Convene - February 2016

PLENARY Space Commerce Conference and Exposition + Association of Writers and Writers’ Programs

CHALLE NGES “The conference has grown mightily since we signed the agreements to go to Los Angeles in November 2011,” said Christian Teresi, AWP’s director of conferences. Indeed, nearly five years later, the event has increased by more than 2,000 attendees, 500 presenters, and 300 exhibitors, according to Teresi — and so far the Los Angeles Convention Center has been able to keep up with the demand.

INITIATIVES AWP will be expanding its conference app so attendees can provide real-time feedback and rate individual programs. The organization also is looking to help attendees unwind after a long day of sessions. “For the first time,” Teresi said, “we will offer yoga sessions to help attendees decompress from all the literary happenings.” .

— Kate Mulcrone

For more information: awpwriter.org

OV E RV IE W The inaugural Space Commerce Con-
ference and Exposition (SpaceCom) brought more
than 1,500 aerospace executives, space and defense
analysts, and policymakers from 25 countries and
40 states to Houston. “Space City” was a fitting
host for the meeting, which culminated in a tour of
NASA’s Johnson Space Center.

CHALLE NGES James Causey, SpaceCom’s execu-
tive director, was concerned about communicating
to potential attendees how the meeting would be
different from other space- and aeronautics-related
conferences. (Read our Pre Con profile at convn
.org/pre-con-spacecom.) Happily, attendance
exceeded his team’s original goals, and feedback
from both exhibitors and attendees has been
uniformly positive. Causey
related how Satellite Applica-
tions Catapult CEO Stuart Mar-
tin said in a speech at the conference that in less
than 24 hours, SpaceCom had become the premier
commercial space event.

INI TIATIVES Organizers wanted to make sure SpaceCom had a large social-media footprint. To that end, they promoted the meeting well ahead of time, then blasted out continual updates on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter during the program to keep attendees engaged and informed. Two live broadcasts from the International Space Station upped the excitement factor ahead of the Space Center tour. “Having the opportunity to see the Johnson Space Center is a pretty exciting thing for a lot of people,” Causey said. “It adds an additional dimension to the event.” .