FIPP WORLD MEDIA CONGRESS 2023/

Chat GPT Congress summary: the art and science of ‘being there’.

FIPP World Media Congress
Author: Cobus HeylPosted:
The Di5ru.pt blog

The 45th FIPP World Media Congress offers an opportunity to “be there” and create value by meeting colleagues from around the world in one place. 

While virtual meetings have their value, face-to-face interactions are more energising, aid management development, stimulate the creation and development of ideas, drive deeper connections, and have emotional and social value.

The article below is a ChatGPT-summarised version of our more in-depth look at the art and science of “being there”.

The 45th FIPP World Media Congress offers a time and place for you to “be there”. But before diving into the article, you can sign up here to join us in Cascais from 6-8 June. Also read:

Diversity of ideas

Attending Congress provides a concentrated, focused, professional experience, where people can get a kick out of positive conversations that stimulate thinking, exchange perspectives, and allow them to excel. 

Diversity drives ideas, and Congress brings together diverse attendees from mulitple places around the globe. What price would you put on that one conversation that opens a new world of opportunity?

Fostering development

Moreover, Congress is an immersive experience that drives management development. 

According to Robert Hooijberg, a professor of organisational behaviour at IMD, and Michael D. Watkins, co-founder of Genesis Advisers and a professor at IMD, writing for HBR.org, four broad dimensions impact management development: collaboration, innovation, acculturation, and dedication. These require trust and time together environments minimising distractions, which Congress provides.

Hooijberg and Watkins suggest that immersive experiences should incorporate five design drivers to foster these four dimensions: purposeful focus, interpersonal bonding, deep learning, unencumbered experimentation, and structured serendipity. Congress provides: 

  • Purposeful focus: Attendees get time out from their everyday surroundings with typical day-to-day distractions.
  • Interpersonal bonding: A chance to foster meaningful and deep connections through interpersonal bonding with fellow attendees. 
  • Deep learning: Attendees can engage in deep learning hearing from and talking to speakers and other attendees during networking breaks, adding perspectives and contexts to bring ideas to life. 
  • Unencumbered experimentation: Furthermore, attendees can develop relationships with people worldwide that allow for unencumbered experimentation, resulting in opportunities beyond the event. 
  • Structured serendepity: Lastly, Congress creates structured serendipity through formal and informal elements that create fertile ground for remarkable moments.
Creativity and ideas

In-person meetings are best for creating and developing ideas. A Stanford Business School article quotes a study that shows on-screen meetings “have a significant drawback: They hinder collaboration.” In-person teams generate more ideas than remote teams working on the same problem. 

A separate study involving almost 1,500 engineers at a multinational found that in-person teams came up with more ideas, and those ideas received higher ratings for originality.

Congress brings together a diverse range of speakers to ignite creative thinking. Conversations with fellow attendees can then build on those ideas, allowing attendees to add their personal touches and zest and implement their own version of what is proven to work.

Deeper connections

The intangibles also drive deeper connections. According to the Washington Post, for all the advances of virtual meetings software, research shows “time and again that there is simply no substitute for meeting face-to-face.” 

For example, eight in ten executives prefer in-person meetings to virtual contact, and the intangibles of face-to-face meetings matter most. These include a new relationship forged over a drink, a relaxing yoga class after a long day of panels, or a level of trust from a casual conversation and a handshake.

Congress consists of both structured and unstructured elements, including the speaker programme, networking opportunities, and meetings, the running/walking club, and plenty of free time. 

Besides, the travel partner has several excursions for delegates to book should they wish to spend more time in Portugal. Many have already done so, meaning opportunities to engage continue beyond the event. See more here.

A chance to work ‘on’ the business

Last but not least, Congress provides an opportunity to work “on” rather than “in” your business. The once-a-year opportunity to “escape” from day-to-day tasks, meet global colleagues, and focus on the strategic and business development side of your company or brand is a chance to work on what’s important. 

Congress is a gathering of attendees with a purposeful goal: developing the industry, business, brands, partnerships, and people.

The 45th FIPP World Media Congress offers a time and place for you to “be there”. But before diving into the article, you can sign up here to join us in Cascais from 6-8 June. Also read:

See you in Cascais!

*See the long-form article for the sources quoted in this piece about the art and science of attending events in person.