Brian Mahoney, Managing Partner of Percept Research, attended the UNICON Team Development Conference held December 2-4, 2015 at the Rizzo Conference Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
This year's theme was "Driving and Managing Growth by Building High-Performing Teams." UNICON’s annual team conference provides a great opportunity for members to network, share ideas, explore industry trends and discuss best-practices in executive education.
Plenary and concurrent sessions featured speakers and panelists from a variety of UNICON member schools. The conference sessions were relevant for anyone working in executive education, with specific concurrent sessions designed for those working in marketing, sales, strategy, program management and operations.
The conference presented several sessions covering topics such as “Future Trends in Executive Education”, “Digital Marketing Best Practices”, “Partnering with Faculty to Create Online Programs”, " Crisis Management in Executive Education", and “Strategic Program Design.”
The opening day’s plenary session provided an introduction to UNICON’s annual industry benchmarking research. Working with Percept Research, UNICON conducts an annual State of the Industry survey of members’ schools to identify trends and highlight changes in the executive education industry. The research explores data regarding open enrollment programs, custom programs, revenue, program delivery models, and other services provided.
Percept Research serves as the research partner to UNICON, a global consortium of business‐school‐based executive education organizations. Its community of member organizations is engaged in accelerating the development of leaders and managers, thereby enhancing performance in public and private organizations globally, through executive development initiatives.
The primary activities of UNICON include conferences, research, benchmarking, sharing of best practices, staff development, recruitment/job postings, information‐sharing, and extensive networking among members, all centered around the business and practice of executive education.
Percept Research also conducts business school market research and consulting for over 240 schools worldwide. Consulting engagements include new program feasibility studies, brand positioning, return on learning assessments, and messaging strategy.
Check out more photos from the Team Development Conference on the Percept Research Facebook page.