Planners Moving Forward Series- Lawrence Stevens, Correlation Inc.
Lawrence Stevens, of Correlation Inc, brings 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.
Luke Whalin
Mar 30, 2022
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: Lawrence Stevens
Company Name: Correlation Inc.
Job Title: Event Planner
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?
As an established event planner, I believe I am in a great position to take on the ever-evolving meetings/events landscape. We're living in an unprecedented time in this pandemic where people understandably feel uneasy about being around others and returning to events. It's my job and calling in life to be more adaptable in finding ways to help people feel comfortable and excited again to come back in-person!
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?
For in-person meetings and events, it's important to set clear guidelines and expectations with your attendees in regard to COVID-19. Attendees will want to know the state guidelines and what the venue is requiring for access ahead of time. I made a point of providing these details through email blast communications and in an FAQ on our registration website. In regard to hybrid events, the one question I do hear from fellow event professionals is: how can I connect my in-person attendees with my virtual attendees through some sort of technology? I believe the best way to connect attendees is through a fun, interactive and engaging activity. One such activity that I found to be successful was a virtual escape room wherein an emcee would pair in-person and virtual attendees to solve the escape room together in real-time. This type of collaboration can help bridge the gap between the two different audiences and help the virtual audience feel more included in the event as a whole. The Escape Game is a company that hosts games like this and I would highly recommend their services.
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?
Going hybrid is an essential part of going back to in-person meetings and events since attendees will lean one way or the other in terms of comfortability. Corporate events specifically should stay hybrid for the near future to accommodate everyone who might be interested in attending within a certain capacity .I believe fully in-person events work well when focusing purely on networking and face-to-face interactions. Virtual audiences aren't satisfied unless there is a set schedule with presentations involved since they can network on their own at any time via video conferencing.
In your opinion, what do you think the biggest value for your attendees is in regards to returning to live events?
The biggest value for my attendees in regard to returning to live events is the aspect of networking and creating memories that last a lifetime. Live events represent an unspoken excitement where a bunch of strangers can gather freely and form relationships based on similar backgrounds or experiences. Being able to see these people connect during a session presentation, a cocktail reception or even in the hotel lobby makes me feel proud to wear the badge of event planner for my company.
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?
My hope is that planners and hoteliers will want to protect each other more by having a comprehensive force majeure section in RFPs and proposals that are exchanged. The chief legal officer for my company and I always thoroughly review the force majeure for every RFP and proposal to make sure it is realistic to the current state of affairs in respect to COVID-19 and its variants.
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.