Attend the conference, join the Guild for free
Two organizations with arguably the most passion for the presentation experience are joining forces, as the longest-running conference for the industry, the Presentation Summit, and the Presentation Guild, the newest voice for the community, announced a strategic partnership for 2017. The benefits to the end-user community are clear and simple:
If you are one of the first 100 people to register and pay for the Summit this year, your membership to the Guild is on the house. If you are already a member, an additional year will be added.
“I couldn’t be happier about it,” said conference host and organizer Rick Altman, who has been at the helm of the Summit since its inception in 2003. “You’d have to look long and hard to find two organizations with goals as aligned as ours. It’s all about learning and community with our conference, and it’s obvious that the Guild holds precious those same qualities. There aren’t too many folks who attend our conference who wouldn’t want to join the Guild, and I hope the vice-versa is true, too.”
The emergence of the Presentation Guild signals a continuing strengthening of the presentation industry, which was nearly devoid of an identity a decade ago. “It was not too long ago that PowerPoint users didn’t even have recognizable job titles,” says Altman, “let alone descriptions that made sense. I’m really proud of the type of community that our conference helped spawn, but it’s not enough to hold an event once a year, no matter how great we might think it is. We have needed more lasting and ongoing support and the Guild is the perfect conduit for that.”
“We’re excited about this partnership because it makes so much sense for both organizations,” says Echo Swinford, president of the Guild’s Board of Directors. “It’s all about knowing that you have friends supporting you, clients and employers rewarding you, and an industry association advancing you.
“We all get huge doses of that feeling when we’re at the Presentation Summit each fall, and we want to extend that community vibe year-round by continuing and strengthening those connections through the Presentation Guild. As Guild members and Summit attendees, you reap the benefits. If you’re in both, it’s an even bigger win for you.”
This is an east-coast year for the Presentation Summit, which routinely bounces back and forth between the eastern and western halves of the country. The four-day event will be in Clearwater Beach FL, about 30 minutes west of Tampa. The dates are September 24-27. The seminar schedule and speaking team are almost entirely in place and it should come as no surprise to see founding members of the Guild slotted into the seminar lineup.
You can get complete information about the conference at www.PresentationSummit.com and you can learn all about the Guild at www.PresentationGuild.org.
I rode my bike looking for the site of this year’s Summit. After peddling 30 miles west of Tampa, per your directions, I gave up. In fact, I almost drowned.
Doctors can’t yet say whether I’ll recuperate in time to make it, so if I’m not there have a good time without me and tell everyone I said hello.
Let’s see…26.7 miles from the Tampa Airport…you would have peddled four miles into the Gulf…I think that qualifies you for a second career as a driver and tour guide for Duck Tours!