Steve Bova, Sherri K. Lindenberg, and Wayne M. Robinson

Many insurance and financial meetings and incentives experts were optimistic that 2021 would see things improve quickly after a dismal 2020 caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the optimism waned even after the vaccine rollout started in earnest early in 2021 as the Delta variant and unexpected supply chain issues pushed back many of those recovery projections.

So where do we go from here? Industry leaders remain steadfast in their hopes for a strong rebound, saying the recovery is just around the corner. We asked three of these leaders for their thoughts on how the industry can continue to improve in 2022.

Steve Bova, CAE, Executive Director, Financial & Insurance Conference Professionals (FICP)

Q: What encouraging signs or trends do you see for the meetings and events industry?

A: There are a number of encouraging signs that the meetings and events industry is rebounding, from increased hiring in hospitality, to industry organizations hosting in-person events themselves, to feedback from the FICP community itself about what is being planned by their companies and organizations in 2022.

While the full results of FICP’s 2021 Fall Pulse Survey will be released in Q1 of 2022, one of the more encouraging signs for the meetings and events industry seen in the survey was a commitment to hosting in-person events in 2022 that is fueling positive predictions from the hospitality industry.

According to 54% of meetings professional participants, companies’ philosophy on meetings was that they cannot wait to move away from hybrid/virtual and have people together in person. Perhaps even more telling is that nearly two-thirds of hospitality partners anticipate that business volume will return to pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2022. While there are more indicators than these — and certainly some increased uncertainty with the rise of the Omicron variant — there is a more encouraging vision of 2022 within in our grasp.

Q: How did the in-person 2021 Annual Conference, differ from the 2019 in-person Annual Conference?

Steve Bova, CAE, Executive Director, Financial & Insurance Conference Professionals

A: FICP has always been a leader in our industry, so we’re proud to have led by example into the great return of meetings and events with the 2021 FICP Annual Conference in November.

The Annual Conference is FICP’s marquee in-person event that is part of a year-round event strategy, supported by five other in-person events and virtual education events held throughout the year. FICP made the decision early on to host the 2021 FICP Annual Conference in person, as it was important to demonstrate to financial services and insurance companies that we can still meet safely, and for FICP’s attendees to experience what a safe, in-person event looks like.

The decision to host the Annual Conference as an in-person event did not mean that it would look exactly the same as it did pre-pandemic — despite overarching event goals remaining the same as in years past: to bring the industry together and provide invaluable education, networking and relationship-building opportunities for the FICP community. FICP made several key decisions along the way that shaped our overall approach to health and safety,m and the on-site experience, all while staying true to the event goals.

Here are some of the key changes at the 2021 FICP Annual Conference:

• Pre-Event Virtual Day: FICP received feedback that attendees wanted more relaxed networking time while in person at the Annual Conference, yet also did not want to lose the opportunity to have valuable business meetings. Hosted on October 25, the Pre-Event Virtual Day provided a forum to hold those important business meetings online and also helped promote making connections across all attendees in advance of the Annual Conference.
• COVID-19 Vaccination Requirement: The decision to require vaccinations for all attendees was not only a risk management strategy, but also helped spur attendance, as many attendees could not attend an event without this requirement in place. FICP partnered with CLEAR Health Pass to facilitate all attendees providing proof of vaccination when checking in at the registration desk on-site.
• Mask Requirement Indoors: This was a fact-based decision made two weeks prior to the event, based on CDC mask recommendations for the event’s host county, specifically. Adherence to this requirement by all attendees was supported through signage and messaging, and we also had third-party security personnel at the entrance of the conference.
• On-site Medical Support: FICP partnered with InHouse Physicians to provide medical support on-site. Attendees were encouraged to contact the on-site paramedic should they feel ill during the event.
• Adapted Food and Beverage Protocols: In addition to hosting networking events, refreshment breaks and meals outdoors, it was important to serve food that people felt safe eating while keeping up the quality and experience. One way this was accomplished was by having attendants serving the food, which allowed for safety controls while offering high-quality food options for all attendees. All attendants were masked — indoor and outdoor — and Plexiglas served as an additional safety barrier in most situations.
• Sponsorship Engagement and Options: The sponsor program was altered based on the state of the industry — given that hospitality was greatly impacted — and there was more emphasis on flexibility for sponsors.
• Recorded General Sessions: For the first time, the full FICP community has access to the general session recordings. FICP offers a lot of alternative programming throughout the year for the community to tap into, but this was one new value-added offering from FICP to those who could not attend the event live.
• Structured and Unstructured Education and Networking: Stepping away from a fully structured event, the conference also provided space for personal health and wellness, and unmanaged networking. Everything at the event was a learning or relationship-building experience, yet offered flexibility in the Event Design to approach the Annual Conference in a way that best fit the needs of the attendees.
• Communication and Risk Mitigation Planning: Throughout the planning and execution of the event, extra attention to communication and risk mitigation were key. This included prepared crisis communications regarding on-site exposure to COVID-19 during the event and up to seven days after the event. While none of these communications ended up needing to be deployed, the behind-the-scenes strategy and planning was critical.
• Consulting With Attorneys and Health Officials: Another critical behind-the-scenes change was the need to increasingly consult FICP’s legal counsel, as well as health officials throughout the life cycle of the event planning process — well beyond their engagement for past events. Leveraging third parties to provide their expert guidance allowed FICP to more confidently make decisions and changes.

