Meeting planners agree: Sun-filled days are the No. 1 selling point for holding events in Arizona. But the state’s attributes don’t end with a pleasing weather forecast.

“Our culture is very unique,” says Nancy Nachman, CMM, CPP and founder of The Meetings Concierge, a Scottsdale-based DMC. “Between the Native American and Hispanic cultures, along with many others that have added to our beautiful city, people can take away a unique experience when they come to Arizona. And our flora is unique. The average person thinks Arizona is all rocks, mountains and cactus, dry and brown — then they get here and find we have plants that produce flowers, we have the most gorgeous sunsets in the world, and we have horseback riding, golf and other activities. It’s a guaranteed warm-weather destination, year-round, and my clients appreciate easy access in and out of our fabulous airport.”

Harboring more than two-thirds of the state’s population and the bulk of the meeting space, the focus for meeting planners tends to land on the Phoenix-Scottsdale metro area, cities joined at the hip and offering 40,000 rooms in more than 200 meeting hotels. But there are other locales worth investigating. Renowned for its scenic beauty and ideal for smaller meetings, Sedona is set amid red-rock landscapes and swaying sycamore trees, and tempting with endless outdoor adventure activities. And Tucson offers something different for events, a city set amid the  Sonoran Desert and surrounded by mountain ranges that invite outdoor activities in neighboring Saguaro National Park.

Tucson

Although, as everywhere, Tucson’s meeting business slowed considerably in 2020, the destination has seen a fleet of improvements and additions of interest to meeting planners, starting with an ongoing, $65 million expansion and renovation project at the Tucson Convention Center, projected to be completed in 2022. A face-lift for the center’s 89,760-sf of exhibit halls is nearing completion, as is renovation of the 20,164-sf ballroom. The center’s existing meeting rooms have been refreshed with new carpet, window dressings, air walls and state of the art technology, while a new building starting construction in early 2021 will add additional meeting rooms on the west side of the facility adjacent to Exhibit Hall C. And, opening in late winter, the DoubleTree by Hilton Tucson Downtown Convention Center is the first hotel adjoining the facility. The hotel has 3,800 sf of meeting space, including a conference room with full windows and view of downtown Tucson.

In the fall, El Conquistador Tucson, a Hilton Resort, unveiled a multimillion-dollar amenity, SpaWell. The newly constructed spa facility features a salt therapy room, pool deck with mountain views, and wet steam room. The adults-only sanctuary offers a total of eight treatment rooms, including two facial rooms and a couples treatment area. The design and décor positions the facility with the  Sonoran Desert through the use of natural wood touches, refined finishes and soaring ceilings offering natural light and accentuating the resort’s mountainous backdrop.

For an annual customer appreciation gathering, the amber-hued sunsets and starry night skies of Tucson fills the bill for Doosan Infracore North America, which is holding its upcoming meeting in late winter at the JW Marriott Tucson Starr Pass Resort & Spa. “Our annual customer appreciation event brings together the top sales people and best customers from the past year,” says Chad Kurle, training site manager for Doosan. “It’s our way of saying ‘Thank you’ for their continued support of the Doosan product line. Guests come from all over the United States and Canada, and we have internal staff that comes from Korea as well. The 300-plus days of sunshine annually in southern Arizona allows us to hold events almost year round. It gives our customers coming from cold-weather areas a nice escape during our winter events.”

With offices in southern Arizona, Doosan Infracor is an international manufacturer of construction equipment, such as excavators, loaders, and diesel and gas engines. Kurle says the company was lucky with the timing of its 2020 customer appreciation event, held last winter. But with the onslaught of COVID-19, Doosan canceled all events planned for March through November. “We were able to hold a customer experience event at Starr Pass in December for about 20 guests, and we were able to do it safely with no reported incidents,” Kurle says. The upcoming event is projected to draw 100 to 120 attendees, and Kurle anticipates that the availability of a vaccine will increase the comfort level for attendees. “The biggest consideration is the ability to get this group together safely. All my discussions with vendors seem to revolve around the question of how we do this safely — what are their cleaning procedures, how do they incorporate local COVID regulations into their new procedures. We are looking at adding more buses for transporting guests, larger venues to facilitate social distancing, and using outdoor spaces where applicable.”

The JW Marriott Tucson Starr Pass Resort is the city’s largest hotel, located in the foothills overlooking Tucson, yet, just 6 miles from downtown and 12 miles from the airport. The property has 80,768 sf of event space, including the 19,836-sf Arizona Ballroom, while other features include 27 holes of championship golf at the Starr Pass Golf Club and a 20,000-sf full-service spa. Hiking trails lead right from the porte cochère into the spectacular, saguaro cactus-dotted scenery of Tucson Mountain Park.

Kurle says the group will spend the first full day of the event traveling by bus to the Real Operations Center, the training and testing facility for Doosan. A short program highlights some of Doosan’s new equipment, followed by a catered lunch. A group activity such as TopGolf follows, and the next day attendees have a choice of four or five different activities, including golf, shooting and a UTV tour or the Pima Air & Space Museum. The gathering concludes with a cocktail reception and awards dinner. “Because of the location of Doosan’s Real Operations Center, our events are always held in the Tucson area,” Kurle says. “We continually look at the best possible hotel properties. We have had a long-standing working relationship with the JW Marriott Starr Pass. They understand our business and our customers, and the staff goes out of their way to support me and our events. Because we are fortunate to have had a recent event at the hotel, we are confident in their COVID procedures and the steps they will take to keep our guests safe.”

Kurle says the nature of Doosan’s hands-on events does not allow for a hybrid gathering, and like many meeting planners, he anticipates increased costs in 2021. “Social distancing alone will cause increases in transportation costs, both from our bus rentals to our airport transportation,” Kurle says. “We will need to keep groups smaller, and therefore will be having more trips. Additionally, we’ve increased our spend on cleaning and sanitizing at our training facility.”

Scottsdale

Kim Haulk, CMP, senior vice president of operations at Connecting Point Marketing Group, a part of EMERALD,  which organizes and hosts trade events, also says that costs will continue to be a focus for her clients going into 2021. “We’re faced with the potential for limited air travel based on airline schedules, providing PPE items as a commitment to our attendees safety, and offering additional transportation and wayfinding signage to promote social distancing,” Haulk says. “All will be incremental costs to doing business in 2021.”

Connecting Point’s first event for 2021 will be a 500-person conference of retail executives and suppliers, and client BuildPoint chose The Westin Kierland Resort & Spa in Scottsdale. Located adjacent to Kierland Commons, a popular upscale mixed-used mall, the 732-room Westin offers more than 200,000 sf of meeting space, including a 25,000-sf Grand Ballroom and 41 meeting rooms for smaller sessions. The resort is set on 250 acres and features a spa, golf club and water park. “The Westin Kierland has long been a preferred destination for our events,” Haulk says. “The level of customer service and detail delivered to our attendees, from the moment they walk in the front door until the day they depart, is the standard by which we measure other venues against. The Westin Kierland staff has grown with our team over the many years we’ve been hosting events with them, and coming to the Westin Kierland Resort is like coming home — for our team as well as our attendees. The focus on the customer experience . . . [is] felt throughout the resort as you connect with each and every team member.”

Haulk says BuildPoint will be connecting retail executives responsible for architectural design, construction, renovation and facilities with suppliers seeking to innovate, and expand their relationships and business. Conducted in a business-intensive format, the event includes executive board room presentations to preview company innovations, private one-on-one meetings, content sessions around industry trends and relevant topics, and networking opportunities in a casual environment designed to maximize interaction. “Our team is closely monitoring Arizona state and local city restrictions as it relates to executing our event,” Haulk says. “Working in partnership with the Westin Kierland to manage capacity restrictions, we have modified our space plans, agenda and format to ensure a safe, productive event.” Haulk notes that, because state and local restrictions remain fluid, Connecting Point will continue to be focused on the guidelines leading up to the conference. “We are working directly with the resort to ensure the proper measures are in place around meeting space capacities and social distancing, cleanliness and ability for the needs of the program.”

Attention to safety and cleaning was an important component for Nancy Nachman’s client, the Greenfield Group, a Dallas-based experiential-events services company. Greenfield chose The Phoenician, a Luxury Collection Resort, Scottsdale, for an upcoming spring incentive program for top sales reps at a mortgage lending company, a gathering that will host about 150, including guests. “During our site visit, it was so obvious that the hotel was staffed at its regular, pre-pandemic level,” Nachman says. “Unfortunately, that cannot be said about all hotels and resorts. They’re not open at 100%, staffing levels are down, there’s no room service — all those things you want to have functioning and open. At the Phoenician, staff levels were apparent.” Nachman continues: “A lot of Phoenician’s restaurants are outdoors, and the way they presented cuisine, napkin, silverware, and the QR code on the table for the menu showed me that they are completely aware and catering to our world today. We talked about what we hope things will be in April. We’ll be using outdoor spaces for almost all the functions, except for the final night, which is in a room with doors that can be opened.”

Nachman says she finds a lot of groups are looking to hold meetings but not asking the right questions. “We’re still wading through unknown waters,” she suggests. “That’s why I talk to my clients in-depth about the what-ifs. It’s like the old saying, ‘If you don’t bring an umbrella, it’s going to rain.’ So I ask things like, ‘What hospitals are nearby?’ Planning for these possibilities is extremely important. At the Phoenician, we met with a lot of executives on the site visit, from F&B to security, and they talked in-depth about what they’re doing to ensure guest safety is No. 1; that they’re not ignoring the issues.”

The Phoenician, part of Marriott’s Luxury Collection, completed an extensive renovation of guest rooms and common areas in 2017, followed by the opening of a new athletic club and three-story spa facility. The golf course was then redesigned and re-routed from 27 to 18 holes. The Phoenician boasts approximately 160,000 sf of signature indoor and outdoor space, including the Grand Ballroom, which hosts up to 2,500 attendees for gala celebrations.

For Carolyn McCaslin, client services & meeting coordinator with NCM Associates, one challenge during COVID-19 has been hosting meetings in cities or states without travel restrictions, affecting some within a group. Those impacted have to self-quarantine when they arrive back to their hometowns. “This has caused a decrease in attendance in a few of our groups, and has led some to even cancel the meeting,” McCaslin says. “There are other groups of ours though, like Toyota West Management Group, who have committed to their meetings, and with great attendance. They have met in Scottsdale for their winter meeting for several years in a row. They love being in a warm location where there are many restaurants to enjoy. They know they can expect a fantastic hotel stay, a great location for nearby entertainment, and they can be in the great outdoors hiking in the desert or enjoying nine holes of golf. And, for many West Coast dealers, it’s an easy direct flight for most of our attendees.”

Toyota West’s upcoming gathering is expected to draw about 45 attendees to the 326-room The Scottsdale Resort at McCormick Ranch, part of the Hyatt portfolio. Amid hacienda-inspired décor, the resort offers 80,000 sf of flexible meeting space, and includes the Grand Coronado Ballroom, with seating for up to 1,000 attendees. “The hotel has been fantastic, offering us a larger meeting space to accommodate one attendee per 6-foot table in our standard U-shape seating arrangement,” McCaslin says. “Usually it’s pretty difficult to expand into larger meeting spaces, but with the vast availability at hotels these days, it’s been a great amenity to have for our groups. Hotels offer hand sanitizer in the meeting rooms, masks at check in, sanitization between break periods, or before and after the meeting. For most of 2020, our company decided not to host any welcome receptions, group dinners, or group activities to help contain the spread of the virus and for the safety of our members. So far, we have avoided booking any group activities outside of group dinners or a short welcome reception in 2021.”

Phoenix

Set west of the Phoenix metro area, in the suburb of Litchfield Park, 24 miles from Phoenix Airport, The Wigwam is a historic hotel, originally built in 1929 as an intimate guest ranch for employees of Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company. Today, the Wigwam features three restaurants, three pools, nine tennis courts, 54 holes of championship golf, and a 26,000-sf spa spread across 440 lush acres. The Wigwam occupies a soft spot in the heart for some regulars. “It’s a pretty cool place,” says Jeff Peters, power industry leader for West with Suez Water. Peters says he has been conducting meetings regularly at The Wigwam for about a decade. “Nothing else compares to it, and the history of the place is incredible. It started when Phoenix was just a whistle stop on the way to L.A. It was just six rooms, then the executives started bringing their families; they added rooms, and then put in some golf. Being able to walk outside and see the beautiful landscaping, and flowers and trees, and not see the usual convention facilities is just great. We generally have a cookout in the evening, eat lunch outside, then everyone walks these serpentine paths back to their rooms.”

Guest rooms are found either in one-story casitas bisected by various gardens, or in two-story buildings surrounding the Oasis Pool. The resort features 30,000 sf of indoor meeting space, including a 10,800-sf ballroom and 25 breakout rooms in a variety of sizes, along with 55,000 sf of outdoor event space. Wi-Fi is available throughout the spacious property.

Peters has been doing customer seminars for about 10 years, with upward of 100 attendees at his Wigwam events. A customer seminar planned for last spring was postponed to early fall, and Peters says he is now pivoting to make it an internal meeting next spring. “I kept the contract open and just kept rolling it forward, because our company isn’t allowing us to travel in groups,” Peters says. “Many of our customers won’t even see us; won’t allow us to enter their building, so we haven’t really been traveling. But our company has not come together since February or March — even our smaller meetings of 15 to 25 people were canceled. There have been a lot of changes in our company, and it’s all been handled through conference calls. We have new people who haven’t met anyone outside their immediate supervisor. We need to pull our people together in person.”

Peters can tick off the attributes of a meeting at Wigwam easily. “The weather in April and May is guaranteed,” he says. “Phoenix is generally fairly inexpensive to fly into, with lots of flights. It’s an attractive destination for people to fly to from North Dakota or Wyoming, a good alternative to Vegas, which isn’t really our cup of tea,” he says. “The Wigwam is very unique; very friendly. The staff is outstanding, the food is good, and it’s reasonably priced. And, the availability of three golf courses on property is really great. I like to come in early and play some golf. Then I’ll stay late and play a little more golf.”

Another legendary Phoenix hotel that has just completed extensive renovations, reopening early in 2021, is the Arizona Biltmore, A Waldorf Astoria Resort. As one of the only existing hotels influenced by architect Frank Lloyd Wright, the dramatic grounds serve as a historic setting for meetings and events. More than 200,000 sf of indoor/outdoor space and 20 meeting rooms can be leveraged for intimate and large groups alike. Facilities include the 25,000-sf Frank Lloyd Wright ballroom, and the reimagined Catalina Event Lawn and Bar will serve as an alfresco space for gatherings against a backdrop of mountain views. C&IT

 

2020 started off great. Meeting and event venues were booked solid through the year. Destinations such as Las Vegas and Orlando were more popular — and busy — than ever. Convention and Visitors Bureaus and Destination Marketing Organizations were flush with cash from tourists and convention and event attendees.

Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit last winter, forcing lockdowns in the spring, and bringing the good times to a screeching halt. Venues were forced to cancel events, and once-packed destinations — think Times Square in New York City — looked like ghost towns.

