When we at FEM took the decision to convert our two-day Americas Summit into an Online event, what was originally a challenge became an opportunity - a chance to engage and include Global Mobility professionals right across the globe - not just those who would normally travel to and within the United States. 

Our generous speakers

I had the pleasure of chairing the Online event and in some ways, it was a very different experience to hosting our traditional face to face Summits, but it required the same (if not more) amount of preparation and generosity on the part of our speakers to share both their time and their expertise - so I'd like to thank them very much again for taking part.

Mindful of everyone's increased workloads, we arranged the Summit as a condensed version over two days - with just three sessions per day. Again, because we were able to record everything, attendees were able to join the live broadcasts or choose to watch on-demand the sessions individually at a time of their choosing.

Our agenda Day 1:

We opened Day 1 with a panel discussion on Technology and the future of work and gained some really valuable insight and practical advice from Mauricio Chavez of BD, Dr Myles Druckman of International SOS and Becky Woods at ADP. Then Anne d'Arcy and Dave Mayes of KPMG shared some of the results of their recent research in their Expert Insight session: Work Anywhere, Together . Finally, any Global Mobility professional and their companies who are thinking of renewing their talent management strategy were able to learn how to do it step-by-step with a comprehensive Mobility Masterclass on Optimizing your Talent Mobility Strategy given by Tanya Mariottini of Expedia Group. 

That same night, I recorded a Day 1 podcast with our panellists: Mauricio, Dr. Myles and Becky and our Masterclass presenter Tanya where we were able to answer some of the questions that we received during the broadcast.  

Our agenda Day 2:

Day 2 began with another great Mobility Masterclass, this time on Maximizing your Mobility Program, presented by Karen King of Kearney. Karen and her team won a number of EMMAs in the Americas, APAC and EMEA last year when the judges in each region were in admiration of the transformation in the Global Mobility program and its cost-effectiveness. Again, like Tanya on Day 1, Karen fulfilled the role of mentor and teacher to an excellent degree, with a clear, practical plan and set of key points to guide viewers through the process. We then had a change of pace and tone, with Thinking Aloud - a wide-ranging conversation between Christopher Chalk of The Coca-Cola Company and Brian Madine of the McDonalds Corporation. This was a new initiative and a chance for two mobility leaders to explore some key issues and ideas about the industry. Finally, in traditional style, we ended with another panel discussion: Dealing with the Covid-19 fallout and getting on the road to recovery. Berna Anderson of BD (recipient of the Americas EMMA for her Outstanding Contribution to Global Mobility in 2018), Dr. Amit Arwindekar of UnitedHealthcare Global, Charlotte Sword of architectural giants, Foster + Partners, and Patricia Tavares of Unilever engaged in a compelling conversation that yielded a number of insights and examples of best practice that ended the Summit on a really positive and encouraging note.

I was pleased too, to be able to speak to both Karen King and Berna and Dr. Amit again later on Thursday night as we recorded our Day 2 podcast and answered more attendee questions. Use the links below to listen in and see if you got a mention.

On-going development of Online events

The on-going travel restrictions and concern over the wellbeing of our attendees has meant that our APAC Summit will also be an Online event. The Americas Online Summit was very successful but as ever, we are keen to improve and enhance what we do every time, so I hope to introduce some more new initiatives there. Email me and let me know if you have thoughts or suggestions.  

Thanks to our sponsors and attendees

My grateful thanks again to all our speakers and to our sponsors, International SOS and UnitedHealthcare Global.

Many thanks too of course, to everyone who joined us to watch and to send in questions and comments. We had some great messages on LinkedIn with the #whereveryouare tag. While we are unable to meet in person, seeing our members in their gardens or just in front of their laptops is a wonderful way to keep in touch and add a human element to all the technology. Do take a look at our LinkedIn page and let us know where you are joining us from.

To catch up on any of the sessions - or just watch again:

FEM Americas Online Summit Day 1 on-demand

FEM Americas Online Summit Day 2 on-demand

Listen to the bonus Q & A podcasts:

Day 1 Podcast 

Day 2 Podcast 

FEM's digital events so far this year have also included three regional webinars:

APAC - on-demand

Americas - on-demand

EMEA - on-demand

These live webinars combined with the Americas Online Summit have attracted more than 1,800 registrations from more than 50 countries worldwide and I'm delighted that we continue to have such a strong regional focus combined with a global reach - so please keep in touch - wherever you are.

We hope you will also join us for our forthcoming GLOBAL webinar, 5th August - Register here

And Save the Date for our APAC Online Summit, 9th & 10th September - details soon!