Meetings Made Easy held a client appreciation and education trip at Grand Hyatt Baha Mar in the Bahamas. Courtesy of Sarah Buchbinder

Creating a meeting or incentive that delivers on the desires of attendees is no easy feat. Given shortened attention spans, today’s endless array of home entertainment options, the immediacy with which people can get what they want and the ease of global travel, many corporate professionals can lose interest in a session or an activity quickly and find themselves thinking, “Been there, done that; I need more.”

However, some attendees’ wishes have become commonplace, allowing professional meeting planners to expect them and plan accordingly. Among those are helpful and engaging education, good entertainment and the craving for free time, which gives attendees the space to absorb content, network and stay on top of other work, as well as the chance to venture outdoors and explore a destination.

“Attendees want to feel that the time spent away from their families, office and their outside lives in general was worthwhile,” notes Sarah Buchbinder, regional director, meeting broker division at Meetings Made Easy. “Attention and innovation from the meeting hosts can make them feel as if their attendance was valued.”

Good Education

That starts with the education sessions. Attendees, of course, expect to be serious and learn, but they also want the information to be useful and for it to be presented in compelling ways. Simply having a speaker at the front of the room deliver a PowerPoint presentation no longer cuts it. Not only will such a format bore attendees, it won’t make them remember the conference in a positive way.

“If you want people to engage more around learning and get more value out of the content, it comes down to using more informal, participative learning formats and shifting away from a sage speaking to an audience,” declares John Nawn, co-founder/chief strategist, The Event Strategy Network.

“There could be a subject matter expert who starts a conversation and then facilitates a discussion among a group,” he says, “or you might have peers leading one another. There could be ‘ask me anything’ sessions, where you put a thought leader in a seat and attendees pepper that person with questions. Or I love when people put something on their badge that says, ‘Ask me about XYZ.’”

Such education can have a lasting impact, Nawn states. “Informal learning opportunities are where people retain a lot more information and transfer more of that information back to their jobs, which results in improved performance for both the individual and the organization.”

For some groups, he notes, education design should be outsourced to learning professionals, just as planners hire audiovisual professionals, caterers and the like. But for others, creating engaging education means moving away from traditional models.

“Attendees want a varied agenda,” states Buchbinder. “If an entire meeting of 200 people has all their events onsite, all together, it can become monotonous.”

Instead, she suggests, “Attendees want more interactive sessions with actionable takeaways. Many companies are incorporating what’s called open sessions, where attendees will submit topics they want to discuss and breakouts or workshops will be built around those ideas onsite, in real time.”

But education extends beyond the meeting rooms. Meeting attendees, and of course incentive winners, want time to connect with others, explore an event’s destination and even to check in with the home office.

“While attendees realize the value of keynotes and sessions, they want to have their free time onsite to be able to meet with their colleagues,” says Buchbinder. “With more companies embracing remote work, meetings are sometimes employees’ only opportunity to get face time in with associates, leadership, partners or their clients.”

Additionally, Buchbinder notes, if attendees have time to explore a meeting’s destination, it helps make the event memorable. “A key memory from any meeting will be an outing where people who don’t know each other get out and interact in a fun and informal way. For a company’s recent client appreciation and networking event in the Bahamas, attendees chose from over four event options on the first day, including cigar rolling, chocolate making or a private cabana by the pool. The next day, they could either take a relaxing catamaran cruise or a high speed boat to swim with pigs.”

Attendees also must stay mindful of their jobs back at the office, so building in some free time actually can make content more impactful, Buchbinder explains. “Work doesn’t stop while attendees are onsite, so having time to check-in with their team or to take a quick run through their inbox can allow them to focus more during sessions, knowing nothing is falling through the cracks while they are away.”

That’s Entertainment

Another component of events that can make them memorable is entertainment. There are numerous ways to interpret that need, and it should be something that most of the group will like, but it doesn’t necessarily have to blow out a meeting or incentive program’s budget.

“Attendees want to be entertained by celebrity talent and share their experiences on social media,” says Ira Ozer, president of Innovation Meetings. “We booked Skip Martin, former lead singer of Kool & The Gang, to perform at SITE [Society of Incentive Travel Executives] NITE North America, the incentive travel industry’s annual networking and fundraising party on the first night of IMEX America last fall at the Palms Resort in Las Vegas.”

The event was a success, Ozer states. “There were over 1,200 attendees who sang along, danced and recorded videos. People love meeting celebrities and sharing their encounters so they feel involved in the event and receive reinforcement from ‘likes.’”

