When legal issues impose themselves on meetings and events, rarely do they go to court. Instead, they are resolved by negotiations between the parties. That means that the clarity and due diligence applied to the issues beforehand, especially as they are reflected in contracts, will be the determining factor in who wins and who loses. And in the end, disputes are not remembered as legal issues. They come down to dollars and cents in terms of liability.

That’s why it is critical, expert attorneys say, for meeting planners to assess the implications of the decisions they make.

The Big Risks Today

Joshua Grimes, a Philadelphia attorney who specializes in meeting-related legal issues, cites event security and the minimization of risks as the single most important topic of current discussion.

“What many meeting hosts and planners need to acknowledge is that they need to be more careful in planning for potential risks,” Grimes says. “And by that I mean not just hurricanes or somebody with a gun, but the full range of the things that could happen.”

And related to that planning, he adds, is the importance of making sure you have the proper insurance coverage in place for your event and that it covers everyone involved in the meeting. “In addition to that, you need to acknowledge that if something happens, it is very likely that all parties involved in the planning of the meeting will be sued,” he says. “That means you also need to be prepared to handle that.”

The best current example of such risk is the October 1 Las Vegas shooting  from Mandalay Bay into an outdoor crowd.

“The hotel has been sued,” Grimes says. “The concert organizer has been sued. And my understanding is that the security company has been sued. So all of those parties are facing major legal liabilities. And meeting planners need to understand they face the same kind of potential exposure every time they hold a meeting.”

Unfortunately, Grimes says, not all meeting planners comprehend the full range of the legal risks they face in planning an event. “In today’s world, a meeting host and planner have to plan for every conceivable contingency — and have insurance coverage in place to protect themselves. And you need more than just general liability insurance. You need alcohol liability coverage, professional liability coverage, auto coverage if anyone will be driving a car during the meeting. And one thing I see often is that meeting planners do not adequately insure their meetings. One example of that is that they do not thoroughly describe to their insurance brokers everything that will be going on at the meeting. They describe it in a way that ascribes less risk than actually exists.”

The byproduct of such oversight could be costly. “If someone gets hurt,” Grimes says, “and the insurance company finds that you did not properly describe everything that would be going on, so that they were not able to thoroughly assess their risks when they agreed to insure the event, then they might deny coverage if something goes wrong.”

Force Majeure

Force majeure clauses remain a major legal issue, especially in light of the three major hurricanes that hit Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico in late summer, says Atlanta-based John Foster, who has represented meeting industry clients for 40 years.

“In all three of those locations, we saw major damage to some hotels,” Foster says. “And I’ve already gotten phone calls from (meeting hosts or planners) who are concerned about meetings scheduled in those destinations in the near future. And some of them have been told, ‘We had a little damage, but we expect you to show up.’ And others are saying, ‘We had some damage, and we don’t want you to show up, so we’re invoking the force majeure clause in our contract.’ And in both those cases, those situations could present problems or legal challenges for the companies holding the meetings.”

Resolutions of force majeure disputes are based on one of three basic standard, Foster says. “One is that performance of the contract is impossible,” he says. “The second is that it is ‘impracticable.’ And the word is impracticable, not ‘impractical.’ That means it’s substantially and materially more difficult to perform than originally anticipated. And the key factor there is that the situation could not have been foreseen at the time the contract was executed. The third factor is called ‘frustration of purpose.’ That’s where the purpose of the event has been ‘frustrated’ to the point where it does not make sense to go through with the contract. An example would be a meeting or event where you’re having a big golf tournament as the highlight, but the golf course has been destroyed in a hurricane or earthquake. That means the essence of your meeting has been frustrated.”

The key legal element in a frustration of purpose claim, however, is that the purpose — the golf tournament or whatever it might be — must be clearly spelled out in the contract, Foster explains. “In other words, the contract has to state that the purpose of the meeting is to bring people from all over the U.S., or from around the world, to the hotel in order to host an event that culminates with a major golf tournament on a certain date.”

Force majeure issues “are rarely cut and dried,” says St. Simons Island, Georgia-based Tyra Hilliard, another highly regarded meeting industry attorney who often speaks on behalf of organizations such as MPI or at events such as IMEX. “For example,” Hilliard says, “just as Hurricane Irma was heading to Florida, I had situations where hotels were refusing to let my clients invoke force majeure until the day the hurricane actually hit. And they were saying that in spite of the fact that states of emergency had already been called at the federal and state levels. But the hotels were basically saying ‘our convention facilities are hurricane-proof and our airport is open, so come on down tomorrow.’ So those issues are almost never easy to deal with.”

Attrition and Cancellation

Just like force majeure, attrition and cancellation are hotly debated and contested issues that are always on the radar of meeting hosts and planners. And in terms of controversy and enforcement by hotels, they tend to cycle back and forth depending on whether planners are facing a buyer’s market or a seller’s market, Foster says. In the current seller’s market, hotels often act in the belief they have the upper hand when it comes to enforcement.

The essential legal principle is that under the law, a hotel cannot assess a penalty for attrition or cancellation, Foster notes. Their only recourse is the collection of actual damages that can be demonstrated.

“The key thing with regard to both attrition and cancellation is you have to be clear about how damages will be calculated by the hotel,” Foster says. “There are different ways of doing it, and some clearly favor the hotel. There are also ways to make sure that the group gets credit for everything it should in making those calculations, but that the hotel does not want to give credit for because they reduce the damages the group has to pay. The important issue from the group’s perspective is whether you have a vague clause in the contract that just says you have to pick up 80 percent of your rooms, or you have to pay. That doesn’t really say a whole lot, because there are a number of things that have to be factored in.”

His cancellation and attrition provisions are a page long. “I use a precise formula that uses several steps to do the actual calculation of damages,” he says. “That means that after the meeting, it’s just a matter of plugging in the actual numbers. But both sides have already agreed on what the rules are and how the formula works.”

Hilliard agrees with Foster that attrition and cancellation clauses are being strongly — and expensively — enforced in the current market. “And one reason for that is that I see a lot less of the old ‘relationship-based dealings,’ ” she says “And because we are in a strong seller’s market for the hotels, they think they get away with strict enforcement. But I also think the hotels that are doing that will regret it when the market turns again (to a buyer’s market), which it eventually will.”

Hilliard also concurs with Foster’s assessment that precise and mutually agreed-to calculation of lost profits  by the hotel is the essential metric for negotiation. “And even with that, I try to sit down and see if I can come up with the same dollar figure the hotel did,” Hilliard says. “And nine times out of 10, I can’t, which tells me the hotel has thrown in things like anticipated ancillary spend by the group.”

In order to best represent the interests of her clients, she includes an audit provision in her contracts so that such fiscal disputes can be resolved based on real financial numbers and not just a negotiating position.

Attrition and Cancellation

It comes as a surprise to many meeting planners to learn that the hotel can cancel a meeting, even days before the event, if they book a larger or more profitable meeting for the same dates.

Unfortunately, Foster says, many planners are unaware that could happen — and that it’s legal, subject to a fair payment of damages, if any, to the company whose event was cancelled.

“The only issue is what, if any, damages are suffered by the company holding the original booking,” Foster says. For example, if the company can rebook a comparable hotel in the same destination for the same dates, at the same cost, there are no damages and the hotel faces no liability.

“The company is only entitled to the difference between what it would cost them to transfer the meeting from the original hotel to the new hotel,” Foster says. “For example, if there is a difference in the cost per night of the rooms, then the company is entitled to that per-night difference times the number of room nights included in the meeting.”

‘White Label’ Apps and Drones

While old issues such as force majeure and attrition/cancellation persist, new legal issues are beginning to emerge.

“One issue that is just now being talked about is the fact that Apple has recently started to deny approvals of what they call ‘white label’ apps in their apps store,” Hilliard says. “And it appears that the definition of ‘white label’ apps includes some of the kinds we use in the meeting industry. So that could become a big issue for the industry and the companies that create those apps.”

So-called white label apps are rebranded versions of another company’s product to make it appear to be their own.

Another issue that is now gaining attention and causing discussion is drone photography and videography at events, Hilliard says. “That is essentially a privacy issue,” she says. “So what I’m seeing now is that hotel lawyers are scrambling to figure out what their policy is. And I know of at least one example where a hotel recently put in a contract that drone photography would not be allowed over the resort’s property at a meeting because of issues related to other resort guests. It’s one thing to take pictures of your own attendees. It’s another thing entirely to take pictures of resort guests who are not your attendees. That’s potentially a privacy issue. For example, what if your drone flies by the window of a guest who is not an attendee at your meeting and it happens to take a picture or record video of that guest undressing.” She cites Fox sportscaster Erin Andrews’ case as an example of potential liability.

Another example in the era of scandals related to viral photos or videos, Hilliard says, is a meeting attendee who happens to be caught in a photo or video near a non-attendee guest doing something illegal or socially unacceptable — thereby causing potential embarrassment or legal liability. And although the legal issues are still somewhat vague and untested, their gravity will only increase as the use of drones for commercial and private purposes expands. As a result, Hilliard says, hotels, other venues and vendors are starting to discuss actions that will protect them. And so far, those discussions are centered on banning drone photography or videography as the only sure protection.

Legalized Marijuana

As more states legalize the recreational use of marijuana, with California doing so effective January 1, its presence at meetings will become a legal issue for some companies, Hilliard says. As a general principle of law, a company cannot punish a meeting attendee for doing something that is legal, meaning that in Colorado and the other states with legal marijuana, smoking a joint is the same as having a drink at the bar. “So the kinds of things I’m starting to see,” Hilliard says, “include companies suspending their drug-testing policy for at least 100 days after a meeting in Colorado or one of the other states.”

Otherwise, an employee fired for a failed drug test after a meeting in a destination where recreational marijuana is legal could sue the company — and win in court. “So then,” Hilliard says, “the question becomes whether some companies stop meeting in those states to avoid the issue.”

Grimes also raised legalized marijuana as a legal issue that will now gain momentum. “There is a lot of uncertainty, because no one knows yet how legal marijuana use is going to relate to accidents and injuries and damages that result from marijuana use at meetings,” Grimes says. “So what I recommend is that meeting planners treat it like alcohol. For example, if you know some people will be using marijuana at your meetings, you need to take measures to prevent someone getting in a car and driving or doing something else that is risky.”

The question, of course, is how a planner could anticipate that some attendees will use marijuana in their free time. “And there are now companies in Colorado that will deliver to your hotel,” Grimes says. “So my recommendation is to set a rule that will not permit those companies to deliver marijuana to your group event. I would also ask my attendees not to use marijuana at my event. At the least, that means that if something happens, you could say you made the request. Otherwise you could face legal liability.”

Because there are so many old and new legal issues that relate to meetings, Foster recommends that meeting planners engage an expert attorney for guidance rather than relying on in-house counsel who generally are not well-versed in the legal implications of such issues.

“A lot of companies just think that their own in-house attorneys can handle these things,” Foster says. “And the fact is that in most cases, they are not experts on the legal issues that relate to meetings. And when there are disputes after the meeting, you learn quickly that it’s going to come down to how clear the language was in your contract. That’s what is going to determine how the settlement negotiations play out. So you better have a good lawyer guiding you when it comes to those provisions. After the fact, it’s too late. The thing to understand is that if you do not clearly understand the legalities up front and make them work in your favor, then by default they will work against you if anything goes wrong.” C&IT

Jason Rudoy and Sydney Wolf — Jason Rudoy is the Director of Sales for metroConnections. He has more than 17 years of experience in the event planning industry, and has been with metroConnections for nearly 12 years. Sydney Wolf is the Event Sales Manager for metroConnections and has nearly 10 years of experience in the event planning industry, most of which she has spent growing her career at metroConnections. Jason and Sydney both speak nationally to groups about engaging event attendees and incorporating event technology into conferences and meetings. You can reach them both at info@metroconnections.com.

With the rise in technology and demand for creating exceptional corporate meetings and events, it’s time to think differently about attendee communication. We had an opportunity to share some of our ideas on this subject at the TS Tech Summit and wanted to share some of the key takeaways with readers. Attendee communication needs to be at the core of every decision planners are making about an event. There are so many elements to consider for your event communication efforts — the demographics of your group, their level of tech savviness, the location of the program, your desired outcomes, and of course your budget. It’s critical to have a strategic timeline built out for all of your communications pre-, during and post-event. To start —  let’s try to shift the thinking from “attendee” to “participant.” Let’s explore how we can involve and engage our participants at every step of an event:

Preconference Communication

It all starts with your registration page, which sets the tone for your meeting. Making sure you have all your social feeds set up, populated and linked to the registration page is key. Your email invite should easily link to the registration website, which seamlessly links to event information and ideally a portal for other registrants to connect. Once attendees are registered, don’t stop communicating to them! For example, send them a message from the CEO thanking them for registering; create a video or email to expand on the conference theme; highlight the location, share more about event programs or optional activities; or send a “before you go” email with reminders about packing, arrivals and more.

A Word About Communication Technology

Before your event even begins, it’s imperative to have your mobile strategy in place. There are so many technology options available, but the most important factor in choosing your tech system is to make sure it can all communicate — the mobile app needs to talk to your registration system, which needs to talk to the production tech used in your general session, and it all needs to talk to your attendees. Our skilled technologists can help connect all these things, and even suggest the technology that will best communicate with what you’ve already got in place.

During keynotes and breakout sessions, what are some ways you’re engaging attendees and making them participants rather than just attendees? Our clients love using Catchbox (the throwable microphone), polling apps built into their mobile apps, and many are starting to Facebook-Live bits of their keynotes rather than livestreaming or webcasting the full message. Others are extending the keynote message with a Facebook Live after the general session, back in the green room with a high-profile speaker or other emcee to get their additional views on the conference.

