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: Rasheedah Henry
Company Name: Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.
Job Title: Event Specialist
Years of Experience: 5
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?
I had to change direction in being comfortable with technology and build my skill set up via webinars and virtual certifications so that these skill enhancements have complemented my daily tasks in turn have provided me growth and more opportunities.
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?
Virtual Site Visits , Where you go on a full site experience from your phone or laptop to see the arrival process, meeting space and guestrooms of your sourced hotel.
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 meetings is your Plan B in your back pocket, it is another option for global attendees to stay connected to peers and for those who are restricted by budget travel and housing cost. I also believe its more comfortable for introverted people who may not want to attend in person events. Last, Keep it Simple with clear instruction on the hybrid side so people with different levels of comfort with technology can still participate and experience things on demand.
In your opinion, what do you think the biggest value for your attendees is in regards to returning to live events?
Live events is the best way to forge a connection, team building, excitement and lasting memories and individuals are willing to buy into those comraderies when they feel a connection to your brand or organization.
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 like to see changes in accuracy in pricing and response times to the RFP's during the sourcing process from hoteliers and an active approach on managing sourcing leads and answering all the RFP questions before sending a proposal .
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.