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: Cara Bergeson
Job Title: Experience Designer (Events, Products, Services, and Environments)
Years of Experience: 15+
How were you able to adapt during COVID-19 when the meeting and events industry got disrupted?
A recent social media post described an event planner as someone who solves your problems before you knew you had them, specializing in precision guesswork based on unreliable data which changes daily. Navigating an uncertain future hasn't been without its challenges, but has also provided great opportunity to collaborate, upskill, and grow.The global pandemic gave us the opportunity to reimagine our events. We quickly learned the challenges and opportunities of digital events, explored opportunities for hybrid events, and strategized what events will look like post-pandemic.
As a planner, what was the number one thing you learned over the past year?
It was powerful to see our industry come together. There was so much support and collaboration from suppliers, associations, and planners. I am thankful for all the relationships and partnerships I have in our industry. This past year has given me the opportunity to be more creative in the ways of meeting our event's objectives and goals. It also gave me the opportunity to upskill in producing digital events and design.
Is there anything you are changing in your planning process moving forward as a result of the pandemic?
While the benefit of connecting when meeting in person can never be replaced, we have learned to succeed in the virtual space. How we design events will be more important than ever. I hope to incorporate new digital learning and networking experiences during the time before we can meet in person. I will continue to apply and expand implementation of human-centered design thinking while setting the goals and objectives as an event as well as when planning the attendee experience.
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.