Smart Meeting Speaker: ‘Gig Economy’ Requires Multiple Ways of Engaging People

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Independent workers are increasing at a dizzying rate, and to succeed, it’s becoming all the more important for them to find multiple ways of engaging people, emphasized Olga Mirzahi in her keynote address at Smart Meeting South Central National in New Orleans on Sunday.

Speaking to planners and suppliers at The Jung Hotel, Mizrahi—an instructor in digital marketing at the University of California, Irvine CE—said that surveys show that the independent workforce, which now consists of some 27 percent of the American population, could increase to 50 percent by 2020.  She noted that tech is the enabler of independent, or freelance, work, and that millennials are leading the way, with 47 percent of them freelancing.

Related: Most Millennials View Business Travel as Perk

She cited a McKinsey Global Institute Study that showed that for every primary independent worker who would prefer a traditional job, more than two workers hope to shift in the freelance direction.

Referring to her new book, The Gig is Up, Mizrahi characterized this marketplace shift as the “gig economy,” which is made up of project-based, on-demand services that can be provided by anyone, anywhere.

In this competitive new economy in which old jobs are increasingly becoming obsolete and freelancers are becoming much more important, it’s essential for independent workers to put the best version of themselves front and center to compete.

More: The Independent Planner’s Guide

“There are all kinds of ways to tell your story,” Mizrahi said. She described three categories of media that can be employed.

• Single media, in which a single story is delivered by a single media (a book, for instance)
• Multimedia, in which a single story is delivered in more than one format (a book made into a movie, for example)
• Transmedia, in which a single story is broken into multiple story elements and delivered within multiple media. Audience members may contribute additional story elements (such as a story made into a movie, and an interactive website and webisodes).

“I want to empower you to tell your story and how you or your event are awesome,” Mizrahi said.