This guest post is excerpted from Midcourse Corrections, the meetings blog produced by Jeff Hurt, director of education and events with the Dallas-based National Association of Dental Plans. It appeared shortly after Jeff returned from his association’s 2009 annual meeting in September. Reprinted with Jeff’s permission.
In 15+ years of planning conferences and events, this was one of the most difficult I’ve ever managed. The convergence of the recession, health care reform (which directly affects the industry association I work for), challenging venue negotiations, and free online content put us on the precipice of the unknown and constant change. We did our best to manage attendee expectations and move on a dime as needed.
Many “midcourse corrections” occurred at this event. Thankfully, as a small staff association, we were prepared to change quickly both off and onsite as warranted.
Attendance was down. Revenue was less than expected. Expenses were cut. Yet, the attendee experience did not suffer and our delegates enjoyed the event and resort. That’s what ultimately matters, although the fallout to the bottom line is yet to be seen.
As we head into 2010, here are 16 of my meeting planning takeaways from this experience:
1. Signing venue contracts two and three years before the event is no longer the new normal. There is too much contractual risk for the customer, including attrition and food and beverage requirements. Some venues are suffering financially, as well, and want to hold the customer to their contract instead of negotiating a win-win.
2. As an association event planner, forget your history for meeting room space and sleeping rooms. The better predictor of your attendance is to connect with your members and ask them about their plans. But don’t expect them to follow through with those plans if they are paying their own way to the event.
3. Cell phone and WiFi access are necessities like water and electricity for any event venue, and should be free. I’ll never issue another venue RFP without asking about cell phone carrier and WiFi access. Venues that lack good mobile reception or charge exorbitant fees for WiFi will lose business, including mine.
4. Phone-in presentations don’t work without visuals, good land line connections, and quality hybrid phones (phones that connect directly to sound magnification). Don’t assume that Skype or the cell phone speaker are good back-up plans unless you’ve tested them during a site visit. Both may be inaccessible from the facility.
5. Less is more, green is in, and spending dollars on content and connecting people creates success. Cut back on the extravagance and put money towards good content, helping people connect with each other, and extending the conference experience before and after the event (webinars, blog posts, conference social community, virtual experiences). A conference social community is a must!
6. Attendees want to pay less for conference registration and expect more value from the event. If the content or experience is not immediately relevant or applicable to their personal or professional lives, forget it. Watch for more associations to drop registration fees or even offer free conference registration. (Also, watch as some associations begin to merge with others in the coming year.)
7. Free online content is affecting conference content and attendance. Attendees expect onsite content to be stellar, and better than they’ve already seen online. Providing the same ‘ole speakers that you have always used is not good enough anymore.
8. It’s time to view the annual conference within the context of a larger community ecosystem. It is actually only one touchpoint within the ecosystem of virtual and face-to-face member experiences. Some of your attendees will be at the venue, others will be outside the venue’s four walls. The organization needs to reach both. Step away from viewing the annual conference as a one-hit wonder or stand-alone, climactic meeting within the year’s events.
9. Sessions need to move from vertical, one-to-many presentations to a more horizontal, many-to-many style. Attendees want fewer talking heads and more interaction, networking, and structured engagement with each other and with the content. They prefer to learn from each other, rather than a panel or presenter. Structure learning experiences around the audience as the experts. Use crowdsourcing and peer-to-peer exercises to increase attendee engagement and satisfaction. When delegates attend a presentation, they want time to interact with the content and with each other, during or after the session. Plan and provide that opportunity.
10. The conference attendee list can drive your registration. People attend an event less for content and more for face-to-face time with friends, business colleagues, competitors, and vendors. Identify the influencers in your attendee registration and make them your event evangelists.
11. Our attendees are seeking boutique event experiences with fewer people. We are seeing an increase in requests for a smaller annual conference with condensed, meaningful professional development content. People actually enjoyed the smaller number of attendees and felt like it was a special event, just for them.
12. You cannot go backwards with onsite technology. Attendees expect the same level of virtual and technology integration as in past events. Cutting technology and virtual expenses ultimately reduces the onsite experience.
13. Attendees welcome more white space in the conference schedule. Build in adequate time for breaks, connecting with the office, conversations with each other, and time to reflect. Don’t try to cram in more stuff, thinking more is better. Reduce the number of scheduled presentations or events and give attendees time to digest and reflect on content.
14. Fear and change are two themes all audiences face, regardless of discipline or industry. If you provide content on dealing with fear and change, you’ll have a winner. In unique times, these themes are ubiquitous as attendees grapple with the unknown.
15. Forget about getting back to ‘normal’. This is the new normal.
16. What is the new normal? Economist Don Reynolds of 21st Century Forecasting predicts “more regulation, a weaker consumer, higher rates of unemployment, years before housing prices get back to old highs, a weaker dollar, more government debt, more taxes, a little deflation, then a lot more inflation and an end to U.S. global economic downturn.” (Don was one of our keynote speakers and delivered optimistic yet cautious economic news.)
As we look ahead to 2010, what can meetings, events and associations expect? More of the same.
According to Reynolds, “the economy has improved and will continue to do so. However, we are in the new normal,” and we can expect this recession to last at least six quarters.
“To expect a normal recovery cycle in corporate profits, lending, consumer spending, capital investment, or (pick the category—increased meeting attendance or association growth), is just not reasonable.”
Welcome to the New Normal.