Planner Resilience: Tracey Bockhop, Meet Meetings
Learn how Tracey Boockhop was able to adapt during covid-19 showing true resilience as an owner and operator of Meet Meetings.
How were you able to adapt during COVID-19 when the meeting and events industry got disrupted?
As a planner who has been in the industry for over 10 years and have gone through the halt of our industry in 2008, I would have never believed it would be that bad again. Going into 2020 things really were looking great for our industry and for the future of meetings. When March 13th passed I had all but one of my events cancel for 2020, last one did not take long to reschedule soon after.
Looking at what I could do as a planner I knew I did not want to start learning and claiming to be a virtual expert. I did however have an amazing client base that positioned me to be the project manager on virtual events and source production companies to help facilitate the now new normal of events. I have always believed that things would go back to in person I just did not feel it would have taken this long.
I am currently sourcing for in person hybrid events for this August and know that with the passion of our industry we will be back stronger in person better than ever. I have already seen an uptick in RFPs and have gained new clients through the pandemic. It has been made clear that in person meetings and incentives are a vital part of engaging and educating employees and members. It is also encouraging to see the new partnerships formed and understanding that all sides of the industry have to come together, to move the industry forward again and rely on experts to help get us there.
Through this I have gained a new respect for my clients and for the time spent with family. I hope to never take for granted the late nights, early mornings and long days again as this is what I love and what brings joy to myself and so many others in our industry.
This post is part of the HopSkip Planner Spotlight Series where we celebrate the positivity and optimism shown by planners across the industry when navigating the turbulent waters that COVID-19 has brought the meetings and events industry. Keep an eye out as we release more stories like this over the next few months.