There was no playbook on exactly how to plan and host a meeting in this environment. It required agility and adaptability of the entire FICP Board of Directors, Event Team and staff. However, walking away from the successful, safe, in-person conference, attendees and the industry at large have a real-life example of how to execute one themselves.

Q: What are the key takeaways you hope planners received?

A: The theme of the 2021 FICP Annual Conference was “Adapt. Nourish. Execute.,” and our goal was for all attendees to walk away with the tools, resources and renewed creativity to design and execute flawless meetings and events in the future, develop and lead high-performing teams, and confidently own the strategic direction of their companies’ meetings and events. All education was focused on how meetings professionals can and should adapt to our rapidly changing landscape, while being mindful of their personal well-being. A key part of that learning was not just hearing from speakers and fellow attendees about best practices and successes, but witnessing an in-person event being managed in a safe and effective manner, firsthand.

Sherri K. Lindenberg, Senior Vice President, Marketing Communications, Crump Life Insurance Services

Sherri K. Lindenberg, Senior Vice President, Marketing Communications, Crump Life Insurance Services

Q: As the U.S. eases out of the COVID-19 pandemic, how does the meetings and events industry continue to rebound?

A: With the pandemic situation continuing to evolve, it feels less to me like the meetings and events industry is rebounding, but more like we are trying to keep the ball in play. Many of us are in a bit of a toss up situation, where we find one business unit is moving forward scheduling in-person programs, and another is holding back and staying all virtual. Decision making seems to be pushed off as long as possible when it comes to booking, which adds a variety of challenges for all parties. Incentive events seem to be coming back first, as those are optional participation programs that give flexibility to those who aren’t comfortable traveling to opt out, and the nature of the venues and programming more often allows for COVID-19-friendly precautions, including outdoor meals and activities, and social distancing.

Q: What challenges will insurance and financial meeting planners face in 2022?

A: Unfortunately, to me, it looks like insurance and financial meeting planners will continue to face many of the same challenges in 2022 that we experienced in 2021 and 2020, compounded with the increased complexity added by the varied regulatory environment in different parts of the country for social distancing, masking and vaccinations, and the unknown impacts of variants.

Another challenge is the new expectation for hybrid delivery, but with the condensed planning runway and meeting specs that we have become accustomed to for virtual-only events. Hybrid is a different animal — twice the work, added expenses and different technical solutions.

Q: What were your initial thoughts about how long the industry would be affected by the COVID-19 pandemic?

A: I can admit here that I was absolutely one of those naive people who initially thought we were looking at two to four weeks of work from home, as I just couldn’t fathom the scope of what we have been through. My view has clearly changed, and now I think it’s less that the pandemic will have a definitive end, and more that we will learn to live, and work, with our increased understanding of best practices to minimize contagion and spread of airborne diseases.

Q: What is the biggest hurdle other than the pandemic facing the meetings and events industry right now?

A: The biggest hurdle I see facing the meetings and events industry right now is the same issue that is facing the rest of our country — and much of the world, and relates to people and goods. The realignment of the workforce — layoffs, retirements, resignations — has impacted staffing levels everywhere, which then impacts what can be delivered and at what cost when it comes to service levels and products/inventory. In the developed world, we have gotten very accustomed to our “Amazon-Prime”-like expectations for service and product delivery, and it’s hard to go backward in time to scenarios where we cannot easily get the things we want when we want them.

Q: How is the 2022 meeting budget different from 2021? 2020?

A: Our 2022 meeting budget looks closer to 2019 than it does 2020 or 2021 because we are optimistic that we will have some return to strengths of our past programs, while still leveraging the advantages of virtual. While we will re-evaluate the need for each event, and not just return to a clone of 2019’s calendar, we are also seeing a need for different type of events than we had before, perhaps to play catch up of sorts, by bringing some smaller groups together.

Q: Did your company host a meeting or event in 2020 or 2021?

