Since its inception, CTS has held hundreds of events: luncheons and forums, seminars and symposiums, and more than a quarter century of annual research conferences. These years have also seen the rise of new communications methods, such as podcasts and webinars, that are changing the ways people choose to network and learn.
To gauge the impacts of these changes, CTS conducted a comprehensive assessment over recent months. “Our goal was to understand how our current event and engagement activities are meeting the knowledge and information needs of our stakeholders, as well as the benefits stakeholders receive from being engaged with center activities,” says Laurie McGinnis, CTS director.
The assessment also looked at the impact of factors outside CTS, such as industry trends and events offered by other organizations. Only those events sponsored by CTS—not those of its subprograms—were included.
The biggest outcome of the assessment is a new time and location for the annual research conference. It will now be a one-day event held on campus in the fall. The 2016 research conference will be held November 3 at The Commons Hotel in Minneapolis.
Changes are also in store for the luncheon series. The CTS Fall Luncheon will now be held in conjunction with the research conference. One other luncheon will be held in the spring.
Other events will continue as usual. Research seminars will be offered in the fall and spring semesters. The Freight and Logistics Symposium will be held in early December.
“We worked with a variety of our stakeholders and reached out to event delivery experts as part of this process,” McGinnis says. General stakeholders were sent an online survey, focus groups were held with members of the CTS Councils, and more than a dozen individual interviews were conducted.
“We’re excited to offer this new line-up,” says McGinnis. “We hope it will meet our audience needs and help us better share the innovative ideas being developed at the U.”
