Meeting Planner Insights: 4 Powerful Tips for Event Success

Here, seasoned meeting planners share their top tips for success in an ever-evolving event landscape. While the pandemic tested every aspect of meeting planning, it also inspired valuable lessons that now shape more adaptable, resilient events.

Meeting Planner Advice Through the Pandemic

#1. Be Prepared and Build in Flexibility for Events

First, we interviewed Nancy Touhill, Director of Meetings and Events for the Wireless Infrastructure Association and Lyn Maddox, VP, Meetings for the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.

How are you planning for your events? What format(s) are you anticipating?

NT: We plan for several different scenarios to know where we will land. Scenarios include – full in person, hybrid indoor, hybrid outdoor and full virtual. Regardless of the format for our large annual conference, we often have some virtual programming in the months leading up to the event.

LM: We consider holding in-persons meeting with hybrid aspects for our Annual meetings.

 

How do you feel your team and your audience have adapted to virtual events?

NT: There was an initial steep learning curve for both internal and external stakeholders, but I do think that all have adapted well to the new virtual world. We make the best of our circumstances, such as during the pandemic, but prefer to be together in person.

LM: I think after a year of being exposed to virtual (like it or not), each meeting planner has adapted. It's always hard to learn new things, but Image AV made it easy.

 

As a seasoned meeting planner organizing both virtual and hybrid events, what advice would you give to others in the industry planning corporate events?

NT: My best advice to any meeting planner is – BE PREPARED. During the pandemic, the rug was pulled out from under us so fast that we spent most of the time reacting to circumstances. We learned to prepare and plan for various instances. It's one of the reasons a meeting is successful.

 

What are the most important considerations for your event planning this year?

LM: Budgeting and being able to pivot at any time during the planning of our hybrid meetings. Be prepared for in-person with hybrid aspects, and consider virtual also, if it fits your event.

 

What are the most significant challenges facing meeting planners and their teams this year?

NT: The unknown is frustrating and challenging. We all would like to know where we will be by the time our annual convention rolls. My crystal ball needs a recalibration.

LM:

1. Budgeting.
2. Not knowing how many people will attend in-person.
3. As a meeting planner, when speakers begin to plan their talks, we need to tell them whether to prepare to record or be in-person.
4. Will the venue have enough space to hold our meeting, taking into consideration state rules regarding how many people are allowed to gather.

 

Adapting Event Formats

#2. How a Meeting Planner Can Navigate Multiple Formats

In our next segment, we spoke with expert meeting planner Diane Dukes, CMP, VEMM, VP of Meetings & Events at the Professional Liability Underwriting Society, alongside the team at Kinsley Meetings.

How are you planning for your upcoming corporate events? What format(s) are you anticipating? 

DD: All of our events in the 1^st half of 2021 went virtual. We also hosted webinars and podcasts, and moved our 3 in-person Symposia to a virtual format. We used Image AV's E-Attend format for all 3 events. Currently, we consider whether to incorporate virtual or hybrid into our events.

KM: We looked at several virtual programs during the pandemic. But for the most part, our clients crave face-to-face meetings.

 

How do you feel your team and your clients adapted to virtual events during the pandemic? 

DD: Our team adapted to virtual immediately, starting in March 2020. We had to cancel an event scheduled for Orlando less than 2 weeks before it was supposed to happen. We decided to record all our educational sessions and then hosted the content complimentary for 3 months. It turned out we had more people watch the content virtually than would have been able to attend in-person anyway, and almost all of our sponsors continued to support the new format. So we found virtual to be a great success as a meeting planner tool.

KM: Our team is amazing. They all jumped into virtual with both feet, and have been able to provide guidance for our clients on the strategies, platforms, and support that matches our clients’ audiences and objectives in the virtual event world. We will definitely be adapting what we’ve learned about virtual, and applying that to hybrid as we move forward. The technology and connectivity of digital opens so many avenues to enhance face-to-face meetings.

 

Based on your experience, what advice would you give someone planning an event this year?

DD: Do your homework, especially if planning on hosting an in-person event. Check capacities of your venue, the way in which food can be presented, and state guidelines. Things can change rapidly, so communication with the venue is even more critical. As experienced meeting planners, most of us planned some kind of hybrid event(s) for the 3rd and 4th quarter of 2021. It meant budgeting and planning two completely separate events. Moving forward, consider if combining in-person and virtual will take more resources.

 

What safety measures are being implemented for onsite audiences this year? 

