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Planners Moving Forward Series- Heather Pilcher, Blue Spark Event Design

Written by Luke Whalin | Jul 15, 2022 2:28:21 PM

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: Heather Pilcher

Company Name: Blue Spark Event Design

Job Title: CEO/Executive Producer

Years of Experience: 22

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?
 
Blue Spark quickly pivoted our services to focus more on virtual and hybrid options when the pandemic first arrived. Because of the wealth of knowledge gained during 2020, moving forward into 2021 and 2022, we have harnessed those skills and are ready to offer robust virtual, hybrid and in-person events and conferences that achieve great results for our clients. 
 
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?
 
As our clients ease back into in-person events, our team has built more custom and exclusive experiences that impact each guest in a meaningful way. Technology plays a great part in this as well through the use of conference apps, custom registration systems and more. 
 
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?
 
The benefits of hybrid meetings offer the best elements of both virtual and in-person events. They allow guests to attend who are unable to travel and for those who enjoy the interaction of face-to-face, this option satisfies that as well. 
 
In your opinion, what do you think the biggest value for your attendees is in regards to returning to live events?
 
While the benefits of virtual meetings and events are clear, they cannot replicate the intrinsic benefits of in-person events. Their emotional, physical, and psychological impact have measurable value for organizations that hold them, and the people who attend them. 
 

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.