Annual conferences have a way of becoming traditions. The same sessions happen at the same times. The same networking events return year after year. Another breakout gets added because someone requested it.
As a mom, this time of year always feels like a fresh start.
We're checking supply lists, organizing backpacks, reviewing schedules, and making sure everyone knows where they need to be. There's a lot of preparation that happens before that first school bell ever rings.
Hosting an international event is exciting. It expands your organization's reach, creates memorable experiences, and brings together people from around the world.
One of the most common conversations I have while coaching event professionals isn't about logistics, budgets, or event strategy.
In our current meeting and event climate, organizers and planners are in a state of constant flux. Prior to the pandemic, we planned for the obvious things that could sidebar a meeting or cause abrupt change such as severe weather, venue renovation, last minute keynote speaker cancellations, etc. Now we have had to layer in travel bans, meeting restrictions, extra safety measures, and organizational politics surrounding health concerns. This means most planners are planning or preparing for multiple meeting formats.
Written by Katie K Riggs
Hybrid is the future of how we will meet–with us having an in-person component and an online one–in some form or fashion. It will be our way of meeting everyone’s needs as well as achieving our meeting planning goals. Eventually the name “hybrid” will go away so we won’t have to focus on it like we did the word “pivot” during the pandemic. This is ultimately the best of both worlds, as long as we create the right impact for each audience.
Written by Jaime Theresa Smith
Event Design Canvas, or ECD, is a certification program that is globally recognized as one of the most strategic ways to reinvent or plan a new meeting from scratch. It was developed by a small team in the United Kingdom, and the purpose of it is to allow meeting owners the opportunity to go back to square one with their meetings.
Written by Katie K Riggs
As a meeting professional, everywhere you turn you hear that hybrid meetings are not the future, they are the now. I wouldn’t disagree, but before we start designing hybrid meetings, we need to define what hybrid means. That definition varies widely. At the bare minimum, hybrid means you have at least one group of in-person participants connecting with remote participants in one or more locations.
Written by Emilie Perkins
It is no secret that it has been an interesting and challenging 18 months for the meeting, event, and hospitality industries. We are very tired of terms like “new normal,” “pivot,” and “unprecedented.” We’ve endured months of meetings and events that went from postponed to ultimately cancelled, which caused a ripple effect of issues in our organizations.
Written by Katie K Riggs
