Planner Resilience: Montrell Events
Janetta Coleman, owner of Montrell events describes her role as a meeting/event planner and sourcing new virtual event technology platforms.
Montrell Events plans single and multi-day conferences for health and human services professionals. When COVID-19 impacted our industry, many were attempting to pivot their services to hybrid or virtual. Of course, the industry was not ready for the influx of the technological/production needs. However, it created new opportunities for tech and production companies to enter the market in an expansive way. I know that many felt pressured to continue to provide conference planning with minimal disruption. Essentially a trial by fire process for some.
Montrell Events decided to take a different perspective and that was to wait. This may sound counter intuitive especially with income on the line. We decided to skip the trial by fire process and watch. A company only gets one opportunity to make an impression online with their attendees and clients. Attendees are unaware of the platforms that are chosen to carry out their virtual or hybrid events. Therefore, your company name is front and center. If it goes well you are lucky. If the event does not go well, due to backend technology, your company is forever associated with the attendee experience which can hurt your brand. Unlike having a bad speaker, you can offset that experience with several other great speakers in the same day and the attendees can still leave with a great impression. A virtual event experience stands alone. Word of mouth referrals are still king especially during COVID-19. We have to be willing to protect our brand even under pressure to perform in unusual circumstances. Waiting was the best option to let the stars of virtual/hybrid production shine, which makes our selection process less intense.