Here, in part two of our annual “State of the Industry” report, a cross section of MPI members discuss being ready for the “next coronavirus,” industry activism, automation and site selection politics. Check out part three next week, in which we discuss pain points, diversity and inclusion, business continuity and passion for events. You can also read the full report in the May issue of The Meeting Professional.
A huge thanks to these MPI members for taking the time to share their insights:
-Jim Clapes, events manager, Specialty Food Association (MPI Greater New York Chapter)
-Brad Dean, CEO, Discover Puerto Rico (MPI South Florida Chapter)
-Mahoganey Jones, CMP, DES, HMCC, national corporate sales manager, Halifax Convention Centre (MPI Toronto Chapter)
-Tracy Judge, MS, CMP, founder and chief connector, Soundings Connect (MPI International Board of Directors)
-Elaine Morena, regional vice president - Northeast, Associated Luxury Hotels International (MPI Greater New York Chapter)
-Gérard Réus, CED, DES, SEPC, CEO, REUS Event Design (MPI France-Switzerland Chapter)
-Pawntra Shadab, CTA, VP of events and marketing, Elite Productions International (MPI Orange County Chapter)
-Brent Taylor, CMP, DES, CMM, president, Timewise Event Management Inc. (MPI International Board of Directors)
-Michel Wohlmuth, executive director, Creatividad (MPI Latin American Advisory Council)
What steps does the meeting and event industry need to take to mitigate the economic and business continuity damage brought on by the “next coronavirus?”
“Continued collaboration between industry professionals. Working together for contracts beneficial to all partners, suppliers and organizations. It can no longer be an “us vs. them” mentality.” -Mahoganey Jones
“Mobilization is crucial in order to limit the economic damage in our sector. It results in several actions. Avoid canceling an event, but rather postpone it. Set a new date within a reasonable time. Notify exhibitors and providers about the deferral—the contract is suspended until the scheduled date and the payments are kept. Negotiate with exhibitors who invoke an impediment for the deferral period.
“Provide access to currently closed event infrastructures. Many managers are offering to open their doors to the health authorities in order to make up for the lack of space they will potentially face. These site managers are available, upon administrative request, in order to fix the terms and conditions related to the reopening of these sites in order to cope with this matter.
“Participate in the management of the crisis and the maintenance of economic activity thanks to the varied operational skills of our métiers (trades) in particular in terms of security, transportation, temporary development and flow management. -Gérard Réus
“Education. We are an industry with minimal barriers to entry. Let’s educate event professionals, raise them up and ensure everyone understands the ramifications of not being thorough in the work that we do. Contingency planning, emergency preparedness and insurance coverage are all resources in our toolbox to mitigate damage to our events and business by future major disruptions. We need to understand them and know how to utilize them.” -Brent Taylor
“We’ve learned some major lessons from the coronavirus in a short time. First and foremost, I think staying lean is going to be imperative to businesses of all sizes going forward. In unpredictable times, agility and the ability pivot quickly are crucial.
“Headcount will be harder to get approved. Because of this, organizations need to create a culture and infrastructure where freelance talent can thrive. This requires having the technology, communication methods and strategy in place for remote workers. The good news is that a lot of companies learned how to do this in response to the coronavirus.
“Blended workforces are the norm in the most innovative industries. Another benefit to leveraging contingent workforces is diversity of thought. Innovation happens through collaboration of many different minds.” -Tracy Judge
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“It is critical that our industry prioritize safety and security—both of local communities and visitors, current and future. This was a major priority for Puerto Rico, which put a preventative island-wide issues management plan in place immediately after the spread began escalating on the mainland.
“The island was the first U.S. territory or state to implement a curfew, and San Juan International airport was the first in the U.S to implement thermographic cameras to monitor temperatures of inbound passengers. The governor of San Juan suspended all events through May 30. Although some measures may be difficult in the short term, the long-term outlook for our island should include a rebound in tourism that is quicker and more impactful to our economy than those destinations that implemented these measures later.
