Inspiration Hub

Among the sessions that will take place during the PlanetIMEX, October 12-16 online gathering is a keynote presentation by Brian Fanzo, digital futurist and creator of social-media channel iSocialFanz. His topic for the audience of meeting and event planners: Finding speakers who fully reinvent their keynotes for the virtual medium rather than trying to deliver their keynote mostly as they would in-person, which is bound to disappoint.

When hosting a physical event for executives, the emphasis is often on creating a relaxing atmosphere where C-level leaders feel comfortable enough to share their thoughts and experiences. Exclusive environments in private dining rooms with the finest wines featuring key participants make the networking opportunity valuable for all participants.

While meetings professionals and the hospitality partners they work with have been understandably focused on the health and safety of event attendees since the appearance of the COVID-19 pandemic, both groups realize the continued importance of incorporating sustainability measures into those events, as well.

How can you provide a safe and secure environment for your attendees in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic? It begins with confidence. Many meeting planners are looking to someone else to tell them the right way to plan a successful and safe event. However, as a meeting organizer and expert at your craft, you’ll deliver a better and safer experience if you have the confidence to take the lead and instruct your venue, hotel and vendors with your own individual COVID-19 contingency planning requirements.

Meetology's Jonathan Bradshaw explores why, if you need to have a serious chat, you’d be better off avoiding texting as a way of communicating.

COVID-19 has made online events more popular than ever — from a health perspective, it’s the safest way to gather while COVID-19 transmission remains a risk. But there are still risks associated with an online event that warrant consideration. Be aware of those risks and consider the following when planning your next online event:

There is one question on the minds of event professionals looking at getting back to live events, what will hybrid look like? Here is a potential scenario.

As event professionals know, even the best-planned gathering can fall flat without the right marketing. To maximize the impact of and business results from your online or real-world event at a time when some people might be hesitant to travel, it’s vital to start with a comprehensive event marketing plan. This plan outlines the different components your event marketing will need (like a website and content strategy that addresses any concerns prospective attendees might have) and enables you to build a marketing timeline that will attract the maximum number of guests to your event.

Society as a whole–including meeting planners–failed to prepare effectively for the COVID-19 pandemic. You probably experienced extreme stressors ranging from sudden event cancellations to uncertainty about how to protect future meetings. As a neuroscientist whose expertise is in disaster avoidance, decision making, strategic planning and risk management, I have some strategic suggestions for how meeting planners can best adapt to and plan for the long-term impact of the pandemic.

Virtual meetings require careful design to keep attendees engaged and deliver value for the hosts. But how do you translate the energy and insights from a face-to-face meeting through a computer screen? Marteen Vannest, senior consultant at Meeting Design Institute, which produces a free masterclass and certified training on producing online meetings, suggests starting with the “why” of the meeting.

As we move into the summer months, our industry is still assessing the toll that COVID-19 has/is/will be taking on exhibitions and events. As reported by the Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR) in late April, we are gaining a clearer picture from data fielded by an ongoing survey to business-to-business (B2B) exhibition executives. In addition to monitoring the economic impact, industry leaders have been proactive in finding solutions to the logistical challenges unique to trade shows when dealing with communicable diseases such as this novel coronavirus.

Addendums, amendments, mutual cancellation clauses, “frustration of purpose”—what do they all mean? And when should each be applied? In the latest Smart Meetings Accelerator “Top Planner Contract Questions Answered,” Lisa Sommer Devlin, an expert in contract law at Devlin Law Firm, answers those very questions (and more) for planners.

Venue and vendor services need to look ahead at sustainable solutions for moving forward to include the environmental impacts that they can include.

In my conversations with meeting planners, many of the concerns I hear around planning live meetings in this new normal are logistical: how will we practice social distancing? Will I need more space for the same size event? How can we handle food and beverages?

In a recent survey of more than 1,000 people who have attended at least one in-person conference and one virtual conference, the preferences for how virtual events are scheduled, priced, and executed became clear—and revealed a few surprises. For instance, 85 percent of respondents under age 24 prefer in-person conferences to virtual ones, despite their technological acumen. On the other hand, only 67 percent of respondents aged 35-44 preferred in-person events, with family responsibilities being a likely factor driving that lower percentage.

I recently asked my team what, if anything, they learned about themselves during the coronavirus (COVID-19) quarantine lockdown. Responses varied, but the point was to acknowledge the unimaginable situation we are in and how we might use such a time for change.

To hold the pandemic at bay, disposable items seem to be the easy solution to keep things clean and safe. But do not throw out the baby with the bath water! The MICE industry has come a long way in recent years to help slow man-made climate change—which, don’t forget, will hit us with its own health challenges down the road.

While the financial hit from massive layoffs and furloughs in the hospitality industry has been devastating, COVID-19 has also highlighted the creativity and strength of the meetings industry. Venues have donated unused food and supplies from cancelled events and hotels have been housing healthcare workers all over the country. Planners have made masks and raised funds for their communities. More recently, industry speaker and resiliency expert Deborah Gardner launched an initiative to help both front-line workers and furloughed or laid-off hospitality staff.

Even before we started taking the necessary steps of social distancing by fully telecommuting, work was trending virtual. Zoom meetings were commonplace and webinars occurred regularly, but the current state of things has resulted in an even fuller reliance on digital methods of communication.

The Platinum Events Facebook page has testimonials from people who were thrilled by the company’s production for weddings and fundraising events. Alongside those are more recent recommendations for Platinum’s work sanitizing restaurants and grocery stores—the company’s new line of work.

Meetings Mean Business has postponed in-person events during Global Meetings Industry Day, the April 14 day of advocacy for the meetings and events industry, due to social distancing and travel restrictions. MMB hopes to host a celebration at IMEX America in September. Next week, though, planners have three other options to recognize and advocate for an industry which supports 26 million jobs around the world and $621 million in direct gross domestic product.  

Despite the terrible impacts of the coronavirus on the meeting industry, there’s a silver lining. Hear me out! There is no question times are hard. The coronavirus pandemic has already devastated lives and businesses globally, and we don’t know how much worse things will get. The meeting industry is reeling under a wave of cancellations, postponements and uncertainty. All my short-term facilitation and on-site training engagements have been cancelled—and I’m lucky in comparison with colleagues who are struggling with the significant financial impact of the loss of work, deposits and income that a few months ago looked secure. Consequently, in the short term, the situation looks bleak.