By John Ferrare, Enerdynamics CEO

A new offering by Enerdynamics that’s really taken off this past year is the executive forum. We’ve done four of these in the past year, and each one has been tremendously successful. While not exclusive to executives, the idea is that, in contrast to the interactive seminars we usually present, the forum is a way to get a lot of information out to much larger groups of people than we could typically manage in a traditional seminar.

Here’s how this works: Typically a client will have a specific audience in mind and want to educate this audience on a very specific topic. The most recent forum we presented was for a major producer of wind turbine equipment. This group wanted to better understand how energy markets work, how renewables fit in energy markets, and how the role of renewables in markets around the world is evolving.

In this case (as in most), the client worked closely with our course development team to come up with an agenda that matched its very specific parameters. To do this, we began with content from a number of our existing seminars and then systematically honed this down to, in this case, a half-day presentation. The rest of the day was reserved for Q&A and other industry professionals.

Another example is a basic electric class that we presented to a law firm’s energy practice. While this particular forum relied heavily on existing content, we made sure to package it into clearly identified and stand-alone modules that were presented at specific times during the two-day event. As with any audience that bills time to clients, time is money. So this client wanted its attorneys to be able to select the topics that most interested them and attend only those. Again, the forum was highly successful and the client is asking for a follow-up event later in the year.

Another law firm was interested in the economics of the North American energy markets, specifically how shale gas is changing this dynamic. The client saw an opportunity in this area and needed to better understand how the markets were related and where they are likely headed. The result was a day-and-a-half forum that was well received by attendees and achieved all of the client’s goals.

While these forums are often combined with another company event, they need not be. They range in length from four hours to two days and have had audiences of up to 65. And surprisingly, even with a large group, interactivity can still be achieved. Companies find it is incredibly valuable to have their high-level employees all hear the same information on a focused topic and then have an opportunity to discuss and reflect on how this affects their business strategy.

If this sounds like an idea that could benefit your company, please contact me at jferrare@enerdynamics.com or 866-765-5432 ext. 700.