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: Michelle Kann
Company Name: Society of Hospital Medicine
Job Title: Associate Chief of Operations
Years of Experience: 18
How were you able to adapt during COVID-19 when the meeting and events industry got disrupted?
We were able to flip our fully planned Annual into a virtual experience happening a few months later. Based on what we learned from this smaller flip, we were then able to offer a fully virtual experience for our audience that was much more involved for the 2021 meeting.
As a planner, what was the number one thing you learned over the past year?
That we are resilient and able to do amazing things when the world gets hard. That we are some of the hardest working professionals out there and that I value the relationships with our partners and colleagues more now then I think I did previous to this. Hospitality is a relationship driven business and this past 15 months has taught us even more how much those relationships mean. I hope that we all continue to value that and remember that.
Is there anything you are changing in your planning process moving forward as a result of the pandemic?
More communication within the organization as to the recommendations from the Meeting team. We are the experts in this and there may be things that the industry is doing that may not be the best for our association even though they seem cool and cutting edge. Being open to change but sticking to our values.
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.