WTCA Member Survey on the Europe Middle East & Africa Regional Meeting

                                         May 30-31, 2012, Cape Town, South Africa

            Report Prepared by Mary O’Neill Berry, PhD

 

Two survey questionnaires were administered onsite during the 2012 WTCA Europe Middle East & Africa (EMEA) Regional Meeting, one at the end of each day.  The results are summarized below, separately for each of the surveys, followed by some overall conclusions and recommendations.

 

 

WEDNESDAY MAY 30 SESSIONS

Completed surveys were received from 19 attendees, out of a total of 49, a response rate of 39%. 

Results are shown as percent Favorable/Neutral/Unfavorable.  “Favorable” is the combination of the two positive scale points (Very Good + Good), “Neutral” is the middle scale point (Neither Poor nor Good), and “Unfavorable” is the combination of the two negative scale points (Very Poor + Poor).  In most cases, due to the highly favorable ratings, only the percent Favorable is shown.

Favorability should be interpreted as follows:  75% Favorable or more = Very Favorable; 65%-74% = Favorable; 55%-64% = Somewhat Favorable; 45%-54% = Mixed; below 45% = Somewhat Unfavorable; 20% or more Unfavorable is a problem area. 

Percentages may sometimes sum to 99% or 101% due to rounding.

 

Planning and Administration

Most aspects of Planning and Administration were very favorably rated.  Results are shown below, ranked by percent favorable.

 

                                                                        Favorable         Neutral                   Unfavorable      

Accommodations provided                                100                    0                   0                 

Registration at the meeting                               100                    0                   0                 

Registration in advance                                       89                   11                   0                

Affordability                                                         75                   25                   0

 

Welcoming Remarks by Hosts

Attendees were also highly favorable about the Welcome Reception, except for the Audio/Visual Support, which received just moderately favorable ratings.

 

Favorable         Neutral                   Unfavorable

Presenters                                                          100                    0                    0

Length of presentations                                       94                    6                    0

Usefulness of presentations                                89                  11                    0

Audio/visual support used                                    55                  39                    6     

                                                                       

Presentations

There were three presentations and a Group Discussion and Feedback:  WTCA Service Platforms (Scott Richie), Starting a New Dialogue: Creating New Ideas and Commonalities in EMEA (Julius Steyn), and Recipes for Success: Best Practices and Transferrable Ideas (John Adeleke). All aspects were very favorably rated, with A/V Support slightly less so than usefulness or length.  Results are shown as percent favorable in each case.

                           

 

   Presenter      Usefulness       Length      A/V Support

Scott Richie                       100              100                 94               67

Julius Steyn                       100              100                100              81

John Adeleke                      94                87                  88               73

Group Discussion                -                100                 88               80

 

Roundtables

There were four Roundtables, followed by Wrap-Up Summaries and Group Discussion: 

1.    Events, Conferences & Exhibitions, WTC Brand, Concentration of Services, Real Estate Premiums, Redevelopment Impact, Economic Impact

2.    Innovation through Commodity Trading

3.    Leveraging your WTC Branded Facility for Profitability

4.    WTC Business Centers and WTC Business Clubs

 

The Moderator for all Roundtables and the Wrap-up was Jerome Toulemonde. All sessions were very favorably rated.  Results are shown as percent favorable in each case.

 

   Moderator     Usefulness       Length      A/V Support

Events/Conferences          100              100                100              100

Innovation                        100               100               100               100

Leveraging your WTC        100               100                86                90

WTC Bus. Centers/Clubs     94               100               100               100

Wrap-Up/Discussion         100      100                82                79

 

The venue/location of the Wednesday sessions was rated 100% Favorable.  Ratings of the Wednesday lunch session as providing a suitable forum for networking were favorable, though not highly so:  71% Favorable, 29% Neutral.

 

Overall satisfaction with the Wednesday sessions (considering everything) was rated 100% Favorable, and attendees also gave very positive ratings to the extent to which the Tuesday morning sessions met or exceeded their expectations: 94% Favorable.

 

Open-ended Comments on the Wednesday sessions were as follows (this is the total of verbatim comments received):

 

“Roundtable format was very useful to exchange ideas, problems, success stories and different approaches adopted by WTCs.  This is the best format for intensive networking in short time.”

 

“Group discussion & submitting deliberation of the group & suggestion to be given for implementation.”

 

“The interactive parts were very useful.  Also the update from HQ.  Would like more time for discussing WTC business models.”

 

“I liked the concept of the roundtable.”

 

“I would like more emphasis on trade, a trading and business opportunities platform and more visible effort to promote the WTC brand.”

 

“Pleasure.”

 

 

THURSDAY MAY 31 SESSIONS

Completed surveys were received from 14 attendees, out of a total of 49, a response rate of 29%. 

The Thursday survey included a question about the “Wine Tasting and Cocktail Dinner” on Wednesday night.  Ratings were favorable, although this was one of the few items in the entire survey which received any unfavorable ratings at all:  77% Favorable, 8% Neutral, 15% Unfavorable.  One comment mentioned that there was no food suitable for vegetarians.

 

Presentations

There were five presentations, two of which had multiple presenters:

1.    The Importance of WTC Brand Compliance:  Building and Protecting our Brand

2.    Maximizing Trade with WTCs: WTC Cape Town’s Commitment to Trading

3.    Presenting Inter-Regional Business Opportunities

4.    Business Growth Beyond the Event

5.    Leveraging our Collective Buying Power to Build Brand Loyalty

 

Ratings are highly favorable, with Audio/Visual Support again somewhat less favorably rated than other aspects.  Results are shown as percent favorable.

