You know how there’s speed dating and speed networking and speed reading and speed friending and speed skating and speed eating and speed walking, etc. I’m turning to speed ideating today. See if any of these ideas from the last couple months triggers something good for you.   Build something new. Maybe we need to put aside the pivot for a while and create an event that’s virtual-first—like we used to say digital-first a few years ago. What works best on Zoom? I like moderated discussions there. Or think of five speakers you never would have thought you could get pre-pandemic. Try calling them now. I just read something that said celebrities are turning up (virtually) in all sorts of unexpected ways these days. This gives us a chance to re-format.   Come up with new sponsorships. Vendors still want to vend. They need new opportunities. What fresh and exciting sponsorships can you come up with? The Washington National ...

With the deadline looming for SIPAwards entries—you can't win if you don't enter!—it's a good time to list some of the profiles I wrote on 2019 honored entrants. The SIPAwards are a total win-win-win entity, especially in these challenging weeks. Great efforts get recognized and applauded, members read about them, we celebrate (virtually) at SIPA 2020, and helpful times are enjoyed by all.   Here's a rundown of a few profiles that I wrote of 2019 winners, with links to the full stories. Except for one in-person event, they are all initiatives that can be executed during our current climate.   How Informa Jazzed Up a Report to a Profitable Tune In 2018, the Informa Pharma Intelligence editorial and marketing teams collaborated on the release of its annual white paper analyzing the evolution of pharma R&D for the past year. But this wasn't your typical medical or scientific report. It was more music to their audience's ears. "Using the e ...

As publisher events originally scheduled for the first and second quarters of 2020 migrate to a fall season already packed with existing conferences and trade shows, preserving original attendee and sponsorship budgets is no sure thing.