The meetings and events industry is one of the hardest hit across the globe. But industry leaders, while acknowledging the current state of affairs, are optimistic things will slowly start to improve by mid-2021 and could be on the way to a solid recovery in 2022. We asked several of these leaders for their thoughts on the impact of the pandemic in 2020 and how the industry can begin the recovery in 2021.

Cindy Brewer, Principal, LEO Events; and Michael Dalton, Senior Vice President of Strategy, LEO Events

Q: How, specifically, has the COVID-19 pandemic affected you/the industry in 2020?

A: Michael Dalton: The pandemic has affected us in many of the same ways that it has affected our society. We are at the mercy of necessary safety and health protocols, which has forced us into a digital environment in most aspects of our profession. In a short period, we needed to change directions and refine our capabilities under conditions that no one had faced before. Everything was new, including how we would serve our clients and how we would sustain our business. It was challenging in some ways because everything was changing, but it was also invigorating. It’s times and circumstances like these that allow us to experiment, explore and do new things in ways that old traditions didn’t invite.

Q: How will the pandemic affect the industry in 2021?

A: Cindy Brewer: The pandemic continues to make us stronger as an industry. We have learned to adapt and be nimbler than before. Even though people may be uncomfortable at first, a focus on safely reopening meetings and events is the best thing for the industry. Someone has to step out there and show how to do it. We can make it happen together, and our industry will come out stronger, better and more technologically advanced than before.

Q: When do you see things returning to “normal?”

A: Cindy Brewer: Nothing will ever return to normal as we knew it. We have many hopes and intentions for a return to in-person events, but the reality continues to be that we don’t know when that will happen. As long as we don’t know, we have to balance our optimism and passion with the reality that we can only see a month or two ahead at a time. When we get a vaccine, people will start to feel more comfortable. Planners will need to continue to be mindful of safety and distancing, and the ways we negotiate contracts and determine capacity will be different. We will have to adjust to a new normal based on attendee comfort levels.

Q: Is there room for both virtual/hybrid and face-to-face meetings?

A: Michael Dalton: There is room for both. Events will neither be one nor the other; experiences will be both digital and physical. Whether or not it is a hybrid event will fade away as it becomes standard practice to provide a digital option for physical events. It will be fascinating to see which one drives the other in 2021. The technology needed to offer virtual versions of physical experiences has been there, and now the demand has accelerated.

Q: What other challenges will meeting and planning professionals face in 2021?

A: Michael Dalton: Planners will have to consider the new increase in pressure on the value proposition of events. What are we offering, and how do we ensure that it’s valuable and justifiable? It will be difficult to determine what people are willing to endure to be able to attend events. Before 9/11, there were no restrictions on how much liquid you could travel with, and you weren’t required to take off your shoes in security. It has since been proved that people were easily willing to tolerate the changes, and it became a standard in how we travel.

Q: What can the industry do to better prepare for seismic events such as this pandemic?

A: Michael Dalton: Pandemic planning is its own discipline, and health and safety protocols will be part of standard operating procedures in our industry forever. It’s difficult to measure how much preparation and precaution will remain a visible part of the experiences that we offer once this pandemic is behind us. Having plans to cope with an emergency when it occurs is one thing. Taking precautions in anticipation of an emergency is a more complex matter. We will consult with health experts the same way we consult with safety experts. We have all kinds of safety requirements that we are diligent about — fire marshals, building codes, plans for earthquakes and active shooters. We will likely see new standards and new codes of conduct that relate specifically to the viral transmission of disease.

Q: What encouraging signs do you see ahead for the planners in the meetings industry?

A: Michael Dalton: We can be proud of how we’ve come together as an industry. A lot of the barriers that were constructed for the sake of competition have been torn down by the great equalizer that is the pandemic. We’ve come together as an industry in ways that have produced a sense of community that wasn’t as strong prior to that. It is a more inclusive and welcoming business than it was because of the time we’ve now spent in survival mode. With the hopes of numerous vaccines, we can reasonably expect to have the ability to produce physical events in the second half of 2021. As society copes with and ultimately defeats the disease, we can look forward to having the freedom to use all of our muscles, which will unleash creativity that has been newly generated by the limitations. The benefit of this kind of pressure is that it forces us to think differently.

Q: In your opinion, what are the biggest new trends for the meetings industry in 2021?

A: Cindy Brewer: We will continue to see trends in clauses of contract negotiation. We have begun to see a liability clause that allows an exhibitor at a trade show to cancel bookings at hotels, restaurants, etc. with no penalties if the trade show is canceled. It will be common to see ironclad clauses and new terminology in protections and liabilities. Another trend we are witnessing is a change in the length of events. Typical five-day meetings will be condensed because virtual attention spans are much shorter. In 2021, I would love to see new trends in the future of festivals.

Q: How has technology impacted the meetings industry, and what do you expect 2021 to hold in terms of the use of technology to enhance meetings?

A: Michael Dalton: Event technology drives innovation in our industry, which was true before the pandemic. In 2020, event technology became a weapon against the limitations that the pandemic placed on our way of doing business. It became a tool that we used to work around these new conditions. When the conditions demand it, it becomes a tool because our normal way of doing things was disrupted. The distinction is that when there is not an emergency and conditions aren’t limiting us, technology is a toy that we can use to engage and amuse people, enhance messages, surprise audiences, and enrich experiences. Moving forward, it’s less about the aesthetic appeal or the instant gratification of new technology, and more about new capabilities and functionality. The value of technology in the eyes of attendees will have greater importance. Event technology can sometimes be a distraction, a fun or joyful distraction, but a distraction, nonetheless. Now, technology needs to serve a greater, more explicit purpose that is visible and tangible to create an even greater opportunity to enhance the experience in measurable ways.

Q: How, specifically, has the COVID-19 pandemic affected you/the industry in 2020?

A: This has been a total disaster for the meetings and events industry. Economically, estimates are that is has been 10 times worse than 9/11; or about a loss of $510 billion in business. It has been the biggest challenge we have ever seen. Everyone thinks about the big businesses in the industry, but 83% of the travel industry is small businesses.

Q: How will the pandemic affect the industry in 2021?

A: The vaccine announcement is a very important development. We’re starting to see people’s sentiments change toward travel. I think domestic leisure travel is going to open up more quickly than other forms of travel. People who would have gone out of the country are now saying they plan to travel inside the country, so that’s a plus. I see leisure travel coming back in the Q1 in 2021, and business travel in Q2. In recent surveys, 27% of planners say they’re planning events in Q2, and 27% say in Q3. So I split the difference and say it’ll be late spring or early summer when we see in-person meetings again.

Q: When do you see things returning to “normal?”

A: Lots of prognosticators say it’ll be 2024 before we’re back fully, but I disagree. Once people feel safe, things will happen quickly. They’ll see their friends and neighbors traveling, and they’ll want to travel too. After 2008, people said travel will never get back to where it was before, but travel was bigger than ever and increasing every single month for 10 years before the pandemic hit. One big factor is liability protections for corporations. Until that happens, corporations aren’t going to say it’s OK to travel if they think they could get sued if someone gets sick. I think we’ll see the industry come back much faster than people predict.

Q: Will virtual/hybrid meetings replace face-to-face meetings?

A: Virtual/hybrid meetings won’t replace face-to-face meetings, but there will certainly be a continuation of virtual/hybrid meetings into 2021. People have learned that you can get a fairly big audience that way. But they also learned that you can’t keep the attention of the virtual audience for more than an hour before it becomes tedious. I think people who watch virtual meetings end up telling themselves ‘I should have been there.’ For the first quarter of 2021, there will be many virtual/hybrid meetings, but face-to-face meetings will pick up again later in the year when people feel safe.

Q: Is there room for both virtual/hybrid and face-to-face meetings?

A: There is definitely room for both. I was on a meeting this year with 12,000 attendees and I was on one with 1,000 attendees. We can open up to a much larger audience through virtual/hybrid meetings. In 2021, we will see meetings with 50 attendees meeting face-to-face, and 200 meeting virtually. The more we do virtual/hybrid meetings, the more they will grow. However, people want to get together face-to-face. If you’re trying to make a sale and you’re attending virtual meetings, you’ll find out that the people meeting face-to-face get the sale. The pressure to not lose market share will push people back to meeting in person.

Q: What other challenges will meeting planning professionals face in 2021?

A: I think the challenges for meeting planners is really the lack of consistent information. I don’t know today what the travel policies are in California or many other states and cities. And a monster challenge internationally is that there is no consistent information, and there are no consistent policies. When you travel through different airports, you go to TSA in the United States and through Customs in Canada. It’s almost the same no matter where you travel. Can you imagine if every airport in the country and in the world had a different policy? We need to get consistent health and safety protocols, domestically and internationally. Also, I think health and safety will be the new hospitality rating. Travelers will soon look to see which hotels have a higher safety rating and they’ll pick that hotel. This is here to stay. It’s what travelers will demand.

Q: What can the industry do to better prepare for seismic events such as this pandemic?

A: I think we’ve got to increase the relationships and better share knowledge with each other. We’ve got to be able to come together more quickly with a consistent message. We’ve got to be more persistent and understand that when bad stuff happens, we need to be able to come together quickly to deal with it.

Q: What encouraging signs do you see ahead for the planners in the meetings industry?

A: The encouraging thing I see is the sentiment that people really want to travel. The vaccine coming along is extremely encouraging; that’s the game changer. In every bit of research we do, people say they are fed up with being cooped up in their homes. That sentiment will bring back travel much more quickly than anything else. People are getting ‘pandemic fatigue.’ We’ve got to realize the deep desire for people to get things back to normal. The world is ready to get moving again.

Q: In your opinion, what are the biggest new trends for the meetings industry in 2021?

A: One overall trend going into 2021 is going to be the better use of technology. I see hotels using more touchless biometrics. The pandemic has advanced the need for technology, the need for more consistent communicating. All of those things are going to move along much faster because of the pandemic.

Q: How has technology impacted the meetings industry, and what do you expect 2021 to hold in terms of the use of technology to enhance meetings?

A: Technology will allow people to learn the health and safety practices of a certain location. What are the practices and protocols for each? Technology will enhance the whole administrative process. Your iPhone will be your ticket to a smoother admission as everything will be on your phone. You’re going to a meeting, flash your phone and enter. You’ve already answered all the questions and paid your admission fee, so go right in. I think as we’ve been forced to use virtual/hybrid technology, we’re only going to get much better at hosting them.

Q: How, specifically, has the COVID-19 pandemic affected you/the industry in 2020?

A: This year, we’ve been challenged to create and plan virtual experiences that deliver the same impact as in-person events. As a result, we’ve had to rely more heavily on our creative and technical expertise to reach through the screens to create deeper connections.

Q: How will the pandemic affect the industry in 2021?

A: It’s clear we’ll continue to experience a dramatic decrease in live events in 2021. What will be different from the previous year will be the growing fatigue related to screen-based experiences and the desire for personal connection. This will challenge us to find better ways to emulate in-person moments.

Q: When do you see things returning to “normal?”

A: That’s hard to predict with so many unknowns. However, we’ve seen an increase in confidence and planning following announcements of vaccine progress.

Q: Will virtual/hybrid meetings replace face-to-face meetings?

A: In the short-term, yes. However, when a vaccine is in place the demand for in-person meetings will rebound. Anecdotally, planners are struggling to create the same return on experience for virtual meetings, while attendees are growing increasingly tired of screen-based experiences. Therefore, we expect the current restrictions on in-person interaction and travel will fuel a dramatic increase in demand for face-to-face meetings when a vaccine is approved.

Q: Is there room for both virtual/hybrid and face-to-face meetings?

A: Certainly. In fact, we have learned that virtual is an effective platform for meetings that are largely tactical or transactional. However, when it comes to things that involve collaboration, relationship development or recognition, face-to-face meetings are exponentially more productive.

Q: What other challenges will meeting planning professionals face in 2021?

A: Meeting planners are well-equipped to handle changes and respond with solutions. But with so many new and unknown variables, the work to plan and meet their goals is more time-consuming. Add the ongoing changes happening in each destination and reduced budgets — they are being challenged like never before.

Q: What can the industry do to better prepare for seismic events such as this pandemic?

A: Connecting the return on meetings and events to the bottom line is the key to being prepared for future disruption. Planners must to be armed with quantifiable data that demonstrates how their meetings and events are an essential component of an organization’s success.

Q: What encouraging signs do you see ahead for the planners in the meetings industry?

A: Although virtual has filled a vital role during the pandemic, there are limitations that prevent it from replacing face-to-face meetings and events. Over the last several months we’ve seen and experienced the diminished impact when in-person is not an option. Currently, virtual is unable to deliver the same experience and interaction as live meetings and events.

Q: In your opinion, what are the biggest new trends for the meetings industry in 2021?

A: Driving and tracking engagement with content and experiences will be at the forefront of our industry in 2021. The better we understand and improve engagement, the stronger the impact meetings and events have on achieving business objectives.

Q: How has technology impacted the meetings industry, and what do you expect 2021 to hold in terms of the use of technology to enhance meetings?

A: Moving forward, the role of technology will continue to expand. As planners are increasingly pressed to do more with less, they must find efficiencies that streamline planning and the attendee experience. With a growing number of solutions, the challenge will be applying the right technology to fit their specific need.

Michelle J. Heller, HMCC, Senior VP, Strategic Meeting Management, McVeigh Global Meetings and Events 

Q: How, specifically, has the COVID-19 pandemic affected you/the industry in 2020?

A: The live meeting and event industry has clearly been decimated by the COVID-19 global pandemic. As an industry, many of our partners, suppliers and competitors are struggling. When we come out of this, I suspect the industry to look significantly different than it did before. In early February, I remember hearing news about the virus. At the time there was not too much concern. Then, the first week of March, the phone began to ring from our corporate clients and the live meeting cancellations began. That week, it was just a handful, so my original thought was that our health care companies were exercising extreme caution and it would only be a slow-down for a few weeks. However, with our corporate headquarters in New York City, the initial epicenter in the United States, we experienced everything firsthand and immediately. Local businesses shut down, schools closed, and by the end of the month, all our live events were canceled, some staff furloughed and our work environment as we knew it came to a screeching halt. It became clear that this virus was not only going to be a global health crisis, but also a global economic crisis in the hospitality industry. Over 30% of the annual live event business had canceled. Workers across all sectors were furloughed in the industry, and some within our own McVeigh Global Meetings and Events (MGME) family.

Q: How will the pandemic affect the industry in 2021?

A: In 2021, the industry will not be 100% back. We currently forecast a reduction of meeting/event spend in the industry down 20% to 35% in 2021 compared to 2019. Similar trends show across all corporate industries that we serve. Many of our corporate clients have travel restrictions through the end of Q1 of 2021, and some have recently extended this travel restriction through the end of Q2. I envision live events slowly coming back during the summer of 2021 with a significant increase toward the end of the year from September to December. Even with the current excitement of possible vaccines fast tracked for early 2021, it will take significant time for large spread distribution and the full impact to be realized so that our industry can recoup. Even with vaccines, we must work through the economics of people financially and psychologically being able to travel again.

