{"id":5662,"date":"2020-04-16T11:27:34","date_gmt":"2020-04-16T15:27:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/bhr\/?p=5662"},"modified":"2020-08-14T13:43:42","modified_gmt":"2020-08-14T17:43:42","slug":"what-will-conferences-look-like-post-covid-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/bhr\/2020\/04\/16\/what-will-conferences-look-like-post-covid-19\/","title":{"rendered":"What Will Conferences Look Like Post COVID-19?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"In<\/p>\n

By<\/strong> Leora Halpern Lanz,\u00a0ISHC<\/em><\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

What will conferences look like post COVID-19? How do we meet as we emerge from physical distancing and lead into a \u201cnew normal\u201d? <\/span><\/h3>\n

How unnerving and ironic that just last month, our School was to have hosted a Hospitality Leadership Summit, themed <\/span>Leading in a Time of Disruption. <\/span><\/i>\u00a0Never in a million years would anyone have imagined that disruption would occur to force us to cancel the event, or, significantly more dire –\u00a0 that disruption would manifest itself as a global health crisis. In the last decade, and until March 2020, disruption in hospitality alluded to technology, alternative forms of accommodations or food deliveries, online travel agency platforms and new methods of analytics, among others. This current scenario, was never a blip on the situation radar.<\/span><\/p>\n

Preparation and Risks if the Conference Moved Forward<\/b><\/h3>\n

As our event date approached, while all logistics were already firmly in place and ready to launch,\u00a0 news of the spreading virus quickly placed us into crisis mode. Measures were taken to record and livestream the learning sessions of the event to provide for those who were uncomfortable to travel. Arrangements were in gear to provide for ample hand sanitizing stations throughout the venue and even pump bottles of hand sanitizers on registration and other tables. Signs were to be printed encouraging frequent hand-washing throughout the conference and discouraging hand-shaking. Additional hotel staff were to be scheduled to attend to bathrooms for continuous and visible cleaning. Lunch set-ups were modified from buffet and self-service to pre-packaged box lunches and staff-attended coffee stations\u00a0 – so as to prevent multiple people handling serving tools. Discussions considered seating fewer people at each table.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

With so many alterations to make, how risky this all felt. What if an attendee arrived unknowingly carrying the virus? What if an attendee was not in optimal health yet still participated? What if a speaker, sponsor, guest, hotel employee, fell ill and ultimately traced it to our event?\u00a0 At the time, as we looked forward and realized our student body would change and that other industry events may reschedule for a future allotted time slot; thus in our circumstance, cancelation was the proper decision.<\/span><\/p>\n

The ability for large groups of professionals who share common niche interests to convene \u2013 to network, learn, plan –\u00a0 has currently vanished. Uncanny, as American Express just last year published its <\/span>2019 Global Meetings and Events Forecast<\/span><\/i> and indicated that \u201cten years after an economic recession threatened the global meetings and events industry\u2026in North America it appears to be healthy and robust\u2026 Speculation that during the past two downturns that virtual events would replace a considerable proportion of the face-to-face meetings activity (and thus reduce the cost) never manifested. Virtual capabilities remain an important part of a well-rounded meetings strategy, but continued growth supports that North Americans prefer to meet in person when possible.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Well, what if it\u2019s not possible?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Re-Imagining the Meeting\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n

These last few weeks of shelter-in-place orders and six-feet apart guidelines have enabled each of us to stop, ponder and appreciate the personal values which are so meaningful to us all (Medium.com, April 10, 2020). Togetherness with family and friends is so critical to us as a human species (bbvaopenmind.com, The Biology of Socialization). \u201cOur personal and professional achievements are largely motivated by the approval and recognition of others.\u201d\u00a0 As humans, our ability to adapt successfully is attributed to how we \u201cinteract and cooperate\u201d with one another (bbvaopenmind.com).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And so with the time we have ahead removed from the daily bustle of our \u201cnormal\u201d activities, we must now creatively imagine what a meeting could look like.\u00a0 It is our responsibility as hospitality professionals to help shape professional gatherings and their facilitation, so that we ensure safety, comfort, value, productive sessions and a successful event. As gubernatorial and CDC guidelines are lifted, can we immediately resume with meetings in a format similar to the event our School had planned last month? Will our events operate differently, incorporating the technological tools we so quickly adapted for virtual meetings from our homes? What will a meeting look like?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Shortly After Pandemic\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n

Meeting Professionals International<\/span> (MPI) is the largest event and meeting association globally. The organization acts as a voice for the growth of the industry (mpi.org<\/a>). MPI still plans to host its World Education Congress (WEC) in Texas in June 2020 (as of April 14) and as indicated on its website, as it moves ahead with planning, \u201cwill continue to place high importance on facilitating measures to ensure optimal health and sanitary conditions\u201d for everyone onsite. So it appears as if this industry event, just two months away, is still set to move forward; other large hospitality (investment) conferences are contemplating postponement and there are others that recently moved from postponement to complete cancellation altogether.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A few items are certain for the future of meetings, though these suggestions are by far not necessarily inspired by the current pandemic:<\/span><\/p>\n