Onsite Communication During Events

Once attendees are onsite, let your imagination and communications creativity run wild! Capitalize on the various portals of entry related to event travel such as airport arrivals, motor coach transportation, hotel check-in, conference signage, etc. Think about it — if you’ve got attendees captive on a bus for 20 minutes from the airport to your hotel, are you playing a video loop welcoming them to the conference and reiterating the event messaging? What about the hotel room when they arrive — is there a package waiting for them on their bed, reinforcing your premier sponsor or inviting them to the welcome reception event? Think about how your event branding and signage has a welcoming and immersive effect on attendees when it’s on banners, wrapped posts, escalator, stairs, etc.

Post-event Communication

After the conference or event is over, how do you keep the momentum of your message moving? Be sure to follow up with participants right away with a post-program survey. Maybe the completion of that survey will unlock a special discount for early registration for next year’s event. Participants love to see photos of your event, especially if they’re included in the photos somewhere! Consider compiling a video highlight reel of your event — maybe its even crowdsourced photos from a social media contest or hashtag — and share widely on your social channels and in your post-event thank-you email. You also could offer a photo- and document-sharing space on your mobile app or event website, and run a social media “memories contest” to keep the fun going.

As you can see, there are infinite ways to communicate with your event attendees, help them evolve into event participants, and drive the message of your brand or program home. What is your favorite way to engage your participants at an event? C&IT

From hurricanes and floods to earthquakes, an unprecedented onslaught of natural disasters in August and September dealt devastating blows to destinations in Florida, the Caribbean, Texas and Mexico. Disruptions like these can put the resourcefulness of meeting planners to the test, as they must anticipate and adapt to rapidly changing conditions and circumstances to salvage current and future programs.

According to the Incentive Research Foundation (IRF) 2016 Event Disruption Study, planners estimated they now spend up to 25 percent of their time planning for potential disruptions, and nearly 40 percent expect that their time and effort will increase in the next two years. In addition, 68 percent of planners said that they had changed venues at least once within the last two years because of disruption.

Kip Lambert, chief culture officer for Destinations Inc., relates a curious superstition in Mexico: If weather reports indicate rain, many Mexican planners take kitchen knives and stab them into the ground near the event space. “They swear by it,” Lambert says. “And I can only think of one time it hasn’t worked — that’s about an 80 percent accuracy rate!”

That’s impressive. But just in case that other 20 percent comes into play, it’s probably best to be prepared in more substantial ways. Weather can be disastrous and deadly on rare occasions, and it’s frequently more than a mere inconvenience.

Irma and Harvey

Jill Anonson, events solution manager for ITA Group, relates her experiences dealing with the impacts of hurricanes Irma and Harvey this year.

“From a big-picture perspective, we maintained communication with a variety of customers regarding their upcoming site inspections and program operations, looking ahead for the next two years. We remained in constant contact with hoteliers and DMCs throughout the impacted areas.”

On Hurricane Irma: “We had multiple programs scheduled to operate during/immediately following the expected arrival of Irma to Florida. Our team coordinated with local and national resources to obtain the latest information on the storm tracker, airline impacts, etc. ITA Group recommended postponing those programs for the safety of all attendees. All ended up being force majeure situations. Two were immediately re-sourced in other locations; one for the same dates and one for a week later.

“We had an additional program impacted by the aftermath of Irma, making the contracted hotel unable to honor its contract due to damage. The program was re-sourced, for the original September dates, and contracted elsewhere. The entire program was reworked, with team members departing for the new location four days later.”

On Hurricane Harvey: “A client contacted us about supporting their disaster recovery efforts in Houston,” Anonson continues. “We began sourcing hotels, planning meals, transportation, communication protocols. Within 36 hours we had travel directors in Houston supporting the rooming and meals for 1,200 attendees, based in eight hotels, arriving to support their fellow employees, businesses and the community of Houston. Internally, the team managed weekly rooming lists and multiple hotels, as well as the continually changing scope of the recovery efforts. Daily executive summaries were provided to client leadership. This initiative operated for four weeks.”

New Delhi Disaster

Angela Baer, CMP, corporate meeting planner with Caterpillar Inc., had to work around flooding in India during Digging Deep 2015. She remembers, “We had an event that was supposed to have our group of 50 in New Delhi the first part of the week and in Chennai the second part. I had arranged everything in both locations including flights between the two cities to optimize our timeline, which was jam-packed.”

Logistics were complex. The group was visiting dealerships, doing community work, and guest speakers were scheduled in and out at both locations. “We were to finish the first part of our event Wednesday afternoon, fly from New Delhi to Chennai and start again at 8 a.m. Thursday. We heard on Monday that flooding had become serious, including in Chennai, but information wasn’t cohesive. The hotel said that it was not affected. The dealership said it was bad. Our corporate security said to ‘hold tight.’ ”

Baer immediately started working with the New Delhi hotel to get addition guest rooms and meeting space if necessary. “On Tuesday, corporate security said we could not fly to Chennai, so I had to officially get everyone a place to sleep, and meet and change everyone’s flights home within less than 24 hours. Ultimately we were able to accommodate almost everyone thanks to the hotel working hard to rearrange things. We also were able to get meeting space for the rest of the week and did our best to change it up from the start of the week by having meals outside on the lawn.”

There wasn’t really a plan B, but Baer says when she looks back, she doesn’t think that would have been viable. “For a plan B to actually work, I’d have had to book rooms and meeting space ‘just in case,’ ” she says. “That’s a double charge that wasn’t in the budget, and isn’t in most budgets. We don’t always get the luxury of a plan B.”

But that doesn’t mean not being prepared. “I always make a binder of safety information, which includes evacuation plans, take-cover plans and crisis plans,” Baer says. “Additionally, our contracts always include meeting-disruption and force majeure clauses. I also have information as to which staff members are attending and in what capacity, along with cell numbers. I include maps of the hotel, agendas and attendee information — including emergency contact info — so I can track down anyone attending anything at any time in the hotel and convention spaces.”

For full preparedness, Baer advises the following: “First, at your chosen location, have safety information for all attendees. This could be in the form of a safety briefing each day or info downloaded onto an app or provided manually at registration. Have designated staff to coordinate different aspects of the emergency plan. That might be one person to be in communication with the venue; one to be responsible for attendee communication and instructions via text, app alert, email or phone; and one responsible for checking attendee lists to make sure all are present and accounted for.”

Baer says there are many ways to break it down but the goal is to have a team in place so it doesn’t all fall on the shoulders of one meeting planner.

“Finally,” she adds, “breathe and be calm. You can’t control everything and people will be looking to you for reassurance. Just remember that your best friend is your contact at your venue. He or she will be able to best assist in an emergency.”

That definitely held true in New Delhi. “The hotel staff worked with us to make sure we had rooms and meeting space. They offered to do outside events even though that took more work, without any increase in charges, so our attendees would have a change of pace. It’s so important to work with professional places and people so this type of thing, when it happens, can have a happy ending.”

Florida and Its Hurricanes

Joost de Meyer, CIS, CITE, CMM, ACC, MCC, chairman and CEO of First Incentive Travel, says living in Orlando for 19 years has made him well aware of the June-to-November hurricane season, prime time for many group programs.

“Fortunately,” he says, “with forecasts improving every year, we have the necessary information to make plans. When we organize an event in Florida at that time of year, we have a weather backup. We discuss the weather with our CSM or other contact in the hotel or venue, and they make the final call if we have to move the event inside.”

He says clients often wonder why an event has to be moved when the sky is blue and hardly any clouds are to be seen. “In Florida with the sea breezes from the west coast and east coast colliding, storms with heavy rain and thunder can develop quickly. At that time, the client is happy the event has moved.”

In 2004, planners in Florida were definitely put to the test. “We had three major hurricanes coming to Orlando,” de Meyer says, “so we had to pay attention to the weather.”

That meant following the local news and watching what local businesses were doing, especially the attraction parks. “When they announce that they’re closing the parks, it’s really bad,” he says.

“We always discuss with our clients what we will do in such an event to ensure everyone’s safety. If, for example, the program is almost finished and guests are flying home the next day, we discuss if it is better to fly the guests out earlier. Airports often close during hurricanes and it could take days before all participants can get home to their destinations.”

Cruise Disruptions

First Incentive Travel also books many cruises in combination with Miami, another city frequently impacted by hurricanes. “Ships may not be able to get into Miami in bad weather and could be diverted to another port, such as Cape Canaveral. In that case, when the city is safe again, we arrange to get guests back to Miami by coach in order to continue the original program.”

Weather-related itinerary changes can happen mid-cruise, too. “I had a site inspection with a client for a cruise in the Mediterranean,” de Meyer recalls. “We left Civitavecchia and the next harbor scheduled was Livorno for excursions to Florence. Because of strong winds, the captain decided to skip Livorno, stay at sea and continue to the next harbor. My client was so upset he asked for a meeting with the captain. He wanted to know why the ship couldn’t wait for better weather so he could go to Livorno the next day and visit Florence.”

Not surprising, the captain explained that safety and security of guests and crew are his first priority and altering the itinerary of the entire rest of the week so the client could go to Florence wasn’t an option.

More Common Disruptors

While hurricanes, floods and other major weather disasters can and do cause disruptions to programs, research shows that major events are not the most frequent culprits.

“In a white paper on the Incentive Research Foundation’s 2016 Event Disruption Study,” de Meyer says, “one of the 10 critical findings on the causes and impacts of disruptions was that, according to planners, disruption is not always the result of those major events covered in media. In fact, the research found that the two most frequently occurring disruptions are weather-related events (38 percent) and vendor failures (28 percent). In general, of the business partners, airlines present the most frequent cause of disruptions through cancellations, delays and overbooking (61 percent).”

“My advice,” de Meyer says, “is to always be prepared, have a plan B, follow the news on weather channels and give your client constant updates. Communication with all parties involved is key!”

Winter Whammy

Heather Brown, DMCP, CMP, and Kellie Walker, DMCP with AlliedPRA Chicago can attest to the fact that even moderate weather changes can impact an event — especially in Chicago in winter.

Brown, the group’s senior national sales manager, and Walker, event producer, worked together on an event for an East Coast pharmaceutical company in January 2016.

“With any January program in Chicago, the weather can be tricky,” Walker says. “In this case, the company wanted its 300 guests to be free to walk or take transfers from their hotel to Soldier Field, about 2.5 miles away. In addition, the planner wanted the guests to take a group photo at Solider Field.”

Brown notes that communication related to routing and weather began at the start of the sales process. “Then we carefully watched the weather as it got close to time, and we had a plan in place. We arranged for extra staffing in the venue if it snowed. It did, and we utilized that extra staff to clear the seating and field for the photo.”

Walker says they also arranged extra motor coaches for transport from the hotel to the field. “That helped ease the stress of people walking two-plus miles in the snow (we had always planned on transporting guests, not having them walk),” she says. “And the additional staff at Soldier Field was also prepared to gather guests at a different location within the venue for the group photo if necessary.”

In addition to specific plans desired by a client for an event, Walker and Brown say they always have an evacuation and crisis-communication plan. “Our team and our venue supplier partners meet about this prior to each program operating,” Brown says.

Contracts also include force majeure and disruption-protection clauses, and there’s always an emergency-preparedness document that the entire team uses. “We have a yearly field-staff training that includes the critical touch points,” Walker notes.

When it comes to working effectively during a crisis, including changes in weather, Walker and Brown say it’s all about planning, preparation and safety. “Early on, discuss alternative options for weather,” they say. “Get your DMC or supplier contact’s emergency preparedness plans. In the weeks and days leading up to an event, keep an eye on the weather and know your contract’s terms and the dates when you need to pull the lever and make decisions. Finally, communication is key when onsite and guest safety is always the first priority.”

What the Experts Say

Brian D. Avery, managing member of Florida-based Event Safety Services, is an events, tourism and attractions operational safety expert witness, public speaker, trainer and consultant. He also notes the importance of good planning, monitoring and communication.

“Weather can have an adverse impact on outdoor and indoor events,” he says. “Event planners and attraction/venue operators have an obligation to monitor the weather and manage the event, attraction or venue based on what is known and reasonably foreseeable. When planning an event, the process of monitoring and alerting of weather-related conditions needs to be proactive and continuous.”

A good example is a well-publicized Virgin Galactic event in Mojave that required the use of temporary structures. “I was not involved with it,” Avery notes, “however it covers numerous elements of planning correctly and provides insight into what could have been a catastrophic and deadly matter. They started monitoring for weather about 10 days out and appropriately planned for a possible evacuation. Considering the remoteness of the event, that required some creative thinking. They opted to have buses available to evacuate guests. It was an expensive solution, but considering the alternative it was a brilliant solution.”

On the day of the event, wind exceeded the recommended rating of the tent, and an evacuation to the buses was ordered. “The tent collapsed but the people were safe,” Avery says.

The event continued after the weather calmed down. “This is an example of understanding the environment, the capabilities of the equipment and structures, planning for what is possible — sometimes probable —and valuing and having the resources to protect the event-goers,” he says.

Unfortunately, Avery often sees the disastrous results of improper planning. “I have over 25 years of experience in the events, tourism and attractions industry,” he says. “My background is comprised of three areas of expertise: risk and safety management, event design/execution and education. I develop policies and procedures and provide training on numerous risk-management-related considerations, including weather matters.

“However, I am typically involved with the negative and costly impact of a failure to plan. Many planners and venues fail to address these concerns discussed, often believing incorrectly that someone else in the process has addressed them. As a result, I am engaged as an expert witness assisting in both plaintiff and defense matters regarding a failure to plan or adhere to readily available standards and practices.”

