Janice Sutton: Assessing And Improving The Institute & Expo
A key topic at the Affiliates Committee meeting in Chicago during NAFA’s Board of Governors’ meeting was NAFA’s 2016 Institute & Expo (I&E), which is slated for next April 19-22 in Austin -- a top ranked hub for tech companies.
To learn why fleet professionals attend I&E, the Committee reviewed feedback from the attendees at the 2015 I&E in Orlando: Ninety percent report they attend for the educational opportunities; 80 percent to build relationships and make connections; and 71 percent to research products and purchases.
Overall, 87 percent of the respondents said that this I&E met or exceeded their expectations. The expo hall was a big hit with attendees: Ninety percent of the respondents said that they spent all six hour hours in the expo hall and would like to have even more time in 2016! Thus, in Austin, expo hall hours will be extended to seven.
NAFA continues to promote the expo hall as a logical extension of the education that I&E offers. We are exploring opportunities to provide even more value to the exhibitors by partnering with them to deliver more value to the attendees. For example, we are examining the feasibility of moving some educational sessions to the expo floor. Initiatives like this will allow exhibitors to derive even more benefit from their presence at I&E.
With an eye to keeping NAFA and I&E relevant as the fleet industry evolves -- and as travel budgets shrink, the Committee is also looking at how I&E could satisfy its educational and exhibitor-driven objectives in three days instead of four. Stay tuned as we review this possibility for future I&Es.
Another fundamental goal of the Affiliates Committee is to support NAFA in its continuing mission to remain relevant to its members. The Affiliates Committee is planning several initiatives that will help uncover valuable information that NAFA can use for its future endeavors in this realm. We hope to report on these initiatives in future issues of this publication, as well as through communications from the NAFA Board of Trustees.
NAFA Affiliate Janice Sutton is CEO and Executive Editor of Fleet Management Weekly. She is the recipient of NAFA's Affiliate of the Year Fleet Excellence Award (FLEXY) for 2014.