KM: As an experienced meeting planner, Allison Kinsley was very involved with the Events Industry Council Business Recovery Task Force. The Meeting Design guidebook helps you with questions and considerations for moving back to face-to-face programs with safety and health protocols in place. We follow those guidelines – and others as they come out -  which are even more stringent than the CDC guidelines.

 

What’s your prediction for our industry beyond the pandemic? 

DD: I was not 100% confident we'd be back to ‘normal’ in 1^st quarter 2022.  I wondered if we would still be hosting hybrid events through the 1^st half of 2022 as well.  It was challenging to know what impact the pandemic would have on our attendees’ travel and budgets. Bigger events led the way for meeting planners after the pandemic.

KM: We felt that 2022 would be the year that meetings returned to near pre-pandemic levels. With virtual/hybrid meetings being thrust upon us in 2020, omni-channel programs became more prevalent in 2022. It led to larger audiences for meetings. Now, I think face-to-face hybrid will expand the audience of the future and include those now that are unable to attend the face-to-face programs of the past.

Meeting Planner Strategies

#3. Overcoming Challenges in Hybrid and Virtual Events

Next, we interviewed three planners: Carol Benavidez, CMP, CMM, Regional Vice President at HelmsBriscoe; Nann Phillips, CMP, CMM, DES, PMED, Founder and Principal at Scurry Street Meeting Management; and Michelle Crosby, CMP, DCMP, Business Development Manager at Brightspot Incentives & Events.

As you plan for this year’s event(s), what are you most excited about?

CB: I am really excited about our industry coming back and for all of us to do what we love best! I have had a few RFPs come in over the last few weeks for future group meetings. It is exciting to start booking NEW meetings.

NP: I'm starting to see things turning in the right direction! I know we still have a lot of work to do to bring the industry back to a "normal" level, and in the meantime, I am most excited about helping my clients come up with creative ways to bring their experiences to life - whether that's in-person, hybrid, or virtual events. It's good to see so many organizations embracing their expanded options.

MC: While we are most excited about live events returning, technology has allowed many of our clients to reach a greater audience over the past year. With that in mind, we are designing memorable moments for both the live and virtual attendee moving forward.

 

How has hybrid changed the way a meeting planner designs and plans for events?

CB: I believe face-to-face meetings are stronger than ever. My understanding of Hybrid meetings is the high cost outweighs the ROI, in most cases.

NP: In short, hybrid has changed everything. A hybrid event is basically two separate but concurrent, overlapping events. It's not the best solution for everyone, including the meeting planner, so I try to help my clients go into their planning process with their eyes wide open. But ultimately, it's about making a choice that's best for their organization and the unique goals of the event.

MC: Hybrid-style sales kick-off meetings have allowed our clients the opportunity to reach additional markets more than ever before. This has allowed us to get creative with pre-event marketing, gifting, and meeting engagement tools. Not to mention how we communicate the day-of as well as providing follow-up materials post-event.

 

What event technologies are top meeting planners integrating into their strategies?

MC: Based on our client’s needs, we identify the right audio visual companies and production partners to fit their goals and objectives. That may include using virtual platforms that have multi-use capability. Allowing the attendee to participate at the level they feel most comfortable while still providing access to speaker notes, sponsors, tradeshow floors, and most importantly, networking lounges for interacting with both the on-line and live participants.

 

What do you think is the biggest tool for successful audience engagement?

CB: I think an overall theme backing up with an experience is key to future face-to-face meetings. The experience could be a different meeting set, different exhibit spaces, or doing something outside, weather permitting. It could even be a city-specific activity based on where the meeting is happening. The tool could be thinking outside of the box of what the norm used to look like.

NP: Not a tool, but a tactic: don't try to copy and paste your live meeting into the virtual or hybrid environment. People's minds work differently in the virtual space. Give them white space. Don't be afraid to introduce a little bit of fun. Give them a reason to stay tuned-in beyond the content. Create a sense of anticipation, like, 'what could be next?'.

MC: Activity! Whether it is with live polling questions, trivia, or raffles, keeping audiences involved in the experience is key. Making them part of the outcome and success of the overall event is even better! If they feel that their thoughts and input matters, then you will have a successful event.

More Tips from Leading Meeting Planner Experts

#4. Innovative Audience Engagement

Last, in this fantastic lineup of meeting planner interviews, we talked to Cori Dossett, CEM, CMP, CITP, President & Owner of Conferences Designed and Colleen Rickenbacher, CMP, CSEP, CPC, CPECP, Co-Founder of Global Protocol, Etiquette & Civility

As you plan your corporate events, what are you most excited about?

