6/13/2014
Article: 9th Annual WANY Summit A Smashing Success As 100+ Thought-Leaders Converge To Hold An 'UnConference' UnConference To Remember
This one was one for the ages. The recent WANY UnX2 – an ‘UnConference’ UnConference – was both a broad, current overview of the brave new world and various branches of Modern Workspacism…plus a bold attempt at an entertaining conference format that broke all the rules. Mission accomplished!
Held at the magnificent NYC Work-Life Center campus of Steelcase, power-packed presentations were offered by an All-Star lineup of the top thought-leaders of our industry including Carolina Rendeiro of Right Space Management; Mark Gilbreath of LiquidSpace; Scott Chambers of Pacific Workplaces; Karen Condi of Office Suite Strategies; John Arenas of Serendipity Labs; Angie O’Grady of Carr Workplaces; Keith Warner of CloundVO, and many more.
Adding their unique perspectives to the event’s primary theme, titled: ‘The Serviced Workspace industry At A Crossroads’ were special presenters Emma Plumb of ‘1 Million For Work Flexibility’; Michael Levie who sent a special greeting message from his newest CitizenM Hotel Opening in Paris; and as always, our ‘Ace In The Hole’ Larry Sharpe of The Neo-Sage Group.
Among the many highlights were special panels conducted by Program segment Hosts: WANY Executive Director Andrea Pirrotti of HappyDesk and Wendy Spreenberg of Site Resolutions, which broke ground with a series of segments in a conversational sofa-chat format similar to what you might see on the TV program ‘The View’. In fact, the whole day’s activities were presented in a fun, unorthodox TV Guide / TV Land motif, with the segments listed as episodes on the program/agenda such as ‘Modern Family’, ‘Deal Or No Deal’ and ‘America’s Got Talent’ (to see the TV Guide event program, click here).
Adding to the light and festive ‘UnConference’ programming were 4 music videos edited and produced especially for the event, plus over two dozen musical interludes, intros and segues with tunes from the likes of Elvis, David Bowie, Bob Dylan, Sheryl Crowe, Katy Perry, Daft Punk, Pharrell and many more.
Perhaps the most memorable moments were the presentations to the afternoon’s two well-deserving honorees: Lori Spiess of OffiCenters of Minneapolis, and Dale Hersowitz of platinum sponsor WUN Systems/HappyDesk; plus the Family Feud audience-polled/participation Game Show MC’d by Mike Howard of American Executive Centers of Philly, with the high drama of Team Canada ‘out-feuding’ Team USA to win the grand prize of Mr. Potato Head dolls.
A special thanks goes out to the Event’s Conference Chair Angela Olivo for her massive support of all the efforts, and for also hosting the Thursday Night Cocktail Hour at Select Office Suites, plus the Saturday Lobster Bake for out of-town attendees held at her Jersey Shore home; to Prakash Gavri of AdvantEdge Business Centers of Washington, DC for hosting Thursday Night’s dinner for the early-arrivers from North America and the UK; and to all the generous sponsors that stepped forward and made this dynamic, no-fee ‘UnX2’ UnConference possible for the well over 100 WANY Members & Friends in attendance.
This is nothing…wait until you see what we have in store for next year…WANY’s Big 10th Anniversary
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