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: Victoria Younes, CMP VEMM
Company Name: Kaiser Permanente
Job Title: Executive Events Manager
Years of Experience: 20+
How were you able to adapt during COVID-19 when the meeting and events industry got disrupted?
First, by dealing with the here and now of the situation. At first, we had no idea how long COVID would last, but we had to move forward and be ready to change at a moment's notice. We cancelled our in-person event contracts for the short term, rescheduled as many contracts as we could, then moved to virtual as best we could. Nothing replaces an in-person event, but our members needed a window to receive information, socialization and reassurance that we were here to support them. We have a Medicare member program called 'Thriving After 60'. You would think going virtual would have been a huge challenge, but the 'Thriving After 60' community came together and embraced the online world we created for them. We hold virtual dances every two weeks with a live DJ, and over 200 people attend and dance the whole hour! We hold workshops on Nutrition and Medicare, but also Dance Cardio and Yoga; 12-15 virtual events every month and our members send us feedback about wanting more. We saw that people couldn't come to an in-person event, but yearned to have those connections through any channel we could offer. I believe our virtual events have brought the 'Thriving After 60' community closer, because they get to see and interact with people they might not have met otherwise. An in-person event that we could only accommodate 30 people at, suddenly has 150. Those are the silver linings that made overcoming our challenges worth it.
As a planner, what was the number one thing you learned over the past year?
Change is inevitable. In the meetings and events world, change is constant and we have to be ready to roll with whatever comes our way. In the past year I learned how change wasn't something to be feared, but something to embrace and use to our advantage. I learned so much about my team and our members, and that there is so much more to events than just room temperature and menu options. Content became our main focus, because all of the fluff that comes with an in-person event was gone. No décor, no giveaways or food - it was just what attendees saw on their screen.
Is there anything you are changing in your planning process moving forward as a result of the pandemic?
We are giving our speakers and attendees more information and more technological challenges than before, so walking everyone through the process is essential to the success of our virtual events. Pre-planning has become more than BEOs and hoping the hotel will have an extra power strip. Virtual events don't leave too much room for error, so we have to plan our very best to get it right the first time.
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.
