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: Pam Lasley
Company Name: AmerisourceBergen
Job Title: Marketing Manager, Events & Conference Strategy
Years of Experience: 11
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. Many businesses are re-evaluating their event strategy, starting from scratch. Companies realize more than ever the high dollar amount required to really invest in events and engagement at conferences, but they also recognize the pent up demand for industry leaders and peers to get together in person again. Thankfully there's nothing that truly replaces that, but it requires more thorough assessment to ensure the value is there.
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?
I truly value platforms that provide the highest level of visibility to our event metrics. There's nothing worse than attempting to assess the performance of a show and jumping through multiple hoops to get data. Because we live by the data more than ever, event marketers and planners alike all want the pre and post-conference data in a streamlined easy way. We've started incorporating digital tools that help track the performance of our invitations, promotional campaigns, and other content-sharing efforts.
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?
Hybrid opportunities are awesome. It takes me back to the days when you could only send some of your team to a show but not all, or you didn't get approval from your boss to attend in person. Having the hybrid functionality is a breath of fresh air for organizers. Now stacking the concerns around the pandemic, eventgoers want options that adjust to their comfort level without getting left behind. Securing an optimal venue that really accommodates a hybrid model is key also. The impact of your brand is on the line even in the virtual setting. Without the right space to showcase it, engagement is at risk.
In your opinion, what do you think the biggest value for your attendees is in regards to returning to live events?
Hands down focus is the biggest value. Immersing yourself at an event over the course of several days or even several hours is something many have missed. And while everyone has distinct objectives while at an event, there are rarely times when you can whole-heartedly focus on that one key objective and network with others that align with your goals. We are all so distracted these days, that's the struggle with a virtual setting. When you attend an event, you go in with a specific mission and in most cases can truly focus.
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 see this change happening already... ensuring there is always a plan B in place with whichever vendors you work with that can accommodate to Covid. Event professionals are thinking outside the box regularly now, and we want to work with venues/vendors that do the same.
This post is part of the HopSkip Planner Spotlight Series where HopSkip spotlights planners across the industry to bring awareness of how they adapted to COVID-19, communicating, lessons learned and sharing how they are viewing the meetings and events industry in a post-pandemic world.