 

Presenter         Usefulness       Length      A/V Support

Brand Compliance/Richie           100                  100              100              85

 

Maximizing Trade/Steyn            100                    92                92              75                 

Maximizing Trade/Culley             91                        64                82               60

Maximizing Trade/Kotze             75                    75                75               67

 

Inter-Regional Opps/Sven          100                   100              100              80

Inter-Regional Opps/Chris         100                    90               100              80

 

Business Growth/Steyn                91                     91                91               82

 

Leveraging Power/Rideau           100                    93                86               86

 

There were also presentations by the 2013 EMEA Host WTC Marseille and the 2012 General Assembly Host WTC Moscow, both very favorably rated.

 

Presenter         Usefulness       Length      A/V Support

Moscow/Radionova                   100                  100              100             100

Marseille/Barade                        92                     92               100              92                

 

 

 The venue/location of the Thursday sessions was rated 100% Favorable.  Ratings of the Thursday lunch session as providing a suitable forum for networking were very positive, more so than Wednesday’s:  91% Favorable.

 

Overall satisfaction with the Thursday sessions was rated very highly:  80% Favorable; and attendees gave moderately favorable ratings to the extent to which the Thursday sessions met or exceeded their expectations: 60% Favorable (but none were unfavorable).

 

Comments on the Thursday sessions were as follows (one comment only):

 

“Overall Sessions…  My compliments to Scott Richie.  He provided clear, concise, and informative information supported by legal & business considerations.  His comprehensive approach and open, transparent responsives were refreshing.  I look forward to Moscow.  Thank you.” 

 

Several other open-ended items asked about the 2013 Europe Middle East & Africa Regional Meeting:

 

What topics would you like to see included in the 2013 Europe Middle East & Africa Regional Meeting?

 

“More and even closer networking and interaction with other WTCs.  Create one website network basis to communicate with other WTCs internally.”

 

“Some interactive discussions/group discussions.”

 

“Roundtable discussions should be made part of half-day sessions which will allow better networking with WTCs.”

 

“What do we need in a WTC office?  How to generate finances case studies.  Expose other WTC offices to delegates.  Goodybags = more information of WTC.”

 

What other suggestions do you have for helping to make the 2013 EMEA Regional Meeting successful?

 

“Hold next EMEA also in Africa, but in Central or North Africa.”

 

“Best wishes for its success.”

 

“Chairman’s presence and briefing on developments at Board level is very much appreciated as it opens a new chapter for transparency and taking members in confidence.”

 

“Ambassadors to be invited.  More time for networking.  Branding of delegates that attend = flags, etc.  Corporate clothing.  Recognition awards to delegates for performances.  Pleasure.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS

 

Surveys of attendees at the 2011 WTCA Member Seminar ranged from 19 to 14 respondents.  Ratings were very favorable for the most part.  The 2012 EMEA Regional Meeting may be viewed as highly successful overall.

 

Venue and Accommodations received excellent ratings.

 

Quality of Speakers and Usefulness of Sessions:  The vast majority of speakers were very positively viewed, and the usefulness of the sessions also got high marks. The most useful (rated 100% Favorable) were WTCA Service Platforms, Starting a New Dialogue (in EMEA), Brand Compliance, and the first of the two Inter-Regional Opportunities sessions.  The usefulness of most other sessions was rated over 90% Favorable.  Least favorably rated were two of the Maximizing Trade sessions (Kotze and Culley).  No session was rated unfavorably. 

The Roundtables were uniformly rated a resounding success, and this was echoed by the (few) open-ended comments.

 

Networking Opportunities:  These were positively rated, although for some reason lunch on the first day was less favorably rated in this regard compared to the second day.  They could be further enhanced by building into future Seminars more formal breakout sessions, perhaps by appointment (similar to the Network Marketplace concept in the General Assembly), and creating additional opportunities for interaction and participation during the Seminar program itself (Q&A, etc.).  As mentioned above, the Roundtable format is quite successful in fostering networking, and should be continued.

 

Audio/Visual Support:  This tended to get somewhat lower ratings in most sessions.  If possible, advance review of presenters’ materials, with the opportunity to suggest revisions, could be helpful.

 

The “Wine Tasting/Cocktail Dinner” event was the only item to receive any unfavorable ratings (15% unfavorable); while this is by no means a major problem, further exploration into contributing factors would be helpful in planning future such events (the one comment regarding the lack of vegetarian choices is perhaps an indication of the reasons for lesser satisfaction with this event).

 

Future Topics for EMEA:  Members suggested more interactive sessions and opportunities for networking; the Roundtable format is viewed as a good one in this regard.  Other suggestions included holding the 2013 EMEA again in Africa, although in Central or North Africa; inviting Ambassadors; and distributing Recognition Awards to attendees.

 

Response Rate:  Future meetings should make every effort to secure a higher number of completed surveys.  Members need to be encouraged to take them seriously, and should be informed of the importance of the input/feedback obtained by means of these surveys for the future success of these meetings.

 

Communication of Results and Actions:  The results of these surveys should be made available both to the members (throughout the WTCA, not just to EMEA attendees – although as a matter of courtesy, they should be shared first with the host WTC, Cape Town) and to WTCA Headquarters staff, along with a statement of appreciation for the feedback provided.  As plans develop for future meetings, any ideas from these surveys which are incorporated into the plans should be acknowledged as having been suggested by the members in the surveys.  This will reinforce the fact that members are being heard and responded to, and will enhance the perceived value of the survey effort.