“Secondary comes ensuring your destination or business remain top-of-mind through hardships, as there will be a time when we are able to travel again. As appropriate, it’s important to ensure travelers remain aware of what makes your destination special. We are doing this in unique ways, including sharing our beloved coffee with planners and offering virtual getaways through our social channels. We’re letting the current climate dictate the limits of what we are permitted to do right now, but these circumstances are not limiting our creativity.” -Brad Dean
“Have clear hygiene protocols. Have direct communication with federal and state governments to react faster and contain infections more efficiently.” -Michel Wohlmuth
What is the meeting industry’s role in activism?
“The meeting industry can play a pivotal role in activism. Both planners and suppliers have a responsibility to ensure everyone feels welcome and comfortable in the spaces they create, sell and manage. If we don’t take that responsibility seriously, can we consider ourselves good stewards of hospitality?
“Making sure that meeting professionals are educated on how to be as diverse and inclusive as possible is one of the pillars of the LGBT Meeting Professionals Association, which I chair. We offer a supplier diversity resource network that allows industry professionals to build relationships with other like-minded individuals who are committed to basic principles of inclusion and diversity. We also provide a safe space where LGBT+ meeting professionals can be assured that their voices and opinions are heard and acknowledged through networking events and membership.
“It’s important that we continue to build on this foundation by encouraging planners in the industry to get language into their contracts that protects LGBT+ attendees while also working with venues to ensure gender neutral restroom options are available and diversity training is implemented within their ranks. While it may not seem like much, it’s the kind of everyday activism that is steadily propelling our industry forward.” -Jim Clapes
“Both planners and suppliers have a responsibility to ensure everyone feels welcome and comfortable in the spaces they create, sell and manage.”
“I firmly believe in the MPI slogan, ‘When we meet, we change the world.’ We do have this power. And one way or another, each of the events that we organize is helping to have better people, companies, communities, society and countries.” -Michel Wohlmuth
“As a large industry, we have the ability to make a tremendous impact on the world if we all come together to tackle the same issues. I’d like to see how we can create community through corporate social responsibility initiatives and truly make a difference by coming together for a common cause.” -Elaine Morena
How has the role of automation impacted your events and what further developments are you anticipating in the near future?
“Event teams need to work on solutions and methods to connect, reduce manual tasks and facilitate event management.
“Event automation is focused on how multiple solutions can connect better. Planners are working with marketing, accounting and IT to ensure that event management solutions operate with each department. They are applying these solutions to marketing automation systems, CRM platforms and other tools. Thereby, it is possible to provide a more complete view onto customers, suppliers and the market.
“Event automation relieves an events team of low-value, tactical tasks. This allows them to focus deeper on the events and less on logistics. We can automate a website and email templates to ensure that each group or employee communication is clean and consistent. It also allows for easily tracking attendance and no-show rates, looking at attendee-to-appointment conversion and monitoring waitlists.
“Event automation allows you to formalize a process for your event tasks, regardless of who is completing them. For instance, we are able to consolidate all registrations and marketing into one platform, distributed through one event calendar.” -Gérard Réus
“Basically, automation saves us time and makes the processes more manageable, which allows us to focus on the small details and make our events extraordinary.” -Michel Wohlmuth
What role do politics play in site selection?
“Politics should and do play an important role in site selection, particularly for planners that are genuinely committed to ensuring all their attendees feel welcome. While we at the LGBT Meeting Professionals Association would never specifically tell a meeting planner where or where not to send their business (we simply aim to serve as a clearinghouse for all diversity and inclusion-related issues pertaining to the industry), it’s important for meeting professionals to take into consideration the state, regional and local landscape in the site selection process.
“Having worked as an association planner for the majority of my career thus far, I understand the hardships that are often faced with having the desire to select a progressive, diverse location for a meeting or event but not having the budgetary means to make that goal a reality. It’s tough to reconcile. I would encourage all meeting planners to use CVBs as a resource in every city they are considering to get a more nuanced sense of the local climate and attitude as well as to engage in their own research to get an understanding of the laws and policies from state to state. A great place to start is hrc.org/state_maps. If budgets allow, consider only working exclusively with states that prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.” -Jim Clapes
