Adelaide and Auckland | January 2024
In an exciting start to the new year, Katrin Uude and Judith Helmer, both PhD candidates at the University of Adelaide and Research Associates at the S2BMRC, ventured far to participate in two intellectually stimulating conferences.
Distinct from other bigger conferences, these smaller but highly relevant gatherings, the "Forum on Markets and Marketing" and the "MASHIN Colloquium" offered a platform for scientific interaction and the discussion of ongoing and future research projects. Uude and Helmer saw this as a fantastic opportunity to delve into intriguing research concepts, engage with scholars, and gather valuable insights for their ongoing research journeys.
At the "Forum on Markets and Marketing" held in Adelaide from January 6th to 9th, 2024, both PhD candidates had the opportunity to present their PhD projects and receive a mentoring from a highly-relevant researcher in their field. This preceding doctoral colloquium provided a unique chance for young researchers fostering valuable feedback and advice. Katrin and Judith, focusing on actor engagement and market-shaping, lauded the event's emphasis on the exchange of ideas. The 9th Forum on Markets and Marketing - FMM 2024, deviating from traditional research paper presentations, actively engaged scholars in discussions related to the advancement of service-dominant (S-D) logic. The conference explored foundational issues, cross-disciplinary extensions, and meta-theoretical theories consistent with S-D logic's axioms.
Following the Doctoral Colloquium, Katrin and Judith immersed themselves in the conference community, participating in paper idea development sessions and listening to other researchers present their current projects. The FMM 2024 themes encompassed institutions and markets, systems thinking and service ecosystems, and emergent processes and properties.
Moving across continents, Judith Helmer continued her conference experience at the "MASHIN Colloquium" at the University of Auckland Business School. This interactive conference, held from January 11-12th, focused on topics closely related to market-shaping, highly relevant to her research. The conference started with a panel discussion on current market-shaping developments and followed with two days of paper idea development sessions on topics of market-shaping in the face of grand challenges. The colloquium, dedicated to interdisciplinary discussions between Marketing and Management scholars, emphasized the importance of addressing market-shaping in today's VUCA world.
In conclusion, Katrin Uude and Judith Helmer expressed their gratitude to the organizers of both conferences - the "Forum on Markets and Marketing" (Jodie Conduit, Stephen L. Vargo, Jonathan Baker, and Julia Fehrer) and the "MASHIN Colloquium" (Julia Fehrer, Jonathan Baker, and Ralf Wilden). Their efforts in organizing these insightful conferences have not only contributed to the advancement of research but have also provided a platform for young researchers to join a prestigious and collaborative community.