IABM offers its data riches to end users

The IABM, which began re-inventing itself seven years ago, has now totally shredded its ‘trad tech’ origins with a Global Engaged Partner program aimed at attracting influential end users.

“We started off inviting key end users to our panel sessions, and pretty quickly they intimated that they wanted to get involved,” said IABM CEO Peter White. “They reacted to the goldmine of information we accrued, and wanted to be members.”

After some ‘speed dating’ events, things moved on for the organisation. “The edges have blurred and some of our members in the eco system are both suppliers and customers, so we felt we had to be much better engaged in the whole content path,” said White during his speech at an IBC breakfast event.

“We will maintain the trad style of engagement with our membership, but as we are driven towards engaging with the whole community, we wanted to find a way of drawing information from, and giving information back,” he added.

The IABM is data point rich and has “created a suite of products, the latest being the Technology Roadmap, and they all come together to create a rich data set, and we feel that unless we engage with our members customers they will miss, and we will miss a trick,” said White.

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“With other organisations being more engaged with end users than us, we realise this is a strategic step we must take,” he added. “Collaboration is necessary for all the associations in the industry as well as collaboration between suppliers and customers.”

The IABM road tested its global engagement idea with end users through its many advisory boards, global councils and its members board.

“The concept is a sound one, and I am fully expecting that by the end of IBC I will have a number of global engaged partners,” White explained.