Inspiration Hub

When I was the newly hired president of Burger King USA, I worked for the late and legendary restaurateur, Norman Brinker. I was in Norman’s office one afternoon after he had seen a memo that I had written to one of our senior leaders. I was noticeably thorough and prescriptive in terms of laying out the course of action, to which Norman offered an alternate approach.

“I saw your memo to so-and-so and have a thought for you,” he said. “Next time, why don’t you just focus on the objective and leave how he gets there up to him?”

He continued, “Two things will happen: one, you’ll find out how smart he is or ain’t, and two, he might just come up with some new ideas you hadn’t thought of.”

That moment 36 years ago has shaped the way I’ve operated ever since, particularly when it comes to mentoring. While many mislabel mentorship as giving advice, there’s much more to it.

For the first time in history, there are five generations together in our workplaces. That means those born in the 1940s through those born in the 2000s are all trying to create, shape, and move goals and ideas forward. Some may see this as a barrier to collaboration, but I think it’s actually a prime opportunity to cross-pollinate strengths, experiences, and viewpoints for more innovation and insight.

When you’re trying to decide if you should attend a specific conference or event (or asking your boss if you can attend), often you look at things like the venue, the speaker line up or the session titles. But the thing I think is most important, is the session format. A conference programme particularly appeals to me if I see the words “workshop”, “interactive” “collaborative session” or if I see an innovative/creative session design with lots of time allocated for Q&A.

Organizations are in the midst of a massive shift toward more teamwork. In the average company, up to 80 percent of employees’ days are spent working collaboratively. However, only 14 percent of executives are satisfied with their employees' ability to collaborate and make decisions as teams. This represents an opportunity for meeting planners to help, by putting on educational sessions that make people better at working in a team.

Engaging your members is one thing. Engaging your young professional members is another, entirely. They’re at a different point in their lives and careers, and thus, should be approached differently. So how should you approach YP engagement? Below are a few tips - plus a few concrete ideas!

Generation Z is entering the workforce, and its eyes are on the hospitality industry, according to a new study by American Hotel & Lodging Educational Foundation. Gen Z, defined as those born between the years 1995-2010, is the largest age group in the United States, estimated at about 61 million.

Business travel, formerly considered by many as more of a chore than an enjoyable activity, is now viewed as a business perk by 75 percent of millennials, according to a recent survey by Hilton Hotels & Resorts.

Many describe them as entitled or call them snowflakes. Toss those descriptions aside, Generation Y are better described as one of the most economically influential demographic groups today. You are probably asking yourself; ‘Okay but, why would I let them shape my event content, why fix what ain’t broke, and I reach my targets without even doing so already‘.

As a meeting organizer or show manager, you want to attract young professionals to the events industry. Millennials love travel, flexible schedules, and maintaining their work-life balance, making the meeting and events industry very attractive to them, but they need to know what opportunities are out there. Here are three recommendations for recruiting them: 

What’s on the minds of business leaders across the globe? Rebecca Ray, Ph.D., co-author of the recently released C-Suite Challenge, has some insights about that. The report is the latest in a survey series first conducted in 1999 by The Conference Board, a global, independent business membership and research association that aims to provide leading global organizations with the practical knowledge to improve their performance while better serving society.

Are you reaching everyone you could be on social media? Or have you been stuck in a millennial bubble? If you think social media is just for millennials, you’re missing out on a large market — and lots of ticket sales. The facts show that audiences of all generations are active on social. According to Pew Research, 78% of adults aged 30-49 are now on social media. And so are 37% of those who are at least 65 years old. But just because all generations are on social media doesn’t mean they behave the same way on those platforms. When you look closer, you can parse exactly where and how generations spend their time on these channels.

Every generation has its own set of stereotypes, but Dianna Carr, vice president of Resonance Consultancy thinks that their “2018 Future of U.S. Millennial Travel Report” helps dispel a few enduring millennial myths. As a demographic, millennials range from 20 to 36 years old, and far from being a homogenous group, they are in fact, “a huge kind of cross-section of humanity,” Carr told Convene.  There are “some that are still on the sofa and some that have kids and families.”

Looking for a way to attract more millennials to your event and increase your revenue? Exciting new research commissioned by Eventbrite shows you can do both – by giving them an excuse for a mini break. We already knew millennials would rather spend money on experiences than on physical goods, so we decided to investigate their willingness to travel to find these experiences. We teamed up with consumer insights platform Attest to survey 250 people in the UK, aged 22-36, about attending events that require an overnight stay. The results were surprising and present some real opportunities for event organisers.

U.S. millennial travelers are seeking immersive, local experiences that challenge them and expand their awareness, according to a new report. The report, 2018 Future of U.S. Millennial Travel, was based on a Resonance Consultancy survey of U.S. residents from 20 to 36 years old who have taken an overnight vacation at least 75 miles from home in the past year. Eighty-five percent of respondents said that venturing out of their comfort zones and learning new things is a priority, right behind dining (91 percent), fun attractions (90 percent) and sightseeing (88 percent).

The results of a new study by Cancer Research UK underscore how millennials favor social media and online messaging over face-to-face conversations. Just over one-third of respondents aged 18-24 said that they felt more comfortable speaking to people they didn’t know face-to-face versus chatting online, compared to more than two-thirds of those aged 55 and over.

Engaging young professionals is tough, especially when it comes to events. Throw the word networking out there, and people seem to run for the hills. But you know what makes networking a lot less intimidating and a lot more appealing? When there’s an activity to break the ice. (And no, nothing cheesy.) Remember, young professionals want to connect. It’s a big reason why they joined your association in the first place. Help them do so in a way that’s going to be fun for them.

Will Millennials be joiners and conveners? Who are some of your next audiences to attract? Will your organization accumulate comparable lifetime customer value from next-generation members as it did from loyal Boomers? 

What are you doing to build a succession plan with your next audience? How are you attracting next-gen conference attendees? Here are key indicators and four areas you should address in your conference planning.

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to attend Membership2020, a one-day learning event centered around next-gen recruitment and retention strategies. While the takeaways were boundless (and the insights fascinating), there were a few little hacks (related to Millennial member engagement) that I found particularly interesting. Take a look!

If I had to vote for the most unfair cliché to describe the supposed problem other generations have with millennials, I’d say it’s the concept of young people being the “trophy generation.” Although many of today’s twenty- and thirtysomethings did receive trophies and praise more than other generations, here is why I believe the stereotype is unfair. As one millennial client recently pointed out to me, “We didn’t give the trophies to ourselves.”

This is the sixth post in my new series based on questions I frequently hear about managing millennials — those ongoing management challenges that can really make or break workplace relationships. Each month I’ll tackle a question and provide some advice for managers and millennials.

This is the first of two columns that are intended to be a helpful resource for conference organizers as they develop their attendee succession-plan strategy. While every association and profession has its unique issues, I’ve picked up on a few key indicators/principles that apply to the majority. For organizational and product sustainability, you must:

Millennials are the generation that people love to over-analyze. But what might surprise you most about this generation is how beneficial they are to B2B events like yours. Ranging in age from 18 to 34, millennials now represent one-third of the national population. And as they increasingly become a part of the business world, B2B events like conferences and trade shows must begin catering to them.