Q: When do you see things returning to “normal?”

A: At MGME, we stopped using the terminology ‘returning to normal.’ Our industry will never be the same. We prefer to say, “When will we get to travel again?” or “When will we host a live meeting again?” We envision part of what we do now, the new services we provide as a meeting management company and the new technology methods we utilize for events, will always be part of events moving forward. So, when do we envision traveling again and the resurgence of live events? 2022. Many of our hotel contracts were moved from 2020 to 2021 and then moved again to 2022. Additionally, our clients have begun requesting MGME to source live events for programs in 2022.

Q: Will virtual/hybrid meetings replace face-to-face meetings?

A: Live meetings will never be replaced by virtual meetings. There is nothing like making human connections, networking in person, learning in person, having fun in person and creating lasting and meaningful relationships with each other. Live events will always be here to stay. However, I do see the process and format for delivery change around events.

• Small Events: These types of events are usually internal team events, not customer facing. These have had great success in the virtual world. I see the frequency of these events in a live environment reduced to save on cost and time travel. Now that they have been tested and proven, budget holders might reconsider the live event costs and continue to keep some of them virtual.

• Live Events: I do foresee hybrid events to be an important component of almost all live events moving forward. For certain meeting types, this is a way to obtain a broader audience at an event in cases where the attendees cannot travel due to schedules or budgetary reasons. In the corporate environment, hybrid meetings provide a way for procurement to reduce/control travel expenses moving forward but also provide the ability to increase or at least maintain attendance size.

Q: Is there room for both virtual/hybrid and face-to-face meetings?

A: Yes, virtual, hybrid and face-to-face meetings are all here to stay indefinitely. To compete as a meeting management agency or a corporate/association meeting planner in 2021, you must become an expert in all areas. We need to understand the objectives, goals, financial constraints and opportunities, and provide the stakeholders with the best avenue of meeting delivery there is for that event.

Q: What other challenges will meeting planning professionals face in 2021?

A: Training: For previously furloughed meeting planners returning to work, there will be a learning curve. Employers need to have patience and allow time for their employees to immerse themselves in the new virtual environment and terminologies of meetings and events. Employees need time to review multiple platforms, design, capabilities and types of broadcasting to ensure confidence to their stakeholders. They will also need to understand the creative aspect of virtual events and the nuances of audience engagement in this environment. With the number of events anticipated in 2021 in decline from 2019, I fear a competitive job environment for job seekers looking for full time jobs.

• Zoom Fatigue: Planners need to be on their toes for virtual events in 2021. In 2020, meetings and events in the virtual event space were new, fun and exciting for many attendees. The technology platforms, and the ways to engage, were new and different. Virtual events certainly offered a way to connect with our peers in a learning and networking environment during the pandemic like never seen before. However, as Zoom fatigue kicks in and people feel more isolated at home during the winter months and post-holiday season, we need to be more creative with our content and design new audience engagement activations to remain fresh in 2021. It will be imperative to provide the unexpected delights to our clients and audiences.

• Hotel Availability & Meeting Space: Once the industry hosts live events on a regular basis, (hopefully in Q3/Q4 of next year, if not early 2022) we suspect that hotel availability to be hard to come by and planners will need to be flexible. With many hotel contracts already moved to late 2021/early 2022 due to force majeure, new events being sourced, reduction in hotel beds nationwide due to hotel closings and meeting planners requesting more square footage than in previous years, hotel meeting space will eventually become harder to secure. We suspect sleeping room rates to be subject to significant increases. During contracting, hotels will want to secure stricter cancellation and reduction clauses, and will try to issue contracts heavily in their favor due to the economic crisis during the pandemic.

Q: What can the industry do to better prepare for seismic events such as this pandemic?

A: As leaders of this industry, we must come together to implement collegiate roundtables across competitor lines with meeting management companies, corporate meeting planners, hotels, production teams, destination management and technology companies, and all industry partners, to identify key learnings and innovations, as well as best practices of how we all can have been better prepared for what has happened to the hospitality industry.

• Each company must have an emergency action plan customized for each meeting and a business continuity to continue operations.

• All supplier partnerships and contracts need to be written to allow financial regards and service for all parties involved — both sides of the table.

• Have a back-up plan in place. Many of the meetings and events that needed to happen due to business objectives could still have taken place; however, many of the clients and suppliers were not ready to pivot back in March 2020.

Q: What encouraging signs do you see ahead for the planners in the meetings industry?

A: With the forecast of live events coming back in Q3/Q4 of 2021, there is hope that many furloughed meeting planners in the industry will be recalled back to their position in the second half of 2021. For planners that are on staff right now, the most encouraging news is that the internal stakeholders are starting to look at 2022. Budgets are being approved, and travel is finally being discussed again. We see many furloughed meeting planners utilize their unique skill set to gain new opportunities in the virtual world. The virtual meeting moderator position is an up-and-coming position that many planners pivoted to while live events have been non-existent. A planner’s niche expertise in the client’s industry, coupled with their meeting planning skills and event format knowledge, provide the tools to adapt into a virtual meeting moderator. I suspect this trend and need in the industry to continue in 2021.

Q: In your opinion, what are the biggest new trends for the meetings industry in 2021?

A: • Virtual and Hybrid Meetings.

• Strategic Meeting Management — Companies that were not involved in an SMM program for their corporate travel and meetings/event spend will take a deeper dive into their travel/meetings/events and what those expenditures look liked pre-COVID. They have practically an entire year without travel and will analyze spend, define preferred vendors, and negotiate contracts looking for cost savings, cost avoidance, Service Level Agreements and Key Performance Indicators.

• Corporate meeting and travel policies will be put in place in corporations where they have not existed previously.

• Budget Restrictions due to economics.

Q: How has technology impacted the meetings industry, and what do you expect 2021 to hold in terms of the use of technology to enhance meetings?

A: Technology impacted the meetings industry significantly over the last decade. From the creation of registration websites and attendee registration tools, collection of survey questions, online payments and mobile apps to provide attendee engagement. In all areas of our lives in 2020, we experienced a dramatic increase in the acceptance and usage of technology across the globe. Whether it is “zooming” with your family on the weekend, attending a training event via a webinar or exercising with a virtual trainer on a treadmill. We expect to see an increase in all areas of technology in the meetings industry in 2021 from meeting delivery via virtual platforms to new engaging attendee activities. In the near future, many technology providers will be working hard to take their platforms to the next level. Leading platforms will likely showcase themselves in the early part of 2021, and many others will be left behind.

Q: How, specifically, has the COVID-19 pandemic affected you/the industry in 2020?

A: A better question is ‘How hasn’t it affected us?’ This year has brought this industry to its knees like no other event in my time. We were impacted and affected during 9/11, which was awful for many reasons and we will never forget, but more secure processes for airline travel and flight customer tracking came from it. The 2008 housing bubble impacted all of us, and it took us several years to come out of it, but again, it wasn’t so all encompassing as this pandemic and it wasn’t global in nature.

Q: How will the pandemic affect the industry in 2021?

A: It is our opinion that 2021 will be a year of virtual, hybrid and some live. We feel that Q1 will be mostly virtual, continuing on from Q4 2020 due to those planning events not ‘having the crystal ball’ to anticipate what the transition back to live will look like or when. We are seeing small live events in Q4 2020, events that can be managed in small spaces and more intimately, and that will only slightly expand in Q1 of 2021. We are, at the present, all virtual, with small live and hybrid the first of the year. We are booking live for Q2 and beyond, but with some very flexible attrition and cancellation fees. We often discuss with the hotels and venues the need to ‘get the client comfortable’ with booking live and hybrid by giving them the comfort to ‘take the chance’ to [sign a] contract while they watch the forecast. We are going to be approaching it slowly, but with intention, honing our virtual skills, and hybrid because people are going to have very different approaches.

Q: When do you see things returning to “normal?”

A: It is our opinion that 2022 is going to be the year we see our live events back to “a semblance” of normal, but the new normal will include hybrid to support the variety of learning styles that will develop from this historic event.

Q: Will virtual/hybrid meetings replace face-to-face meetings?

A: They won’t replace them, but they will augment and be a part of our ‘new reality.’ Nothing can take the place of face-to-face, it is in our nature to nurture and connect, to engage and use our senses. We have been using only a few right now, visual and audible, [but I] believe the face-to-face experiences of taste, smell and touch are going to be welcomed back as attendees get more comfortable with face-to-face.

Q: Is there room for both virtual/hybrid and face-to-face meetings?

A: We are going to need to get comfortable and design ‘room’ to include all three, because we believe that all three are here to stay. As I mentioned earlier, attendees are in the process of learning to learn differently, and some are going to remain much more comfortable with virtual; this will be their new norm. We are going to have to create ways to blend the virtual, face-to-face and hybrid, so that it doesn’t feel disruptive, but more organic.

Q: What other challenges will meeting planning professionals face in 2021?

A: Honestly, anyone in the planning world that was able to adapt is going to be a better planner. We have had to learn new skills, identify new opportunities, and adjust and ‘pivot’ (the word of 2020). We have had to think more strategically and analytically. We have had to assess quantitative and qualitative data. We have been able to really show the value of our careers by honing our skills. The biggest challenge will be reacting to the ‘new norm’ and creating meaningful experiences, as clients and stakeholders assess the spend and the key takeaways.

Q: What can the industry do to better prepare for seismic events such as this pandemic?

A: I am not sure they/we can. This is in the hands of health care workers. What we can do is continue to create, and implement, proper hygiene measures and event ‘tactics’ to protect our attendees’ health, and safety, overall.

Q: What encouraging signs do you see ahead for the planners in the meetings industry?

A: We will be much better planners because we have had to rethink and retool the way we do events. We are seeing ourselves with a larger seat at the table and a more important role in decision making because of the obvious loss of connectivity this year. We have had to pull data and do decision tree modeling and provide quantitative and qualitative data that shows measurement and outcomes. We see that there is a recognition of the importance of in-person and a hunger for face-to-face to return, and we should have our tool box ready.

Q: In your opinion, what are the biggest new trends for the meetings industry in 2021?

A: A redesign of buffets and food service styles; creativity in seating and food services. Weaving technology platforms and data collection are going to be very important for us to show success measurement.

Q: How has technology impacted the meetings industry, and what do you expect 2021 to hold in terms of the use of technology to enhance meetings?

A: Again, a better question is ‘How has it not?’ From the early days of a fax machine and a computer being technology enhancements, we now see mobile apps, virtual platforms and enticing videos trending to provide engagement, and get the attendees’ attention. Gamification in all forms is going to continue to be part of the engagement and measurement.

Q: How, specifically, has the COVID-19 pandemic affected you/the industry in 2020?

A: 2020 Q1 was actually quite good, a record year. Everything came to a halt around mid March. It seems like we keep kicking the can down the block on our 2020 events to the point of most of them canceling.

Q: How will the pandemic affect the industry in 2021?

A: It’s really hard to determine what the 2021 forecast will look like until there is a clear vaccine in sight.

Q: When do you see things returning to “normal?”

A: Nine months after an approved vaccine. People will start conducting meetings, but they will be smaller in size. A lot of questions around unemployment recovery and organization’s budgets will likely reduce attendance at meetings.

Q: Will virtual/hybrid meetings replace face-to-face meetings?

A: Yes, smaller virtual meetings will replace face-to-face meetings; however, there is a growing fatigue in Zoom meetings that we had previously not seen with face-to-face meetings.

Q: Is there room for both virtual/hybrid and face-to-face meetings?

A: Yes, I think that 25% of our meetings will, going forward, have an extended virtual component forever. [I think] 75%, once we’re allowed to meet safely, will not.

Q: What other challenges will meeting planning professionals face in 2021?

A: Three major challenges: 1) budget cuts, 2) new safety protocols beyond vaccination, and 3) reduced staffing levels at corporate headquarters, and a lot of employees doing multiple jobs for 2021.

Q: What can the industry do to better prepare for seismic events such as this pandemic?

A: Registration for conventions will now require contact tracing and perhaps proof of inoculation dates/renewals. Organizations will have to expand their cash reserves beyond what they originally planned to survive another similar pandemic.

Q: What encouraging signs do you see ahead for the planners in the meetings industry?

A: Those planners who get certified on virtual meetings will have a stronger position inside their organizations. Gone are the days of relegating virtual meetings to another department.

Q: In your opinion, what are the biggest new trends for the meetings industry in 2021?

A: I see planners having to execute meetings with half their previous budgets while maintaining the same level of content. Most of the contracts written pre-COVID are outdated in terms of their room blocks and F&B guarantees. Everything needs to be renegotiated.

Q: How has technology impacted the meetings industry, and what do you expect 2021 to hold in terms of the use of technology to enhance meetings?

A: The virtual meetings have maintained [connections between] communities. We’re seeing a reduced value in belonging to some organizations without a face-to-face component. We’re seeing a rapid testing technology tools to measure hundreds of attendees/minute for body temperature. We’re also seeing a proliferation in virtual platforms depending on your budget. C&IT

 

Today, more than ever, it’s important to orchestrate diverse and inclusive meeting and event experiences. Of course, diversity and inclusivity today mean more than race and gender. Meeting planners are creating meeting and event environments where a variety of different voices are encouraged and heard. These same planners are starting to invest in other areas of diversity within the industry, including diversity of thought, generational, disability, personality type and sexual orientation.

“As a result of the increased focus on diversity and inclusivity, the event and meeting industry needs to adapt to changing times and welcome new talent and faces,” says Liang Zhao, CEO and founder of the events company Vansary, which works to bridge the gap between small businesses and corporate enterprises by creating virtual experiences that foster learning and connectivity. “We place a special emphasis on working with minority and women-owned businesses. We actively seek out organizations and communities to help foster communication. Organizers are now rethinking locations, marketing, messaging, channels, branding and food to help accommodate a more global and diverse audience.”

It is paramount that meeting and event organizers are cognizant of diversity because representation matters. “Events and conferences are highly visible,” Zhao says. “They draw international attention, and for many, it is a direct representation of an industry or topic. We, as event organizers, have a duty to our community, but also to the next generation to show young women and men that, regardless of their differences, they have role models before them that accomplished their dreams.”

According to Jumi Aluko, event planner at Jumi Aluko Consulting, the current business environment has become reflective of the current society at large. Messaging, products, services and content have all had to adapt to the shift in focusing on diversity and inclusion. “If businesses are not operating in a way that speaks genuinely about diversity and inclusion, people will take notice and speak on it,” Aluko says. “Because of this, the meetings and events industry needs to evolve to ensure that they are producing events that reflect the needs, wants and values of attendees.”

