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: Kylee Fuller
Company Name: Strada Education Network
Job Title: Senior Management, Board Engagement, Events & Outreach
Years of Experience: 8
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?
Is it strange to say I am oddly thankful for the challenges the pandemic put in my way with meetings and events? It gave me the opportunity to grow strategically and think outside the box. I was able to use the time and situation to connect with other event planner professionals in the industry, and it also tested me in so many ways, which in return brought out the best in me and what I brought to my organization. How many people can say they had to completely reimagine their job and the way they work in order to “survive” through it? I feel as though I am positioned for endless amounts of growth and opportunity. It was an adjustment to stop all in-person meetings and events and pivot without a thorough knowledge of what virtual-only meant, but after two years and support from the event-planning professional community, there is nothing ahead but great opportunity that I am eager to continue to bring to life. As event-planning professionals, we have proven to be even more adaptable than before, and we were able to seize the moment under incredibly difficult times.
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 an organization, we were able to research and implement an event management tool for the first time. This was a large step forward for us and it really helps position us to hold a larger landscape of events. We now have the ability to be more inclusive and broaden our range for impact. It also gives us the opportunity to communicate more effectively, learn more about our audience members, and provide them with networking opportunities that don’t have to stress their travel budgets or force them to miss out due to other circumstances. Talk about a return on investment! Even though virtual and hybrid meetings and events aren’t brand-new concepts, it wasn’t a route that was widely explored during the strategic planning phase of events. Today, it’s one of the first pieces brought into the conversation, which opens up a whole new world of possibilities for our organization and the audiences we serve.
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 we can all agree that virtual will never replace the in-person experience; however, hybrid meetings and events are a great solution and approach to entering back into fully in-person experiences. Hybrid-style events are here to stay, and I truly feel that’s for the best. The traction and knowledge gained from being fully virtual are too great to close off that avenue for attendees. Pivoting to virtual-only through the pandemic helped our organization expand its outreach and impact. Travel, time, and budgets are scarce for so many people, specifically in the nonprofit sector, so giving the opportunity to watch a recording or join a webinar or virtual event for all or part of the time is still an opportunity where we can reach them. It is critical, however, to be thoughtful and strategic in planning for the virtual attendee path. It’s crucial to find ways to keep attendees engaged and feeling as though they are a part of the event even though they aren’t physically there. Creating authentic experiences that bring a vision to life is what fuels my passion for event planning, and those are the moments that all attendees should be a part of regardless of if they attend in-person or virtually.
In your opinion, what do you think the biggest value for your attendees is in regards to returning to live events?
You can never replace the organic connection and networking capabilities that in-person events provide. There are a lot of great platforms in the industry that offer networking opportunities, which have been wonderful and heavily utilized over the pandemic. But attending in person where the environment is strategically created and thoughtfully planned out to help encourage attendees to network and build relationships in the field is irreplaceable. Removing all distractions for attendees is critical to ensure they are able to activate on the takeaways from the event.
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?
I would hate for planners and the venues they work with to revert back to pre-pandemic thinking. I hope the opportunity to adapt and think outside the box when it comes to activating events never goes away and that we continue to evolve and improve hybrid capabilities so that virtual is always an option. I would love to see venues begin to market how they execute their virtual or hybrid events and the possibilities they can give to host organizations. There is great opportunity and power with planning in a hybrid approach. It’s crucial to have a healthy mix of in-person, hybrid, and virtual events in the calendar year to ensure you are reaching all of your audiences and engaging them in meaningful ways.
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.