Contingency Planning

Avery cautions that contingency planning is a vital part of event success and should always be a priority. “Established policies and procedures need to be in place to address the monitoring of weather, announcements, movement of people (shelters or closure), cessation of activities/attractions, removal of equipment and more. You need an organized and managed system to effectively address emergencies and minimize disruptions. Planners and venue operators should use readily available policies and procedures to address situations that are likely to impact an event. Additionally, they need to obtain site-specific information in order to address concerns that are relevant to that location. It’s very important to familiarize staff, vendors and attendees of concerns, especially if they are not familiar with them or the location.”

Avery provides a free 219-page emergency disaster guidebook that addresses many of the major considerations an event planner or venue operator will encounter. You can get it by going to eventsafetyservices.com/emergency-planning-guide.

While most planners do coordinate with venues and use venues’ emergency plans, Avery says that’s not enough. “Planners must ensure that these plans address the necessary fundamentals established by planners themselves, a checklist of sorts such as tornados in the Midwest and South, earthquakes in the West, wind and lightning, temporary structures everywhere, hurricanes from June to November near coastal cities, etc.”

Communication is critical. “Event planners and/or venue operators need to have a clearly defined process on how to alert and inform people,” he says. And although it’s a great idea to have force majeure clauses in contracts, that also isn’t necessarily enough.

“Make sure your contracts are evaluated by qualified people in the field to ensure you are covered for what you think you are covered for.”

Insurance ­Considerations

The same goes for insurance. “You are buying insurance to cover a potential loss,” Avery says. “The loss needs to outweigh the premium — usually significantly —and you need to understand what you are willing and able to lose. I could insure myself right out of business if I took advantage of every policy on the market for our industry. Much of it is expensive and unnecessary. We must take a calculated look at what the costs are to insure something and what the potential losses might be. In some instances, it’s smarter to self-insure, in others it is a no brainer to buy a policy. It is all about the math and the cost benefit of having or not having a policy.

“Beyond the finances,” he continues, “it’s crucial to know what is covered and what is not. Insurance companies can be artful at crafting complicated documents, including contracts. My advice is to hire an attorney familiar with your business goals to make sure you’re covered for what you need. I’ve seen numerous situations where exemptions excluded aspects that prevented coverage from kicking in and resulted in a loss of premiums and damages.”

Avery says the bottom line is that planners must know what they are buying. “For example, a hurricane policy for the beginning of June in Florida statistically is a not a good purchase. Even though hurricane season starts in June, I recall only one named storm in the last 50-plus years hitting the U.S. in June. But September? That’s another story.”

Diane Drey, manager, travel direction, at ITA Group also notes that insurance plans must be carefully evaluated because they don’t all provide enough value to warrant the investment.

Evacuation Plans

As part of its comprehensive incentive and event services, ITA Group provides destination risk assessment and continuous monitoring, evacuation plans for all program operations, contingency and backup plans prior to arrival at the destination, and crisis management procedures and framework.

She recalls a program in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico cancelled due to a hurricane and one in Tokyo for which all stateside flights were cancelled due to weather just hours before departure. In addition to the complex logistics of getting attendees out of a hurricane zone and making alternate travel arrangements in the middle of the night to move Tokyo-bound attendees at 4 a.m. to another airport so they could depart on time, she says mitigating risk comes down to having emergency plans in place and constant communication.

“Always have an evacuation plan to ensure details are in place before a high-stress situation occurs. Always have a crisis communication plan in place and always include force majeure and needed protection clauses in contracts. In addition,” she adds, “there should be an existing Travel Incident Response Team that is not onsite to provide guidance, direction and oversight for all crisis-management situations.”

Having all of this is in place prior to programs, Drey says, “allows teams to focus on the situation, not overarching procedures.”

In the end, meeting professionals all agree on this point: Successful crisis management is reliant on three critical elements: Planning, planning, planning. C&IT

Groups visiting Phoenix can experience authentic Mexican and Southwestern cultural programs and activities at Corona Ranch. Credit: ©Visit Phoenix/Eric Lindberg

In recent years, increased importance has been placed on “experiential travel,” meaning immersive, local, authentic experiences.

The trend may be driven by millennials, whose dislike of old school, packaged experiences and preference for authentic community has moved the dial as to what tourism partners offer. Yet research shows that travelers and meeting goers of all ages want to experience destinations from a uniquely local perspective.

In addition to highlighting the destination itself, the right experiences give attendees a break from meetings, shake things up and more often than not send them back to the business at hand energized and able to think in new and creative ways.

A study commissioned by PCMA and IAEE found that destination is the No. 2 driver in attendees’ decision to register for a meeting. The study also found that about half of attendees are likely to combine a meeting with vacation, another half are likely to bring a guest, and three quarters take advantage of what destinations offer by getting out and about during, before and/or after meetings. If the experience is positive, three-quarters will consider returning to a destination on their own dime.

That translates into considerable potential economic impact, giving CVBs and tourism offices impetus to connect attendees with experiences that provide a deep dive into the local ethos — whatever it is.

Many CVBs and tourism offices have risen to the challenge of showcasing their cities and regions in ways that truly are local, authentic and engaging. Here are some examples.

NEW ORLEANS

Food, music and unabashed reverence for the art of celebration set New Orleans apart. Yes, food and music are everywhere but nowhere do they more wholly define a destination than in New Orleans.

“Our food, music, artists, writers, entertainers and culture of celebration is a way of life with each of us who choose to make this our home, so we work hard to have it be part of what people experience when they come to New Orleans for special events,” says Cara Banasch, V.P. of convention sales and strategy with the New Orleans CVB.

Banasch says the team integrates culture early into the process. “Onsite tours, we try to schedule fun moments that demonstrate elements of our cultural traditions. That might be a walk through Mardi Gras World to see the handmade floats of Orpheus or a stop in the kitchen of Commander’s Palace to have Chef Tori McPhail do a special presentation of a local specialty dish.”

Not surprising for a city all about celebration, the CVB and its DMC partners have an extensive list of authentic experiences that engage all the senses and provide a true understanding of local culture.

“We host groups at crawfish boils, tailgate parties, our 143 annual festivals and cooking classes,” says Banasch. “We’ve had groups ride in Mardi Gras parades and cook red beans at a team member’s house. The key is that they immediately understand that none of this is a gimmick. We actually do these things here, and they bring people together. As a result, we talk more, we have new ideas and we understand one another. That’s what most people want for their meetings, and in New Orleans we don’t create it specially; it lives within our traditions and our community all day every day.” (Also see “New Orleans” on page 48.)

MIAMI

Patricia Bayona, director of meeting services for the Miami CVB, points to two evocative experiences that showcase the city.

“Little Havana used to be mostly Cuban,” Bayona says. “Today it is Latin American. The experience is about 21/2 hours and offers lunch at a homestyle Cuban restaurant, a stop at a local fruit vendor and at an ice cream shop specializing in tropical fruit flavors or maybe a typical Cuban coffee place.”

The group also visits Domino Park, where older Cuban men and women still play dominos, and galleries along Calle Ocho featuring Cuban and Latin artists.

A highlight is the tiny cigar factory. “These are traditional rollers. One is a woman who used to roll cigars for Fidel Castro. She has a black and white image of herself in the cigar factory in Cuba where she rolled for Castro. She’s one of the best in the world and now rolls for VIP clients across the globe. All rollers are identified and tour participants can purchase cigars on the spot.”

Wynwood Arts District is where graffiti is celebrated as a true art form. The best graffiti artists in the world have been commissioned to create works on walls in this area that was once an abandoned warehouse wasteland. Today, tech companies are moving in, there are restaurants helmed by top chefs and galleries feature art from renowned artists in many genres.

Angela Abate, sourcing supervisor, venue sourcing solutions, CTW Meetings & Events, calls Wynwood vibrant and energizing. “Driving up to it, my first thought was, ‘Where are they taking us?’ As we entered the first restaurant on our food and art tour, we were immediately welcomed. We then took golf carts around to see amazing, beautiful works of art as well as delight in a delicious culinary experience.”

Most groups sign up for a walking-and-culinary tour. But the CVB also connects groups to DMCs that provide a hands-on experience.

Adolfo Solórzano Z., national sales manager for AlliedPRA South Florida, says of Wynwood, “It is a neighborhood that has morphed quickly into a happening location and is taking the space of more iconic Miami neighborhoods like South Beach on many Google image feeds.”

The AlliedPRA team offers several Wynwood experiences focused on creativity and local immersion. “This includes a hands-on collaborative art project where attendees are taught techniques in street art by local artists then given spray paint and a 20-foot, dual-sided canvas on which to release their own brand of creativity. There’s also a new form of dine-around experience using eco-friendly transportation that incorporates both the artistic and culinary creativity of the neighborhood,” Solórzano Z says.

He notes that Wynwood may not be for every group, “But it is for those that crave creativity and immersion in the evolution of art and a city. The raw art of Wynwood is how we convey that.”

BALTIMORE

Local here means Chesapeake Bay crabs, craft beer, literature, makers and history. The city also has the uniquely Baltimore “hon culture.”

The hon culture arose between the 1950s and 1970s, when working-class local women often dressed in bright, printed dresses with outdated glasses and beehive hairdos. Slang for honey, hon is almost always used at the end of a sentence, e.g., “How bout dem O’s, Hon?” The hon culture was made famous by Baltimore filmmaker John Waters. Baltimore Hon impersonators provide an authentically local welcome to attendees at meetings and conventions.

Edgar Allen Poe impersonators also can be booked. The poet lived and wrote here for a time and died in Baltimore in 1849. His ghost may or may not still roam the Fell’s Point neighborhood, but his legend lives on in historic sites and the Baltimore Ravens, named for Poe’s famously haunting poem.

The CVB helps groups experience authenticity in multiple ways. “We have set up block parties or dine-around experiences in Baltimore’s Little Italy for attendees to immerse themselves in the neighborhood while trying the many Italian restaurants in one evening,” says Al Hutchinson, president and CEO of Visit Baltimore. “Our services team has worked with groups to host themed crab feasts or suggest locations and ideas for crab feasts, such as at Phillips Crab Deck in the Inner Harbor. And we’ve held a cookout reception for an international scientific group at one of Baltimore’s most popular craft breweries, Union Craft Brewing, which allowed attendees to experience the city’s brewing culture.”

Groups also have embraced the increasingly popular maker’s culture. At Treason Toting Co., attendees can customize their own Treason bags. The shop’s owners, born and raised in Baltimore, pay tribute to the city’s craftsmen heritage and to the spirited notion that “It’s noble to betray social and group expectations and to shatter the status quo.”

CHARLESTON, WEST VIRGINIA

Murder, revenge, betrayal, romance — the infamous feud between the Hatfields and McCoys is one of the bloodiest in U.S. history. It caused such havoc that litigation eventually reached the U.S. Supreme Court. Today, groups are transported back to the 1800s on a tour through the area not far from West Virginia’s capital where it all unfolded.

Another quintessentially West Virginia experience is Exhibition Coal Mine, an hour from Charleston, where visitors ride through the passages of the vintage mine, at times in the dark. Veteran miners act as guides, providing authentic accounts of the life and work of West Virginia coal miners. Planners can learn more through the Charleston CVB.

PORTLAND, OREGON

Food and beer contribute mightily to Portland’s allure.

“Travel Portland strives to make meetings in Portland memorable for attendees,” says Jeff Miller, president and CEO of Travel Portland. “Portland has one of the hottest culinary scenes in the world, in part because our talented chefs and makers enjoy collaborating with each other and being involved in their community. Travel Portland works year-round to keep up with the latest trends and cultivate relationships with local talent. This way, we can help groups create custom experiences for their attendees that demonstrate the true spirit of Portland.”

A recent example, Miller says, is a group of medical professionals that participated in a cooking class and intimate dining experience with Gregory Gourdet, executive chef at Departure and runner-up on Bravo’s “Top Chef” season 12.

Jim Rumsey, COO of the Society for Investigative Dermatology, says the group wanted a teambuilding format in which existing leadership and identified future leaders could get to know each other better. “Operating in small groups and working hand-in-hand with chef, they prepared starter dishes, appetizers and desserts for that evening’s dinner. All attendees came away with a greater appreciation of one another and a newfound respect for collaborative cooking with one of Portland’s finest chefs.”

Intimate experiences like this, Miller says, “give attendees a chance to learn about Portland from the people who make the city so special.”

DENVER

The Mile High City is a place where urban sophistication and rural adventure meet. Mountain recreation is certainly one way to experience authentic Denver — but not the only way. In 2017, Travelocity and The American Distilling Institute named Denver the No. 3 Craft Spirit Tourism Destination in the Country. It’s also one of the top craft brew cities and a culinary hotbed. Planners can provide authentic experiences via whiskey tastings featuring the city’s top distillers, including Laws Whiskey House, Leopold Brothers and Stranahan’s; on craft brewery tours; and at acclaimed restaurants.

Red Rocks, however, is the crown jewel of the city’s only-here experiences. It’s the only naturally occurring, acoustically perfect amphitheater in the world. Part of Denver‘s Mountain Parks system, Red Rocks has been the setting for spectacular receptions, networking nights and even group fitness classes.

Vicki Kelly, CMP, convention services director with Visit Denver, says her team recently arranged a tour in RiNo, Lo-Hi and LoDo, three of the city’s trending neighborhoods, which included stops at chef-driven restaurants, a very local ice cream shop and a new multi-vendor market. The group also boarded Denver-made e-Tuks for a pub-crawl, and ended their visit with a tour at Red Rocks.