CD: I am most excited about two items. 1. Seeing the increasing regrowth in the meeting planner industry. The pandemic was devastating to me. But it was even more so to our hotel worker colleagues that service our meetings. And, 2. I'm so glad to be traveling again.

CR: The possibility that the large majority of meetings, sessions, conventions will be either hybrid or completely face-to-face again.

How has hybrid changed the way you plan and design events?

CD: Like it or not, hybrid, I believe is here to stay - at least for the time being. It truly is planning two separate meetings. Most people do not realize how each event style (virtual and traditional in-person) differ in need.

CR: It is much more expensive with the need of additional audio visual and new technology. AV is generally always used in some form for most meetings and programs, but it has taken on a new role this past year with the Hybrid or virtual meeting format. As a meeting planner, it is critical to keep your virtual audience engaged and treated equally, as if they were onsite.

This includes involving your virtual audience with all points of the meeting. What you do for your onsite, you need a similar program for the virtual. If not, you could lose your virtual audience completely. Or they have remained online, but have completely zoned out by doing other tasks (checking emails and text, working on a completely different program).

What types of event technologies are you planning on using? 

CD: Conferences Designed has used a variety of virtual programming options. Sometimes, the new and flashy is not the best. I am still a fan of the GoTo family and have been for years. However, I have enjoyed the opportunity (albeit forced) to learn new larger scale virtual platforms. This week, I have the opportunity to use another new large scale (over 1,000 attendees) platform. It has been a blessing to work with some new production and tech teams that have critically updated my tech game.

What is the biggest tool for successful audience engagement?

CD: I think the biggest, best tool for audience engagement is a production manager and meeting planner that really care. To me, it is that simple. It is important, more ethical, and smart business to know your attendees - even in virtual. In fact, it is just as important as the production of a successful in-person event. From asking questions of the virtual audience through candid, one-on-one engagement, having opportunities for audience feedback, to QA management for specific on-line questions submitted and more tools allow for virtual engagement that do not cost the client a lot of money.

CR:
1. Involvement. You need to keep all involved and active in the program. This could involve opening up throughout the program with Q&A, just not too much Q&A. You do not want to lose some of the audience if the questions do not involve all of them or the main goal of that session/program. A meeting planner needs to provide just the right amount of Q&A and the ability to control the frequency of that one person that is always asking too many questions and directing the program to them only. As you know, you may have one or two attendees asking all the questions.

2. Tell great stories that pertain to the subject of that program. Everyone loves a great fun, educational and interesting story because in many cases they can relate to those stories.

3. Excellent speakers that are covering exactly the content of your program and what the attendees need to hear. They also need to add that excitement and buzz for the rest of your meeting/conference to keep your attendees interacting and ready to jump into these new programs.

4. Educational substance. Present speakers that provide your attendees with immediate take-aways and material for their growth.

5. Exciting and fun breaks. These come in all shapes and sizes. They need to provide more fuel for the rest of the day, excellent networking opportunities and something new to keep your attendees waiting anxiously for the next break.

6. Shorter presentations, especially if the program is virtual. What you do for an in-person workshop/meeting/program, can definitely vary for a Hybrid or a virtual meeting. People sitting in front of their computers need much more involvement, excitement, and worthy content to keep their interest for longer periods of time.

7. Start and end on time, which will help with staying on time for each segment of the program.

8. Reach your goals for that program, and always make sure you are providing the most excellent of information to your attendees. Especially if they are paying for this program, they want new and value-packed information.

9. Provide up-to-date and excellent material, but also be fun. You need to help them grasp all the necessary information, but they need to enjoy the program to comprehend it.

10. Add a few surprises. You can do a trivia game, add some giveaways, games, etc. All of this varies with the content of your program, length of program, budget, and of course your purpose for the program.

 

Meeting Planner Perspectives:
Thriving in Today’s Evolving Event Landscape

As a meeting planner, staying agile is key to success. Embrace hybrid formats, utilize innovative technologies, and focus on engaging audiences in meaningful ways. The expert insights shared here underscore the resilience and creativity required to plan impactful events in today’s dynamic environment.

Image Audiovisuals is your nationwide production partner for live, hybrid, and virtual events. Known for seamless solutions and a collaborative approach, we help make your events stress-free and enjoyable!

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