American Express recently released its 2021 Global Meetings and Events Forecast, which provided some significant insight into how the meetings and events industry will adapt in the year following the wildly disruptive impact that COVID-19 has had in 2020. More than 560 meetings and events professionals from around the world shared their expectations in this insightful survey.
Respondents were asked what top two factors, other than Covid-19 restrictions, would influence them to plan future in-person events. The most important factors? Safety and security—68 percent said they needed confidence in attendee health and safety components while 59 percent said favorable and flexible cancellation and attrition terms were important.
Here are some other interesting takeaways from the report:
It’s All About Trust
The strong relationships between professionals, suppliers, clients, and attendees has never been more important. “Trust is key,” says Linda McNairy, vice president, Americas, American Express Meetings & Events. “There is an enhanced focus now on duty of care requirements and how to protect attendees, both at face-to-face and virtual events.” Meeting planners must now engage with attendees from the very beginning of the process to find out whether they even wish to travel. As one professional explains, “A happy employee is a productive one, and planning meetings that employees are not comfortable with is counterproductive.”
Destination Selection
When it comes to destinations for in-person meetings and events, respondents indicated that they would stay closer to home in 2021. Local and regional destinations are expected to be the most popular, with less densely populated second-tier cities and suburban areas that are within easy reach of transportation hubs being particularly attractive. International destinations will be more difficult to plan for, with conflicting travel policies and procedures and the uncertainty of whether attendees will be required to quarantine on arrival or once back at home. The priorities for all locations will be safety and security, ease of transportation, and supplier stability.
Ground Transportation
In addition to hotels and air, ground transportation must now be considered as a key component of an attendee’s journey, rather than as an afterthought. The majority of ground space companies are small, local businesses, so vetting them has always presented a challenge. But with risk management being top of mind, planners need to find ways to make sure that their ground suppliers are following all duty of care requirements. Ground service has to change to accommodate cleaning requirements as well as government regulations regarding spacing and loading of vehicles. Vehicles will need to be cleaner, and drivers will need to be screened and more prepared—these health and safety protocols will make everything much better for the attendee experience.
Virtual and Hybrid Meetings
Even as in-person meetings of all sizes resume, there will need to be a virtual component for those who cannot attend in person. Beyond the pandemic, virtual and hybrid meetings will remain because our world has changed, and they have proven themselves to be useful tools in the meeting planner’s toolkit.
Planning a successful hybrid meeting can be equivalent to the work of planning two separate meetings—one in person and one virtual. Predictably, survey respondents indicated that 35 percent of virtual and hybrid events would require the services of a full-service agency, which, depending on what is required, could provide presenter training, prerecorded interviews, virtual studio space, and edited post-event sessions made available to attendees. And above and beyond those costs, there may be additional logistics to consider. For example, pre-event, attendees may need to have devices delivered to their locations so they can participate in educational sessions, or planners may want to include a participatory event, such as a wine tasting, which would necessitate supplies being shipped to attendees. Technology has enabled a surge of creativity when it comes to designing a meeting program, but everything comes with a cost.
Several interviewees discussed how virtual and hybrid meetings have opened up access to events for people who would not normally be able to attend in person—whether because of accessibility, financial issues, an inability to travel due to personal circumstances, or any number of other reasons. Ideally, this trend will lead to increased inclusivity and events that are more effective and reflective of a company’s workforce and audience.
Attendee Experience
In addition to costs and logistics, meeting planners must take the attendee experience into account when deciding which format is right for a particular meeting or event. Attending an event virtually from home or in a local office space is very different from traveling to one in person. In either case, in order to successfully engage participants, a variety of factors must be considered.
For virtual attendees, considerations may include whether there will be any distractions in the environment or whether the timing of the meeting is going to be an issue; planners may also need to communicate whether there is a dress code and whether the attendee needs to do anything to prepare ahead of time. A key question is always: will the technology work on all attendees’ systems, and will it be robust enough to ensure good connections while also protecting privacy and security? And from a program design standpoint, the challenge of keeping people’s attention once they have logged in must be considered. For example, through shorter overall length, more focus on content, or ongoing activities such as polls and breakout room discussions.
For attendees at in-person events, planners must take into account that expectations for communication are higher than before. Attendees must receive early and clear communication about schedules, transportation, lodging, what they can expect on arrival as far as health and safety screenings, what local regulations are for masks and distancing, how meals and networking events will be conducted, what precautions are being taken by suppliers, and
what to do and who to contact if they feel ill or are concerned about something that happens on-site.
Meetings Management
There is one silver lining to this period of disruption: companies are taking a closer look at their meetings management policies. Robust policies help planners do their job effectively and efficiently, by formalizing approval processes, centralizing contracts with preferred vendors, identifying staffing to support planning and execution, supporting virtual and hybrid formats, and covering small and simple meetings. And of course, duty of care requirements must be met at every step of the planning process. Globally, 67 percent of respondents said their meetings and events policy contained explicit language around safety and security.
Even in the midst of a pandemic, climate change remains an important and growing consideration in meeting planning. Globally, 79 percent of respondents report that their organization emphasizes sustainability in meetings and events. The top three ways they do that are: 64 percent avoid disposable items, 58 percent recycle, and 49 percent choose organic, local food and beverage options. With the explosion of hybrid and virtual meetings, corporations can more readily consider who absolutely has to travel and who can participate virtually, thereby lowering the meeting’s carbon footprint.
Many industry professionals have utilized this period of disruption as a chance to reflect. As one professional explained, “This break has reminded not only our clients, but people throughout the world, the importance of interacting in person. We facilitate human engagement, we create environments for people to experience new destinations, meet new people, and share memories. We provide opportunities to celebrate, receive recognition, share ideas, develop relationships, etc. The pandemic hit the reset button on what is important to our industry: the people, the places, and the need for human engagement.”
Click here to download the full report.