With IPW in Denver next spring, ideas for immersing attendees in authentic Denver abound. Kelly says possibilities include a culturally driven event at the highly regarded Denver Performing Arts Complex and a function at the Denver Bronco’s stadium focused on sports, recreation and local beer culture that would likely include virtual kayaking, zip lining, pop-up craft beer gardens and appearances by Denver pro athletes. The final night is slated for Red Rocks.

PHOENIX

Phoenix has long shown off its cowboy and Native American roots. But the city also has a rich Mexican heritage.

“After many years of promoting Native American and cowboy themes,” says James Lammy of Southwest Conference Planners, “planners have discovered an equally important culture of the Southwest, the traditions and influence of Mexico and its people, from the colorful celebratory outfits used in their traditional Charreada, to the authentic south-of-the-border spices in their delicious dishes. There’s a facility in Phoenix where you can experience all of that and more called Corona Ranch.”

Visit Phoenix recently hosted a group at the ranch to showcase authentic Phoenix culture. The group was greeted with margaritas and mariachi before enjoying the Charreada, a traditional Mexican rodeo.

Downtown, the CVB has given planners a real feel for the city via bike tours that take participants past striking murals by local artists to tastings at local restaurants and beer samplings from Arizona craft brewers. The group also hiked South Mountain at sunrise, a distinctly Phoenix experience embraced by locals and visitors alike.

SCOTTSDALE

The surrounding Sonoran Desert is one of Scottsdale’s most powerful local elements.

“Our authentic story can be found in our lush desert setting. With its remarkable clarity of light and exotic cactus blossoms, the Sonoran Desert leaves meeting goers feeling inspired,” says Rachel Sacco, president & CEO of Experience Scottsdale.

The CVB partners with tour companies and venues that allow groups to tap into the Sonoran Desert, including Arizona Outback Adventures, which leads adventures in the McDowell Sonoran Preserve, 30,000 acres of pristine, protected desert. “As groups hit the trails,” Sacco says, “tour guides expand on the depth and breadth of the Sonoran’s diverse ecosystem.”

Event Team Inc. leads a teambuilding exercise highlighting the city’s Native American culture, during which teams form tribes and work together to create a tribal name and chant and design and construct a teepee.

Desert Botanical Garden provides a stunning Sonoran backdrop for events and functions, and Desert Foothills’ indoor and outdoor settings for groups of 50 to 1,000 make the natural landscape a compelling design element.

Sacco notes that attendees also can experience indigenous culture through Native-inspired spa treatments. “Centuries ago, American Indians used local plants, cacti and herbs in their healing practices. Today, Scottsdale spas incorporate such ingredients into their treatments, from jojoba body butter to red adobe clay masks.”

Last year the Meeting & Incentive Americas Forum, attended by 200 domestic and international planners, also learned about Scottsdale’s evocative natural environment via a jeep tour through the Sonoran and rafting on the Lower Salt River.

SAN FRANCISCO

Alcatraz, Summer of Love, Haight Ashbury, The San Francisco Giants — just a few of the quintessential San Francisco opportunities for planners.

Among the most powerful experiences is a Hornblower Cruises program on Alcatraz. Groups cruise to the prison, tour, then sit with former guards, inmates and children of prison workers who lived on the island to hear firsthand accounts of life inside and out when Alcatraz housed some of America’s most notorious criminals.

Don’t remember the Summer of Love? It’s still fun to be transported back to 1967 via Magic Bus on a colorful tour that takes in Haight Ashbury, Fillmore West and other landmarks of that era and beyond.

Groups can arrange batting practice with the Giants and buyouts of the city’s famously irreverent, ever-evolving production, Beach Blanket Babylon.

Deirdre Lewis, senior director, convention services and events for San Francisco Travel, and her team are currently working on a program for 400 that brings the city’s Chinese culture front and center. “We’re planning to have the group do a quick walk through Chinatown, then close a street and serve Chinese food and have dragon dancers, fire crackers, etc.”

Groups also have access to top chefs and wine makers, San Francisco Bay and the Golden Gate Bridge. By partnering with top tour operators, vendors and venues, San Francisco Travel gives planners reasons to return again and again.

INTERNATIONAL DESTINATIONS

Many countries also connect planners to experiences that immerse attendees in local history and culture. Great Britain, with a history rife with murders and intrigue, not surprisingly offers places where attendees might encounter ghosts, including London’s Hampton Court, where two of Henry VIII’s wives are said to haunt the halls. Attendees can follow in Jack the Ripper’s bloody footprints on tours through London’s alleyways, the serial killer’s identity still obscured by history. Planners can learn more from Visit Britain.

The island of Barbados offers much for groups. “As a safe and hospitable destination, we know that the people of Barbados are the primary reason visitors say they develop a love affair with the island. Hence in curating experiences, we know that our people have to be where it starts and finishes,” says Petra Roach, director of the U.S. for Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc.

One local experience Roach recommends: “Oistins on Friday or Saturday night, a happening fish fry that brings out hundreds of locals and visitors alike who sit together feasting on some of the best freshly caught seafood and Bajan fare the island has to offer.”

Barbados is the only place outside the United States that George Washington visited, and the house he stayed in is now a museum and available for events. As for activities, Barbados has polo, cricket, and Bushy Park, which Roach calls “the best race circuit in the Caribbean and ideal for teambuilding experiences.”

Few places offer the diversity of experiences Australia does. Paul Griffin, business events manager, Americas for Business Events Australia, points to a recent incentive program in the Great Barrier Region for an American technology company.

The program, created by Australian DMC ID Events, included exclusive access to the Great Barrier Reef with Quicksilver Cruises, Australian wildlife encounters during an exclusive guided tour of Hartley’s Crocodile Adventures and discovery of Aboriginal culture with a private Mossman Gorge Dreamtime Walk.

“It exceeded all expectations and had guests commenting for weeks about how amazing their Australian experience was,” Griffin says.

Authentic and local may be current industry buzzwords, but that doesn’t make them any less compelling. Sharing a destination’s authentic culture is one sure path to creating memorable, inspiring, meaningful experiences with the power to elevate groups and CVBs alike.  C&IT

The Orange County Convention Center hosted Microsoft Ignite, which attracted 26,000 attendees despite a hurricane scare two weeks prior. Credit: Dolan Personke, Hubb

When a hurricane that is forecast to be the most potentially catastrophic on record is headed for the city you’ve chosen as your annual meeting location, it’s not hard to imagine the apprehension a planner might feel in the hours before, during and after the storm.

How Microsoft Ignite Overcame Irma

“It was tense watching all the media reports, worrying about the wonderful people that we work with, along with the residents,” explains Vivian Eickhoff, CMM, event director for Microsoft Ignite. Hurricane Irma landed in Orlando on September 10, just two weeks before Microsoft’s 26,000-attendee annual event was scheduled to begin at the Orange County Convention Center (OCCC).

In fact, as Irma swept through Central Florida, the National Guard, FEMA, local law enforcement, utility crews and other responders were staged at the OCCC. Six helicopters were sheltered in the convention center’s North Concourse. And Microsoft Ignite’s core hotel, the Hyatt Regency Orlando, opened its doors to more than 900 dogs — and their families — during the storm.

“To be honest, we should have had better plans identified before Irma,” added Eickhoff, five days after the storm passed. “This was actually a great lesson in scenario-planning for the ‘what if.’

“After the storm hit we waited a bit and then started to check in with folks to see how they were doing. The county and OCCC did a great job of informing us daily with quick email updates. Once the curfew was lifted and our contacts could start assessing the damage, our team at Microsoft started a punch list to determine if the show could still go on as planned.”

As Eickhoff’s team worked to gather intel about the condition of the city’s infrastructure, Microsoft’s third-party planner Experient flew in to meet with airport operations, the OCCC and core convention hotels to assess how recovery and clean-up operations were going. The team confirmed that drinking water, sewage treatment, power, road access and access to food would not be a problem.

“One thing we were very clear on was that if any first responders or displaced families were still in-house at the OCCC or in hotels, we did not want to displace them. Rather, we would work around them and move our folks and alter our production schedules,” she said.

Getting things in shape for Microsoft Ignite was a priority: The event was projected to leave behind an economic impact of $59 million in Orlando. It’s one of only three shows that utilizes both buildings of the OCCC — 2.2 million sf of exhibit space.

Microsoft worked with its supplier team to verify the status of shipments, the ability to access the more than 150 semi-trucks needed to ship in gear and the availability of buses, since many were expected to be in use by FEMA elsewhere in the state. Eickhoff said it took three days after the storm to confirm that the show could go on.

“I give a ton of credit to our amazing supplier team, as they quickly engaged in finding out answers and teamwork to  come together.” Eickhoff added that there were no communication challenges. “Teams with the OCCC were very proactive in sending updates and responding.”

Orlando weathered Irma better than some Florida destinations. Fred Shea, senior vice president of convention sales and services with Visit Orlando, said the city’s location in the center of the state meant wind volume was considerably less than in coastal areas.

“The winds here were under 100 mph,” explained Shea. “But we were running at full capacity at our hotels, because people were evacuating to Orlando. September is not the busiest time for us, so we were lucky not to be in the middle of a big convention.” In the days after Irma’s passing, the teams at Visit Orlando and the OCCC worked to get the message out that Orlando was back to business as usual.

“Our role was to convey to our customers what was open, what was available and exactly what was happening,” said Shea. “The hotel workers and first responders were so organized and did a very good job of communicating internally and to residents and visitors. And our customers have been terrific.”

Such proactive services are one reason Orlando has been ranked by Cvent as the No. 1 destination for meetings and events in the U.S. for five out of the last six years. Eickhoff credits the city’s top-notch planning teams at the OCCC — “from the sales director to the account manager” — for Orlando’s success as a meeting option.

“They are responsive, they bring creative ideas, they’re willing to help us achieve the impossible, and they are truly interested in our success,” says Eickhoff. “The OCCC and the city work with many types of clients, from association to corporate, and I think that allows them to have a solid understanding of our needs. They are familiar with attendee flow and dealing with everything from trade shows with thousands of attendees to corporate shows with lots and lots of session meetings.

“When we were looking for a new location for Microsoft Ignite we considered everything from event space needed, to hotel capacity, airlift, overall costs to attendees, labor costs, and dining, entertainment and shopping for attendees. Orlando met all of these needs. When we’ve had Microsoft events in Orlando in the past, the feedback from attendees and partners was always positive. Also, our attendees from Western Europe like the ease of flying to Orlando versus West Coast locations.”

Eickhoff says the OCCC’s space between the West and North/South Buildings allowed her team to creatively design experiences for attendees and partners. But she notes that the facility’s signage could be better. “As in many convention centers the signage is not always that helpful in directing folks. For our event, it would be ideal to have video fiber infrastructure existing across all the venues to save on lots of costs that we have to pay out for each time.”

Fifty area hotels were part of the room block for Microsoft, with the 1,641-room Hyatt Regency Orlando serving as one of the key venues. Connected to the OCCC’s West Building by a pedestrian footbridge that opened earlier this year, the Hyatt Regency was Cvent’s top-ranked meeting hotel in Orlando for 2017. The facility offers 315,000 sf of meeting space, including five pillar-free ballrooms ranging up to 55,000 sf.

Meeting Hotels and More on the Move

Of course, Orlando’s convention and meeting business normally hums along at a more predictable pace. The city has 150 meeting hotels offering a combined 4.5 million sf of meeting space. A number have renovations or expansions in the works. Among them:

In September, the Starwood-managed Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort completed a $140 million head-to-flipper redesign. The property, located just outside Disney’s Epcot and Disney Studios theme parks, possesses more than 332,000 sf of meeting space, including 110,500 sf of contiguous convention/exhibit space. A new feature for planners is the recently added 2,800-sf Lake View Room, which boasts floor-to-ceiling windows and can be utilized for indoor-outdoor receptions. All of the resort’s 2,267 guest rooms received a facelift, as did the convention space and the lobby on the Dolphin side of the hotel.

Currently under construction at Walt Disney World is a new, 500-room tower at Disney’s Spanish-themed Coronado Springs Resort. A rooftop restaurant and lounge atop the tower will offer views of nightly fireworks shows at nearby theme parks, while the expansion also adds additional meeting space to the hotel’s existing 220,000 sf of dedicated meeting and function space. Existing rooms are being reimagined with convention attendees in mind, and landscapes are being transformed into a series of floating gardens.

Elsewhere at Walt Disney World, an expansion of the convention center at the Yacht and Beach Club Resort will bring the total flexible meeting and event space at the resort to 100,000 sf and will now include a 16,000-sf ballroom divisible into eight breakout spaces. And Disney Springs — formerly known as Downtown Disney — has had a wholesale transformation and now features top brand shopping and an even-longer roster of dining options. Newest of these is Paddlefish, a refresh of the full-size paddle-wheel steamboat that previously housed Fulton’s Crab House. The three-deck restaurant can be rented out in part or in full, hosting up to 525 guests seated, or 750 reception-style.

The 1,020-room DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Orlando at SeaWorld is nearing completion on a renovation that will almost double the property’s flexible meeting space to more than 100,000 sf. The new Majestic Ballroom will add 20,000 sf of indoor conference facilities when it opens later this year, while the Palm Promenade adds 23,000 sf of outdoor space. The rest of the resort’s meeting spaces also are being refreshed, while the spa facility has been converted into boardrooms. Also underway: an updated look for the 300 rooms in the 17-story Tower Building (the balance of the resort’s rooms were renovated recently).

