Plan Your Meetings

By guest blogger Traci Gregory, CEM

What if the companies who canceled meetings due to public perception had reviewed their goals and objectives and made that part of the meeting execution, instead of canceling? Would meetings be suffering from the same perception problem that exists now?

Recently, I was discussing the now-infamous AIG incentive debacle and how it could have been avoided or minimized if they communicated the purpose, value and goals of the meeting, and how those goals were to be achieved at the event.

It is unfortunate that the news media has driven public perception to such negative depths, thus creating a situation that has damaged the conference/meeting planning industry. However, the scrutiny has created an opportunity for meeting professionals to articulate and demonstrate the value of this channel of communication to both the private and public sector.

Case in point: Texas Roadhouse President and CEO G.J. Hart made a point to host his appreciation event for his employees and kept his purpose and goals clear. When a CNBC reporter questioned him about how could he spend so much money on entertaining his employees, he replied:

“We’re going to have a good time, but we’re also going to be serious about what we’re all about … our people and our culture. Our people are the biggest asset we’ve got. … We have a philosophy in our company that if we take care of our people, they will take care of our guests.”

Hart was clear and focused about why he was hosting the appreciation event and how it benefited his company. It is a lesson to us all to stay focused and not be swayed by perception or fear of receiving negative press.

Years ago, I worked for a hospitality company where sales staff were encouraged to learn the client’s goals for meeting so we could best assist our client in achieving those goals. That awareness promoted efficiency in providing services and enhanced our clients’ programs. It also allowed the hospitality company to truthfully market its facility as a place where meeting goals were successfully achieved.

When I left that company to become a meeting planner, I took those principles with me. Each conference activity I organized had to contribute to the goal of the conference and enhance the attendee’s experience. Those principles gave me a baseline by which to measure the success of the meeting and the planning process. It also allowed me the ability to communicate the meeting’s goals during any point of the planning process to the program’s stakeholders or anyone else who needed to know. It was part of being prepared. But, more importantly, it gave me the tools I needed to prove how beneficial meetings were to the company’s efforts to engage customers and employees.

The AIG episode has inspired all of us to take a closer look at how we plan meetings. Across the board, people are questioning the cost and value of conferences and meetings. Perhaps if AIG and the facility it chose for its event had taken the opportunity to articulate their goals and how the location supported them in achieving those goals at the outset, it could have put to rest the perception that the meeting was a frivolous expenditure of taxpayer money.

Conferences, meetings, incentive programs and special events are the strongest way to engage your customers and employees with your brand, its mission and values, and achieve organizational goals. Going forward, we as planners should maintain the focus on a meeting’s purpose, thereby shifting the “is this meeting necessary?” argument from one based on optics to one rooted in fact.

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Traci Gregory, CEM, resides in southern California and has been in the meeting industry for 15 years. She planned her first international conference at age 16 on behalf of her church youth conference. That conference hosted over 2,500 attendees in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.  Traci went on to learn both hotel and facility service prior to becoming a full time meeting planner. Currently, she is promoting live captioning for meetings and events to elevate and enhance the conference experience for all attendees.