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: Angela Baer
Company Name: Caterpillar, Inc.
Job Title: Corporate Meeting & Event Coordinator
Years of Experience: 15+
How do you think you are positioned, after months of persevering with the pandemic, to take advantage of our new and disrupted meetings/events landscape?
We are still dealing with the old landscape! Meetings and events that were postponed are taking place this year and into next so it's hard to feel like we are moving forward. I will say, with the continued restrictions on international travel, we have gotten much better at including those that cannot attend an event. Before it was very, "if you can't be there in person....it's sad.... buuuuut oh well." Now we are much more prepared to not only allow remote attendees to dial in to what is going on but to actively participate. Obviously we've all gotten to be pros at video conferencing (and we are all sick to death of it), but we are also utilizing things like live feed, live activity participation, things like the "unboxing experience," and specifically showcasing dealerships or customers that cannot attend in a tangible way. We've also learned that there are other ways to work besides having to be in the office 5 days a week for 40 hours (at least). Conservative corporations have gotten the memo that yeah I am doing laundry, but I'm also getting all my work done. (In my pajamas too!) This is a completely different mindset for a lot of managers and quite frankly, a much needed wake up call. All of these things help make up a new landscape of inclusion and flexibility.
As our community moves forward with planning in person meetings, what new technologies or processes are you implementing that you may have not looked at before?
We never did "remote" anything, it was all in person or nothing. We are now aware of, and using a more hybrid experience for some events. We are more aware of people's concerns about the current climate as it is and work to make comfortable as many attendees as possible. Something we never paid attention to was social distancing, masks, local and state laws pertaining to infectious diseases, etc. None of us did! Safety was a priority but not in this vein. We now are very aware of event space (please give me more than industry standard!), locating beforehand the closest Covid testing centers, and trying to enforce any local laws or company directives. Everyone has different rules depending on where you hold the event and the sponsor may also have additional rules. We've encountered that a few times, "ok, who's rules do we follow??" It's a balancing act.
As we see virtual meetings transition back to face to face, hybrid meetings are beginning to be the vehicle to return to normalcy. What are your thoughts on hybrid meetings versus traditional fully in person meetings?
As I said, we are all personally pretty sick of virtual, however, hybrid does have it's place. Again, in the case of international travel, it's a nice to have. We can take that farther though and realize there may be those in region that don't feel comfortable attending for whatever reason. If the event allows, it's important to try to allow everyone to experience it. In whatever way is possible.
In your opinion, what do you think the biggest value for your attendees is in regards to returning to live events?
Networking. NETWORKING. They all just want to talk to each other in person again! We always knew face to face was important, but boy, did we ever learn how much. You get people together in one space and it feels like a community. You can attend the event, touch the product, and discuss it all in one place, uninterrupted. ("Betty you're on mute!") No one misses that and everyone is excited to be together again.
As the pandemic fades away and we return to face-to-face events what do you hope changes, either for planners or hoteliers, in the traditional RFP and proposal process as a result of all of the learnings from the last 20+ months?
Sigh, we need more space! We aren't allowed to fit everyone into the same space as before, even if restrictions have been lifted. Some states are wide open, and we are doing events there, but my company has other rules in place that we must adhere to. It makes it difficult to negotiate space. And I get it, hotels are running a business, but for the foreseeable future industry standard doesn't exist for a lot of us. In addition, the cancellation and force majeure clauses have definitely been scrutinized by everyone. No one has a crystal ball and the future is kind of scary so risk management has never been more important. I have found though that everyone is willing to be a partner and give and take a bit where possible.
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.