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: Kristina Johnson
Company Name: LEO Events
Job Title: Senior Meeting Planner
Years of Experience: 12
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?
The pandemic shifted the way of thinking and looking at meetings/events for everyone. I had to shift very quickly to canceling contracts and finding a way to transition to a virtual setting. Although tough at the time, this truly showed how malleable my skills were and allowed me to gain new skills. With that, as we all move back to a face-to-face environment for meetings/events that look very different than pre-pandemic, I feel able to jump into any project knowing I can handle whatever comes up. It gave a confidence that I was unaware I needed to continue to move forward. It also has given me contracting skills to ensure we are protecting ourselves and our clients as we continue forward. Things are moving much faster than they did before, so being diligent from the get-go and feeling confident is such an effective skill.
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 we continue to move forward to in-person meetings, the array of new technologies is vast. But one key technology is anything that provides attendees ease. Meeting/event applications, touchless registration, handouts/materials available online vs. paper, and better tracking of attendee participation throughout the meeting/event. In terms of processes, the focus is on making workflow more seamless and easier to track. Project management tools have been key to handling multiple projects as we move forward to having a shorter lead time and planning time for meetings/events.
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?
I think the hybrid approach is wonderful to allow a larger reach of meeting information. Although nothing can replace being at a meeting/event in person, we all know that not everyone feels comfortable traveling or has the time to travel. Hybrid allows attendees to still participate and have learnings from a meeting/event. I think the recording of sessions has become key as well, with information being on-demand following an event for attendees to reference.
In your opinion, what do you think the biggest value for your attendees is in regards to returning to live events?
I think the biggest value of returning to live events is the ability to focus on the information at hand. During the pandemic, multi-tasking became somewhat of a must and I don’t think that has gone away. With virtual programs, it was easy to have a session playing, emails chiming in, and other work all up on your screen. Although being in person won't fully take away the distractions, it does help limit distractions. This is key for attendees to allow them to fully immerse in the material being presented and enjoy the process of meeting in person.
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 meetings/events return to face-to-face, we can all hope that we begin to work together more as an industry. Pre-pandemic so much was everyone for themselves. I think many of us had to work together through the pandemic and come together to find a beneficial solution for both parties. Moving forward, continuing to work together as an industry and finding mutually beneficial solutions will make sourcing more beneficial in the long term for all parties. I am always more willing to source properties where I know they will work together.
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.