Deanna Nwosu, event planner and founder of Deanna Camille Events, says for many years there has been an initiative to focus more on diversity and inclusion; however, from her perspective, it has only really taken hold to boost the perception of the LGBTQ and Black, Indigenous, and People of Color communities. “This means we have signage and sponsorships regarding diversity, but I haven’t seen a concerted effort to make sure vendors are diverse, speakers are diverse, venues are diverse, etc.,” Nwosu says. “I believe as planners we need to shift and not think about diversity and inclusion solely from the lens of checking boxes, but are we open to things that are ‘unknown’ and ‘new’? Things like trying new ideas, reaching new audiences or including unknown speakers? In an attempt to minimize risk, I feel a lot of industry meetings, particularly, stick with what they know. But, if they’ll open themselves up to new ways of curating ideas and allow different people to be involved in decision making, I think that will result in a lot more ‘diversity of thought’ leading to natural inclusion of all.”

Nwosu says the main focus moving forward for diversity and inclusivity in events is ensuring supplier diversity and career advancement opportunities for minorities and other marginalized communities. “For example, it’s been known for years that, although women dominate the career of meeting and event planning — almost 75% — the ratio of women to men in upper management and executive roles pales in comparison,” Nwosu says. “Now that diversity and inclusion are high priorities for event industry leaders, top-down initiatives must be put in place to address inequities.”

Areas of Focus

As Aluko explains, if it’s not a focus, diverse groups beyond the usual may not feel they have a place in an event and ultimately won’t attend. “People are tired of seeing the same old people, content and messaging. They want to see new and unique events that speak to their respective life experiences and interests,” Aluko says. “They want to see things delivered in ways that meet them where they are — not that force them completely out of their comfort zone. If meetings and events don’t begin capturing this understanding, they will lose out.”

For example, when it comes to panelists, it’s important to be intentional about getting a diversity of individuals. Aluko suggests getting more people with minority backgrounds, more people of color, and racial and ethnic minorities who are underrepresented, so that each person who attends the meeting or event can say, “Hey, that person looks like me. We may have similar backgrounds. Let me attend and see what they have to say.”

Speaking of attendees, experts think the industry also has to do a better job of getting a more diverse mix of individuals to attend functions. As Aluko explains, one of the major barriers to attending events is often the price — certain groups, such as early career individuals and economically disadvantaged groups, sometimes get priced out of meetings and events, and these things become events only for the upper echelon. “The way we can work to reduce the cost to attendees is to reduce the expenses of productions, while also putting more effort into getting sponsorships and partnerships so that we aren’t trying to recoup money through ticket prices,” Aluko says.

When Aluko was younger, she wanted to attend certain meetings and events, but they were always incredibly expensive, so what did she do? She volunteered just so that she could be in the room — for free. “That may be another option — make more volunteer opportunities available and encourage economically disadvantaged groups to not only work the event, but to also create a schedule so they can attend the event as well,” Aluko says.

Nwosu also suggests that event organizers will need to be more proactive about diversity initiatives in the marketing and registration process. Do the photos on the event website represent multicultural attendees? Does the registration form ask about preferred pronouns? Similarly to how events are being made accessible to a variety of mental and physical abilities, meeting professionals need to consider the inclusivity aspect of welcoming people of various sexual and religious identities.

Annalisa Nash Fernandez, intercultural strategist at Because Culture, which focuses on cultural intelligence and cross-cultural strategy in technology and digital communication, says it’s critical to remember that when meeting planners choose what exactly to be diverse about, they are introducing a conscious bias by prioritizing values. Is gender more important for diversity than ethnicity? And do both exclude other values, like neurodiversity, and disability inclusion? Diversity of thought and experience should be the highest goal. Attack bias via culture, not color, she says. “Start seeding your event with the newest and best ideas,” Nash Fernandez says. “Fund scholarships for those people to attend, and the diversity will evolve naturally. But, until that effort matures, it’s simultaneously important to include that diversity at the highest event levels, so the newest human talent has allies and sees a path.”

Laura Manzano, founder and meeting planner at Manzano Hospitality, says the racial unrest this summer thrust diversity and inclusion into the national conversation. In a short amount of time, diversity and inclusion has become a top requested theme for keynote speaker selection and content planning. “At their core, meetings and events are an opportunity to connect, communicate and learn,” Manzano says. “With people coming together across cultures, geographies and professional backgrounds, a more diverse and inclusive environment can lead to a more enriching experience for a meeting or event.”

While diversity and inclusion are currently reflected prominently in keynote speaker selection, there are easy ways to proactively solicit diversity and inclusion in a more comprehensive way that weaves diversity and inclusivity into the fabric of a meeting or incentive. “Beyond getting the diversity and inclusivity conversation started, it can be integrated into a meeting and event process in an intentional way that ensures diversity and inclusivity throughout the life cycle of an event,” Manzano says. Beginning with the RFP process, clients can drive the D&I conversation by asking vendors at every level if they identify as a woman-owned business, a minority-owned business, an LGBTQ-owned business or a small business. The designations need not be mutually exclusive, and asking the question can heighten awareness, and help weave diversity and inclusivity into the fabric of an event.

The vendors involved in an event could also be asked to accept and pledge that their businesses are committed to such things as equal opportunity and equal pay, giving back to the local community, and community-specific social justice issues. “Much the same way businesses were able to reshape their practices to be green and restaurants embraced farm-to-table cuisine, meetings and incentives can lead the way to a more diverse and inclusive reality,” Manzano says.

At Manzano Hospitality, they focus on C-suite events. Executive events are often centered around thought leadership and the future of any given industry. “The CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion [pledge] already boasts 1,800 members,” Manzano says. “If a meeting planner needs a compelling reason for a company to adopt diversity and inclusive-friendly initiatives, they should look to this list to see who of their competitive set is already ahead of the curve on this topic.”

For Zhao, key metrics for defining diversity and inclusivity success include the diversity of speakers, attendees, company types and accessibility, including price point and time. Beyond the individuals and companies represented at the conference, Zhao, like Aluko, says one aspect of inclusion that organizers should be more thoughtful about is the price point. “Oftentimes, those who would benefit the most from access to conferences and events are the ones with the least number of resources in time and money,” Zhao says. “In order to build more inclusive events, we need to make access easier.”

For example, Money20/20 has always been a conference focused on the future of money, which has traditionally been a male-dominated industry. “This year, they have done a great job building an agenda with a diverse pool of speakers and were inclusive of age, gender, origin story, orientation, seniority level and topic,” Zhao says. “They also made the content accessible through different pricing tiers, with panels and networking free for limited registrants.”

Embracing Challenges

The first major challenge with ensuring meetings and events are diverse and inclusive is having the right people involved in planning the event. As a Nigerian-American event planner, Aluko is always taken aback at the lack of diversity in this field. “If there are not racial and ethnic minorities at the helm of planning, the event is already at a disadvantage when it comes to being diverse and inclusive,” Aluko says.

Another major challenge is establishing a thorough understanding among meeting and event planners about what it means to create a diverse and inclusive event. To overcome this, Aluko suggests that there needs to be more training and conversations. There needs to be post-event surveys completed by attendees that specifically address diversity and inclusivity so planners can use the feedback to improve their meetings.

Another challenge is budget. Budgets for producing meetings and events are already high. “The challenge becomes how can planners increase, or better yet, redistribute, funds to add the resources they need to ensure meetings are diverse,” Aluko says. “Resources include things such as a diversity and inclusivity consultant to work with throughout the planning process, and partnerships with local community organizations that can help with outreach to diverse communities, marketing, or for pre/post event programming.”

Nwosu says another big challenge is to get buy-in from stakeholders to focus on diversity initiatives and actually measure the results. “While individuals may not feel they treat anyone different based on their race, gender, religion, sexuality, etc., some fail to acknowledge that systemic racism is much bigger than any individual person,” Nwosu says. “Too often, those in leadership use a ‘do-nothing’ strategy expecting diversity to magically happen, but it doesn’t work that way.”

Learning From Mistakes

The biggest mistake Aluko sees being made as it relates to diversity and inclusivity is the unbalanced focus on ability and personal characteristics, and not enough on culture and race. For example, as Aluko explains, the conversations around diversity and inclusivity have brought us to the point where we ensure there are gender-neutral bathrooms, lactation/mother rooms, disability access, prayer rooms, etc., but we need to extend this conversation even further. “The focus on diversity and inclusion needs to start when you conceive of the idea or purpose of the event or are re-visiting the previous year’s event,” Aluko says. “It needs to be intertwined in your messaging, marketing, and event or meeting promotion.”

There isn’t a one-size-fits-all remedy to fixing diversity and inclusion in meetings and events, or any industry. However, as Manzano says, at this moment in time, when conscious choices matter, addressing diversity and inclusivity should be an intentional choice. What’s more, we as humans fundamentally stick with what we know, the same goes for our networking. Building an event is challenging enough, and to have additional metrics beyond qualification as a part of the agenda and marketing methodology only adds to the amount of work needed for a successful event. “Organizers should seek strategic partnerships with organizations related to the specific conference, especially nonprofit organizations,” Zhao says. “They have readily available knowledge of diverse speakers and a pre-built mailing distribution network for event promotion. They also have a team with their own network that can help add tremendous value.”

A Positive Outlook

Diversity in meetings and events is rooted in diverse ideas. As Nash Fernandez explains, meeting planners need to move beyond the superficial layer of diverse appearance to be inclusive on an ideological level, which is where the opportunity for thought and experience diversity, and ultimately innovation, lies.

Manzano suggests aiming for a broader consciousness that informs choices at every level in the meeting and events industry. “Green meetings and farm-to-table cuisine are the standard now. Plastic water bottles are out, hotel guests must choose to opt in for daily linen service, apps have replaced or greatly reduced printed conference materials,” Manzano says. “We can look forward to a time when meetings and events more accurately reflect the tapestry of the people who make up this industry. Start by asking a simple question: Does your company have a strategic plan surrounding diversity and inclusion, and can you tell me about it?”

Nwosu would love to see greater diversity within the hospitality sector. While the entry-level staff are very diverse, those in supervisory and management positions are not. “I hope that more training initiatives are created to help promote from within and offer more opportunities to those who are capable and may not even realize it,” Nwosu says.

Implementation of an authentic and balanced diversity, and inclusivity strategy, in the meetings industry can definitely be accomplished if planners accept the fact that integrating the concepts of diversity and inclusivity is not just something they check off on their multiple page checklist, but, rather something that needs to be thoroughly understood. “There needs to be transparency in conversation and training by skilled diversity and inclusivity professionals for all planners who plan meetings and events,” Aluko says. “We all need to be on the same page about what diversity and inclusion truly mean, and be intentional about implementing a balanced amount of both.” C&IT

 

 

Like so many professionals in the events and hospitality industries, planners are trying to find their footing in the new reality that took hold this spring. The most fortunate have been retained by their companies to handle virtual or hybrid events, although in many cases on reduced hours. The less fortunate have been temporarily furloughed or simply let go, and find themselves facing a highly competitive job market where event planners are in low demand.

Hurdles to Overcome

As difficult as the job search can be, it is typically not the first hurdle. The immediate challenge is emotional, particularly for planners who are passionate about the profession and consider it part of their identity. “The emotional distress that people feel when they’ve lost what they like or just lost what they know is profound, and it’s normal,” says career development expert Helen Horyza, author of the recently released book “Elevate Your Career” and founder of Career Coach Entrepreneur Academy. Horyza, who is currently working with several professionals whose careers have been disrupted by COVID-19, maintains that once the anxiety and resentment are acknowledged as normal, “you can calm down enough to start making some of those rational, strategic decisions that are really going to make a difference.” Calming down includes letting go of the resentment, which can compromise the positive attitude one needs in the job market. “You are justifiably upset. In this roulette wheel of who’s going to get nailed, you got nailed. That’s really hard. Having said that, anybody who wallows in that victim perspective will not do well psychologically,” she advises. “They pay the biggest price for being focused on how unfair this is. So take the biggest dose of self-responsibility and take control of your life. Those planners who take a positive attitude are your leaders, and they’ll help others get out of this.”

Indeed, Horyza recommends helping others as a means of stress management during the job search. “Job seekers who spend a little time volunteering or taking care of somebody else will feel better about themselves,” she says. Planners, who specialize in bringing people together, themselves have always been a very close-knit group of professionals. And that community is an invaluable resource for the many who are struggling to reestablish their careers. In addition, it helps with stress management, as these planners will feel less alone in their circumstances.

Catherine McKenna, CMP, CMM, executive innovator at her own events company, CMK Solutions, has found solace during this trying time by ramping up her efforts to connect with colleagues and others in her circle. “The simple things have become the highest focus for me, sending letters and digital notes such as ‘Way to Go’ and ‘Thinking of You!’ and creating a series of weekly communications that I can share to keep people connected,” she says. McKenna has even rediscovered the forgotten art of writing letters. “I’ve had these amazing correspondences with old school letters with a number of people along with the texts and emails.”

McKenna had a contract position as a planner with KPMG that ended in 2019. The last event she planned took place within the first two months of 2020. “It’s been a sobering, humbling experience,” she says. “I’m really lucky [in that] I’m actually an essential worker right now. I work for Abbott Labs and put together the COVID-19 test kits, which isn’t where I want to end up, but it’s been really interesting.” In the meantime, she continues to seek both full-time and contractual planning opportunities. “The events and planning side is really where my passion is,” she says.

Given her penchant for highly personal communications, McKenna takes a similar approach in her cover letters by adding a visual element. “When I’m being introduced to somebody I embed a video into my cover letter so they can click it and see me introducing myself,” she says. “You have to bring yourself to life. I started doing that at KPMG when I was dealing with partners and their executive team.”

Such an approach can make a job candidate stand out in what is quite a large crowd of planners seeking work. Companies who receive scores of applications often use applicant tracking system (ATS) software used to scan resumes.

Kim Hentges, CMP, who was furloughed from her position on Aug. 1 as event manager for IntelliCentrics Inc. and was recently rehired as a project manager, advises that “approximately 70% of resumes go through this type of software first, [so] you should use a simple generic template with no formatting. Formatting may disrupt the score the software assigns to your resume. For each position, provide a few sentences describing your role and then add bullets to highlight your accomplishments. Utilize both hard and soft skills.”

Use Available Tools

In addition, Hentges has found a couple of tech tools quite useful in the resume-writing process, TagCrowd and Grammarly. The former is a web application for “visualizing word frequencies in any text by creating what is popularly known as a word cloud, text cloud or tag cloud. Utilize this tool to insert a job description to determine keywords [buzzwords] that should be used in your resume to ‘match’ the job posting,” she suggests. “Grammarly is a writing assistant to improve your writing style by making it more appealing and effective. There is a ‘free’ basic version.”

Unfortunately, planners with excellent resumes who follow all these tips still face a low probability of finding a full-time planning position in the current market. Part-time, freelance and temporary positions are significantly more attainable, and networking is an invaluable resource in landing these roles. “I participated in an industry webinar that mentioned becoming a freelancer [entrepreneur] could very well be the job of the [near] future,” Hentges says. “A CMO that I worked for at a previous employer reached out to me through LinkedIn to inquire if I was available and interested in assisting with a temporary project-management opportunity. She had left that employer a while back and had started her own consulting company. We had a conversation that afternoon. I received the contract that evening and started on the project the next morning. Networking is powerful, and typically the key to getting your resume in front of the right hiring person.”

