In-person annual meetings offer an unparalleled opportunity for your members to enjoy face-to-face networking. But although many people are excited about getting together with colleagues, it can still be somewhat overwhelming and anxiety-inducing for some, especially in the wake of the recent pandemic.
Creative solutions are available to help meeting management teams accommodate members’ needs. By thinking outside the box and considering alternative ways to provide a well-rounded meeting experience, associations can develop a fresh approach to their meeting that makes it even better than before.
“Thinking about resting and mental well-being is definitely something planners are looking at,” said Beth Mauro, Senior Director of Learning and Development at Association Headquarters. “This isn’t a new development since the pandemic ended; however, as a result of its impacts, it’s now more important than ever.”
The Personal Touch
“Everybody has been really excited since the return of in-person meetings and the opportunity to forego Zoom and talk to actual human beings,” said Mauro. “At an in-person meeting you can develop relationships and make connections just by sitting down to lunch, as opposed to a webinar or online course. The value proposition of the in-person meeting is interpersonal connections.”
To take advantage of the ability to offer such connections, Mauro suggested that meeting planners allow more time for organic interaction. This allows space for attendees to take advantage of in-person networking that they might otherwise not have access to.
“There’s a tendency to want to pack an event schedule to offer the highest possible number of CE credits or the largest possible quantity of educational sessions. But now that there are so many virtual options for education, the people who are coming to an in-person meeting are truly seeking in-person engagement,” Mauro said.
Some of this engagement can come as part of the sessions themselves. Associations can encourage speakers to include questions for the audience as part of their programs, start off sessions by asking attendees to introduce themselves to those around them, and include small-group discussions as a segment of their presentations.
However, non-session unstructured time is another great way to give people more social interaction. It offers other benefits too: it allows members to relax and reenergize, and helps alleviate the “Zoom fatigue” that may have lessened people’s ability to focus on content for an extended period. And on the flip side of the technology coin, it is increasingly common for attendees to bring with them not just a smartphone but a laptop, often even a tablet for good measure—and to be expected to be available to coworkers throughout the day. Allowing them time to do so helps ward off having them be distracted during the sessions themselves.
By shortening the length of program sessions and offering longer coffee and meal breaks—as well as more frequent breaks overall—associations can continue to provide a wealth of educational content while giving members an unharried, more relaxing conference experience.
Making the Most of Break Times
The trick to providing unstructured time that actually improves a meeting is, paradoxically, to give the unstructured time a little structure. Whether attendees are using the breaks to make new connections, chat with old friends, or catch up on work emails, you want to keep them in your meeting space. The reason? “If people go back to their hotel rooms to charge phones or have a moment of quiet, they might not come back for a while,” says Mauro.
Fortunately, there are a variety of options for providing attendees everything they need within the event space:
Channel your local coffee shop. Set up long tables with outlets at every seat so people can recharge both literally and figuratively while checking in at work—while still being surrounded by the energy of the conference. (And be sure to confirm in advance that the meeting package with the event space includes enough wireless bandwidth to support the expected number of attendees.)
Go all out on seating. To whatever extent possible, event management companies should work with the event space on adding extra seating in and around the meeting area, both indoors and out. Providing clusters of chairs gives attendees the opportunity to sit and chat with one another or just take a quiet solo break. Outside seating is especially desirable since any time spent in the fresh air is restorative.
Set up a quiet room. The bustle and excitement of an annual meeting can create a need to temporarily withdraw and rejuvenate. If you have a small space available, position it as a low-lit, computer-free, no-talking zone offering members a mini-getaway.
Offer arts and crafts. (Really!) “At one of their recent meetings, the National Association of Productivity & Organizing Professionals (NAPO) put a giant coloring sheet and an array of boxes and markers on a table, and all through the day, people were sitting down to color for about 10 minutes,” said Mauro. “They could clear their mind and have some chitchat with the other people. Often when I would walk by it, they would not be talking at all, just having a quiet minute to be in the Zen of coloring.”
Make the most of mealtime seating. There are several ways to approach convention meals. Round tables make conversation easier and make it simpler for solo attendees to pull up a chair. Two-person high-tops give old friends a spot to catch up or let someone take a moment alone. Tables with designated special interests (“Hospital Nurses” versus “School Nurses,” for example) can spark new meetings and captivating conversations. And dine-arounds, where people can sign up to go to a local restaurant as a group, allow for additional socializing.
Incorporating ideas like these—and using them as a springboard to develop ideas suited to your own association’s membership—helps you meet attendees where they are, providing them with valuable social contact by encouraging different levels of socializing to fit a range of preferences.
