plenary

Maritz Aquires Experient + Down the Rabbit Hole

They are still going to be working with the same operational support teams that they have been.

There are no resource-duplication or allocation issues?

There really is not. This is a growth[-based] strate- gic play. It’s not about efficiencies or cost cuttings. It really is about how do we combine and acceler- ate our growth. So, our only plans are to grow and add staff and add capability.

What are some of the new products, services, and capabilities that you will offer? We’ve got some exciting things that we want to bring to market in good order. Maritz has three primary platform companies — Maritz Research, Maritz Motivation Solutions, and Maritz Travel — plus a company that is a combination of all these in Canada, called Maritz Canada. The founda- tion of this company has been built on really understanding human behavior. The motivation company and the travel company are all about employee recognition, reward, and incentive. So, you can imagine the possibilities we have in that

— [understanding] the psychology [behind] what truly motivates individuals. We have proprietary tools and patented research mechanisms and travel insights that really help us help our custom- ers better understand their business events. And how, through really innovative experiential design, we can positively impact the delivery of those events now and in the future.

What do you see as your biggest challenges? The amazing thing about this acquisition is that

… the culture of these two companies is almost perfectly aligned. Then, because we’re operating [Experient] as a wholly owned subsidiary … we can leverage our combined resources. I would really turn that [question around to]

the overall challenges that the industry is facing, which is the continued scrutiny of — I will say D.C., for lack of a better term. The GSA [controversy] reminded us how fragile we are, how we need to still pull together all of our resources as an indus- try and make sure that everyone understands the power of face-to-face meetings. One of the reasons why we made this move is to make us more stable and make us more diverse — so we are better pre- pared in the future than we were.

. —Michelle Russell 20 PCMA CONVENE JUNE 2012 PCMA.ORG

GROUP SHOT

Full House

Quebec Division of the Canadian Cancer Society’s 19th Annual Daffodil Ball Seven-hundred guests walked through a rabbit-hole entryway to find Montreal’s Windsor Station transformed into an Alice in Wonderland–themed space. The black-tie gala on April 26 raised $1.67 million for the nonprofit. Around 30,000 daffodils — the symbol of the Canadian Cancer Society — added to the magical event, designed by Alison Silcoff Events (alisonsilcoff.com). For more information, visit cancer.ca/quebec.aspx.