When you’re a meeting planner, you’re never really preparing for what can go right. You’re preparing for what can go wrong. But even the best meeting planner in the entire world can never—will never—be able to predict that one fluke thing that sends an event into a flaming, downward spiral. Now let’s imagine we’re talking about hundreds, if not thousands of flukes all conspiring at once to cause events all over the world to crash and burn.
Welcome to the current state of meeting planning in the new COVID world.
Corporate retreats canceled due to unexpected and unprecedented financial hardships. Industry conferences called off for safety concerns. Large gatherings banned by law in many states. With every single company in every single industry feeling the pressures and strains caused by the recent pandemic, it should come as no surprise that meeting planners everywhere are scrambling to stay afloat…and more importantly, stay relevant.
The sad fact is, many businesses won’t live to fight another day. Others are watching their spending very carefully, and will be for quite some time. But then there are those companies and organizations that want to have conferences—perhaps even need to have conferences—but have concerns for the logistics involved for the health and safety of employees and attendees.
In this regard, it’s going to be up to meeting planners to adapt to the new landscape to survive. They need to stay on top of recommended health guidelines, which according to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), is a responsibility that falls solely on the event planner. Their current general recommendations for in-person events are as follows:
“The CDC…encourages event organizers to focus on ways to limit people’s contact with each other. Each event organizer will need to determine the appropriate number for their setting in collaboration with local health officials. They should also check state, county, and city rules regarding any current restrictions limiting the number of attendees at events.”
Clearly, meeting planners need to understand local guidelines where an event is being considered, and they must be proactive to ensure their potential clients and attendees are safe at all times. This means maintaining social distancing recommendations of six feet or more, requiring adequate masks, having hand sanitizer stations readily available, frequently testing the temperature of attendees, posting reminders of safe handwashing practices, and encouraging those who feel ill to bow out.
Aside from just making sure attendees are safe, the first hurdle for meeting planners in our new normal may simply be making sure clients feel safe. Explicitly stating the protocol and safety practices a meeting planner has adopted will go a long way in assuring potential attendees that they can focus on the message of the conference, not their health. And constant communication with attendees about the priority of their health further reinforces that they are in good, albeit well-washed, hands. Wise meeting planners may also consider alternatives to in-person events such as virtual conferences, or even a hybrid of the two.
In whatever format, meeting planners can rest assured that conferences and meetings will remain a necessity to businesses. The key is to see things through the customer’s eyes, find ways to adapt and reassure, and just as before, deliver excellence in every event.