And locally owned Rosen Centre recently announced renovations already underway for a refresh of all guest rooms, scheduled for completion by the end of this year. The room design will have a contemporary look emphasizing the serene ambience of a spa, and will feature new pillowtop mattresses. Tech updates include multi-outlet connectivity bars in all rooms. Rosen Centre has 150,000 sf of meeting and event space, including a 35,000-sf Grand Ballroom, and the property is connected to the OCCC by a pedestrian walkway.

Rosen Shingle Creek recently refreshed all 1,501 guest rooms, redesigned the resort’s championship golf course and unveiled a swank new open-air covered pavilion, perfect for private functions. Perhaps most important for business travelers are new recharging stations and added power outlets for increased connectivity in public spaces.

Perhaps the city’s most dramatic growth has been at Universal Studios Florida, where convention and hotel space has expanded considerably in the past year. Loews Meeting Complex at Universal Orlando now encompasses 247,000 sf of convention space, including a 41,000-sf ballroom. The facility is connected to Loews Royal Pacific Resort and the year-old Loews Sapphire Falls Resort, offering a combined 2,000 rooms. Plus, Universal and Loews will unveil its sixth hotel, Aventura, in summer 2018, close to the entrance of  Universal’s Volcano Bay, the resort’s new water theme park which opened this past summer.

A Seamless Experience

It was a site visit, before construction even began at the Loews Meeting Complex, that sold Victoria Dick, corporate event planner for Duro-Last Roofing, on scheduling the company’s January 2017 National Sales Conference at the resort. The 1,200-attendee group used rooms at both Loews Sapphire Falls Resort and the adjoining Loews Royal Pacific Resort.

“We booked it before one shovel had been put into the ground,” explains Dick, adding that the property was the best of six that were considered. “Our event is very heavy on meeting space with a large production element to go along with that. The group likes to keep everything on the resort property and not use convention centers. Our organization encourages our family-owned businesses to include members of the family to attend — there are so many options with hotels and meetings as well from the planning side of things. We liked the idea of having several food outlets on property as well as the closeness of Universal Orlando Resort, and it was great to see the variety of ways you can get around once you are on property.”

Plus, the facility was able to accommodate Duro-Last’s unique requirements.

“We do a roofing competition where 10 to 12 two-man teams compete against time and each other to put the best roof on,” says Dick. “Some of the equipment could not be used inside the hotel, so this ended up being done in a portion of their parking garage, and it went off without a hitch. About four months prior to our event we had another installation class that popped up. The Loews group worked with us to find a spot at Sapphire Falls. We ended up in their exhibit hall, which was a perfect place for that event as well.

“The fact that we were able to work so closely with the new resort next door as our overflow hotel was great — they made it seamless. The function space being all in one area is a great plus. The hotel was wonderful with signage and branding so we could direct our group to exactly where they needed to be.”

In addition to the new water park, the Universal Studios Florida resort includes two full theme parks and Universal CityWalk, a dining and entertainment complex, which has also grown during the last two years. CityWalk is located a short walk, boat- or bus-ride away from the resort’s hotels.

“We did a small function at CityWalk at the Hard Rock Cafe,” notes Dick. “It was for a group of 200 on a Saturday night, and included reception, dinner and small awards banquet. The team there was great to work with and the night went very well.”

Dick pointed to several individuals that helped her event go off without a hitch.

“Fuat Guven, the assistant director of F&B, is awesome,” says Dick. “I worked with him previously when he was employed at another resort several years ago, and to my surprise he recognized me and came over to strike up a conversation. It did not matter if it was F&B-related or not, he would get answers and made an effort to make sure I was taken care of. Our main point of contact, Margie Sanchez, was very accessible, made things happen, and dealt very well with last-minute changes. And Penda Manley was our group reservation coordinator, and she did an amazing job. No matter how many changes or additions I needed, she was right there to make it happen.”

A Learning Experience

For Kristin Canterbury, CMP, senior events and customer outreach manager, National Geographic Learning/Cengage Learning, a location removed from the theme parks was one key to the success of her event.

“Sometimes travel to Orlando can be overwhelming and can seem like a neverending line for amusement parks,” suggests Canterbury. “It was a breath of fresh air to arrive at the Omni Orlando Resort at ChampionsGate, with its resort feel, elegant yet relaxed décor, and personalized service. It was the convenience of Orlando with the luxury I wanted to bring to our attendees. It’s a bit farther out from MCO than other properties, but it’s worth the extra few minutes’ drive to stay and work in a high-quality setting.”

Located 28 miles southwest of Orlando International Airport (MCO) in Kissimmee, the resort was home to a 200-attendee annual sales meeting for National Geographic Learning in July-August. Canterbury says Orlando was a good fit for her group based on the abundant flight options and plentiful attractions nearby for “free” nights. And, “we knew we’d get value for our dollar and get great service,” she adds.

“The Omni team immediately recognized and appreciated our business and event,” explains Canterbury. “They understood the goals and objectives — to present a high-quality learning and networking experience — and they worked with me closely every step of the way to meet and exceed our needs. From working with our group’s many specific dietary needs, to creating an indoor food truck experience and lawn games and fireworks, I don’t think I ever heard the staff say ‘no.’ ”

Earlier this year the Omni Orlando Resort at ChampionsGate broke ground on a $40 million expansion project which added 23,000 sf of additional pool deck and recreational space, installation of Kissimmee’s only resort wave pool and a new 93-room property villa building. The resort’s Trevi’s Restaurant was redesigned to include an outdoor garden terrace and bar. The expansion also added 100,000 sf of expanded event lawn and conference center space.

“Most of the meeting space has natural light or access to natural light in the prefunction areas, which I always appreciate,” says Canterbury. “Between banquets and catering, in-house AV, and the destination team onsite, they communicate well and gave us lots of support and creative, but not pushy suggestions on how to make our ideas work. The staff takes care of the planner, which is always nice once you’re onsite for over a week. I felt like I was part of the family after this event — one way I recognize a wonderful property with talented staff.

“Admittedly I prefer venues that are removed from the theme park environment,” adds Canterbury. “But it was nice to know that they were still accessible. I felt like the Omni was a good fit for a more grownup crowd looking to work and relax in a polished yet elegant setting.”

Post-storm Outcome

And how did Microsoft’s post-storm event pan out? We checked in with Vivian Eickhoff as her event was concluding and she reported that Microsoft Ignite was a great success. And not only did she not receive negative comments from guests, but attendees participated in spur-of-the-moment volunteer efforts aimed at post-storm recovery for the Orlando community and beyond.

“Attendees built over 2,000 hygiene kits at the conference, for those impacted by hurricanes Harvey and Irma,” explains Eickhoff. “This was thanks to a partnership with Clean the World set up just days after we connected with them. We also donated over 1,000 conference backpacks, water bottles and T-shirts, and worked with American Red Cross to donate blood. The Big Red Bus was onsite for two days.” C&IT

The current climate, both meteorological and political, is far from stable: Hurricanes Irma, Harvey and Maria; North Korea’s missile tests; and possible terror attacks have all been in the headlines.

Disruptors

For planners who review hotel contracts and draft addenda, such tragic and worrisome developments are reminders of the importance of the force majeure clause in particular. The clause has long included various types of contingencies such as acts of God, acts of terrorism, civil disorder, strikes and government travel warnings that make it impracticable or impossible to hold the meeting at the intended destination. But extra care should be taken on the details of the clause in order to minimize risk. The location of the contingency, for example, should not be limited to the location of the hotel, but also cover the point of departure for most attendees, if applicable.

“During Hurricane Harvey your event could have been taking place in Seattle where the weather was not affecting, but a significant number of attendees could have been coming out of Houston where flights were cancelled and homes destroyed, not allowing them to attend. Protect yourself from attrition and cancellation (penalties) in these scenarios,” recommends Katie Muck, senior director, global meeting services for Meeting Sites Resource. The same point applies to acts of terrorism. The clause should account for those acts that occur either “in the meeting locale or the location of origin of a material number of registered attendees,” advises Deborah Borak, CDS, CMM, SMMC, vice president/team director for Conference Direct.

Another aspect of natural disasters and other potentially dangerous events is that they don’t always make it impossible or commercially impractical to hold a meeting, but they may make attendees wary about traveling. This can put the host organization in a difficult situation. “Many organizations are now dealing with hurricanes in Texas and Florida, and are having to navigate (the issue of) whether they can hold their event or if they need to cancel. This can be challenging if the hotel is open, but attendees think it is not safe to travel to the area,” Borak explains. “If the hotel is open and the airport in that city is operating and attendees can make it, force majeure does not apply. The organization should have a plan on how to get up-to-date information from the hotel and city and be able to communicate that to attendees.”

Market Forces

While the content of the force majeure clause is not typically a point of debate between planner and hotelier, other contractual items tend to be more contested, such as rates, concessions and attrition policy. The seller’s market in many first- and second-tier cities continues to make many hoteliers less flexible on these terms. “I am absolutely encountering a seller’s market in first-tier and some second-tier cities due to demand,” Muck observes. “The majority of new hotel builds have been in the select/limited service category; therefore, there is still a lack of function space, especially when it comes to large meetings.” Similarly, Kim Hentges, CMP, senior planner, events and incentives with Lennox Industries Inc., has found that “new hotel builds are offering less meeting space per room. …It seems finding available space is a bigger issue than actually going through the contract negotiation process.”

Limited growth in meeting space, combined with rising competition for that space among groups, does not bode well for planners seeking ideal contractual terms. And the seller’s market isn’t limited to first-tier cities and popular second-tier cities such as Austin, Texas. “Even in Kansas City (Missouri) where I’m located your negotiating power as an event planner seems to be less,” notes Shana Hoy, CMP, event manager with Husch Blackwell LLP. “It’s really become important to understand where the value for each (party) is, in order to create a negotiation that is going to work best for both parties.”

Open Dialogue

Hoy begins negotiations by outlining all of her group’s needs in terms of pricing and concessions, and then seeing where the sales rep can accommodate those needs. “Maybe they’ll come back with, ‘I’m flexible on parking but not on internet fees.’ If what they come back with is something that works for me and for our budget, then we move to the next step with the contract,” says Hoy. “I find that as long as it’s an open dialogue and we’re in it for a positive outcome together, then it usually works out.”

While it seems commonsensical to engage in a such conversation toward reaching an agreement, Muck has found that “Overall, the sales process has become more transactional vs. conversational. In the compressed market we face, together we need to figure out a better way to make it happen and talk to one another to get a yes on the RFP.”

The dialogue is important so that the sales rep can truly understand the group’s value proposition and advocate it to the revenue manager, Muck says. “Oftentimes, the revenue management team is giving the sales staff parameters to work within. However, if the sales manager is armed with the information from the customer first, they have the opportunity to get a yes for the client more often.”

Event History

Of course, the planner himself needs to be clear on the value of the group’s business in order to convey that to the rep. Being armed with key supporting data — including past and anticipated spend on guest rooms, F&B, AV, recreation and other items — is especially critical when negotiating in today’s market. “We keep good records of our event history,” says Thais Toro, MBA, event manager with Cox Automotive. “I like to know my numbers so I can create confidence” in the hotelier. The confidence instilled in the sales rep can lead to more favorable concessions than they would otherwise allow. Muck explains, “When you provide the supplier with the value of the program and the expectation of some of the prioritized concessions for the client before rate is quoted, you are more apt to receive those concessions.”

Toro’s approach has even yielded success in the highly competitive market of Las Vegas, where she once convinced a hotel sales rep to match her contracted room rate to any lower room rate subsequently advertised by the hotel. The contract included a clause stipulating that “if for any reason after our event is booked the hotel lowers the rate in any promotion, they will be willing to match that with ours,” she says. Her argument was that her company and she as a planner would not look good in the eyes of attendees if they see an advertised room rate that is lower than the rate being paid for the meeting. Per the clause, the hotelier indeed lowered the group’s rate to match a promoted rate during the dates of the offer.

Shocked by Electrical Outlet Charges?

Room rate is one of many cost centers that planners have to manage in an atmosphere where hoteliers are often raising surcharges and adding new ones. “Contracts are becoming increasingly long due to having to cover every type of scenario or any type of charge,” Borak observes. She gives a telling example: “The latest charge I am encountering is for electrical outlets. One would think that if there is an outlet in a meeting room, it is available for use. (But) if a group needs power strips, they not only have to pay for the strips, but the power itself. One client I work with had (attendees) in a breakout, and two people plugged their phones into the wall outlets to charge them. The conference service manager came along and unplugged the phones and told the planner they had not paid for power so the outlets could not be used. This is something that planners will need to keep an eye on as some hotels are utilizing this additional revenue stream.”

Service Charges and Taxes

Another growing cost center is service charges and taxes. According to Hoy, they can comprise 35 percent or more of the bill, particularly in first-tier markets such as New York City. “That really takes a chunk out of your budget when you’re looking at room rate or your F&B,” she notes, and looks to offset that expense with reduced room rental fees or setup fees, or a reduced rate on banquet menus or specialty menus.

“One of the things I’ve started doing is building menu pricing into the contract, so I know when I’m budgeting for the event what those fees and what those numbers are going to look like,” she says. Some hoteliers have also been adding porterage and housekeeping fees on the front end, as well as service charges in addition to labor charges for AV. “Ultimately, the services you are receiving should be included in the labor charge, and you should not be paying both,” Muck maintains.

