Two weeks ago the members and technology partners of the AV Alliance met in sunny Panama City, Panamá for the second time in 2022, this time for our annual Get Together on December 8-11, 2022.
Traditionally the AV Alliance gathers its members and sponsoring partners twice a year: for our Annual General Meeting and a more relaxed and informal Get Together, each time in a different location around the world and hosted by a local member company. The aim of our meetings is to strengthen the interpersonal connections within our global network and help build long-lasting personal and business relationships. For the first time since 2019, both of these meetings in 2022 took place in-person, first our AGM in Barcelona in June, and just recently our Get Together in Panama City, Panamá on 8-11 December.
For this meeting we were joined by 60 of our members and partners for three days of business and fun, which even included the once-in-a-lifetime experience of visiting an indigenous village in the heart of the Panamanian rainforest.
AV Alliance Chairman Peter Müller (Special Effects) opens the meeting day of the Get Together 2022
The luxurious, urban skyscraper hotel W Panama provided the venue to our meeting day on December 10th, as well as our accommodation for the duration of our Get Together. Technical support for the meeting was supplied by our local member company Eleven Producciones.
During the meeting day we got to officially introduce our newest Platinum Sponsor and hologram technology expert ARHT Media to the AV Alliance during the meeting day of the Get Together. In addition, it was a pleasure to be able to meet once again with some of US-based members who, due to the pandemic and its aftermath, were not able to travel to our meetings since late 2019. This Get Together was also the first occasion for some of our members to attend an AV Alliance event since their company joined our global network. As with our AV Alliance Academy and Annual General Meeting earlier this year, our Platinum Sponsor Let’s Get Digital provided their virtual platform for the Get Together, allowing those of our members who were unable to join us in person to watch remotely.
AV Alliance 2022
Similarly to that of our Annual General Meeting back in June, the takeaway of this meeting was that live events are once again dominating the scene, keeping our AV Alliance members fully occupied and generally seeing a great increase not just in terms of workload and revenues, but also in terms of creativity and overcoming past issues, creating new solutions in business and in company management. It was also great hearing the latest product and service updates from the manufacturers’ side, courtesy of our AV Alliance sponsoring partners.
The meeting day of this year’s Get Together was somewhat unorthodox in the sense that two quarter-finals of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 took place on the 10th of December, so we – true to our industry’s famous ability to pivot – slightly changed up our schedule, allowing our Brazilian, Argentinian, and Dutch members and sponsors, as well as all of our soccer enthusiasts to follow the matches and cheer on their respective teams.
Following the last, nail-biting penalties that took the now World Champion Argentina to the finals, we closed the meeting day with an energizing keynote focusing on change, delivered by Panama City-based executive coach and consultant Michael Koest. Michael is specialized in leadership development and in his keynote he explored the main rules for sustainable growth, and spoke about simple tools that help leaders overcome their fears and unlock their willingness to do things differently. In a surprising approach Michael also revealed how one’s worst behaviors can enable them to become a better leader.
Of course our Get Togethers are not just about discussing business and creating new opportunities for cooperation, but just as importantly for having a great time while strengthening the friendships within the global network our members and partners affectionately, and quite fittingly, call the “AVA family”. While the welcome dinner was hosted at W Panama‘s own destination bar CARGO, our generous hosts at Eleven Producciones arranged a variety of social activities for us, such as an evening boat cruise on Panama Bay, a visit to the famous Panama Canal, as well as an unforgettable adventure in the Panamanian rainforest, which saw us visiting the Embera tribe in their native village and spending a delightful morning, lunch, and afternoon with their community, enjoying their warm hospitality and learning about their history and culture.
Next time our global network will meet in another sunny and exotic destination, as we bring our Annual General Meeting to Bangkok, Thailand on April 12-15, 2023.
¡Gracias por la cálida hospitalidad, Panamá! ¡Hasta luego!