Yesterday Insider profiled 4 of the 12 members of the Geopath futures council.

• Scott Fiaschetti, SVP Operations and Strategy, Geopath
• Gina Stratford, VP Sales and Marketing, YESCO Outdoor Media
• Matthew Noll, Director of Marketing and Digital Strategies, EMC Outdoor
• Mike Buongiovanni, Associate Media Director, Horizon Media

Today those four members talk about the Council’s future tasks and hopes.

Looking to the future of the Futures Council

Gina: I am looking forward to our continued collaboration. We’ve truly built a synergy here and I think it’s something that we can take with us into the future. The collaboration between the buyers and sellers is going to be really important as we continue to navigate the changes that our industry will experience – not only with the introduction of the Geopath Insights but the opportunity to really be the frontlines of determining our pathway as an industry and what we do in our future. This is the next generation of the OOH industry and there will be many changes in the next coming decades. I’m excited that the council has come together to benefit the entire industry.

Matt: I’m a sucker for looking to the future and figuring out what’s on the horizon. And I think the Futures Council plays an important part and can be an important voice in that conversation So, I really am looking forward to helping shape that future.

Mike: Similar to both responses, it’s vital for the Futures Council to share our findings and communication with the industry. This will perpetuate our growth and enhance what we do collectively as a media channel.

Scott: I think what I am looking forward to is the Futures Council itself as it grows and becomes more influential across the industry. Because, as everybody says, we’re in this renaissance, there are lot of exciting things happening and I look forward to the Futures Council playing a major role in setting the standards and direction for the industry, as well as be seen as a resource that the industry looks to for its point of view.

A wish list for the next Futures Council initiatives

Scott: In the short term, we will continue to refine the best practices document and direct how it will evolve to match the ever-changing Geopath Insights. We will also be focusing on the Learning Lab, which was also launched this year, ensuring that the training curriculum that we created will meet the needs of the industry. The Futures Council will also play a major role in the development and execution of our GO 2020 conference next year in April.

Matt: In the short-term, now that the best practices are out there, I think there’s going to be a lot in our future in helping to drive adoption at the organizational level. So how can we, in our respective organizations, across industry, help design these options for customers.

Scott: And hopefully, just to piggyback on Matt’s point, some of the work we’ve already done has set the foundation for that – the best practices document and Learning Lab will help provide the platform for people to adopt it.

Gina: Matt mentioned that it’s important for us to ensure adoption within our own organization, which is a great step in advancing the industry, but the Futures Council does not represent every single part, so it is our job to go out and promote and market it within the industry and other organizations that are either members of Geopath or are considering being members of Geopath and make sure that it’s adopted across the entire industry and not just within the organizations that are actively working currently with Geopath.

Hopes for the Futures Council

Matt: To expand upon what Gina said earlier, one of the most important things about the Futures Council is the collaborative nature, meaning that we have people from both sides of the table, sitting down together to work out future initiatives. And this collaborative effort is coming from people who are close to the operational level of their respective organizations. Sometimes, it’s hard to know how things actually work in practice, when you’re not doing it every day, so each council member can bring really pointed, direct insights based on their experiences. I think that makes for a very interesting conversation with people who are actually doing the work and learn how they’re doing it. I also think it is really important for the council to work as liaisons back to our organization, so that information can flow back up to the C-Suite and instill better industry communication.

Scott: I do think that’s a very important point made by Matt – that the Futures Council also serves as platform to inform their respective board member representative as well, to create a purposeful flow between the Futures Council and the individual organizations. Additionally, the composition of the Futures Council is broken down pretty evenly – six operators and six from the agency side – but even within this group, the roles that they serve are very different. We have council members from research, sales, and planning, so I think it is a nice breadth of representation on the council. Our council has multiple perspectives and ways to look at a scenario. I look forward to seeing what the future has in store for this council.