Sometimes you have to rack up some serious miles to travel the world, or sometimes (like the FIPP World Congress) an international conference can bring the world to you. FIPP is a “worldwide magazine media association, represents content-rich companies or individuals involved in the creation, publishing or sharing of quality content to audiences of interest.” Every two years the organization hosts the industry’s top speakers from around the globe to discuss innovations and developments in the world of media and publishing. Luckily for me, this year was hosted at the Sheraton in Toronto.
Attending an international conference can be both a personally and professionally rewarding experience. Not only can listening to presentations prove extremely valuable, but talks around the ever popular coffee station can be equally as educational.
Through listening to presentations of thought-leaders like Marcus Rich, CEO of Time Inc. UK, you not only gain insight on what is happening half way across the world but be inspired, to reinterpret old ideas with new understandings.
Conferences can be a lot like travelling in that you get the most out of your experience when you push yourself out of your comfort zone. Attending a conference alone can be a daunting task, especially when you are surrounded with the top people in their field. That’s why it’s important to put on your big girl boots (mine were booties as that is Fall’s latest trend) and get to chatting (you work in this industry after all)! You never know whom you are sitting beside until you ask.
International conferences offer access to talent, multi-culturalism (a translation device may or may not have accidentally made it’s way home in my purse after Tsuguhiko Kadokawa’s talk) and a glimpse into the forward-thinking innovators who are transforming the way we approach our trades.
And of course as a travel writer, being a stones throw away from Yulia Boyle, Senior Vice President, International Media National Geographic Society, USA you know you’ve come to the right place.
Save your pennies for the next FIPP World Congress hosted in Warsaw 2017.
FIPP World Congress: Bringing The Magazine World to Toronto