GIA Conference 2008 – Insights, Best Practices
and Cheerful Networking

The GIA Conference 2008 “Towards World Class Market Intelligence” that was held in Helsinki on May 29, 2008 gathered together intelligence professionals from Europe, North America and Asia-Pacific to share ideas and best practices related to developing top-notch Market and Competitive Intelligence operations.

The conference program first engaged the attendees into Roundtable discussions about setting up an MI operation and linking it with business processes. Different Roundtables discussed the linkage between MI and business processes from different angles: MI needs in strategic planning, sales, marketing, and product management were all addressed, and the participants gave highly positive feedback on the Roundtable approach.

The resulting food for thought was shared over a networking lunch, after which the afternoon program featured a GIA update by CEO Markko Vaarnas, followed by intriguing presentations from Jens Thieme at Ciba and Michel Bernaiche at Dunkin’ Brands. The topics discussed were senior management buy-in and counterintelligence – both of them challenges that increasingly many intelligence professionals face today. Not surprisingly the topics provoked a lot of comments and questions both during the program and towards the evening on the subsequent boat cruise in the Helsinki archipelago.

As the conference day gradually turned into evening, cheerful networking went on and many new contacts were established among the international group of participants. People make the event, and GIA Group wants to thank all attendees for a most enjoyable day! We will remain looking forward to the next networking events in different parts of the world, and wish all readers a relaxing summer.

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