Yeah, I love that idea.
LORI CARLIN: I think also that when we're in a location, we take our mind out of the office, and we go to a conference. And we can really concentrate on being at the conference. And we spend a little time going through the program, and deciding what sessions we want to go to. And what we want to focus on. And it's easier to not do that when you're in a virtual environment to just show up and say, OK, I'll go to this.
LORI CARLIN: And I think taking that time to-- I know for the premeeting it would probably be helpful for these folks to look at the schedule, look at the modules, think about what they're going to learn based on what they've seen from the program. Maybe think in advance of some questions they may have because they have an opportunity to be talking to experts in the field. They have their ear, and it's a good opportunity for them.
LORI CARLIN: So I think some-- a little bit more prethought maybe then-- some of us would get on a plane and open up the program then, but at least we did that. And I think with it being virtual, we're not we're not giving ourselves that chance to give some thought to what we're about to hear.
YAEL FITZPATRICK: I would also encourage people to really embrace what is afforded by the different platforms that we're using for this meeting. With this being the first year that we are going to be doing a fully virtual meeting, we have two main platforms. We have the Pathable platform that we're using for the meeting content. And then a Remo platform that we're using more specifically for networking.
YAEL FITZPATRICK: And this is new for us this year. And we're really excited about some really fantastic opportunities that both of these technologies afford. I realize that it can be overwhelming for people. We're asking people to juggle a lot. But I think that if people are willing to just dive in and embrace it, it would really lead to a great experience. STEPHANIE LOVEGROVE
HANSEN: Yeah, and I think,
STEPHANIE LOVEGROVE HANSEN: over the last year we've all gotten much more comfortable with these virtual platforms in one way or another. And I know, I personally, really enjoy the chat functions on live events. It's something where in a session, live session, you might get looked at sternly for having a side conversation. But you can do that and have these two experiences at the same time, where you're listening, but you're also having a really robust chat, conversation, with these experts.
STEPHANIE LOVEGROVE HANSEN: And it's a really unique opportunity that it brings. Well, I've had so much fun seeing all the proposals come in. And hearing the discussions about the different tracks, and themes, and everything that we've had. So I feel like it's been really great to get a little preview. So I'm interested to hear, is there a session, or an activity, or a speaker that you're particularly excited about, just as an attendee this year?
YAEL FITZPATRICK: Lori, why don't you start.
LORI CARLIN: Oh, sure. So it's interesting. We were talking about the premeeting sessions and they're considered training. And we talk about them being for earlier career folks. I'm really excited to see a lot of these sessions. I've been fortunate enough to be sitting in on the planning calls with the speakers. And they all sound so exciting that even though I'm not an early career person, I can certainly say that, but I still think they're really interesting.
LORI CARLIN: And I really am excited to hear what everyone has to say.
YAEL FITZPATRICK: So I think that asking us to pick a favorite is like asking a parent to pick a favorite child. But having said that, I will say that I'm really excited about the posters. Posters was something that we introduced for the first time last year. And then, with the meeting last year being canceled, we weren't able to see it come to fruition. And so this is going to be the first year that we're actually going to have posters.
YAEL FITZPATRICK: And I, personally, am really excited about that. STEPHANIE LOVEGROVE
HANSEN: Yeah, me too.
CASON LYNLEY: I agree that it's really hard to pick. I'm really excited about the educational sessions. I think we have a super strong group of educational sessions. But I think, what I'm most excited about is that we get to have Laura Helmuth and Joseph Williams. They graciously accepted our invitation, again, after last year's meeting was canceled. And we had been thrilled that they were coming last year. So we were just so happy that they were willing to come back.
CASON LYNLEY: STEPHANIE LOVEGROVE
HANSEN: Wonderful.
STEPHANIE LOVEGROVE HANSEN: Well, I'm really looking forward to it. And I know, it's going to be a really wonderful bunch of conversations, and interactions, and networking. So I can't wait to see you all there. And hopefully, we see everyone who's watching there, as well. And I just want to thank you again for your time today.
YAEL FITZPATRICK: Thank you, Stephanie.