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A Message from the Chairwoman & Chief Executive Officer of CoreNet Global
September 8, 2021
As you know, these are challenging times. We are financial stewards for a global organization, one that continues to add value through both in-person and virtual experiences in spite of challenges brought to bear by the pandemic. And we’re very much looking forward to hosting members at our Global Summit in Seattle, November 7-9, 2021.
There have been unfortunate, disheartening and mischaracterized comments on social media about the association’s decision not to livestream the event. Here are the facts:
- CoreNet Global made a business decision armed with the knowledge of prior member behavior and a grasp on the financial implications and potential return on investment for an association rebounding from a challenging 18 months. Global Summits are the single largest source of revenue for the association that help fund its operations and other key strategic programs and initiatives.
- The organization opted instead to provide recorded content of Global Summit education sessions to all members the week after the Summit (for FREE) instead of livestreamed. While no one solution is perfect for everyone, this benefits the greatest number of members at a time when not all members may be able to travel or tune in live.
- Why not livestream? Why not a hybrid event? To livestream from a convention center is very different than livestreaming from an office or a small group setting. A convention center is not an ideal set up for livestreaming and high-speed internet access can be challenging to obtain throughout the facility. The cost is exorbitant to outfit multiple, concurrent breakout rooms with multiple sessions taking place over three days. We are hopeful that these costs start to come down for future events and that convention centers continue to update their technology and internet access.
- We are offering the ability for speakers to present virtually in breakout sessions at the event as this is a more affordable option.
- We have held three virtual Global Summits in the past 18 months: one geared toward the APAC time zone, one for EMEA and one for the Americas. It’s important to note that most attendees in a Zoom-fatigued world took advantage of the session recordings after the fact rather than participate live in those events.
- There is pent up demand for an in-person event, and yes, we are focused on providing an in-person experience while also sharing content beyond the confines of the Convention Center in a timely manner.
- There has been a plethora of live, virtual engagement opportunities for members launched in recent months by the association, including the virtual Summits, our first annual Global Corporate Real Estate Week, and the virtualization of our Master of Corporate Real Estate (MCR) designation program so that students can participate from wherever they are in the world and still experience live classroom instruction. Additionally, we launched a virtual DE&I certificate program with a combination of live and recorded classroom offerings.
We seek to balance what members want, need and are willing to pay for with what is practical, prudent and affordable to deliver. We reached a reasonable solution that benefits the many versus the few and gets timely content in all members’ hands quickly. We look forward to bringing content to our members in many different mediums over the coming years and will always seek to leverage technology to do so. Thank you for your patience and understanding.
Sincerely,
Michelle Myer, MCR.w, SLCR
Chairwoman
CoreNet Global
Angela Cain
Chief Executive Officer
CoreNet Global