Interviews
Planner Spotlight Series- Heike Spichal, LeadingAge
Heike Spichal of LeadingAge, brings awareness of how they adapted to COVID-19, communicating and lessons learned and sharing how they are viewing the meetings and events industry in a post-pandemic world.
Luke Whalin
Aug 30, 2021
This post is part of the HopSkip Planner Spotlight Series where HopSkip spotlight's planners across the industry to bring awareness of how they adapted to COVID-19, communicating and lessons learned and sharing how they are viewing the meetings and events industry in a post-pandemic world.
Name: Heike Spichal
Company Name: LeadingAge
Job Title: Associate Director, Conference Operations
Years of Experience: 18
How were you able to adapt during COVID-19 when the meeting and events industry got disrupted?
Our team had to quickly pivot and become leaders for our state partners as well as our national office in the world of virtual events. We had to deliver an experience that would engage our members, encourage them to interact, and adapt to learning and networking in the virtual event space.
As a planner, what was the number one thing you learned over the past year?
I learned I had to be flexible and have the courage to try new approaches, even when the learning curve was steep.
Is there anything you are changing in your planning process moving forward as a result of the pandemic?
The need to adapt will continue to shape the way I work and approach new challenges. Will need to incorporate safety and health concerns for registrants and staff as part of that planning process.
This post is part of the HopSkip Planner Spotlight Series where HopSkip spotlight's planners across the industry to bring awareness of how they adapted to COVID-19, communicating and lessons learned and sharing how they are viewing the meetings and events industry in a post-pandemic world.