Meetings in 2020 – a Student Perspective

• Posted on Carolyn
• in Meeting Design
• on May 6, 2014
• Comments Off on Meetings in 2020 – a Student Perspective

Recently I got to participate in the end of semester presentations for the Meeting & Event Management class at UMass Amherst.  Each group gave a short presentation on their project – to reimagine a current industry conference for the year 2020, thinking about what they would change to try and attract a younger demographic (their generation).  It was a great exercise for them as they needed to research what was currently being done and then decide on a location, budget, marketing, transportation, entertainment, F&B, speakers, technology needs – everything that would go into planning a conference.  They needed to explain to the panel why they made certain decisions, how they incorporated risk management procedures, selected speakers, etc. It was great to see meetings designed from a student perspective.

Each group impressed us, as they presented to us with minimal use of notes and with no visuals to refer to (no flipcharts or PowerPoints).  They were able to answer most questions we posed without referring to their binder.  I personally expected to hear a lot about incorporating technology & social media, about shortened schedules, maybe some virtual aspects, holograms, and the like (maybe a Jetsons’-style conference?).  While they did talk to technology and had some interesting speaker choices, what struck me most from all the presentations, was why they chose the destinations and how much they expected attendees to incorporate family.  Destinations weren’t exotic – London, Orlando, Washington DC, San Diego, Vancouver & Los Angeles – but all were chosen for ease of transportation and for things to do locally with a lot of emphasis on what could be done after hours and pre/post conference with spouses/partners and families. 

As a conference attendee I’ve never brought my family along as I know there are sessions all day and then ‘recepting’ all night which doesn’t allow for family time (barely time to call and say hi if they were still at home!). Maybe the younger generations have a better grasp than we do about work/life balance.  Maybe offering a shorter conference with fewer scheduled evening activities and more ‘on own’ time is a better way to plan.  Maybe proposing CSR activities that are open to families would give them a better appreciation for what we do and make it more palatable when we need to travel so much.  Food for thought.