While planners who have had full-time employment will naturally regard contract work as less than ideal, it is at least a means of staying in the industry. “I worked hard to get my CMP and my CEM. I just don’t want somebody to tell me I have to throw this all away,” says Tammy Port, CMP, CMM, DES, who had been part of the events team at a retail corporation for over eight years. “At the time of my furlough [ in late May 2020], it was decided that the annual meeting was likely going to need to be a virtual event. They took a look at my position and didn’t see a need for my services within the next year, and that was the deciding factor,” she says. “I think the assumption a lot of times with virtual events is that they’re easier and don’t require as many people coordinating them.” In order to continue utilizing her planning skillset, Port decided to begin doing contract work. “I’ve been working with a local production company to assist them for doing tech support for their virtual events,” she says. “I have another colleague with the National Diamond Council who’s doing virtual events and needed assistance with getting people registered and sending out communications. And then I’ve also been doing technical support for Pathable. So that’s keeping me busy.”

Although contract work siphons time away from the search for a full-time position, that work can be a source of leads and thus ultimately conducive to the job search. “People want to hire someone they know and that they trust,” Horyza says. “And so your event planners that are out there consulting are building their reputations.”

Find Another Passion

Depending on their economic situation and degree of luck in the search for planning work, some planners may feel it is time to transition into another field. A vital first step in this direction is to consider the aspects of planning that were most fulfilling, in order to look for some of those same qualities in a different profession. For example, many planners enjoy directly experiencing client satisfaction. “When a program runs and you see the enjoyment and the satisfaction on people’s faces, you see the interaction that happens, it’s awesome,” McKenna says.

Jobs that involve a humanitarian aspect and “some degree of unpredictability” may also pique planners’ interest, Horyza says. Planners considering a new career “would be wise to do what I call a creative pivot, which is to take a look at what you do well and what you love, and see if there is a way for you to modify that to make some money or maybe start over.” Regarding what they do well, planners have plenty of transferable skills and qualities. “Some to consider include contracting, negotiation, vendor management, leadership, project management, financial accountability, teamwork, problem-solving, building and maintaining client relationships and, of course, adaptability,” Hentges says.

Shannon Guggenheim, who has a reduced-hours position as vice president of meetings & events at EventLink International, adds a few others to that list: “Good meeting planners are wicked organized, which can transfer into almost any other field. Planners are also skilled at handling high-stress environments, dealing with multiple stakeholders and handling budgets of all sizes.”

Project management transfers to a variety of jobs that include managing complex projects beyond events. “They also might really like helping people under pressure and might look at something like going into coaching of some sort,” Horyza says. Given planners are used to high-stress situations, “I also think it might be interesting for them to transfer to some emergency management kinds of jobs,” she adds. Planners also tend to be empathetic individuals. They care about their attendees and the destination’s community, often conducting corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives. As such, they may be interested in elder care. “I see some of our hospitality folks working with elders, which I’ve done since 2008,” McKenna says. “There are a lot of senior communities, and it’s an enormous business.”

Invest in Yourself

Job-seeking planners with some extra time on their hands may also find it worthwhile to invest in continuing education. When the industry recovers, they’ll be even better prepared to land a new position. Perhaps it’s the ideal time to pursue a CMP or CMM, or seek education on certain topical issues in planning. For example, as virtual and hybrid meetings are the wave of the future, it’s a wise choice to gain education in this area. “PCMA has offered the Digital Event Strategist for a while. I’ve sort of had my eye on it, but I’ve never felt the need to invest in it because virtual is ‘nice to have’ but not ‘have to have,’” Port explains. “But when things were taking a heavy turn to virtual, I decided to pull the trigger and go through that course. So, that’s one thing I did while I was furloughed.” Along with several webinars on virtual and hybrid meetings, Guggenheim has also sought continuing education in another timely topic: Negotiating contracts with more sensitivity to cancellation clauses and pandemics such as force majeure.

Some have also found value in continuing education that is not specific to planning, such as various courses offered at local colleges. These institutions offer numerous “industry-recognized certificate series and certification preparation training programs in information technology, management, administrative, finance, logistics, health sciences, education, creative, entrepreneurial and service career fields,” Hentges says. “Many of the courses are online, self-paced based on a specific time frame, and the cost is reasonable.” One potential pitfall in this area is investing in a costly advanced degree “without a clear sense of what you’re going to do with it,” says Horyza, who shares anecdotal evidence of event planners enrolling in MBA programs without specific careers in mind. Similarly, “you would never allow an event planner to plan a big, expensive event and not have any idea of what the objective is,” she points out.

Despite the multiple transferable skills in meeting planning and the many education options that can help one transition to a new career, a planner will understandably prefer to reset his or her meetings career. After all, that’s where their passion and core skillset lies. Resetting may mean a long period of sparse contract work, job hunting, networking and continuing education — particularly in hybrid best practices and technology. But many are doing so with optimism about the return of face-to-face meetings. “When people are comfortable with traveling, the floodgates will open at once. It will be a tremendous opportunity for project leaders [planners and events specialists] to engage,” McKenna says.

The consensus is that the unleashed demand will come with some changes in how meetings are conducted, such as increased use of the hybrid format since many attendees have become used to virtual participation. And there may well be some lingering pandemic-era practices in the face-to-face component. “I do think meetings in person will come back in force once we are past this pandemic,” Guggenheim says. “However, I think in-person meetings will be forever changed — e.g., no more buffets, emphasis on cleanliness, smaller groups, etc. I think meeting planners will have to learn and be prepared for this ‘new’ way to do meetings.” A revamped meetings industry is thus on the horizon, and with it, new opportunities for planners who are currently preparing for that future.

Use LinkedIn Like a Pro

Kim Hentges, CMP, a longtime corporate planner who was on furlough but then rehired as a project manager, shares tips on optimizing one’s usage of LinkedIn. The basics are (1) having a profile with an appropriate photo, and (2) utilizing all the features LinkedIn has to offer.

• Search for your next job by title, skill or company.

• Pay the monthly premium service, which provides benefits such as five InMails per month, see who’s viewed your profile, job insights, LinkedIn Learning and more.

• Gain access to LinkedIn Learning to “up-skill,” which can be essential in finding that next career adventure. After completing each course, a badge can be posted in your profile’s Certification section acknowledging this achievement.

• Be sure to update the Skills — you can have up to 50 — and Endorsement section applicable to the career you are pursuing. The first three skills mentioned should be the top skills associated with the position you are seeking.

• Have colleagues provide testimonials in the Recommendation section.

• Utilize the Interest section with influencers, companies and schools you want to follow. Focus on groups relevant to your career choice. Your network includes your first-, second- and third-degree connections, as well as the members of your groups. C&IT

 

 

 

As the executive editor and producer of “The Luxe List,” Kern is an internationally regarded brand analyst, strategist and futurist. As a prolific branding and marketplace trends pundit, Kern spotlights noteworthy industry innovators, change makers, movers and shakers. Experts, brands, products, services, destinations and events across all categories are spotlighted in her exclusive cross-media platform through print and online publications, TV and radio. Connect with her at TheLuxeList.com, on Instagram at LuxeListReviews, on Twitter at LuxeListEditor, on Facebook at TheLuxeList and on LinkedIn at Merilee Kern.

The September 11th attacks. The Great Recession. The COVID-19 pandemic.

All three of these seismic and tragic events have resulted in heartbreak to humanity, including loss of life and our emotional well-being. Of course, accompanying these global crises were monetary meltdowns reminiscent of the Great Depression that commenced in 1929 and lingered until the late 1930s.

After a “relatively” calm 70 years, the United States economy has suffered three devastating developments inside the last two decades, alone. There have been wars fought throughout the world and inflation escalations along the way, but the start to the 21st century has suffered escalating and unusually concentrated economic calamities — some that have profoundly altered the very fabric of our lives, both personally and professionally.

Indeed, on the meetings, travel, tourism, hospitality, and food and beverage industry front, such periods have been among the most trying of times. Amid current circumstances as the coronavirus rages on around the globe, I recently connected with internationally renowned business restructuring executive James “Jim” Martin, founder of ACM Capital Partners with offices in Charlotte, Denver and Miami. Having spent the last three decades leading international middle-market companies through periods of distress and transition to actualize stability and growth, Martin is uniquely well-positioned to share insights on how meetings, tourism and hospitality sector companies can rally to best assure a “COVID comeback”. Here’s what he had to say.

A Strategic Pivot 

MK: First, before addressing the current coronavirus situation, what can you tell us about how you’ve helped companies navigate previous “rough waters”?

JM: Relative to the September 11th attacks back in 2001, I’ll share a representative example of a strategic pivot that didn’t just help a company survive, but actually drove profit. After that horrendous event, I stepped in to assist a large aviation maintenance repair-and-overhaul facility whose revenue had been cut fully in half immediately following the attacks — the result of many carriers permanently parking older aircraft (including the 727 fleet). The sizable challenge presented was to maintain a 1,000-person labor force while allowing the industry the necessary time to recover. To do so, we created a captive subcontracting company to which we transferred one-third of our labor force. During our troughs, we contracted this labor to our competitors and, during peak periods, we utilized this labor for ourselves. Thus, not only were we able to retain our skilled, well-oriented labor force during the recovery, but that very staff actually provided additional, supplemental profit.

Less than a decade after 9/11, amid The Great Recession in 2008, I entered another industry that proved to be among the most brutalized by a global economic downturn: automotive supply. My client was a key supplier to the “Big 3” U.S. auto manufacturers.

At the start of 2008, the industry forecast was the production of 18 million vehicles in North America. Come summer, however, it was clear the automakers would not come near reaching that forecast due to the financial crisis. This did not come as a complete surprise to us, though, because — amid our firm’s protocols — we had already fully immersed ourselves in our client’s industry and employed forecasting tools alerting us of trends . . . this one in the wrong direction. So, we were privy to the situation well before management and others within the industry. By late June 2008, we instituted cost-cutting maneuvers and furloughs that enabled the company to withstand the industry’s brutal second half of ’08 that would result in two of the “Big 3” automakers filing for Chapter 11. Despite the industry producing less than half of its original vehicle-production forecast, our client not only survived, but ultimately grew and prospered.

Surviving the Pandemic

MK: Turning attentions to COVID-19, what do you feel is integral for businesses to survive and recover?

JM: For businesses to recover from the coronavirus shutdown, it’s going to take a two-pronged approach: both financial and human capital. Starting with the financial, it will be a “loan-ly” world for those not well-versed in the intricacies of SBA, PPP and other “economic disaster” lending. Consider how expeditiously those programs were rolled out. Then consider how even more quickly they were scooped up. Did anyone really read those loan documents in full, or even halfway through, initially — or even to this day?

My guess is at least half of the companies receiving COVID-related loans took a very “CliffsNotes” approach to these agreements. The result is there’s a solid chance funds were used incorrectly, which is going to make a lot of the loans, shall we say, less “forgivable.” For example, if your company’s payroll roster is shorter today than it was pre-virus, the portion of the loans forgiven is likely to be less.

And while your mind may rush to claiming ignorance and throwing yourself upon the mercy of the government to which you already pay taxes, realize that third-party capital is likely to participate in this market through securitization. This means that thousands of SBA loans could be bought, then packaged to be sold to the secondary market, at a discounted rate, no less. If this happens, understand that the purchasers will have the full intention of holding their borrowers (i.e. small business owners) to paying back 100 cents on the dollar.

So, those companies who received loans and are required, but unable, to pay them back in full may be exposed to either foreclosure or, worse, a “loan to own” scenario. In other words, much like the agreement that comes with your big-tech user agreements, like those prompting users to “click agree,” the fine print matters.

What this means to recovery is that, once again, cash is king: gather it, preserve it, cease lines of credit, liquidate what you can, negotiate costs down with suppliers. And if your company had a healthy bottom line pre-COVID, then a professional familiar with these trenches can help you look to refinance or bring in equity.

With all of that said, the key to a COVID-19 recovery is going to be adhering to the rules of a lender’s road, as well as the ability to navigate the red tape when you veer off that road. If you have read all the fine print and properly managed your loan, congratulations! You’ve acquired some really cheap capital. For those who didn’t do their research, however, this road to recovery likely will need some paving.

Handling ‘Human Capital’

MK: What about the human capital you mentioned?

JM: Yes, and then we arrive at the human capital. Lots of companies today are excessively top-heavy. Companies that quickly recognize cuts need to be made will be better positioned to recover than those who dawdle. Again, compiling and preserving cash is going to best position a business for recovery.

This is an instance where it’s especially beneficial to know when to pull triggers (best if earlier than others) and to make decisions that are not based on emotions. However it’s undertaken, what’s certain is that reducing human capital is painful, but it is also often necessary and almost always beneficial.

Seek a Turnaround Expert

MK: Tell us a bit about your role as a turnaround expert when turmoil strikes a business.

JM: During times of difficulty, owners and executives can greatly benefit from specialized knowledge that’ll help them best navigate those unchartered waters that are often entangled in a lot of red tape. So, turnaround experts bring to the table a litany of tried-and-true “been there, weathered that” experience and expertise. It takes this kind of specialized expertise, experience and grit to lead companies through periods of distress and transition, to stability and growth.

No stranger to corporate chaos, during Martin’s own three decades as a globally regarded turnaround expert, he has reportedly created and restored nearly $1.5 billion in value to lower middle-market companies; raised an additional $1 billion in capital; and managed mergers and acquisitions in excess of $500 million — all collectively representing his company restructuring portfolio valuation in excess of $3 billion.

Today, as the coronavirus continues to wreak havoc on business operations far and wide, take heed that there are various key strategic and creative tactics that can help businesses not only weather the storm, but even emerge stronger and more financially secure on the other side. C&IT

 

 

Deborah S. Fell is a Chief Outsiders CMO and results-generating, strategic marketing and growth executive based in Washington, D.C. She helps large and small B2B and B2C organizations clarify positioning, turn around mature brands and create critical foundations for new brands to drive revenue and share. With a passion for listening to the customer and leveraging insights, market analysis, experience and instincts, she helps clients sharpen strategies and gain traction on a new road map for growth. Visit ChiefOutsiders.com.

At some point in history, when the first caveman took on a business partner for their fledgling wheel manufacturing business, it became necessary for them to complete a business plan.

After all, how would our cave-bound friends decide who was responsible for construction, supply chain, sales and marketing, and testing?

We can only hope that in those simpler times, business planning consisted of a couple of grunts and a handshake. Today, the business planning cycle has taken on a life of its own. Except for the grunts, pretty much the entire process has been transformed into a rigorous set of meetings, a forest’s worth of documentation, and enough headaches to cause a measurable spike in Advil sales in your locality.

What started as a way to make a business more efficient  has instead become a life-sucking logjam laden with unclear metrics, disconnected statistics, budget and staffing arguments — and a final deliverable that hardly anyone is convinced is actually reflective of your business realities.