A: Our company has continued to hold about the same number of meetings in 2020 and 2021 that we had in prior years, converting them all to virtual in some way and meeting our basic business needs. I’m the first to agree that virtual cannot completely replace in-person, and I can’t wait to begin full in-person meetings safely.

Virtual has worked well for training and educational programs, and saved enormous amounts of travel time that has been put back into productive work hours. It’s clearly not as strong at building interpersonal relationships, creating serendipitous connections, fostering shared experiences that drive engagement, enhancing creativity with brainstorming and networking, or just having fun together.

Q: What encouraging signs or trends do you see for the meetings and events industry?

A: I see a few encouraging signs for the health of our industry:

• The return of industry conferences, which demonstrate that events can be held safely, by leading the way with proactive stances toward implementing best practices, adoption of technology tools and vendor solutions, and forward-thinking leadership.
• The increase in transient travel, which shows the pent-up demand and risk tolerance that most people now have for getting out and making connections.
• The popularity of incentive travel leading the way, given its voluntary participation and ease of incorporating recommended health care guidelines.
• The willingness of senior leadership to be role models in best practices.

Wayne M. Robinson, CMP, CMM, Staff Vice President, Events and Multimedia, FM Global

Wayne M. Robinson, CMP, CMM, Staff Vice President, Events and Multimedia, FM Global

Q: As the U.S. eases out of the COVID-19 pandemic, how does the meetings and events industry continue to rebound?

A: The hospitality industry rebound is incredible, and has created both opportunities and challenges for us. Labor, availability, lift and rates are all challenges we’re facing. The pent-up demand for travel, face-to-face business and incentive meetings, events, etc., has come back faster than most experts anticipated.

The economy overall maintained its balance and strength despite the many challenges presented by the pandemic. Ironically, our industry was one of the hardest struck during the pandemic, but has made major strides in a short period of time to not only get back up and running, but in some markets at almost pre-pandemic levels. Our resilience as an industry is amazing.

Q: What challenges will insurance and financial meeting planners face in 2022?

A: [There are] many of the same challenges we’ve faced in the past — availability, rates and other factors, such as airfare and ancillary service charges. But the turnaround time and the “unknown” weigh heavily on decisions, such as our continuing reliance on virtual meetings, which are the norm, as well as exploring hybrid meetings as options, and keeping a watchful eye on new developments regarding COVID-19 variants. We’re leaning heavily on technology, but company travel policies and attendee comfort plays into these decisions.

On a high note with the vaccine protocols, we’ve seen a major uptick in requests for face-to-face meetings in 2022 and beyond from our stakeholders.

Q: What were your initial thoughts about how long the industry would be affected by the COVID-19 pandemic?

A: I personally had no idea in the beginning, because the needle moved constantly. As soon as we began to craft our communication, or the risk management team got their arms around a temporary solution, the entire situation would change.

It was disappointing to constantly cancel meetings without being able to provide date options to hotels and venues, let alone service providers, who relied heavily on group business.

Q: What is the biggest hurdle other than the pandemic facing the meetings and events industry right now?

A: Availability and consistency — everything shifted to 2022 and 2023 and beyond, so it affects availability, and the rate environment and budgets will be impacted. And if there is a hybrid component, it will affect production costs and logistics because we’re essentially planning a meeting within a meeting.

Q: How is the 2022 meeting budget different from 2021? 2020?

A: Rates are higher, and technology and production costs are more prevalent than ever. The full-on production costs of an event will be a larger factor whether produced internally or utilizing a third party.

Q: Did your company host a meeting or event in 2020 or 2021?

A: Our meetings were all virtual in 2020, and the majority of our client-facing meetings were virtual in 2021 with the exception of a few high-profile events.

We did follow strict COVID protocols established by local governments of the destinations as well as the venues we utilized. The live events were successful and well attended. We offered testing on-site for several of our meetings and this proved very convenient for our international travelers who required a negative test for re-entry into their home countries. The prevalent feedback was people were happy to see one another and be together again.

Q: What encouraging signs or trends do you see for the meetings and events industry?

A: We are coming back stronger than ever, and at the same time, we couldn’t be more cautious. We have been forced by the pandemic to develop a new approach to meetings and events and a new set of skills surrounding technology and implementation that makes our roles that much more vital to the success of our meetings and events. The experiences we create that we’ve hung our hats on in the past are more complex due to technology. Our industry is standing on the precipice of the new reality of technology driving the experiences, while still being the standard bearer for face-to-face meetings. I look at this as an opportunity to be an even bigger player in our company’s event strategy by taking advantage of the opportunity to gain new skills and experience. We have no choice but embrace and adapt to change.    I&FMM