Planners can limit liability by utilizing in-house wellness instructors who should already be covered by insurance. Courtesy of Laurie Sharp

As the industry and the nation continue to recover from the COVID pandemic and record-breaking inflation while grappling with worldwide turmoil, wellness is crucial.

But that concept means different things to different people. For some, wellness refers to improving one’s mindset, generally by focusing on meditation, getting outdoors or taking time for reflection. For others, the term equates to going for a run or a session at the gym, where frustrations can be taken out on a heavy bag.

However people choose to work on their wellness, there’s an increased appreciation for it. Meetings are no exception to this new lifestyle. Planners optimize the attendee experience by adding activity options, adjusting food and even meeting structures to boost mental and physical health.

“Traditionally, meetings were primarily about achieving business goals but there’s been a shift toward providing environments that support attendees’ overall well-being,” says Jessica Montefusco, chief experience officer, Wicked Event Design. “We are more conscious of the fact that when people feel good physically and mentally, they’re more likely to be engaged and productive during meetings, while creativity and participation are also improved.”

Additionally, meeting attendees are onboard, says David Stevens, co-founder of Olympian Meeting, Event Marketing Authority, and the host of “Return on Wellness,” a YouTube webcast focused on the ROI of bringing wellness into events. “When events add wellness elements, they see higher survey scores, knowledge retention and overall attendee satisfaction.”

Mind Over Matter

Mental health is especially important for meeting attendees while they are soaking in new information, and there is a variety of ways to address it.

Meeting planner Laurie Sharp, principal, SharpEXP, who specializes in technology company meetings and events, is a believer in sound baths — or meditations involving sound waves — for groups that have extra time and space to devote to mental wellness. But for others there’s yoga or even “short bursts of meditation, which can be done anywhere with headphones,” if ambient noise is an issue, she notes.

An often emphasized objective of mental health activities is ‘mindfulness,’ or being acutely aware of one’s self and surroundings. For some meeting attendees, when they hear “mindfulness,” they hear “meditation,” and that can intimidate people, but they’re overthinking it, Stevens contends. “Some people fear that they’re supposed to have some profound experience every time they meditate, and that’s not what it’s about.”

Instead, EMA offers “mindfulness sessions” where attendees may do breathing work and they receive meeting-related questions to consider, Stevens says. “For example, we’ll ask, ‘What is something that you remember about the meeting yesterday that you’re going to take with you?’ or ‘What do you want to accomplish today?’ Taking the time to stop and think through those questions shifts your focus for the day.”

That shift can make the difference between a productive meeting and one where someone just showed up, says Stevens.

“Most people don’t set an objective for attending a meeting; they go just because they have to or they want to be there. But if someone comes into a meeting with a goal then their choices will support that goal.”

A focus on mental wellness at meetings also makes sense because attendees need mental boosts for a break from the education.

Last year, says Montefusco, “During a summer meeting in Las Vegas for 40 human resources executives from various companies, we offered a wellness lounge that was open throughout the meeting and we provided relaxed seating, dim lighting and calming music. It was designated a ‘quiet area’ where attendees could escape from the meeting. The lounge’s sponsor gave away branded resistance brands to keep the wellness momentum going after the meeting.”

Planning such an offering isn’t a one-off for Wicked Event Design, she notes. “We’ve been incorporating elements like oxygen bars or infused waters, adding something that creates an environment for attendees to step away from the hustle of a meeting and decompress.”

Brain Food

As most people know by now, the type of food we eat can impact energy and overall well-being, making the food and beverage element of events especially important. Foods we consume also can impact concentration.

Keeping all of that in mind, some meeting planners are laser focused on the food & beverage served at events. “When we look at menus,” says Stevens, “we think about whether there are walnuts, which are great for brain health; blueberries and dark chocolate, which have great antioxidants; and what kind of fish is being served. Salmon is more nutritionally dense than other fish and it contains omega-3 fatty acids, which help brain function.”

For some groups, Stevens even stipulates in the request for proposal that if a hotel doesn’t have healthy snacks, Event Marketing Authority can bring its own, to be served alongside the other dishes.

That measure doesn’t spike labor costs as Stevens and his team set-up the items themselves. It’s not always easy to get such a measure approved, but Stevens says, “I usually get some pushback and then it goes up the chain and gets approved once I ask for macronutrients of the exciting breaks. They almost never offer anything that provides enough protein.”

However, he also likes to serve a range of fare in case people want to indulge or they just want to have choices, which in and of itself allows attendees to be mindful. “You want to give people agency around food so you’re not just serving grilled chicken and a salad and forcing them to eat it. You can serve barbecue ribs too, and you can present a fruit salad as well as cookies. Give people the opportunity to make those choices.”

Some health-conscious attendees even bring their own foods. “But that’s not how it’s supposed to be,” Stevens asserts. “After all, we don’t ask attendees to bring their own chairs.”

