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: Melanie Maduik
Company Name: PWC Canada
Job Title: Manager, Meetings & Events
Years of Experience: 15
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?
Very well, actually. The pandemic showed the world how important connection is and how vital we event professionals really are. It has raised our profiles. People know what we do now. They have seen us on their screens producing their virtual events, we are strategic partners. We are visible now.
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?
Giving attendees the option of attending virtually works well for a national audience and speaks to our commitment to inclusion. They say hybrid is here to stay... I think we have to still wait and see.
In your opinion, what do you think the biggest value for your attendees is in regards to returning to live events?
Competition is huge right now for client facing events, especially if you are targeting a C suite audience. This is true for employee engagement events as well. We've been home for two plus years now and we are comfortable at home, why should I go to your event? Who's in the room? There really needs to be a wow factor. Do I really want to put on pants for this?
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 hope service levels get back to where they were pre-pandy. A lot of my hospitality contacts have left the industry, the new employees are green, stressed and struggling. The service levels just aren't there anymore.
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.