Strategy Without Execution is Hallucination

Strategy without execution happens in the best of business environments all the time. Don’t worry — there are meaningful solutions to stale business planning that you can adopt today.

Here are five such ideas that I have found can support true, real and insightful planning, and perhaps reduce your company’s reliance on pain relievers:

Focus on the Customer — Instead of Yourself

When developing your business plan, put your focus on the customer first, instead of how the customer fits into your company’s strategy. How can you get your product or service into your customer’s lives and meet his or her needs? When your focus is on the customer, it’s easier to see what you need to stop doing as well, so you can spend your valuable resources on making necessary changes.

By the way, the shifting, digitally charged marketplace has changed the way your B2B customer picks their vendors — by the time you make first contact, they are, on average, 57% of the way through the decision-making process. On the B2C side of things, consumers are bombarded with thousands of messages each day. Your brand, its messaging and its products need to resonate deeply to have impact in a cluttered world.

“If You Want Something New, You Have to Stop Doing Something Old.”— Peter F. Drucker

Challenge your team to bring deep, resonant insights about your customers to the planning table, to ensure your plan glows brightly with these findings. If the voice of the customer is not the centerpiece of your plan, you may be missing an opportunity to create fans and deeper brand connections.

“Insights are like big fish. If you want to catch little fish, you can stay in the shallow water. But if you want to catch big fish, you’ve got to go deeper . . . ”

Understand Your Competitors More Deeply

There is a tendency to focus on what competitors have done or are doing, including how many staff members they have, what percentage of the market share they possess, and other pieces of data that you think you can quickly and easily use to chalk them up against your own company’s performance.

This may have been acceptable in the past, but the process has changed, and the future is no longer predictable when looking in the rearview mirror. Add a new question into your planning process, and ask your team about it all year long: “If you were your competitors, what would you be doing to beat you?” The fact is you are either disrupting or being disrupted.

Engage a Cross-Functional Team, and Hold Them Accountable Throughout the Year

If you actually want to bring your plan to life and accomplish your goals, this needs to be more than a once-a-year exercise (as many plans are). And, if your departments are left to plan and operate in a silo, you will spend time and money in planning and execution for far less results, than if you instead focus on ensuring collaboration and integration.

The planning journey can begin at any time during the year. Your marketing leader — or a professional marketing consultant who has expertise in leading planning sessions — should facilitate planning and support you in your efforts to keep the team energized.

No single department should come to the budget table and then subsequently head off to do their own thing. Marketing in particular should be representing the voice of the customer, and should insist on playing a key role in fostering the brand experience.

Make Sure Every Single Member of Your Team is Invested in Your Company’s Growth Vision and Goals

All of your closest stakeholders and partners — both internal and external — should have visibility into your business plans, and they should see how the work they do fits into and contributes to the outcome. Make this a continuous part of your process throughout the year.

In a recent Harvard Business Review article, the authors note that only half of the executive team understands how priorities and initiatives fit together — a number that drops to 15% if you talk to the teams that manage the front line. Make sure you’re clear that the “secret sauce” is inspired, excellent execution. Competitors may be able to copy your playbook, but excellence and integration in execution is differentiated, because so few even focus on it.

Execute, Communicate, Update and Adjust (and Repeat)

Flawless execution may be an impossible goal, and it’s likely not even what customers care about. They want the intention along with honesty and authenticity; transparency and trust. They want their problems to go away, and their dreams to come true. They want new things to work from the start, and they want the broken things fixed. If you can do half of that, customers will love you and forgive your imperfections.

Funny enough, these are all the same things your team wants: timely and honest communication of the status, accomplishments and failures of the plan. It lets the team know leadership is purposeful, and that the work they do is designed in as part of this purpose. It lets them know that they are spending most of their waking hours in support of something that matters. When the team trusts in — and is inspired by — the CEO, and when leaders talk not just about wins, but failures, employees become not only engaged, but fired up.

“Strategy is a commodity, execution is an art.”— Peter F. Drucker

While strategy is by no means a commodity, inspired, excellent execution is rare. If your plan has unintentionally involved too many of the big blunders above, and remains a dusty document, burn it publicly at your next town hall. Just kidding — but do dust it off early in the New Year and begin a market-based focus.

Here, you can develop deep, relevant insights about your customers, employ a bold strategic focus on the priority markets and products/services, and bring it to life with a strong execution plan. No matter what the time of year or where you are in your business cycle, there is no time like now to have a robust, actionable “Plan for Growth,” driven by a fired-up team.

It’s time to leave the Cro-Magnon era behind. C&IT

 

 

Mark Roberts serves as PGi’s CMO. He is responsible for all marketing operations worldwide, driving growth opportunities and building brand recognition for the company within the communications market. A proven marketing leader, Roberts has more than 25 years of experience in the technology industry building brands, driving demand and transforming high-tech companies. Visit PGi.com.

Many are starting to ask themselves if in-person events and trade shows that went virtual amid the COVID-19 pandemic will remain virtual in the near future. We believe that the short answer is yes, which augurs well for organizations looking to forge a new kind of relationship with their customers.

A survey conducted for PGi by The Harris Poll found that more than half (54%) of employed Americans now working at home due to COVID-19 are not comfortable going to large, in-person work-related conferences or events this year. Given the uncertainty surrounding the virus, the unwillingness to attend in-person events should come as no surprise.

People who, until now, had limited dealings with technology have forged a new relationship with online meetings. The Harris Poll found teams can be just as productive working from home as they can be in the office, which gives organizations pause when it comes to deciding how and when to bring their teams back in person.

Still, they know they cannot skip the collaboration and networking — two of the opportunities conferences and events afford attendees.

 Virtual Events are Here to Stay

Planners have long looked to stage virtual events, but there has not been widespread adoption — until now.

While the pandemic provided the impetus for organizations to transition their physical events into digital experiences, these virtual events will remain a permanent part of the landscape long after COVID-19. While they made the leap out of necessity, many companies quickly found virtual events to be at least as compelling and engaging as in-person events, if not more so — and achieve a bigger attendance.

Many organizations say that even when most people feel comfortable traveling again, events will take on a hybrid format. Some aspects of a show, such as exhibitor presentations, keynote speeches or maybe even networking gatherings, will remain virtual.

But, even if events transition to the hybrid approach, the in-person elements are likely to be more intimate with fewer attendees, in an effort to enforce social distancing and other pandemic-inspired best practices.

These tactics offer two primary benefits, while potentially reaching a broader base of attendees. First, it allows companies to target those who are uncomfortable with the idea of being around so many people and who may, therefore, be reluctant to attend. Second, it allows event holders to involve those who cannot travel because of budget considerations, which adds benefit to making them feel included.

A New Way to Market

Organizations can use virtual gatherings to collect in-depth data about their attendees and increase ROI and attendance. Deploying a questionnaire on the front end, for example, provides the opportunity to collect data on recipients, which sales teams and marketers can (and should) use post-event to tailor follow-up efforts.

Additionally, digital events are often more scalable and can quickly grow with an organization. Organizations unsure about how to proceed can immediately book a smaller event to build their confidence and comfort level.

It also means that, should the landscape change in six months or a year, virtual events can be used in conjunction with an in-person event even if people feel comfortable attending. The reality is that a portion of the population will remain reticent to travel even once the virus is manageable or a vaccine is developed, and companies should keep those concerns in mind as they look to plan their events for the next 12 to 24 months.

A Renewed Focus on Content

Producing a virtual meeting isn’t just about setting up a camera and hoping it goes according to plan. It doesn’t require reinventing the wheel, but it does require organizations to look differently at how they communicate.

Like an in-person event, virtual gatherings need advanced planning and close attention to detail, including developing information for attendees and an agenda to lock down third-party speakers, thought leaders and experts.

Because of the nature of a digital event, much of the content can be created in advance, including recording presentations. The opportunity for companies is to use this reality to their advantage, including adding more personality to recordings and taking the time to perfect the message.

And this opens up additional opportunities for presenters. Because virtual events do not have the interplay between presenters and the audience, presentations should be produced with engagement in mind. For example, include thought-provoking questions to entice attendees to join a live Q&A on social channels or use the chat functionality within the meeting software.

If done correctly, presenters can interact with attendees to bring their information to life in a more direct way that couldn’t be done in person.

A Rethinking of Goals

A well-done virtual event shouldn’t be quicker or easier than an in-person gathering. Much like an in-person event, one should take the time to define the goals, then create a program around those goals.

As part of the planning, critically look at an event through the eyes of the audience. Consider how they would engage, how the agenda flows and whether the sessions are engaging and worth experiencing.

It also necessitates laying the groundwork for success before the event. Once planned, set aside time to properly prepare, so everyone involved, including the speakers and the team members managing the technology, knows their role and the event itself proceeds as planned.

What the world is seeing amid the pandemic is a public that is changing how it interacts with companies — both their own and others. Many organizations are worried about how they will operate in the “Next Normal” that is beginning to emerge.

They must shift their thinking to maintain their relevance among their audiences and, to accomplish this, they must revisit their mission. They will be forced to reckon with how they interact with their customers, and a virtual event may give them the push to take action they might not otherwise consider.

Making it Long-Lasting

Any event should strengthen existing relationships and forge new ones. To accomplish this, consider in advance the post-event steps and how to launch them to avoid losing momentum. Astute organizations use advanced analytics to measure success and gain actionable insights into how attendees engage with their brand. They can use these insights to hone their approach moving forward.

They can also create content based on an event and archive it on a microsite to re-engage post-event with attendees and reach new audiences who could not participate.

Virtual events provide the opportunity to deliver a more immersive experience for attendees. Organizations can use them as a springboard to create ongoing content that builds a stronger sense of community. C&IT

 

Since the pandemic shutdown hit in early spring, there were nearly no corporate and incentive travel meetings, and corporate and incentive travel continues to be suppressed. In addition, the few people who are traveling, and may have previously stayed in downtown for the hustle and bustle of exploring a city, are now typically staying closer to an outlying headquarters where they are closer to their key clients and are less apt to explore.

This is causing havoc on convention and visitors bureaus (CVBs) and destination marketing organizations (DMOs), as the tourism organizations are finding fewer people coming into their cities and fewer meetings and events being planned. As the primary revenue stream for CVBs and DMOs are hotel bed taxes, these organizations have taken a severe hit. That’s why many are doing what they can to ensure they remain strong.

Early Stages

When the Meet Minneapolis Convention and Visitors Association (MMCVA) saw that COVID-19 was impacting its industry, leadership decided to do a “practice run” of everyone telecommuting. Now, many weeks later, staff members are fortunate enough to be able to work as a team remotely as they look to transition back to the office in late 2020. “From a broader perspective, we saw immediate postponement or cancellation of all meetings and events,” says Courtney Ries​, senior vice president of destination branding and strategy for Meet Minneapolis Convention & Visitors Association. “We immediately shifted to consultations with all of our meetings and events clients with proactive outreach, working with the most immediate ones first.” On the consumer leisure side, MMCVA created a campaign to help encourage community and support, and then an opportunity for people to explore Minneapolis from the safety of their home.

George Aguel, president and CEO of Visit Orlando, notes like many CVBs across the country, the company responded with a temporary restructuring of its organization. “We remain focused on enhanced communication efforts on the destination’s current recovery status and keeping Orlando top of mind for future business,” says Aguel, who recently announced his retirement. “This includes hosting webinars to speak on industry trends, virtual tours and site visits, and regular planner communication through our e-newsletters and LinkedIn posts.”

Stephanie Turner, senior vice president of convention sales & strategies for New Orleans & Company, says they have been impacted in similar ways that many businesses across the U.S. have and, while staff is working from home, they have successfully learned to adapt to new technologies that allow everyone to work collaboratively with colleagues, customers and the hospitality community. “We understand the COVID-19 landscape is ever changing, which requires adaptability and a strong resolve to remain focused on planning and preparation for the return of the meetings industry on a large scale,” she says. “We have pivoted from primarily sales and services efforts to a consultative team approach that is laser-focused on providing our customers and hospitality partners with continual updates regarding the current state of the meetings industry in New Orleans, while building some of the most comprehensive tools available from any destination marketing organization.”

Lisa Anders, executive director of Explore Gwinnett, just northeast of Atlanta, says in mid-March, the DMO felt the immediate impact via dropping hotel occupancies, seeing lights out at entertainment venues and restaurants, and its thriving film and TV production world went on immediate pause. “We immediately implemented a budget and travel freeze,” she says. “We spent a lot of time reaching out to our partners locally — hotels, restaurants, venues — to educate them on relief packages, making connections, creating resource pages for our partners, etc. My sales team was busy rescheduling events that were pushed to 2021, or re-booking cancelled events at new venues. We’ve had to furlough staff, but everyone has done an extraordinary job taking on the additional responsibilities to ensure our clients and visitors don’t miss a beat.”

Claudia Vecchio, president and CEO of Sonoma County Tourism in California, says while the Sonoma County tourism industry has been significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the extraordinary spirit of resilience, tenacity and creativity is showcased every day in myriad ways, both large and small. “Almost no other destination has experienced the trials Sonoma County has had in the past three years,” she says. “While this crisis is different, our visitor-facing business owners, entrepreneurs, workers and other professionals have provided a number of ways for people to bring Sonoma County into their homes, and virtually convey the experiences that make this destination so special. This beautifully illustrates the spirit and ingenuity of travel.”

Jennifer Richards, vice president of group development at Sonoma County Tourism, explains that when the pandemic first started, the staff pivoted quickly to remote work and, despite an ever-changing environment with many uncertainties, they continue to work hard to serve Sonoma County as a destination. “In addition to budget and staffing changes, we’ve refocused our marketing efforts to our [local] drive markets,” Richards says. “Since we are located further from bigger cities where COVID-19 cases remain high, meeting planners are seeking open-air spaces that allow for outdoor activities and, fortunately, Sonoma County has many options. We also remain in close contact with our top meeting planners so they are aware of the available options in Sonoma County and ensure we are there for them for any future meetings.”

It Takes a Toll

Like most, New Orleans & Company has experienced significant cancellations in corporate and incentive business due to COVID-19 restrictions and travel bans and, as of late August, leisure business was the first segment that is seeing a return to the city.

At the lowest point, Minneapolis saw hotel occupancy around 3% with 30% of its supply taken offline with temporary closures. As of late summer, they were almost all back open, and occupancy reached about 20%. “We did have our first group at the Convention Center in August,” Ries says.

Aguel notes Orlando has taken a careful, measured approach to reopening. “Our local businesses have spent months working to establish enhanced safety measures and processes to protect their employees, and our visitors,” he says. “All of Orlando’s theme parks are back in operation, along with most of our smaller attractions, and 84% of our hotels have re-opened. As we enter this phased reopening, how quickly people resume travel will depend in large part on how we communicate new policies that establish a sense of confidence.”

Anders notes corporate travel, with some exceptions — Amazon, training businesses and some transient businesses — is essentially on pause until Q1 2021, for the most part. “But metro Atlanta is the hub of business, economy, high tech, convention business and real estate,” she says. “There’s a lot of pent up demand, but we do anticipate the recovery will be slow, but hopefully steady. It will also be impacted by the corporate decisions to allow all workers to work from home.”