Negotiable Items

Typically negotiable charges include internet and resort fees. “Most hotels have Wi-Fi as part of their business, so I don’t see why they need to charge for it,” Toro reasons. She also observes that resort fees have been on the rise, and tries to have them reduced or waived, depending on the nature of the meeting. “If it’s a business meeting, people are not going to be at the pool, and they don’t read the newspaper (delivered to their door). So I try to explain that I’m not going to pay (a fee for such amenities), and explain that there are other ways I’m going to bring profit to your business. In most cases, if they don’t remove the fee, they reduce it,” she relates. As always, it’s key to emphasize the group’s value to the hotel in order to try to get a concession on a particular fee. A case for complimentary outdoor setup, for example, may be made based on the volume of F&B revenue the group will bring through outdoor events.

Once the agreed-upon surcharges and fees have been specified in the contract, Hentges suggests it is prudent to include verbiage such as the following in order to guarantee transparency: “No additional charges not specified in this Agreement will be incurred by Group for work performed and/or services provided without written consent from an authorized representative of the Group.”

Cancellation Penalties

As discussed above, a comprehensive force majeure clause is not just prudent but necessary, especially in this day and age. But when the clause does not apply to a cancellation, the penalty terms go into effect, and here some hotels appear to be taking advantage of favorable market conditions to take a harder line. “Some clauses now have cancellation based on revenue instead of profit, and require cancellation (penalties) on F&B as far as a year or two out,” Borak says. Both have been points of contention among planners.

Muck urges that groups should only be penalized for the hotel’s “true losses.” “If the hotel wants to go after all their losses for the cancelled event, then a mitigated damages-based contract where losses are calculated afterward would address this.” As to penalizing for F&B losses, the cancellation clause should be “more related to the room block commitment,” Hentges argues. “Food & beverage should only be included closer to the program dates.” Regarding rebook and resell clauses, both of which can amortize the cancellation penalty, Muck sees many hoteliers accepting one or the other, but not both. “Often the hotel is in such a compressed market they will not accept either one,” she adds.

Whatever amount of the hotel’s lost revenue a group is ultimately liable for in the event of cancellation, the hotelier should not make more money via cancellation than it would have made if the group had held the event. “The cancellation clause maximum should (take into account) the attrition allotment and never equal 100 percent of the aggregate contracted guest room and food & beverage commitment,” Hentges advises. “You should never pay more for cancelling than you would have spent to execute the program.”

The average attrition allotment, however, tends not to be as large as it was during the buyer’s market. “We try to negotiate at least an 80 percent attrition clause, but not all hotels are willing to do that,” Hoy says. “I’m starting to see 10 and 15 percent (allowable attrition) as opposed to 20 percent.” On top of that, some properties are requiring attrition to be calculated daily instead of the cumulatively, which can be to the group’s disadvantage. Fortunately, this requirement appears not to be widespread; Borak indicates that she has encountered it mainly at independent properties.

Relationships

Fortunately, the platitude that hotels in seller’s markets are difficult negotiating partners has many exceptions. The real negotiating partner is the particular sales rep, who can be convinced of a given meeting group’s value proposition. A longtime relationship with that rep, where he or she has seen the group perform well on its room block, exceed F&B minimums and more, is of course ideal. But sales reps can and do change positions, and a planner can be left feeling like the wheel must be reinvented with a new rep. If that should happen, it is often good strategy to copy the hotel’s national sales office on email communications with the new property rep. “We have found that keeping our national sales office informed from the beginning and throughout the entire process is beneficial in case we come to a place where the negotiations stall for any reason,” says Hentges.

In a similar vein, if a planner feels he or she is being “taken advantage of,” Borak recommends asking to speak with the director of sales. “Since the director is typically the one that the sales rep is passing things by and getting approval from, it can be helpful to hear from him or her directly on something that is not approved, and why.”

A second recourse is the local CVB. “Include them in the process from the beginning,” she suggests. “The CVB rep will not negotiate the contract, but can help the hotel understand the value of the business being booked, especially if the group books the city a lot and uses a variety of hotels in that city.”

As a third recourse, the planner who has reached an impasse on some contractual item might schedule a meeting or conference call with a “behind the scenes” hotel staff member who can provide information that may resolve the issue. “For instance, when groups are trying to negotiate food and beverage prices or determine meals, talking to the chef directly can be a win–win for the group. The chef can advocate for what they need, and showcase other options that are not in the catering menus,” Borak says.

Room rate negotiations, securing balanced attrition/cancellation terms, and keeping surcharges and fees in check are all challenges that have been exacerbated by the seller’s market. When a particular property sales rep is not making it easier to meet those challenges, it behooves a planner to look to others on the supplier side that can help pave the way to an agreement, whether a national sales rep, CVB or property representatives outside of the sales office. Tight market conditions call for more patience and resourcefulness before deciding that a property has been given its fair shake. C&IT

The GBTA Meetings Committee provides Meetings Management guidance, education and innovation through industry thought leadership. The Committee works to be the preeminent source of knowledge and strategic thinking on the state of Meetings Management for the industry by developing and maintaining educational materials and producing and communicating high-quality content on emerging trends in Meetings Management. www.gbta.org

Is it worth the effort and cost to manage small meetings? The answer, as in most things, is “It depends.” It depends on how you define small meetings, how much effort you expend in their management, what you mean by “manage,” what your tolerance for risk is, how you define “risk,” what industry vertical you are in, which countries the small meetings take place in, whether they are simple or complex, how much you spend on them, what the return on investment will be, who the attendees are, and on and on, ad infinitum.

But still, it is an important question. According to Groupize, a small meeting technology provider, in their e-book entitled “Small Meetings are the Wild Wild West,” 66 percent of all meetings in the United States have fewer than 50 attendees, and by most measures would be considered small meetings. This represents $124B in annual spend, at first glance a worthy target for management. In the following sections we will demystify small meetings and provide some guidance on whether they are worth the time and effort to manage.

Defining Small Meetings

There are a variety of ways to define small meetings, including size (e.g., 10–25 attendees), spend (e.g., under $25K), meeting type (e.g., internal meetings), and so on. But this approach can lead to exactly the kinds of risks that meetings management programs are meant to guard against. The following two examples illustrate this nicely: 1) A small meeting of 12 senior executive attendees coming together to discuss the merger of their respective companies. This might be a small meeting, but it is also a very complex meeting, given the level of the attendees, their security concerns and the need for absolute privacy; 2) A small dinner meeting where government officials are in attendance, in a country with a very high Corruption Perception Index. This, too, is a complex meeting, given the strictures around the giving of anything of value to any foreign official, as laid out in the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).

These might be small meetings, but they are not simple meetings and are potentially high risk. Factors that make small meetings complex include brand exposure (optics of a meeting), financial risk (a large attrition penalty), duty-of-care risks (a teambuilding exercise that includes jumping out of a plane), industry-specific regulatory risks (Sunshine Act or FINRA) and anti-bribery laws (FCPA and the UK Bribery Act). So, instead of addressing small meetings, this article will focus on simple meetings, with the understanding that complex meetings, even though small, should be managed through the regular channels of a meetings management program.

Return on Investment Considerations

Determining the return on investment for small meetings requires examining the same three aspects as we would for larger (strategic) meetings, i.e., cost, risk management and end-user experience. In other words, is it cost-effective to manage these meetings? Does the risk profile of these events raise red flags for the organization? And will the attendee experience be positively impacted by the management of these meetings?

Full management of small and simple meetings under the current Strategic Meetings Management model is not likely very cost-effective for simple meetings between 10 and 25 attendees. It is only when the number of attendees surpasses 25 that the management cost becomes more in line with the overall cost of the event.

All that being said, the specter of risk exposure increases without the help of professional sourcing managers to negotiate the contract, and to protect organizations from other risk factors, such as cancellation and attrition penalties, contractual liability risks, duty-of-care risks, regulatory violations, and brand and intellectual property risks. Ultimately, not managing even the smallest of meetings can lead to an increased organizational risk profile, and the decision to accept such a risk profile should be an informed decision based on a full understanding of the potential challenges, and the organization’s tolerance for risk. Each organization needs to conduct its own cost-benefit analysis to determine the appropriate trade-off between the cost of managing meetings and the potential for risk.

The final aspect of ROI for simple meetings is to consider the attendee experience. Absent professional sourcing and planning staff, meeting owners, or more likely their administrative assistants, are left to their own devices to identify appropriate venues and plan the specific logistics of the event. They must find venues in cities with sufficient airlift to accommodate the attendees, and venues that have the right balance of amenities — not too few (no Wi-Fi) and not too many (a spa). They must plan meals for vegans, paleos and everyone in-between, and manage the logistics of meeting rooms and audio-visual requirements. Not managing these aspects of the meeting can lead to a significantly degraded experience for attendees. Here, too, organizations must conduct a cost-benefit analysis to determine whether the risks associated with having nonprofessionals plan their events are worth the savings to be realized by not professionally managing these simple meetings.

The Pros and Cons of Managing

In the end, it all comes down to whether your organization deems it necessary to manage small, simple or a combination of small and simple meetings. The factors that should determine an organization’s approach to managing small meetings ultimately depends on its tolerance for risk, the cost versus expected Return on Investment it seeks from various small meeting types, and the end-user experience the organization wants its attendees to have. The lower the risk and greater the attendee experience an organization seeks from its small meetings, the more likely the event should be managed by professionals. On the other hand, if an organization is more willing to tolerate risk, or if its events are simple, and do not incur significant risk, the less likely they will need to be managed. C&IT

The Ranch 4.0 in Malibu, California, offers a luxury wellness boot camp for corporate groups where plenty of healthful meal choices are available. Credits The Ranch Malibu

Companies, insurance providers and other organizations are taking steps to improve employee productivity, health, resilience and satisfaction. This not only results in healthier employees, but also happier ones — both of which are extremely beneficial to the organization.

The American Journal of Health Promotion conducted a review in 2012, which found that companies with wellness benefits had 25 percent lower sick leave, workers compensation claims, and health and disability insurance costs. Still, fewer than 10 percent of companies nationwide offer a formal, comprehensive wellness program.

A study by the Incentive Research Foundation (IRF) found that with extra budgeting available, meeting planners are optimistic about their ability to transform meetings to be “very healthy” or “mostly healthy” — a considerable shift from their standard meetings. But while most companies report being invested in wellness and sustainability, with wellness programs in place for employees, that foundation is not translating to a similarly strong focus when it comes to meetings — either in design, policy or budgets.

While it might seem like a no-brainer to offer benefits that are a win-win situation for both employee and company, many firms simply don’t know where to begin, or feel it is too complex or overwhelming to undertake.

A corporate retreat, team meeting or other offsite organizational event can be the perfect setting in which to incorporate such activities, and begin introducing employees to the overall human resources program. And, they are also a great way to break the ice among team members who work in silos; encourage relationship-building; ease the stress of a convention environment or sitting in presentations all day; and work to increase alertness, concentration and retention of the business at hand.

Part of the Corporate Culture

Fitbit is a brand closely identified with staying fit these days, so it’s no surprise that the company itself incorporates wellness habits into every aspect of its culture — including team events.

“Wellness plays a part of Fitbit employees’ everyday life,” says Amy McDonough, Fitbit’s SVP of strategy and operations. “So while wellness activities have of course been included in specific retreats and events, that is an extension of what we do every day.”

Some of the team events organized by Fitbit Health Solutions for its employees include fun runs and sports leagues. Staff members also are invited to help develop new products; for example, employees tested a new, guided breathing device called Relax prior to its launch.

Staying Fit on the Road

In fact, most people who attend meetings for work consider themselves active and healthy in their daily lives. Yet, all that changes when their normal routine goes out the window. According to a recent global survey by Hilton, more than half of meeting attendees admit that they don’t maintain their exercise regimen or healthy eating habits when on the road for work events.

“The typical meeting attendee is eating healthier and exercising more frequently, and wants to maintain this lifestyle while traveling for business,” says Andrew Flack, vice president regional marketing and eCommerce Americas at Hilton.

To that end, more and more hotels, event spaces and meeting planners are incorporating these needs into the programs. At Hilton, for example, the “Meet With Purpose” program offers balanced meal menus for events at many of their hotels, paired with instructor-led exercise and activity breaks to spark creativity, encourage attendee networking and give attendees that much-desired workout.

Some of these pairings include Yoga & Yogurt (an energizing morning yoga session followed by a yogurt breakfast); Flex Power (a 25-minute, gentle instructor-led workout routine with a healthful breakfast or midmorning snack); and Meditative Moment (a 10-minute meditation session focused on stress relief, with a lean protein meal and veggie or fruit smoothie).

“Expanding Meet With Purpose and offering health and wellness menus to 40-plus of our U.S. hotels reiterates our commitment to partnering with meeting professionals, to improving attendee satisfaction and making a real impact in the industry,” Flack added.

Resort Getaways

Retreats provide the perfect setting for companies to build in health-focused activities. One nonprofit organization booked The Ranch, a healthy lifestyle company operating two acclaimed fitness resorts in California, for back-to-back events for their team and top donors.

The nonprofit was a client of Ovation Travel, which planned the retreat. “They bonded over long hikes and strenuous workouts, to build stronger relationships and raise over $1 million in additional donations,” says president Jack Ezon. He measures the positive impact of such experiences with the fact that every group he has ever booked at the Ranch has rebooked the following year.

The two Ranch resorts, The Ranch Malibu and The Ranch 4.0 at Four Seasons Westlake Village, are sometimes billed as “luxury boot camps.” Their signature program, which includes hiking, rest, strength conditioning, massages and yoga, is customized for each corporate group. These are carefully designed to not only promote wellness and health, but also to build strong relationships between employees and their employers.

“I believe we have seen a marked interest from corporate and private groups because we offer a unique experience that naturally lends itself to teambuilding, camaraderie, and mental and physical detoxification.” says Alex Glasscock, CEO and founder of The Ranch Malibu. “We designed three custom group packages with the intention of promoting a healthy and balanced lifestyle on an individual level, along with supporting a positive group dynamic both during and after the program.”

