The hybrid environment is rapidly evolving as we continue to navigate the events and meetings structure that took off in the midst of the global COVID-19 pandemic.

One of the benefits of the shift to virtual meetings is that Zoom gatherings and Teams trainings tend to have a much lower carbon footprint.

Ensuring the safety of attendees is one of the four basic roles for any event manager. Fortunately, today’s planners have shown they are up to the task, thanks in part to insights gained over the long months of dealing with COVID-19.

We asked three of these leaders for their thoughts on how the industry can continue to improve in 2022.

As meeting planners and organizers ramp-up their event coordination efforts, they’re faced with challenges to host effective in-person, online, and hybrid events that create memorable experiences and capture new attendees.

Stress can impede a planner’s ability to do their job effectively. And in the meetings industry, job effectiveness and customer satisfaction are paramount to a planner’s success.

While safety concerns are still top of mind for food professionals, so are ideas for making mealtime a memorable, meaningful experience for everyone involved.

Determining whether in-person or virtual is the best format for a given meeting will become an integral part of planning, at least more so than in the past.

Although the COVID-19 vaccines are being distributed around the world, international incentives — and international travel overall — still lags far behind the progress made as domestic travel surges.

These resorts typically have excellent meeting facilities as well as team-building opportunities — golf included, of course — and ample space for networking.