By Jose Rivera
The 2023 CSIA Executive Conference in New Orleans was GREAT! This is not just my assessment; it is also the input by 97 post-conference survey respondents:
- “How likely is it that you would recommend this event to a friend or colleague?” The responses generate a Net Promoter Score (NPS) that is calculated by subtracting the detractors (0-6) from the promoters (9-10). The 2023 conference scored NPS of 69. This falls in the Great category and only one point short of Excellent (70-100) according to Retently.com. To put this into perspective, CSIA scored an NPS of 51 (combined SI and partner – also great) at the 2022 year-end membership survey.
Other input provided:
- 95% of respondents thought the event was well organized!
- 90% of respondents found the conference to be very or extremely beneficial to them professionally.
- 91% of respondents didn’t think the conference was too long; 79% ask to keep it as it is now. This was in response to the question: The conference extends over 2.5 days (excluding the welcome reception). What do you think about the duration of the event?
- How can this event improve next time? The analysis of this open field forces us to create categories. The largest one was “keep it up/nothing to add.” The next one is related to conference format (e.g., break duration, signage, etc.). The third category was related to the speed networking. The input was mostly positive with some suggested tweaks here and there that we will try to implement. As you can imagine, there are inputs that are in total opposition and impossible to reconcile. It provides us with a reminder that, in the end, we try to please most. Unfortunately, we can’t please everyone.
- Preconference we offered the traditional 2-day Best Practices workshop and, for the first time, the 1-day Business Value workshop. Both received great feedback for their content, format and speakers.
The conference represents a big deliverable for the association. Every year we spend considerable time planning it. The process starts early, and the CSIA board gets involved in key decisions (e.g., conference location). I thank our staff for all the work that gets done such that you get to enjoy a great conference. I also thank the speakers, panel hosts and participants. I recognize all the hard work. Last, not least, I want to thank the hotel staff that kept the same high level of service throughout the week.
How the Sausage Is Made
Members periodically ask us how we make decisions related to the conference, e.g., selection of the location. I’m happy to share. You can view it as a complex multivariable optimization exercise or simply the work that combines wishes, guides and the cold reality of what is doable and available within many constraints.
Regarding the selection of the conference location, we have some unwritten guides that we try to follow as best we can:
- Don’t repeat locations. Updated to “Don’t repeat for a few years.”
- Rotate the location for the event: 2 in the East, then 1 in the West. (The reason is that the US population is distributed this way.)
Hosting the event in New Orleans in 2023 broke the original guide (1) as CSIA had hosted its 2003 conference there.
We deviated from guide (2) when we hosted the 2017 conference in Ft. Lauderdale. We had already been twice on the “East” (2015 Washington DC and 2016 Puerto Rico). We opted to host it in Ft. Lauderdale to support the efforts to develop the Latam region. Miami and Ft. Lauderdale provide easy access and competitive airfares for travel from the Latam region.
How Did We Select New Orleans?
As part of the 2018 membership survey, we asked members to rate 5 East location options for 2020 and 5 West ones for 2021. The locations that received the highest rating for “most desirable” were New Orleans (2020) and Denver (2021). The pandemic forced us to delay, but in the end, we were able to deliver what CSIA members wished for.
You can view it as a miracle. Finding a hotel that can accommodate our space-intensive conference with all our special requests (e.g., two ballrooms, three tracks, etc.) and that is available the limited weeks that work for us is not easy. We have placed the runner-up locations on the list of sites for 2025 and beyond. BTW, we try to book early and, before this year is over, we want to have signed the contract for the 2025 conference.
What Additional Factors Influence Your Decision to Attend?
Through the post 2023 conference survey we learned:
- City location was the factor selected the most. Resort location was third. This is not necessarily mutually exclusive, as we could alternate between the two (2 city, 1 resort) if possible.
- Manageable (SI) workload was the second item mentioned. This makes a lot of sense. The best attendance at our conference we get when SIs are neither too overloaded nor going through a challenging business period with limited work.
We Value Your Input — Please Provide it
We value your input and your time. We try to harvest the inputs provided throughout the year at various points: conference (speaker and conference rating), annual membership survey, EZ Stats, TRT, Pulse, CSIA-JPMorgan survey (extends beyond our membership). Participating in our surveys helps us build a more relevant CSIA for you, our members.
Jose Rivera is CEO of Control System Integrators Association.