Depending on the destination of a corporate retreat, teams also can build local cultural offerings into their activities for a refreshing, unique experience.

On the island of Maui, the Travaasa Hana resort organizes some truly Hawaiian experiences for corporate groups, such as outrigger canoeing, spear throwing, lei making, or fishing with nets and bamboo poles. When colleagues are learning something new — along with the laughs that usually come with picking up such different, out-of-the-box skills — they have a greater opportunity for bonding in a completely different way than they do in the office.

More hotels nowadays are injecting wellness into meeting breaks. Just to name a few:

Hyatt Regency St. Louis at The Arch just introduced a new yoga break option for meetings and groups. Meeting planners can choose to add a yoga session to their program to refresh their minds and elevate their experience.

The Ritz-Carlton, Cleveland’s Apple a Day Break takes advantage of the nutritional profile of Ohio apples, full of phytonutrients and antioxidants, and it then adds an element of fun for guests experiencing conference fatigue.

The Hyatt Regency Indian Wells Resort & Spa’s Agua Serena Spa offers mini-aromatherapy treatments during meeting breaks customized to the individual needs such as stress relief and clarity.

Physical and Psychological Well-being

As Glasscock pointed out, keeping employees healthy not only affects their physical wellness, but their emotional well-being as well — and has become a high priority for many meeting professionals. In an IMEX survey of nearly 1,200 people, more than three-quarters of the respondents confirmed the importance of well-being during business travel: 79.5 percent of hosted buyers, 78 percent of visitors and 83 percent of exhibitors all stated that this was important to them.

Properties such as the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, California, incorporate the mental state as much as the body, partnering with The Chopra Center to provide a nurturing retreat where people come to heal, empower themselves, find emotional freedom and experience spiritual awakening. Their programs include yoga and daily meditation sessions, as well as a wide variety of workshops and spa treatments — combining the healing arts of the East with the best in modern Western medicine.

Mindfulness

According to the American Psychological Association, mindfulness can improve cognition, increase focus and boost productivity. With world-renowned holistic physicians Deepak Chopra and David Simon behind The Chopra Center, the retreats offered at Omni La Costa have drawn global law firms, national restaurant and retail brands, and entertainment/talent agencies.

The intimate sanctuary, named the top luxury spa in San Diego by Discover SD magazine, draws on cutting-edge research from top health experts and physicians in behavioral health, nutrition and fitness.

“Beyond the 110,000 sf of indoor and outdoor meetings and event space, companies bring their teams to Omni La Costa because of the resources and amenities we offer to help them enrich their employees’ lives outside of a corporate environment,” says Patsy Bock, director of sales and marketing at the resort. “The teams that encourage participation in the vast array of wellness activities provided by our award-winning spa, championship golf courses and the world-renowned Chopra Center located at the resort, all leave with something tangible they can incorporate into their everyday lives. While golf and spa treatments remain popular options, attendees are starting look for a broader approach to recreation and wellness.”

IMEX recognizes this tilt in favor of holistic wellness at its industry trade shows, offering a Be Well Lounge sponsored by Hilton Worldwide. Mindfulness trainer Lee Papa and her expert team, who believe that business and mindfulness go hand in hand, offer regular sessions in the lounge on yoga, mindfulness and meditation.

Puppy Love

Research studies have shown that people with pets have lower rates of stress, obesity, cholesterol and high blood pressure — and they are just a lot of fun. At its last annual educational conference for clients and partners in Texas, consulting firm Travois partnered with local nonprofit Austin Pets Alive to bring rescue puppies into the agenda.

“Attendees hear instruction on highly complex and detailed tax credit programs, which involve Excel spreadsheets, legal jargon and flow charts,” says Eden Rensing, who plans the Travois events. “We wanted to provide them with a real break. Not just a snack and phone call break, but one that would allow them to smile and laugh and recharge for the next sessions. There were lots of hugs, puppy kisses, and photos and videos.”

When asked if they would do the puppy program again, Rensing says, “I think our clients will be mad if we don’t!”

Rensing also has incorporated other unique activities into the conferences, including a wake-up morning mile walk with Olympic Gold Medalist Billy Mills; afternoon conference room stretches; and welcome reception dance lessons. While the walk and dance lessons were hits, the stretch sessions didn’t go over so well. “Stretching in business casual attire isn’t the easiest. We learned.”

Hilton’s Meet With Purpose offers The Puppies & Ice Cream group activity, which has the dual benefit of reducing stress while helping out the community. This guaranteed feel-good, meeting break for attendees works in conjunction with local no-kill animal shelters that provide the pups and volunteer handlers. Groups have fun interacting with the animals while enjoying a special ice cream menu courtesy of the hotel catering department. Participating hotels ideally provide an outside space with a nearby entrance for pets to encounter their newfound friends. Groups can present a check to the shelter during the event in exchange for their time.

Toni Zoblotsky, director of B-to-B marketing at Hilton Worldwide, who helped launch the Meeting With Purpose Program, notes that this activity sparks a spontaneous enthusiasm unlike any other. “There’s a wow factor with it,” she says and has observed that the irresistible allure of happy, wagging dogs fully engages attendees. “They’re not on their phones — except to take pictures. It’s really something to see.”

Volunteering as a Healthy Team Habit

As with having pets, studies have shown that people who do volunteer work are likely to be happier and healthier than those who don’t. They have lower blood pressure, live longer and experience less depression. Organizing team volunteer opportunities as part of a corporate meeting can have benefits to both employees and the community.

IMEX, for instance, debuted a new program at its 2016 trade show held in Las Vegas: Garbage Grabbers Clean Up. Meeting professionals and IMEX staff joined the Outside Las Vegas Foundation to “netwalk” through the city’s green spaces, cleaning up the walking trails and parks as they did so.

“Nature is a tonic for humans,” says Janet Sperstad, CMP, and program director of the Meeting and Event Management Degree Program at Madison College in Wisconsin. “Even a picture of nature revives a tired mind. The experience of nature doesn’t have to be real for it to have a calming, relaxing effect on us.”

Getting Started

There are many healthful improvements that can be made to company events and meetings relatively easily, by simply being aware of the decision to shift in that direction and making planning choices with intention toward that goal.

Food Choices. Choosing a menu to offer healthful food options has gotten a lot easier these days, fortunately. Most large hotels and convention centers, as well as many local meeting spaces and restaurants, provide a wide range of options and work carefully with clients to plan the menu.

Healthy cooking demonstrations while employees dine, or having informal speaker sessions on healthy living topics, are naturals to set up during these times. Meal breaks also offer a great opportunity to build in some physical movement — try a stretch session, encourage group or buddy walks during lunch breaks, provide maps to local walking trails and passes to the onsite fitness facility, if there is one.

Downtime. We all know that one of the biggest pitfalls of meetings, conventions or trade shows is the hectic pace, which can easily lead to burnout. It’s at this point that the attention and focus of attendees wanders — and the rest of the event can be virtually lost on them.

Simply having a peaceful area for attendees to “escape” and recharge is extremely beneficial, and easy to do. It can be as formal as nap pods with noise-canceling headsets and massage therapy sessions; or as simple as setting up a calming space with low lights, soothing music and a break away from the buzz of activity.

Fun. Oftentimes we underestimate the benefits of laughing and having fun together as a team — which can reap tremendous wellness benefits in and of itself. From the examples already described, such as playing with puppies and making leis, to tried-and-true team efforts such as obstacle courses and fitness challenges, think about activities that people can really enjoy together.

Google is really good at this. At their headquarters in Mountain View, California the company sponsors regular experiences that keep employees from getting in a rut, physically or mentally — part of what the company’s fresh, innovative environment is known for.

“A lot of the events they do on campus are fun and high energy,” says the care coordinator at the Google Wellness Center. “Each quarter they have themed events all around campus, from setting up ice rinks in winter inside one of the cafés, to live music and a food festival meet and greet.”

Google also celebrated holidays with themed parties — such as The Beatles “All You Need Is Love” at Valentine’s Day — and encouraged team members to bring family members. Letting employees’ loved ones be a part of these activities is often appreciated more than companies estimate, especially with most people’s tight schedules these days, when they’re scrambling to fit in extra personal time.

Other healthy meeting ideas that have been successfully incorporated into corporate events include:

• Onsite fitness classes.
• Meditation lounges.
• Sports event reimbursement.
• Health fairs.
• Lunch and Learn presentations.
• Provide local fitness and wellness resources and ideas.
• Invite employees to share their success stories.
• Create a Wellness “Wall of Fame.”
• Set up team challenges.

Travois provides wellness activities for its conference attendees because they enhance the experience, says Rensing. “It helps us foster relationships while everyone is having a good time. We know healthy, happy employees are more productive — better equipped to serve our clients.”  C&IT

Steve Damerow is CEO of Incentive Solutions. He is a recognized expert and published author, and hosts the national radio show “Business Matters.” Incentive Solutions currently manages hundreds of incentive programs in a variety of industries. Steve Damerow can be reached at: sdamerow@incentivesolutions.com, 678-514-0203, www.incentivesolutions.com.

Sometimes it can feel like different generations are more like different species. The values, tastes and preferences that differentiate millennials, Gen Xers and baby boomers are more apparent than ever, because these generations are working side-by-side in an unprecedented workforce generation mix. For this reason, it’s important for managers and leaders to consider how generational differences factor into how to incentivize employees.

Consider travel incentives: do baby boomers prefer all-inclusive incentive trips to Hawaii, sipping mai tais and reading the latest James Patterson novel on the beach? Do millennials dream of exotic locales, undiscovered microbreweries and capturing every moment on Instagram? Of course, these are just stereotypes, but it’s vital that corporate event planners and incentive trip coordinators take these fundamental differences to heart when planning incentive travel programs. It’s not just about where different generations want to go — how they perceive travel incentives is important.

Let’s focus on the most recent generation to join the ranks of the American workforce: millennials. According to the Pew Research Center, more than one-third of today’s workers are millennials. They surpassed baby boomers in workforce population in 2013 and Gen Xers in 2015. That’s why it’s worth tapping into what makes them tick, now more than ever!

Millennials tend to get a bad rap. Headlines about them “killing” various industries are pervasive. Dubbed “The Selfie Generation,” they’re often criticized for being self-absorbed and addicted to social media. But there’s so much more to them. Millennials are the most open-minded and culturally aware generation today. Their “addiction” to social media can be seen as a desire for connection, communication and a sense of curiosity about the world at large.

When factoring millennial attitudes into incentive strategies, these traits make incentive travel rewards extremely motivating. Here are some of the reasons why:

The Value of Experience

As the first generation to grow up with the internet and home computers, millennials live and breathe technology. But just because they’re almost always on their smartphones doesn’t mean they’re not paying attention! More than any previous generation, millennials are embracing travel and exploration, always looking for something new. A Business Insider survey gauged millennials’ feelings about experiences and found interesting results:

• 78 percent say that they prefer spending money on experiences rather than things.
• 77 percent remark that their best memories are tied to experiences.
• 72 percent say they want to spend more money on new experiences.
• 69 percent believe that experiences help to connect them to the world.

Clearly, the experience economy is alive and well among millennials! As the Incentive Research Foundation (IRF) made note of in their 2017 Incentive Trends Study, “The focus for travel is not only on the destination and venue, but equally important are the authentic, unique, individualized experiences.” For millennials, incentive travel isn’t just jet-setting and sightseeing: More than anything, they crave unique experiences. In keeping with their interconnectedness through social media, being able to share pictures of an exciting adventure or a hidden gem allows them to broadcast their experience and feel part of a greater global consciousness.

Uniqueness and Diversity

“Continual connection to others worldwide has produced the first truly global generation,” writes Donald Tapscott in his study of millennial culture, “Growing Up Digital.” He goes on to point out that high rates of immigration to the U.S. have made the American millennial population highly diverse and multiracial. As a result, millennials tend to be more tolerant of and open to different backgrounds and lifestyles.

This openness means millennials are more likely to be motivated by travel opportunities that take them outside their comfort zone. They want to broaden their global perspectives by experiencing different customs, cultures and ways of life firsthand, and they want to share it with everyone on their social media feed. They pride themselves on being aware of the world around them and love opportunities to spread that awareness to others. According to ASTA’s recent study on American travelers, “exploring other cultures” is millennials’ most important reason for leisure traveling.

And all that touting of global awareness isn’t just lip service. Millennials are more engaged with social justice and global welfare than their predecessors. They care deeply about the environment and the well-being of others, and are quick to fight injustices against minority groups and the underprivileged. In a survey reported in Forbes, “of 684 investors, millennials were found to make more ‘social impact investments’ than any other segment of America.”

The opportunity in incentive travel to combine luxury, experience and the potential to enact positive change makes it an absolute dream for millennials. Not only does it motivate them to achieve sales goals and initiatives, it also generates company loyalty and respect: growing up in a world of massive corporate conglomerates, a company that encourages its employees to “give back” appeals to millennial values.

A Real Vacation

Growing up in a time of economic prosperity as well as the rise of accessible technology (home computers, cell phones and an endless stream of video games and other tech toys) has given millennials a reputation for being spoiled, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. With the majority of them joining the workforce at the darkest point of the Great Recession, many have struggled to establish careers and find stability. The average millennial graduated college with around $40,000 of student loan debt — and the average salary for millennials is less than $35,000.

