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: Samantha Nelson
Company Name: Carboline
Job Title: Event Coordinator
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?
After earning a certification in Virtual Event & Meeting Management, I am positioned to not only help my company succeed at live events but also continue to reach customers around the globe with hybrid events, virtual training, and webinars.
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 believe everyone is excited to get back to in-person events again, and working for a company that makes safety a top priority, it’s important to implement additional precautions and processes to keep our employees and customers safe.
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 events have such a huge opportunity to connect with an audience far greater than fully in-person events. It's an exciting time because there are so many more opportunities to be discovered and implemented, and I think we're all a lot more open to these opportunities. Futuristically speaking, a successful hybrid event will not only engage in-person attendees but also connect with the virtual attendees, seamlessly linking the two together providing a unique collaboration while offering a meaningful experience for all.
In your opinion, what do you think the biggest value for your attendees is in regards to returning to live events?
Live events require attendees to commit their time and focus their attention. It also offers the perfect stage for organic conversations and building relationships. While some of our competitors are canceling their participation in live events, we’re giving them our all, because it’s important for us to let our customers know that after everything, we’re still here for them.
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 we continue to look for new and exciting opportunities while using our creativity and dedication to provide meaningful experiences to connect with our attendees. The same mundane conference or event isn’t going to cut it anymore, and that makes coordinating future events even more exciting!
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.
