TRICKS OF THE TRADE
Quick Tips for Meeting Planners
Reducing Risk by Staying on Site
Attending a meeting is a lot like going to a casino – once you get inside you don’t leave for three days and there aren’t any clocks anywhere.
The urge to get out of the hotel can start to become an itch and meeting planners sometimes use local attractions to motivate more attendance. I get it, but keep in mind the risk that has now been presented by going off site.
Meetings are hard enough to control given the amount of people who each have different goals for attending along with the challenges of smooth, clear communication. Once you take anyone off site, you may as well start playing Carrie Underwood’s “Jesus Take the Wheel.”
A couple of weeks ago I was at a meeting in Rosemont, IL and on the last day a sponsor took 90 attendees to the city – The Chicago Loop. Everyone was pumped and everything seemed to be planned perfectly. We had the reservations made as well as sufficient transportation for a fun and comfortable ride to and from the city.
Cue the horror music…
Something I learned from this experience – check to see if there are any massive events going on in the area that will throw a wrench in the plan.
That weekend 400,000 people I hadn’t realized were going to be in the city celebrating Mexican Independence Day (rather, I didn’t understand the enormity of the event). So once DPMs were ready to head back to the hotel, the streets were blocked and the charter coaches were unable to get to the passengers.
Anyone know how to spell stress with more than 3 “s”s?
Staying on site may not be the most exciting way to spend an evening, but it is way better than keeping tired doctors away from their cozy beds after a long day of learning. If you have the staff/resources to research every possibility that could ensue by going off site, have a ball! If not, keep your margin for error low and find a way to entertain inside the conference walls.
-Sarah Breymeier