Guest article by Matthew Alexander.
What a pleasure (and perhaps a little bit of a relief) it was for University of Strathclyde to welcome delegates from around the world for the 12th AMA SERVSIG conference IN PERSON! As conference chair it was a special experience for me to chair what I would consider our ‘family’ conference and delighted to share a few reflections.
When we were awarded the conference in late 2019 little did we realise the rollercoaster we were about to ride. We had to watch as our friends at QUT were forced to deliver the 11th AMA SERVSIG in 2020 online (and do a wonderful job) and then face the uncertainty of what delivery mode we would need to offer in Glasgow. Thankfully we had amazing support from Glasgow Convention Bureau, University of Strathclyde’s Conference and Events team as well as two amazing SERVSIG chairs in Sertan Kabadayi and Linda Alkire who were always on hand with prudent advice. By late 2021 we became more confident that a face to face event was possible and so it proved! The service research community certainly didn’t let us down with 270 submissions across our 11 tracks which resulted in nearly 270 attendees from 28 different countries including 36 delegates participating in our live stream presentations.
As with previous service conference there was a real eye to the future in the submissions with our most popular track being ‘technology and service’ with nearly 20% of all submissions. Given our conference themes of reconnect, rejuvenate and reshape it was also wonderful that in a close second place was our Transformative Service Track, so heartening to see service researchers embracing topics as diverse as food waste, child labour, ageism, midwifery, LGBT+, forest ecosystems and car sharing. Of course we were able to welcome a fascinating array of papers in other important areas of service. Other popular tracks also demonstrate the service communities commitment to understand, study and seek to influence our changing world with strong submissions to customer/actor engagement; service ecosystems and institutions; and service design, innovation and transformation tracks.
Day 1
The conference kicked off with registration at Strathclyde’s Technology and Innovation Centre followed by a welcome reception hosted by the City of Glasgow, we were welcomed by Bailey Paul and enjoyed a lovely evening in the splendid Merchants House reconnecting with academic friends old and new.
Day 2
The first full day of the conference began with a keynote by Professor Steve Vargo of the University of Mānoa, Hawaii. Steve’s monumental impact on the service field needs little introduction but after such a long time it was great to reconnect with the journey our discipline has been on over the last few decades with an address titled “From goods-services distinctions to service ecosystems: A journey and prologue”. Our day closed with a hugely significant plenary session chaired by Professor Ray Fisk looking at the crucial work of Servcollab and, specifically, their vital work around refugees. Our panel offered us both a humbling and inspiring insight into the service work around supporting refugees. Many thanks to Mark Wiggin from ‘UK Welcome refugees’; Andres Mora and Mussab Ali from ‘Caritas’ and Mjed Kouri who shared his own experiences as a refugee. Thanks also to Marek from Poznan University for giving us some insights into their experience supporting refugees from the war in Ukraine.
We finished day 2 with a marvellous awards dinner at the breathtaking Old Fruitmarket where we could celebrate the success of colleagues from across the service field with awards from: The Journal of Services Marketing, Journal of Service Theory and Practice, Journal of Service Management, AMA SERVSIG awards and finally our conference best papers – now I know how Oscar night hosts feel, well done to all our winners!
Day 3
There were some fascinating special sessions at SERVSIG this year and several were delivered early on day 3 including on ‘Corporate Digital Responsibility’, ‘Who do we serve? Reconnecting our work with purpose’ and ‘Reducing food waste through Actor Engagement’. These 90 minute sessions are a great way to workshop or build consensus around new ideas.
After lunch we had a insightful meet the editors session with Professor Mark Rosenbaum (JSM), Professor Chatura Ranaweera (JSTP), Professor Sabine Benoit (JoSM) and Professor Werner Kunz (JSR) with lots of important issues raised and explored. Our formal programme closed with Professor Elina Jaakkola from University of Turku who delivered a keynote address “Towards more impactful service research: A call for reshaping scholarly practices”. A perfect way to close our packed programme! The conference closed with the now traditional SERVSIG ‘fun’ networking reception at the Glasgow Science Centre, here delegates enjoyed some great food and drink including an ‘interactive cheesecake’ and enjoyed playing with the various exhibits and displays.
Hosting an AMA SERVSIG is hard work but a truly rewarding experience, we are part of the most amazing discipline and, like the host city of Glasgow, ‘People make SERVSIG’. Look forward to hearing about the next venue for 2024 – get your bids ready!
See all photos in the ultimate SERVSIG 2022 photo collection. Check it out and remember the wonderful conference experience in Glasgow. Thanks to everybody who posted photos and contributed to this collection. More here.
Dr Matthew Alexander
Reader. Associate Dean (Post-Graduate Research).
Department of Marketing, University of Strathclyde Business School
More pictures on Facebook.