Getting Physical

When it comes to physical activity, Montefusco often plans walks, such as the one now being developed for 65 customers and employees of a security company meeting headed to Orlando this month. It will be led by executives, and the planning team comes on the journey too, she says.

“We, as event planners, can engage with attendees by walking with them, which is a less formal environment, and hear feedback,” she says. “We’ve heard everything from, ‘Dietary restrictions weren’t accommodated at breakfast’ to ‘we really wanted to attend a certain session, that was only offered once but it sold out. Then we look into whether we can duplicate, or record, the session.”

Montefusco and her team enjoy getting the feedback, she insists. “We really want attendees to have a great experience.” To that end, she’s also pleased that walks are usually led by CEOs, giving attendees valuable face time with the company’s leaders. “It’s more casual than being together in the meeting rooms, and that helps build relationships.”

For her part, whether offering mental activity, physical workouts or more, Sharp starts the planning process by including in the online registration a drop-down menu of choices that might include a 5K (generally for larger groups), a dance class, a hike or a host of other options.

“Wellness is very personal, it’s kind of like religion,” she says, “and what works for one person might not for someone else. So, we need to ask attendees what they like to do and what they want. Because if you design wellness offerings and no one partakes in them, you’re not doing yourself any favors.”

Building Human Connections

Event Marketing Authority tweaked old meeting formats to make meetings less about being busy and soaking up knowledge and more about building community, according to Stevens. For starters, the company cut in half the length of its clients’ education sessions, Stevens says.

“Our sessions are 30 minutes long now instead of an hour. Speakers initially pushed back but when they presented they realized they’d been including fluff.”

Next, he adjusted meeting agendas to push back start times for education and physical activity sessions by an hour to 90 minutes. “We took those steps so people could connect with each other instead of just getting bombarded with information.”

Connections made during wellness events are particularly strong, notes Sharp. “If you do a wellness activity together it’s a more casual conversation than in the confines of a meeting so it’s completely different. An attendee might remember a meeting goer from a walk, sound bath or meditation session, which will be a more profound memory — that hopefully is centered around your brand — than sitting next to someone in a breakout session with whom you may not have even spoken.”

Networking during wellness activities also fosters stronger connections than those made during cocktail receptions, Sharp says. “In a sound bath or a high-impact workout, there are no badges, it’s usually in the morning and when women don’t have make up on. People are casual so it breaks down a lot of barriers. People aren’t wondering “is this a prospect? Someone else I should meet?’ It becomes just an activity partner.”

Finding Skilled Practitioners

Like building any other part of a meeting or incentive program’s agenda, meeting planners have to find the right people for the job. It can be particularly difficult with wellness offerings, but there are strategies to it.

“The safest ways to do it would be either to ask your hotel partner, because a lot of times hotels have a spa or some sort of wellness activities in-house, so then those instructors have been vetted and planners know they’re covered by insurance, so we don’t have to concern ourselves with risk and liability,” advises Sharp.

She continues, “If a hotel or other venue a planner is working with doesn’t have someone appropriate on staff, the planner could ask the hotel if they know of someone nearby who is a responsible practitioner. The other way, and I have done it, is to go to a local CrossFit or yoga studio and tell them you’re looking to hire someone; and tell them what fee you can offer.”

Sharp admits, “There’s less risk if you go through your hotel partner, because you don’t know if a contractor will show up on time, if they’ll be prepared, etc. But if you go to a very established studio within your meeting city or destination, you’re probably pretty safe. And come with a brief that clearly states what you want, just as you’d do when hiring any vendor.”

The process doesn’t have to be costly either, she notes. “If you’re going to a local studio, an instructor there may want to earn some extra dollars for the week. It’s not that expensive.”

Another approach both to saving money and to finding someone who knows the group, she notes, is checking if any attendees have a side hustle or hobby teaching fitness.

For Wicked Event Design’s group that met in Las Vegas last summer, Montefusco simply leveraged the hotel’s existing fitness classes, she says. “The resort provided Yoga, HIIT, aerobics and Zumba on a rotating basis so we were able to take advantage of this offering and book space for our group to participate, with different options offered each day.

Positive Feedback

Planners report receiving nothing but rave reviews for meetings when wellness was on the agenda.

“The first time I incorporated wellness, it was reflected in our survey scores immediately; the net promoter score was a 9.4 out of 10,” says Stevens.

Adds Sharp, “Every metric went up, NPS, attendee satisfaction and on surveys we’ve gotten comments like “I wouldn’t normally do something like this, but I went and I met these people that I wouldn’t have otherwise so it was really uplifting. It was a great way to start the day and to refresh my body and my mind before heading to what could be intense meetings.”

The wellness activities also created buzz at the event, Montefusco says, building enthusiasm for both the present event and the future iterations. “The post-event feedback we’ve received indicates that attendees were really excited about the wellness elements we offered. They constantly talked about it.” C&IT