Quick Tips from Sarah
My partnership theme here can’t stop, won’t stop. For meeting planners, however, it’s a little bit different and it could get REALLY tricky.
Over the last few years, Ann and I have heard many people (both DPMs and exhibitors) talk about how there are just too many meetings. More feedback needs to be gathered here to really have it stand on two legs (note next month’s DPM and exhibitor polls have just been created organically), but I’m sure this concept isn’t blowing your mind right now as if you’ve never heard this complaint.
Considering the meeting calendar at PodiatryMeetings.com is our most visited page because there are so many educational opportunities, I’m reluctant to say I want fewer meetings; I mean, I do have to pay my bills. But, there are a lot of points that I could see as being pros of some meeting consolidation. With fewer meetings, scientific content would be a little less copy/paste… the opportunities to be a faculty member would become a bit more exclusive, which could result in a demand for more “wow-factor” presentations… exhibitors would have fuller exhibit halls due to scarcity of meetings… the list goes on.
The other unexpected surprise these last two years was an event-killing pandemic. I don’t know if you’ve heard of COVID-19, but it kind of took a little bit of a toll on the meeting industry.
So let’s say meetings do consolidate and partner up to create fewer, but stronger events – the quality over quantity factor. Which meetings would mix well and how would it work? Well my friends, my brain just exploded trying to figure that one out on my own. Obviously, there are pairings that go well when it comes to scientific content, but it can get really messy when we start talking about combining meetings that are affiliated here and not affiliated there. Then we have the dynamics of staffing. Oooof.
So guess what? I am thinking FOCUS GROUP!!!!! We want to ask you. Let’s lay it all out on the table and determine what factors would come into play.
Are you game? If so, use the poll below so we can gain an idea of who would be up for this discussion and see where it takes us.
Would you be interested in participating in a Meeting Planner Focus Group?
Yes I want to participate and get more thoughts on this issue.
No thanks; but I’d be interested to know what comes of it.