Enjoyable entertainment can boost attendees’ overall sentiment about an event, making it not just a lasting memory but also the means to better post-meeting or incentive-trip evaluations.

“My attendee feedback has been more positive when I incorporate a live form of entertainment for at least one evening,” says Buchbinder, “like music or a casino night with prizes for people who win the most chips. After all, what pairs better with a glass of wine over dinner than live music?”

However, Nawn cautions against breaking the bank to entertain attendees at the expense of providing content that’s relevant to — and of use for — the audience.

“Don’t spend more on entertainment than on delivering a meeting’s value proposition,” he advises. “If a meeting is a salient experience, the entertainment is gravy. I have clients that spend a lot on entertainment and they think they have to put on a show for everyone. But they’re not necessarily delivering a lot of value, as far as individual and organizational outcomes. That is a missed opportunity.”

Showcasing just how planners can help sponsors meet attendee desires without busting their budgets, Nawn recently made one executive aware that a party isn’t always needed.

“I had a client recently who alternates where they meet. Last year’s meeting was in Atlanta and the company threw a party at great expense. We were there to audit that event and people loved it, they said it was a great party and the CEO was like, ‘Oh great, now I have to do this every year.’”

He explains, “But next year the meeting is in Las Vegas, and the destination essentially comes wrapped in a party. There are so many other things to do there that the host does not have to pay for, as attendees will take advantage of those activities. When we told the CEO that, he was like, ‘Oh, great, that saves us a quarter of a million dollars!”

Enjoying the Great Outdoors

Whether a meeting component being planned is an evening party, an education session or an off-site activity, having those programs outdoors — especially in picturesque or tropical destinations — whenever possible is a surefire way to please meeting attendees and incentive winners.

“Attendees want unique venues and outdoor activities, even at meetings in dense metropolitan areas like New York City,” asserts Ozer. “We held our client meeting last year for 80 attendees in Manhattan aboard a sailboat that took a two-hour sunset cruise of the New York Harbor. People loved sailing on the open water, past the Manhattan skyline, and seeing the Statue of Liberty up close while enjoying cocktails and a beautiful sunset. They raved about it to all their colleagues back at their offices.”

In fact, Ozer regularly advises clients to take it outside. “We always recommend leaving time for attendees to network and share conversations and we try to book venues with outdoor spaces, such as balconies and rooftops, for fresh air and light, which is conducive to recharging and staying happy during events.”

Arranging outdoor programming can be easier to do than it was in the past. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many hotels and other venues became more creative in using outdoor space since it was challenging to meet indoors. Most sites have remained capable of hosting large groups outside.

The pay-off for doing so is big, notes Buchbinder. “Getting people out of the hotel property is always very well received and will absolutely impact overall feedback on the meeting or event experience.”

Injecting Culture

In keeping with societal values of many groups today, it’s important for meetings and incentives to go to destinations that showcase different cultures.

Buchbinder agrees. “Diversity and inclusion is at the forefront of many corporations’ goals, so identifying locations that have more diverse cultures and ethnicities is critical these days,” she says, adding, “When we were in Miami recently we leaned into the Cuban vibe by sourcing a Cuban restaurant for our senior leadership dinner.”

Showcasing diversity requires intention, but the effort is worth the reward, says Ozer. “When we plan meetings, conferences and incentive programs in large cities, we make a point of having the attendees experience the diverse cultures, languages and cuisines of the destination.

“At a meeting we facilitated late last year, we brought attendees to the New York City borough of Queens, which features 91 distinct neighborhoods and has more diversity than any other small area in the United States. The group enjoyed dine-a-rounds at restaurants that served food from a variety of cuisines, including Greek, Chinese, German, Hungarian, Japanese, Georgian and more, all within a mile of one another.”

Innovation Meetings was able to tie the variety of the food into efforts being made at the company to promote diversity, equity and inclusion. “We wanted to give the attendees a sense of the diversity in a city like New York to help support their theme of being one global company and reinforcing their DEI initiatives,” Ozer says.

Ultimately, while it’s a daunting challenge, meeting planners need to make their events appealing on numerous fronts, says Buchbinder. “People today expect not just meetings but experiences and the more unique the environment or format of the event, the happier my attendees are. Meetings and meals alone just don’t have enough appeal anymore to make people sign up for a meeting.”

And she’s seen proof of that theory. “The post-event feedback is significantly more positive when we have incorporated a combination of entertainment and activities at a destination with amenities like an onsite spa, pool, golf course and the like,” Buchbinder says. “Of course, this comes at a cost, but if the goal is to get people to a meeting, planning this way should provide the ROI needed.” C&IT