Despite their collective wanderlust and desire for global interconnectedness, the sad truth is that travel is out of reach for the majority of millennial workers. Incentive travel rewards motivate millennials to work toward experiences they crave but may otherwise be unable to attain. In fact, the IRF’s 2017 incentive trends study found that the market for incentive travel is continuing to grow after the setbacks and slashed budgets of the Great Recession, and nearly 40 percent of U.S. businesses are now offering incentive travel rewards to recognize their salespeople and channel partners.

As the market continues to see increasing demand for incentive travel programs and millennials rise through the workforce ranks, now is the time to push incentive travel! Tapping into their unique thirst for travel is one of the best ways to retain top millennial performers and see a lucrative return on your investment. C&IT

Through a partnership with Mediasite Events, Citrix was able to offer a keyote address at its Citrix Synergy conference in various live formats and for rebroadcast, leading to 100,000 views. Credit: Sonic Foundry

Meri Summers, senior manager of corporate events at Citrix Synergy, understands the impact technology can have on the satisfaction and engagement of participants at a meeting or event.

Each year the Citrix Synergy team plans their annual Citrix Synergy conference, which draws 5,500 customers, prospects and partners for three days of learning and networking. To extend the life of the hundreds of hours of content presented every year at Citrix Synergy, conference planners recently teamed up with Mediasite Events to power Citrix Synergy TV.

The Mediasite Events team captured more than100 conference sessions from 10 different rooms, and helped Citrix customize the online experience with a registration portal, live chat, a custom video portal and project management. Sessions were streamed live and then updated to be available on demand, often the same day. By livestreaming the keynotes and breakout sessions, they turned the in-person event into an online, live and on-demand destination that lives beyond the conference. Thanks to this innovative use of technology, in 2016 the content had more than 100,000 views.

Citrix’s efforts are just one example of ways companies are working hard at engaging their audience at meetings using such things as mobile apps, virtual reality, and interactive portals for presentations and viewing.

“Livestreaming and video capture for on-demand viewing is vital to our events to extend the life of the hundreds of hours of content presented every year at Citrix Synergy and turns the in-person event into an online, live and on-demand destination that lives beyond the physical conference,” Summers says. “A big reason for streaming is because we offer a lot of breakout sessions, and you can only attend so many each day. Even if you’re attending in person, it’s beneficial for you to visit Citrix Synergy TV to find all of the sessions your schedule didn’t allow you to attend.”

Citrix promotes Citrix Synergy TV very heavily on social media and blogs about it, and approximately a week prior to the event, the corporate events team sends an email to customers who aren’t registered to inform them that Citrix will be livestreaming.

“We also reach out to industry influencers who are not attending,” Summer says. “This year we sent invitations for the keynotes, including a link to the sessions we’re livestreaming, so they could add it to their Outlook calendars. We get a lot of viewership of keynotes and breakout sessions, which is very valuable to us as our content is relevant beyond the actual show.”

Another provider planners can tap to produce hybrid events that extend the life and reach of onsite meetings and conventions for a global audience is INXPO. The turnkey, virtual events platform is designed to seamlessly integrate the physical event’s content and experience so it can be promoted and experienced as a single entity for both online and in-person attendees. The online platform drives attendee engagement with interactive tools such as chat, polls,is Q&A and social media sharing, and captures and measures real-time analytics to immediately measure event ROI. Planners have found that rather than cannibalizing attendance at face-to-face events, a digital version can stoke interest in attending the next meeting or convention in person.

A Tranformational Time

Corbin Ball, CSP, CMP, DES at Corbin Ball & Co., understands the key role technology, including mobile apps and virtual reality, plays in engaging audiences. As Ball has seen, just about every component of corporate and incentive travel and events management is being transformed by technology.

“Venue sourcing, promotion, registration, participant engagement, analytics, project management, speaker management, exhibition management and much more all have technology tools to make the process faster, more reliable, more effective and less expensive,” Ball says.

As Ball explains, mobile technology, and specifically event apps, are providing attendees a “Swiss army knife” of tools for information, networking, polling, surveys, wayfinding, notes/brochure downloads and more, which provides better attendee services at a lower cost to the meeting planner.

“It all started when the paper calendar and planner went digital and meeting invitations were able to be sent digitally,” says Kathryn Kosmides, director of marketing and growth at SummitSync. “Then, CRM (Customer Relationship Management) and MATs (marketing automation tools) started creeping into the space to help drive registrations or book more meetings. Now, we’re at the precipice of technology — tying all of the disparate pieces in event marketing together to help teams more efficiently host, attend and sponsor events. Meeting planners need to adopt the ever-advancing technology in order to stay relevant, maximize ROI and provide great experiences for attendees.”

SummitSync’s event intelligence platform helps teams identify which events their prospects, leads and clients are attending and schedule a meeting with them. The company integrates into top CRMs and MATs so teams can seamlessly follow up after events and measure the return on event (ROE).

“Teams use our technology to discover who is attending an event, to schedule meetings with other attendees, automatically attribute offline meetings into their CRMs, and to measure their ROE without hours of work,” Kosmides says. “Without attendees and sponsors, events wouldn’t exist. That’s why we’ve made it our mission to help them make the most out of every event they attend by eliminating the signal versus noise problem that happens so often at events. Teams need to know what events they should invest in and who to meet with at those events. If attendees and sponsors boost their ROI at an event, they’re more likely to return the next year.”

Tools to Consider

Today, we live in a rapidly changing, digital environment but we are still in the early stages of its adoption. As a result, there is a plethora of products and ideas to make meetings more engaging that have been explored for years. For example, when the internet became popular, meeting planners began the adoption of online registration for events; PowerPoint and laptops made meeting presentations more visual; and more recently, with the growth in mobile devices and Wi-Fi, event apps are rapidly being adopted by planners.

“The best meeting environments create energy,” says Tom Brandt, president and founder of etech, located in Las Vegas, Nevada, and Orlando, Florida. Brandt and his team provide event technology solutions for B2B conferences. “When planned and executed correctly, technology dramatically impacts the effectiveness, communications flow, engagement and success of a meetings program. It facilitates success on both the planner and attendee side, and is most effective when it’s used to address the specific needs of that particular program.”

Etech’s innovations focus on building processes, tools and products that enhance the live meeting experience — from the needs of meeting planners as well as the sponsors and attendees. To that end, they have designed a platform called ShowCommand, which reflects the Internet of Things (IOT) model. This platform consists of a network of technology software tools and devices that can be centrally managed to help simplify how meeting planners distribute information and content in the meeting space.

As Brandt explains, there has always been a disconnection between realizing what event attendees feel and what meeting and event organizers know.

“As event organizers, we have historically tried to communicate and listen to our attendees with meeting surveys,” Brandt says. But these surveys often don’t capture the most vital feedback of attendees — until now.

For one of etech’s client events, the Gartner ITxpo Symposium, they introduced an alternative way to live-survey attendees and feed the information back to planners. Gartner Symposium, attended by thousands of people annually, is an industry-leading conference where the world’s top CIOs gain a strategic view of the emerging trends shaping IT and business.

“We implemented live surveys, with digital kiosks placed in high-traffic areas around the meeting venue for attendees to provide feedback on what they were experiencing at that moment,” Brandt says. “We networked the information on a dashboard in the meeting planners’ office, which updated as the survey was taken.”

This gave the planners information to respond to immediate issues versus having to wait to learn until after the event.

“It’s a simple solution to an age-old process, but it put the planners in a better position to enhance the meeting experience for attendees real-time versus the next time,” Brandt says.

As an independent meetings technology analyst, Ball does not publicly endorse any meetings technology product. Rather, he tracks more than 100 mobile event apps. Some of the major players include Quickmobile, DoubleDutch, CrowdCompass, EventMobi, CoreApps, ATIV Event Pilot.

“There many more not mentioned that provide excellent options as well,” Ball says. “In addition, wearables, specifically wearable beacons, can provide a goldmine of data on the attendee journey for the attendee, the exhibitor and the meeting planner.”

Making It Virtual

For meeting planners and other executives orchestrating meetings, incorporating a virtual reality (VR) experience allows them to take their attendees into a different world and make their points not only by outlining them, but showing them firsthand.

Planners who select a venue by way of a VR or 360-degree experience are ensuring satisfaction because they have a much clearer vision of what the venue will be like after viewing it virtually.

While the full, practical application of augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality is still to be realized, the major tech companies (Facebook, Apple, Google, Microsoft) have invested billions in development, and the industry is waiting to see the major fruits of their labor.

“In VR, on a limited, neonatal basis, we are already seeing virtual site inspections, virtual exhibit booth design, booth engagement technology, meeting room design technology, and attendance at events — such as the NBA’s  streaming to China,” Ball says. “AR will have major impacts. This will, at first, be through mobile phones. For example, look for a significant development with the release of the new iPhone, but eventually with AR glasses — an unobtrusive, stylish version of Google Glass.”

For CMPs, it’s all about peace of mind — knowing what they’ll be walking into even if they’ve never been able to visit in person. Attendees who take part in a demonstration will benefit from that added excitement that comes with full immersion.

Gordon Meyer, director of marketing at YouVisit, an immersive technology company powered by Aria, a leading enterprise platform that enables brands and organizations to engage and convert audiences through interactive 360-degree experiences, says the technologies that most impact meetings are the ones that make them better. Virtual reality is no different. VR and interactive technologies are opening the door for better, more memorable experiences.

“Meeting planners are using VR to make better venue choices,” Meyer says. “And meeting runners are using it to better convey content and ideas.”

The VR and interactive experiences are changing meetings in two ways:

First, for venues, 360-degree experiences showcase their spaces in ways they never could before. Meeting planners, after having taken virtual tours, can perfectly visualize what the experience will be like when they arrive onsite. It takes the guesswork out of planning and raises the comfort level for everyone involved.

Second, some of YouVisit’s corporate clients are using VR experiences as central tools in their meetings and presentations. They enable a much more vivid and memorable presentation than PowerPoints.

“Some clients hand out headsets in their meetings and guide participants through a VR experience,” Meyer says. “This works great for smaller meetings as well as huge events like trade shows.”

The biggest mistake Meyer sees is when companies invest in shooting 360-degree video without opting to build in enough interactivity.

“Interactivity is the key to immersive technology. It’s not just a matter of letting viewers look all around them, you have to give them things to do and explore if you want to keep their attention,” Meyer says. “The more interactivity you build in, the better your conversion rates, plain and simple.”

Embracing Technology

Meeting planners need to consider using technology to improve attendee engagement and satisfaction because technology, when used properly, saves time and money, improves efficiency, improves attendee services and satisfaction, and provides much better analytics. Quite simply, it helps all parties involved.

As with any new innovation, there are inherent problems that arise with each proposed technology being used. The most common problem that Ball is seeing these days is a lack of adoption by the attendees — often due to a lack of promotion.

“For mobile apps, for example, meeting hosts should promote the app in advance, and encourage use onsite with signage and announcements, especially noting the benefits for the attendee,” Ball says. “Also, for widespread adoption, good quality Wi-Fi must be provided — especially for encouraging the interactive components of the apps.”

And the larger the event, the greater need and use of a wide range of event planning and attendee engagement technologies. That said, even small meetings can be improved with the proper use of technologies including an event app.

“In this smartphone-centric world, it is faster and more convenient to interact with the app than to deal with printing, shipping and distributing paper,” Ball says. “Mobile polling can be of great help for small meetings. Social media tools, surveys, message tools, social Q&A all come at cost-effective prices even for small events.”

We are all enamored by technology and the impact it has had on our lives, especially within the meeting and event industry, where there are hundreds of products and applications from which to choose. The top things Brandt recommends to planners eager to create the right technology strategy for their events include:

• Make sure your “trusted technology advisor” has visited and understands your event’s purpose, your vendors and culture, and the way things are currently done.
• Technology partners should be part of the overall strategic planning process (along with all of your key partners) from the very beginning. Do not wait to pull them into planning at the end of your process. Relationships and handoffs with your team and other vendors are critical.
• Planners should make sure their technology partners provide adequate training and onboarding to their team, as well as attendees, with regard to the technology they are using.
• Meeting organizers must be willing to change the way things have always been done. This means changing vendors, your team’s roles, and responsibilities and taking risks.

Down the Road

As Kosmides stresses, if attendees are engaged, CMPs are doing their job right. Does event technology have to be the only way CMPs can drive attendee engagement? Of course not, but utilizing technology can provide unique experiences to the attendees, provide deeper learning, and create stronger connections between attendees which, in return, will make them want to return to the event next year.

One of the most important things to remember when using technology to drive engagement is adoption rate. “Some people are early adopters and might love the technology and be really engaged, but if you as a CMP can’t spread that feeling across the majority of attendees, then it could be a waste of time and resources,” Kosmides says.

And remember, events likely will change more in the next five years, than in the past 15 due to technology.

“Meetings incorporating VR are only going to improve,” Meyer says. “Almost anything you can think of will soon be possible. It’s a very exciting time.”

Companies will be able to integrate VR elements more seamlessly into their events or hold entire meetings in virtual reality. Members of YouVisit’s internal development team already do this, and as the technology improves it will scale dramatically.

Ball predicts that AR and VR will blossom; analytics tools will help improve future events; integration among software products will improve — making it easy to mix and match your event tech deck; wearables will increase in all types (including beacons, bands and AR glasses); onsite registration will be automated; and networking will become much easier and more effective.

“Really incorporating technology into an event marketing strategy is a different beast. Knowing when and where to invest time and resources is proving challenging for teams of all sizes,” Kosmides says. “Whether you host, attend or sponsor events, investing in your event marketing stack is crucial, and there is new technology coming out every day it feels like. Use resources like G2Crowd and other software review sites to make sure you’re getting what you need to make your team successful.” C&IT