Still, she admits there are a lot of unknown variables — spikes in cases, the election, etc. — that may move the needle one way or the other. “Currently, we are seeing daily incremental improvements in our hotel occupancies, but much of the growth is the leisure and social markets,” Anders says. “2021, we hope, will be the year of the return of our business travelers, as well as group business. I think we’ll see a positive trend in the first six months of the year, with incremental improvements to follow. They’ll be changes, no doubt, because of diminished meeting capacities and social distancing, as well as more working from home, but Atlanta is the city that never sleeps when it comes to business.”

John Schreiber, vice president of business sales for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA), notes with strict limitations on the number of people allowed to gather publicly as well as the temporary closure of its casino/resorts, much of the city’s corporate and incentive business has rescheduled or canceled. “In addition to the business that has rescheduled, we’ve heard anecdotally that, despite the current unprecedented situation, groups are continuing to book for future events,” he says. “The resorts in Las Vegas began to reopen during the summer and have continued reopening. As Las Vegas is preparing to get back to business, our resort partners across the destination are taking serious steps to ensure the best possible guest experience, including putting together their own individual health and safety plans and taking part in the LVCVA’s citywide ‘Vegas Smart’ campaign.”

Part of the “Vegas Smart” message is that while things may look a little different, they are confident attendees will still find the world-class, Only-in-Vegas experiences they’ve come to expect.

As of late summer, Sonoma County still did not have clear guidelines on how to reopen for meetings. “Of course, many event spaces have already prepared for reopening; but, without clear guidance on what restrictions will be placed, it is difficult for businesses to forecast budget, staffing, etc.,” Richards says. “Fortunately, small groups are likely to be the norm and our destination has many options for smaller groups looking to spread out in open-air spaces. Once the county guidelines are set for our destination, our event spaces are ready to make a quick turnaround to bring meetings to our destination.” It appears that now all Sonoma County hotels, and resorts are now allowed to reopen and are accepting reservations.

Getting Back on Track

Richards says the top priority for bringing back corporate and incentive meetings is safety and trust. “Market research shows that consumers are looking for destinations that take the health and safety of visitors seriously,” she says. “Also, many are looking for destinations with recreational outdoor activities, and Sonoma County has so many options, including kayaking, boat tours, zip lining, wine tastings/tours and hiking. Our businesses have quickly adapted their businesses to align with COVID-19 guidelines, from expanding sanitation practices, spacing out in-person appointments and requiring facial coverings. The continued dedication of the hospitality industry to be up to date with the latest safety guidelines will be the key to bringing back meetings.”

Turner notes New Orleans & Company is participating in meeting industry webinars to learn about what is happening nationally and globally, and be a part of the conversation that discusses how to successfully bring back meetings and conventions. “Our hospitality community is unified and has been at work creating comprehensive measures that support the return of safe and healthy travel,” she says. “Our focus has been on preparation for when the industry returns to hosting wide-spread meetings.”

A major area of development has been Louisiana House Bill 826, which is one of the first in the country that provides sweeping liability limitations from lawsuits relating to COVID-19, including protection for meeting planners, corporate and association planners, and trade show and convention organizers. While many feel the corporate and incentive travel segment will continue to be low in the months ahead, spreading far into 2021, there are ways that CVBs are preparing for those who do want to hold meetings.

The keys to making this happen is education — and making sure everyone feels safe. “Safety used to mean physically safe — what is the crime rate, do I feel comfortable walking around at night — but now it’s encompassing both physical and health safety,” Ries says. “Planners and attendees need to feel safe during all parts of the process — the flight, the hotel, the meeting; the dinner. All of those experiences are now potential risks, so it’s up to our businesses to not only limit those risks but also tell people about it. I won’t be surprised to sit down in a restaurant and alongside the logos of local farms to see the mark of the cleaning products they use.”

Visit Orlando is promoting that it is the summer home for all the remaining games for Major League Soccer and the NBA at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. “We have also utilized safety and social distancing measures, and temperature checks, successfully for two of the first events back at the Orange County Convention Center — AAU Jr. National Volleyball Championships and the Together Again Expo,” Aguel says. “Successfully hosting these events helped validate how the enhanced safety measures we adopted at our Convention Center met the expectations of safety and comfort expected from their attendees.”

Schreiber says a directive from the state of Nevada once again allowing gatherings of large groups will be key to bringing meetings and other special events back to Las Vegas. Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak recently issued a directive that sets a 1,000-person capacity limit on trade shows, conventions and conferences.

The LVCVA, as the DMO for Las Vegas, is tasked with keeping Las Vegas top-of-mind for all leisure and business visitors. “In the meantime, our No. 1 priority is keeping our guests, employees and community safe,” he says. “The team at the Las Vegas Convention Center as well as our property partners across the destination have been busy creating and implementing the policies, and procedures, that will allow show organizers, attendees and exhibitors to get back to business with confidence.” The DMO has established enhanced guidelines and best practices for cleaning, sanitization, health and safety across its campus, so when meetings and conventions can return, they’ll be ready.

Savvy Campaigns

Meet Minneapolis’ first campaign is focused on its local community. “Minneapolis has been impacted by a number of challenges but, through it all, our community has come together to support each other,” Ries says. “We want to continue to carry that message forward, particularly as it relates to our neighborhoods and the small businesses that are the fabric. To that end, we have been leading with ‘We Need Us’— Support the Small Businesses that Support Us Back.” On the meetings side, the organization has dramatically shifted its messaging. “Our print ads before would talk about our awesome walkability, incredible air service and other assets,” Ries says. “Now, we’re telling planners what they can expect on the ground here. More than ever, planners need that information conveyed frequently, and clearly, as the rules are changing all the time.”

Visit Orlando has been in regular contact with its planner clients, keeping them up to date on the destination re-opening and all the new and enhanced safety measures through webinars, social media on LinkedIn, updates through e-communications and its Meetings Matters newsletter, as well as personal outreach. “At VisitOrlando.com, we have a section dedicated to Healthy Travel and Reopening information that serves as a one-stop source for the latest information and safety measures,” Aguel says. “We have also developed the first-of-its-kind partnership with the Orange County Convention Center (OCCC) and Orlando Health, one of the leading health systems in Florida, to provide medical support and resources for planners hosting their event at the OCCC.”

Explore Gwinnett’s primary campaign, first and foremost, is to ensure client and visitor confidence in visiting and staying in Gwinnett County. “All of our hotels are participating in robust, corporate-led ‘Clean Stay’ programs with enhanced health and safety,” Anders says. “Additionally, we’ll be rolling out a pledge for the rest of the hospitality community, ‘Gather Safely in Gwinnett.’ In it, our attractions, venues and restaurants will also commit to enhanced measures to create confidence in the visitation experience while here.”

This year, the LVCVA recently announced that the Las Vegas Convention Center was awarded the GBAC STAR accreditation through the Global BioRisk Advisory Council. The program certifies that the facility is implementing the industry’s highest standards of cleaning, disinfection and infectious disease prevention for infectious agents such as COVID-19 and is the leading standard of prepared facilities. The LVCVA also has rolled out several new campaigns, including  the January launch of the “What Happens Here, Only Happens Here” campaign, which is the next evolution of the infamous “What Happens Here, Stays Here” campaign. “The LVCVA never stopped running spots, but we have changed the message, tone and even the timing of some campaign launches to reflect the current events of this year,” Schreiber says. “Over the summer, in conjunction with the reopening of our resorts, ‘The Light’ was launched to symbolically show the lights of our world-class resorts once again illuminating the iconic Las Vegas Strip.” These campaigns were in addition to the ‘Vegas Smart’ campaign launched when resorts began to open, which he notes, was created to “encourage visitors to stay smart, healthy and responsible while enjoying the destination.”

New Orleans & Company recently created “Welcoming You to New Orleans Safely,” a comprehensive resource that includes all the safety and cleanliness pages organized by category from its member hospitality community, in addition to the important resources. “Many new developments in the city continue to elevate the meeting experience,” Turner says. “The recent completion of the state-of-the-art airport terminal at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport offers an even higher capacity for handling large groups of passengers in a safe and clean environment with space for social distancing, thanks to more than 100 check-in counters and a consolidated security [TSA] checkpoint that stretches 17 lanes wide.” Additionally, the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center also was awarded the GBAC STAR accreditation.

Sonoma County Tourism created a “Safe Travels Promise” to show visitors and residents its commitment to health and safety in the county. “Many of our partners have posted this at their businesses or on their websites as a show of solidarity to this commitment,” Richards says. “Additionally, we’ve created a video to socialize this message. We continually share industry insights and updated guidelines to our partners to ensure they receive the most accurate information especially as the situation remains fluid and changing.”

In addition to the Safe Travels initiative, the organization has worked with event spaces to take professional photos of their meeting spaces with physical distancing guidelines in place. “We plan to expand this to other industries, including wineries and restaurants, so our planners have visuals of what safety and health protocols look like at our destination,” Richards says. “We are also working on a new meetings and incentives e-guide for our planners.”

Looking Ahead

As more states start to open up and more restrictions are lifted about gatherings, things are already looking better for some. “As a destination and an industry, we will continue to evolve and adapt to the new circumstances we are facing,” Aguel says. “Our sales team has been working closely with planners to re-book conventions and meetings through the remainder of 2020, into 2021 and beyond at the Orange County Convention Center, along with those that are still looking to make their plans beyond this period.” C&IT

 

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted every aspect of the hospitality industry, including how people regard food and beverage service. Once in-person and indoor dining and drinking becomes common again, planners will still face a new reality full of cautious attendees — at least for a little while — and altered expectations.

On the service side, safety is likely to still be at the top of everyone’s mind. “When you think about the food and beverage service, it’s always been about your quality of food, the service you’re able to provide and the location you’re at,” says Chad Lambie, national director of training and client experiences at HUNGRY, an office and events catering company. “Now, one of the biggest things people are concerned about is safety. That will become the new norm. Things people didn’t think about before, they’re paying attention to. They recognize if a server doesn’t wash their hands after they touch something contaminated. They notice if a server isn’t wearing gloves.”

Even the foods and drinks people want may be different. “We’re seeing a duality,” says Dewey Losasso, corporate executive chef of Bill Hansen Catering in Miami. Since the beginning of the crisis, most people have been sitting at home eating comfort food. Those heavy foods still sound appealing to many folks, “but people are getting more concerned about that COVID weight gain. And they have nothing to do, so they’re Googling ‘What’s healthy to eat during a pandemic?’” Because of that, many people are also interested in eating healthier and losing weight. These are just a few of the trends to watch for in a post-coronavirus world.

Is the Buffet Dead?

Most planners agree that the beloved buffet is long from dead. But it’s likely to be managed differently for a little while. “I think people still want buffets,” Lambie says. “There’s a social side to what everybody wants, and buffets represent that social interaction. I don’t think the old buffet will come back, where everyone can come back and touch the food, and pick at it.” What will take its place is served buffets, where staff places food on people’s plates.

Another thing that may become more common is service stations. Losasso has been doing a lot of “short plates” at social events since the pandemic started. “You assemble the food onto a complete, composed plate and hand it to the guest,” he said. “You’re being socially distant, and there’s a Plexiglas right in front of you, and you hand it off to them.”

Wolfgang Puck Catering has found chef stations to be very popular, and Mary Cline, regional director, catering sales, East Coast, thinks that will continue even post-pandemic. All of these high-touch options are an opportunity to show hospitality and give people a memorable experience, she notes. As chefs are serving, they can answer questions and discuss what they’re doing. They can explain to guests what is in the food, which can help address concerns about allergies and dietary preferences. “Instead of saying buffets are dead, we’re saying, ‘This is an opportunity to be in front of you and serve you,’” she says.

One thing that is likely to be coupled with the buffet for a long time is the Plexiglas shield. “Many rental companies have promoted their new buffet guards,” says Abby Borden, a freelance event producer and owner/principal of Table Set Go in Los Angeles. “The sneeze guard has always existed at a buffet in Vegas or at a hotel but, for events, we may have been more lenient about it in the past, favoring the openness of a grazing station. Once events do return, I anticipate everyone being much more conscious of food exposure and opting in for the guards.”

A Return to Fewer Packaged Items?

During the pandemic, it’s been very common to see food served in individually wrapped packages. Courtney Lohmann, CMP, director, corporate social responsibility for the event planning and destination management firm PRA, thinks it’s unlikely to continue after COVID. “I think everyone will want to return to more standard food operations,” she says. “There are increased costs and then more limitations on everything when [food] has to be in its own package.”

This return to excess packaging is a concern for companies committed to zero waste or reducing their carbon footprint. Lohmann hopes the temporary return to individually wrapped items will drive innovation and give companies an incentive to create truly sustainable packaging choices. “We already have several sustainable options — containers that are biodegradable or compostable — but if you don’t have a compost facility in your area, then these aren’t as helpful,” she points out. In the meantime, one way to decrease waste is to do pre-plated meals and have the caterer top them with reusable metal covers.

Borden can see some items continuing to be well-wrapped, though. “I think that this time has made the general public, our guests certainly more aware of how their food might be exposed,” she says. “I do see a likely move to the packaged hand-out item — like hot dogs at a baseball game, wrapped in foil — rather than the openly passed bruschetta or mini taco.”

Like buffets, bar service is likely to look different and be more staff-intensive post-pandemic. “Rather than have clients walk up to the bar, we’re putting extra staff on board and taking drink orders, and then our service staff goes to a bar that’s away from the guests and will bring them back to the guest,” says Bill Hansen, owner of Bill Hansen Catering. “The bars have Plexiglas and will continue to after COVID-19.”

Adds Lambie, “In the past, there was a lot of using the same glasses when re-pouring. Replacing glasses will become more important,” he says. “We’ve looked at doing pre-ordered drinks ahead of time so people aren’t waiting in a line at the bar.”

Cline thinks consumers will be comfortable normalizing bar service before they’re willing to go back to an unmanned buffet. But the modifications that many companies made during the outbreak are likely to stick around. Glasses will be stored upside down. Garnishes will be picked up with tongs. Bartenders may continue to wear gloves. In line with the trends mentioned previously, Cline sees a trend toward more service — and individualized, customizable packaging — as a way to show greater hospitality. She gives the example of doing passed trays or table service for drinks, and topping each cup with a paper cap. “At a wedding we did recently, the couple got clever and did branded caps with their monogram,” she says. “They made it fun and unexpected, and made it feel positive.”

The beverage market has, in general, been moving to pre-mixed cocktails, including hard seltzer. That accelerated during the pandemic for safety reasons, and because restaurants switched to takeaway cocktails and bottled drinks. But, Borden says, many venues are drawn to this option because it removed the need to pay a bartender. “I hope this is something that only sticks around for the ‘at home’ market, and that we can have bartenders working at restaurants and events as usual for the personal touch,” she says.

