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: Inas Fanous
Company Name: Plan Group Inc.
Job Title: Office & Event Manager
Years of Experience: 10
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?
Well, we have learned during the pandemic that life must go on. And though nothing beats the human connection, there are plenty of ways to stay connected when the need arises. Yes, we had to stop our in-person events and most of our in person meetings, but thankfully through the available technology like Teams, zoom, social media, we were able to maintain good communication with all employees so we don’t lose employee involvement and connection. We started utilizing Teams to the max with meetings, we also have a regular communication called “Keeping Connected” that tackles various of topics like health & wellness, eating habits, financial tips, history, celebrations, general knowledge…etc. At times we even ran Zumba/fitness classes though zoom. This all helped keeping the line open between employees to avoid disconnection due to lock-downs and the lack of human interaction.
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 discovered many technology tricks that has been in existence from before but was never fully utilized. Starting with Zoom and then Teams, even what’s app for business as a quick and secure means of communication. But most importantly equipping our board rooms with the best high-quality audio-video technology. Participants need to hear well and see others in the meeting with no glitches. And since our Technology department is a leader in the Audio Visual field, what better way to show case our innovation than to start at home. So, we started investing in upgrading our rooms with new cutting-edge Audio / Video conferencing equipment, installing speakers/microphones and cameras that will detect the speaker, in addition to providing top quality sound, making it so easy for the virtual attendees to feel they are an integral part of the meeting rather than remote observers.
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?
In our company culture, we have always favored the in-person meetings, as I have mentioned nothing beats the human interaction. And I believe that this is what we miss the most. However, Hybrid meetings will always stay as it offers great flexibility and provides a perfect work / life balance. It is now much easier to plan meetings when you have the capability to participate from wherever you are. It’s a new way of living and will always be there side by side with in person.
In your opinion, what do you think the biggest value for your attendees is in regards to returning to live events?
The biggest value is to be able to see each other again with no mask, to be able to shake hands and connect. Most miscommunication happens when you can’t read someone’s facial expression, weather it’s a smile, an approval or even anger. There’s only so much you can talk about and share through Teams or even social media, but when you are in the same room together, we share a lot of topics, experiences, and ideas, which in turn improves employee engagement and hence better productivity leading to the company’s success.
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?
As I have mentioned before, the biggest lesson we learned from the pandemic is that while everything can change overnight, life must go on. Plans must be flexible so it can pivot quickly when necessary, in terms of timing, scheduling, contracts, down payments…etc. Also we realized the need for always having Plan B, things should be easily shifted to hybrid / online right away if needed. And Thankfully technology provides us with endless possibilities. I would also like to mention that as we are evolving from two years of halting everything, this is our chance to come back with a big bang, appreciating the human qualities that we took for granted. It is also time for change, all the old habits and traditions that we couldn’t change or tweak before, this is the best time for new ideas and a fresh start.
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.