Impact
[im-pakt]
1. the striking of one thing against another; forceful contact; collision.
2. influence; effect.
For every impactful meeting or event, there is a meetings professional thinking strategically, leveraging resources and embracing creative thinking. In this Education Essentials, you'll learn how to strategically leverage surveys, incorporate mindful and unique event design, increase your impact while working remotely, and get creative when navigating challenging circumstances.
Impact of COVID-19
Right now, there's no topic more top-of-mind than COVID-19 and the ripple effect of the pandemic on the meetings and events industry. Next week, tune in to a virtual idea exchange hosted by the Event Disruptions Shared Interest Group (SIG) to connect with fellow meetings professionals about navigating COVID-19. Moderated by our SIG leaders, this open discussion is an opportunity to ask your pressing questions and get tips and resources from others who are in a similar position. Register now.
In the meantime, start your own discussion on TheNetwork, or view the threads below to join the conversation.
Tips for Effecting Surveying
Long gone are the days when you only surveyed meeting attendees after an event ended, filing the results away and checking the box that meant the step had been completed. Now, more than ever, meetings professionals are embracing the idea that surveying at multiple critical steps along the way helps ensure we are collecting participant feedback as we go, allowing us to pivot to create an even more memorable experience for those who attend our events.
Easier than ever to build, execute, aggregate and analyze, surveys are a critical tool in helping meetings professionals remain innovative and creative as they work to shape events to meet participant expectations. Read more about how you can effectively use surveys before and during events to help achieve important goals, including validating agendas, taking attendee satisfaction pulses at key points during a program, staying in tune with your partners and sponsors, and monitoring overall satisfaction.
Check out the infographic below for quick tips for building surveys, and visit here for some essential post-event survey questions to ask at your next event.
FICP Anytime Webinar: How to Make Event Feedback Matter
Most event professionals have a love-hate relationship with survey feedback. We’re anxious to know if we delivered on our promises, if attendees noticed and appreciated the risks we took, and if the attention to detail we gave to each aspect of the event paid off. But we also dread sorting through the conflicting feedback we often receive about F&B, room temperature, speaker selection, and venues. Here’s the unspoken truth that many of us know but never say out loud – not all feedback is created equal. Not all feedback matters.
Join Crystal Neubauer (AVP, Education and Events at Cambridge Investment Research Inc.) as she discusses how to identify feedback that matters so you can leverage it to add value to future meetings. In this webinar, you’ll learn an easy process for evaluating the value of certain types of feedback, how to define action clear steps, and how to use feedback to manage expectations in the future. Register now.
FICP Short: Embracing Creative Risk
Watch the FICP Short below as Dianne Devitt shares how meetings professionals can embrace creative risk.
Increase Your Impact from Your Home Office
Never before have workers telecommuted on such a broad scale. Here are some tips for working remotely. First, ensure your technology is in order and you have a stable internet connection. Manage expectations and discuss how teams are going to track projects they're working on, how they will meet to discuss them and what should be prioritized. Ensure this is an ongoing conversation.
While you're working from your home office, keep in mind the effects of isolation and take the appropriate steps to take care of yourself, such as staying connected with friends and family via technology, keeping your daily routines, exercising regularly and more. Read more.
Mindful Event Design
Give your event the wow factor as soon as attendees walk in the door with these ideas, tips and tricks to making a great first impression. Hire branded staff to greet attendees in a personable, enthusiastic and helpful fashion. Offer swag bags, highlight your event with light displays or LED light up entrances, or roll out a metaphorical red carpet for your guests with the use of a runway.
Check out these materials from Janet Sperstad's 2018 FICP Winter Symposium session, Mindful Event Design. You'll find suggestions for a brain-friendly layout, including ways to create open space, incorporate a variety of environmental spaces, optimize lighting and more.
Think Outside the Box
Meetings professionals often believe that educational sessions, training and creative brainstorming meetings need to be held inside, in a calm and quiet room where the participants can focus on the topic at hand. But research suggests quite the opposite. Check out this blog post for how you can enhance a meeting experience by taking it outside.
For even more ideas for your next meeting or event, check out this article featuring unique breakout session ideas, including a silent disco, speed networking, meditation sessions and more.
#TBT - Making an Impact
In a past FICP blog post, Erin Longo shares simple ways to make an impact every day, including smiling more, sending a thank-you note and giving a compliment.
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