Now taking place for the 5th time, the biannual MCPC Conference is the largest and leading event in the field. After meetings in Hong Kong (twice), Munich, and Boston, the conference is coming to Helsinki. For this first time, the conference is organized not by Mitch Tseng and myself, but by a great local organizing and program committee, chaired by Prof. Jarmo Suominen from the University of Art and Design in Helsinki and the MIT Media Lab. He and his team have created a great conference with many innovative contributions to the program layout. More than 100 presentations have been selected from the submitted proposals, plus many invited speakers.
UPDATE: Full conference program has been published !! More than 100 presentations and speakers! Registration is now open. more info here
Have a detailed look at the conference web site (when you are browsing around, you will see that the site is quite "Intelligent" and adapts to your navigation behavior!! After registration, you will also be able to create your personalized conference program).
Why is the MCPC different to your usual business meeting? Read some reports about past conference: No-Retro on MCPC 2007, FashionTech on MCPC 2007. and Made For One summary of MCPC reports.
The MCPC 2009 will span over five days (Sun-Thu), with Mon-Wed being the core days of the conference.
Sunday: Pre-Workshop (Oct 4, 2009): Sunday afternoon the conference will kick-off with a hands-on, interactive workshop for all of you who want to get a focused introduction into mass customization and customer co-creation. We will start with an overview by Fabrizio Salvador, IE Business School, and Frank Piller on the strategic foundations of mass customization. The idea is to provide a thought framework for your conference experience. Then we will break into three groups, led by experts in their field, to talk in larger details on aspects of particular interest for you.
Sunday Evening: Opening reception (free for everyone with conference registration). Meet old and new friends in the great atmosphere of the MUSEUM
Monday and Tuesday: Research Conference (Oct 5 and 6, 2009). Listen to more than 100 presentations, keynotes, panels, and special sessions on all topics of customization, personalization, and customer co-creation. The core conference will take place at the Helsinki University of Art and Design, a very creative space. The days will start with an opening session by the conference organizers and the grand signore of mass customization, B. Joseph Pine. A special keynote will be provided by Bruce Kasanoff, on "The Emerging Personalization Economy" (more about Bruce). For the entire program, head here (full program coming soon).
As in the previous years, these two core days will allow you to connect with people doing, researching, being interested in, writing about, and making money from mass customization and personalization. Participants come from all over the world, so expect a very rich networking experience!
Wednesday: Business Seminar (Oct. 7, 2009). If you have limited time, just book this one day. It provides in form of a business seminar a focused introduction into mass customization. In keynotes and panels, the three themes of the conference, Customization, Creativity & Configuration, will be addressed. Look for engaged discussions and another great networking opportunity in a more formal setting.
Thursday: MCPC Labs (Oct 8, 2009). A real innovation. These labs are included in any conference registration and allow you to finalize your MCPC experience in a smaller group in a different setting. Three or four Helsinki companies and organizations will host a one day workshop on topics like fashion customization, communication, MC and architecture, etc.
Consider as an example the "Taivas Lab & workshop: Co-creating Me": Traditionally brands have been co-creating people, offering them means to express their identities. Today people are co-creating companies by participating in marketing or even in product development. They do this invited or uninvited. Taivas Lab looks at ways in which companies can work as Editors in Chief of themselves, letting people get involved in making a company an icon. Viewpoints during the day will include both social and other innovative media and platforms. Cases range from Habbo Hotel, virtual world for teenagers to Forum, the central Helsinki shopping mall where two young women will live 24/7, reporting their lives and shopping through videos, photos and text entries.
As you see, there is so much to experience and to share during the MCPC 2009 in Helsinki, As every year, the conference is a non-profit event with conference fees as low as possible (many volunteers are making this event possible)! Hotels are also rather cheap these days (we got a Hilton in the City for 80 Euros/night), and there are plenty of cheap flights to Helsinki.
I will travel to Helsinki this week for final preparations and program planning, and will report back! But for now, reserve the days, book your participation, and discuss with us in Helsinki in a few weeks!!
All conference facts here:
MCPC 2009: The World Conference on Mass Customization & Personalization
Helsinki, October 4-8, 2009
2009 Conference theme: Match Making: Customization, Creativity & Configuration
Your MCPC conference in Helsinki looks great! So sorry I can't be there this year! I look forward to following the action on this blog.. Keep up the great work!
Posted by: Patty Seybold | August 29, 2009 at 02:15 PM