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 and lessons learned and sharing how they are viewing the meetings and events industry in a post-pandemic world.
Name: Ilene Page
Company Name: Front Page Events
Job Title: Global Meeting & Event Planner
Years of Experience: 20
How did you get your start in the events industry? What made you pursue this role?
I started as an administrator at an university, as they needed help with an event and it all grew from there!
How do you compare planning your first in-person event post-pandemic, to planning meetings/events pre- Covid? What was different and unique? What was similar?
Pre-Covid, I knew what to expect. Post Covid, I did not.
What was your number one challenge in hosting your first in-person event(s) and how did you overcome it?
The unknown - I overcame by being prepared for many scenarios.
What is the top learning that you uncovered from the last two years that you’re implementing in your planning process today? (any other tips or tricks you want to share?)
Hybrid and virtual events became big and they don't seem to be going away. What is changing is how we incorporate them.
What is the biggest area of improvement that you think hotels can make when either responding to your RFPs or during the contract phase of your event?
Remembering that we (the client) have taken a hit over the past two years as well.
Due to the pandemic, our events community had to evolve, adapt, and grow. Many planners started to embrace new technologies as a result of the pandemic. What new tech are you using today in your planning process as a result?
We now house our conference information in a platform that allows for virtual aspects.
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 and lessons learned and sharing how they are viewing the meetings and events industry in a post-pandemic world.