One place where Lohmann sees fewer changes and restrictions are at water and other drink stations. “I just traveled for my first event and the beverage areas were still self-serve,” she says. “They are being monitored and wiped down often, but they are still self-serve. I think adding an extra staff person or two to monitor the stations more will be all that we need.”

The forced switch from live to virtual events has been a challenge, but it’s also forced companies to innovate. Some of the new food and beverage programs that popped up during the pandemic will continue to be popular after the pandemic. “The virtual chef experience — the ability to package the provisions and send them to attendees and have them do a cook-along virtually with a chef — is here to stay,” Cline says. Wolfgang Puck Catering offers people the chance to cook popular dishes such as smoked salmon pizza or chicken pot pie along with its namesake chef or other experts at the company.

“Virtual chef experiences are pretty huge right now,” Lambie confirms. “We have a lot of celebrity chefs that work with us. Instead of having an event where everybody comes together and they’re wined and dined, we’re doing that over a Zoom call and all the food is delivered pre-packaged.” People can prepare these easy-to-fix meals while a celebrity chef — such as “Food Network Star” winner Tregaye Fraser and Chris Bassett from “Real Housewives of Potomac” — shares cooking tips and answers questions.

Virtual F&B experiences don’t have to involve cooking. Bill Hansen Catering has delivered prepared meals to remote teams in South Florida so everyone can enjoy the same delicious food while they’re meeting or doing team building. This is something that Hansen definitely sees continuing. “To me, the big takeaway from this whole crisis is that everybody in business has learned how to use Zoom and other technology to become more efficient,” he says. “Rather than driving to a meeting place, sometimes it’s more efficient to do a meeting on Zoom and then have the caterer bring the food in for each attendee at the meeting.”

Venue Considerations

One thing that’s almost certainly here to stay is heightened attention to safety and sanitation. “I think food service will change in that guests and staff will be much more mindful of the risks of exposure and cross-contamination,” Borden says. “Hygiene and freshness had always been a priority, but now there are other details to consider: The way stations are set up, how food is moved from kitchen to table, who is serving the item and how.”

Cline thinks people will continue to expect to see front-of-the-house servers wearing gloves and masks. There may need to be more hand-washing and sanitation stations in the venue, at least through the end of 2020 or until a vaccine is available. “I think it will be more common for clients to ask, ‘What are your safety precautions?’” Cline says. Planners should query venues and caterers about whether their managers are ServSafe certified and bartenders are TIPS certified. Even off-site, there should be a ServSafe supervisor available. Meeting organizers shouldn’t hesitate to ask venues to demonstrate that their certifications are up-to-date and share their plans for cleaning and safety protocols.

It’s likely that different groups will have different expectations around health and safety, Cline adds. Some people want desperately to get back to “normal.” Others will have a heightened sensitivity to things such as wearing masks and limiting crowds. Planners will need to gauge where their group is on that spectrum and communicate that to vendors.

Lohmann agrees. “Currently, many health and safety recommendations are just that: recommendations,” she says. “The provider is going to ask you how the group is feeling and what their comfort level is. As the planner, we are looking for you to help us understand how we can ensure your group feels safe while they are on-site.”

In the future, venues will likely need to be more mindful of the service pathways, Borden says — and event managers will need to stay on top of that. “Are guests wandering freely through the space? How will lines be managed? Will they have assigned seating and, if so, what will their food service be like from there? How often will a server interact with them? Is there an opportunity for technology to be integrated — ordering from your phone or an event app? All of these questions can be answered in working closely with an F&B consultant or their caterer.”

Organizing this may be more time-consuming, but it isn’t all bad. “On a lighter note, I think servers will be relieved to see planners placing more space in between tables for them to move around without needing to squeeze through chairs,” Borden says.

Food Choices

Lohmann sees one positive development related to food and beverage coming out of the pandemic. “The stagnant menus of the past will be gone and replaced with far more creative and interesting items. I think availability of food items will vary greatly in the coming months and years. We need to work with our chefs to be creative with our food choices, and be willing to look at different options based on what’s available.”

“I think with us also staying local to our regions for the time being, we have a great opportunity to engage with our local farms,” Lohmann adds. “Have an open mind and let the creativity flow and serve your guests the nutrient-rich foods from the local area.”

Especially as restaurants close and fewer people dine out, Losasso, with Bill Hansen Catering, thinks event caterers will be the ones to provide the creativity and experiential meal services that people are missing. He recently organized a whole fish-carving station with six different ponzu sauces for a small group. Planners that can understand their groups well enough to understand how food and beverage service can dazzle them will fare well.

While Losasso has seen growing interest in healthy foods, Cline is still seeing a big focus on comfort food. “I call it the high-carb COVID diet,” she says. “The interesting thing I foresee in the future is what I call social media, home-cooking fatigue. We’re all at home experimenting and baking, and posting pictures about it. That’s driving this desire to experiment a little more, whereas people might have gone to foods in their comfort zone before. I think after experimenting at home for months on end, and having limited options available, people are going to be looking for some new and different things. They will have a higher perceived value for higher-quality experiences and higher-quality foods.”

After the extended hardship associated with the pandemic, people are going to be looking for more than comfort, Cline thinks. They’re going to be looking for joy. Events that can offer that through food will be the real winners. C&IT

 

There’s nothing quite like a pandemic to turn the meetings industry upside down. Pre-COVID-19, meeting professionals focused on designing programs for live events with online sessions as optional-value add-ons. Today, that business model has shifted to the polar opposite. Virtual events have become not only the hot new commodity for getting business and association attendees together, they have become a vital tool to the survival of organizations for building teamwork, disseminating information and inspiring innovation on the road to recovery.

Crisis vs. Opportunity

Where should meeting planners start when creating online events? “The first thing meeting planners can do is to see this as an incredible opportunity,” says Chris West, CEO of Video Narrative, a Portland-based firm providing strategies to grow businesses through video and narrative storytelling. Like other service companies, Video Narrative also felt the impact of the sudden, unexpected disruption to the live meetings industry. Yet, rather than follow the company’s standard revenue model, West told his team, “We are not going to change our business; we are going to transform our business.” West believes the key to recovery starts with a positive mindset. In his view, meeting planners have an amazing opportunity to visualize and create new, memorable experiences for attendees through virtual events. By reframing a startling economic downturn to “How can we come up with a new way to make us better for the years to come?” meeting planners can position themselves for success.

Roger Courville, a certified speaking professional/certified virtual presenter,  agrees. From his perspective, virtual meetings success depends on “one’s interest and willingness to learn how to adapt to an online experience.” As West explains: “Look at it from the perspective of ‘My entire A/V and F&B budget can now be repurposed’” rather than viewing both as a total loss, or even feeling overwhelmed at the prospect of re-creating live events from scratch.

Defining Objectives

Courville, as Chief “Aha!” Guy at his company, TheVirtualPresenter.com, starts by asking event organizers to define their overall objectives. While the meeting objectives for a virtual event may be the same as for a live conference, presenting virtual events requires different strategies and tactics. Technology and innovation strategist Julie Holmes, founder of Big Bang Innovation LLC, describes herself as “a huge fan of tech and apps,” but cautions meeting planners against selecting technology tools without the “need to be clear about what they want to achieve first, to ensure that the tech they select doesn’t create more problems than it solves.” While meeting planners have a bounty of platforms from which to choose, such as GoToMeeting, GoToWebinar or Zoom, for starters, setting clear objectives upfront will ease the selection process. Beyond knowing how to use Zoom, for instance, it’s also important to understand what other programs “play nice” in that platform space.

Angela Maiers, president and CEO of Maiers Ed Services Inc. and a speaker/educator, likens the experience of virtual event planning to shopping for furniture. Before furnishing your living or dining room, for instance, consider the ambiance you want to create for your home. In the world of virtual events, technology is the furniture that supports the vision for the conference. Like hiring the right interior designer who can bring furnishings together to set the desired mood, finding the right partner or architect who can design a transformative, empowering online experience is critical to virtual meeting success. Courville asks meeting planners, “When you produce an event, do you do all the A/V yourself? No. You outsource. It’s the same with virtual events. Think through all the parts of your meeting, like ‘How will I support vendors and get attendees to their exhibits? How will I get users to navigate through the experience?’”

Adds West, “Think about how much of your hard costs are related to partners. Then, focus on finding the right partners to make you look amazing and who take the pressure off you. Now, more than ever, it’s important to find the right producer [the tech behind the scenes] and an emcee, a guide, just as you would for a live event.”

Courville looks at it this way: “You will have to work with companies providing such services as a dedicated person to coordinate the presenters and vendors. Think of the emcee as a commentator at a sports event. His/her job is to make the speaker the star of the show. Sometimes, the producer and emcee can be the same person if the emcee really has the technology skills or vice versa, and depending on the size of your event.”

Maiers suggests planners approach a virtual event as he or she would a face-to-face event. “It’s about the totality of the experience, that is, the music, lighting, organization of tables, the audio/visual, the breakout spaces — just like a live event. If designed well, the technology should support the objectives, but be invisible,” Maiers says.

Having clear event objectives also helps planners zero in on their meeting costs. “It’s like the Wild West out there now,” West says. While having all the bells and whistles included in a $150,000 proposal sounds enticing, consider why you want which options, the ones you really need to achieve your desired outcome, and which functions will give you the greatest return on investment.

Building Community

Once meeting planners have identified their conference objectives, Courville asks them to consider, “How are we going to create value for our virtual attendees?” To create that value, West says meeting planners need to focus on building community. He explains, “People don’t come for the speakers or the programs as much as they come for the Happy Hour, that is, the networking with colleagues.” Meeting planners should be asking themselves, “How can I build community? Where should I invest my money as a way that creates a community platform?” For example, for approximately $100 a month, West favors Mighty Networks to build out the entire experience and give the flexibility to do something unique. “Then, you can use part of your budget to hire someone to customize it for your event,” he says.

As options for program viewing have evolved, from one to multiple channels, from static station delivery to streaming and on-demand, so too, have viewer expectations of the entire online experience. Unlike sharing an event like watching the same film together in a movie theater, viewers are easily distracted, and have plenty of options for clicking elsewhere while sitting in front of their computer screens from home or the office. In her call to use “Tech to Connect,” Holmes looks at how we can leverage technology and innovation to connect more powerfully. She advises event organizers and speakers to consider “dimensionality, relevance and engagement” for planning purposes. Through the lens of dimensionality, “think about how to engage all of the senses. Video is more powerful than podcasts, for example, as it engages both audio and video,” she says. To achieve relevance, Holmes explains that “the challenge for meeting planners is to make more bite-size sessions so that attendees can pick out what’s relevant to them. The more highly curated the content for attendees, the more they will be engaged.  To add even more relevance, provide ways for people to interact with speakers. In that way, attendees become co-creators of their events.”

Finally, providing immersive experiences allows attendees to fully engage with the event. “Attendees are asking themselves, ‘Am I part of the experience or only an observer?’ There’s a reason why karaoke became popular,” Holmes says. “People want to be involved. That’s why video highlights of events are so popular, because attendees look up from their phones to see if they are in the video. Real-time video is more engaging than recorded video.”

When planning the conference content, event organizers also “need to hire the right speakers who can engage the virtual audience as effectively as on the live stage,” Courville says. And it’s not a given that speakers can engage attendees virtually, even though they may be outstanding performers on the live stage. “Look at it this way,” Courville says. “Not every actor who performs well in movies does so on the Broadway stage.” Or consider that not every actor made the leap successfully from silent films to talking motion pictures. It’s essential for meeting planners to hire speakers who can get their message across virtually in a way that engages attendees. Maiers describes such speakers as “digital engagement specialists who know how to amplify the intent to take the audience on a journey” through their virtual presentation.

Based on her background in neuroscience and linguists, Maiers is a strong advocate of virtual-user experiences founded on the principles of the science of learning and human behavior. Set expectations beforehand by asking attendees to have a notebook, index cards and colorful post-it notes nearby. She recommends an “if-then” approach to content design, saying, “If you want attendees to collaborate or share, showcase, be vulnerable, celebrate, reflect individually; then, use this tool or platform.” But, simply using interactive activities doesn’t empower attendees. You have to integrate the activities into an overall design. While having different virtual backgrounds is fun, ask yourself how they support, rather than distract from, the presentation experience. Purposeful activities, plus well-executed design and delivery, demonstrate to attendees that they are part of something extraordinary. “The conditions of learning relate to human behavior,” Maiers says. “Attendees want to be seen, heard and appreciated. They want to feel their contributions are valued.”

Virtual meetings expert John Chen, CEO of Seattle-based Geoteaming, offers tips for building strong teams online, from introducing effective icebreakers to powerful closings and engaging activities in between. In his book, “50 Digital Team-Building Games”, Chen poses four questions for content designers to consider using the acronym PIPE: “P is for Purpose: Why are you holding this team-building event? I is for Initiatives: Which games best match your goals? P is for Preparation: How can you best prepare yourself and your teammates to give you the greatest odds for success? and E is for Event: How can you execute the best team-building event and achieve your team goals?”

 

Takeaways for Engagement

For anyone who has attended a webinar or Zoom call in the last several months, it’s easy to feel what works and what fails when it comes to creating engaging online content. Bob Roitblat, a speaker/author/consultant and president/ founder of Mainsail Consulting Group, draws upon his background in video production and acting when creating virtual experiences. “You want to re-create the best parts of live events,” he says. “What hasn’t changed in moving to an online experience is the need to meet audience expectations, that is, that they will see actionable value as a result of the event.” His “cheat sheet” provides tips for both the tech and the presentation aspects of creating a positive online event. From having a second camera, to switching camera angles, to logging in on two devices, one as a presenter and one as an attendee, to using enhanced lighting, it’s critical to have the tech support you need. Equally valuable, however, are the speaker presentations. Simple suggestions such as making eye contact by looking at the camera on your monitor, standing up to increase energy, and ensuring you’re in the frame while speaking, all add up to creating an engaging experience.

In a live presentation, speakers have the ability to gauge audience interest throughout their presentation and respond accordingly. The same thing applies when speaking virtually. Courville says, “Look at your platform like the dashboard of your car.” Get familiar with applications and start experimenting. “I teach people to open up their at-a-glance tools.” Courville says. An “attention meter” function can detect the active engagement of attendees. Rather than proceeding through the content as planned, invite attendees to take a short stretch break, ask questions, or take a poll and share the results.

Successful meeting organizers always have a contingency plan in place for those times when systems or processes fail to perform as expected. Reflect on past experiences from live events, consider every aspect of the online event and prepare a backup option just in case. This includes audio and visual malfunctions; presenters and/or attendees failing to log in on time; lack of engagement in chat rooms, polling surveys or Q&A’s; internet instability and battery loss.

Event planners, exhibitors and attendees share a common goal — each wants to feel that the entire online experience is valuable. Planners want attendees to feel that the event was so worth their time that they couldn’t even think about tuning out or clicking off. By providing effective online tech tools that integrate user ease and engagement, together with speaker expertise, event organizers can produce a seamless, winning outcome for all. C&IT