Big events and conferences

Rob Adams is the CEO and president of Bishop-McCann. He runs a company which he calls “a global corporate meetings and events agency.” In an interview for Fast Company, he says: “Many things have been challenging. But some advantages and benefits have arisen out of the situation.”

Rob is an expert. If you want to organize huge events and conferences, you go to him. I will paraphrase parts of his interview and add a few commentaries of my own. Rob cites the advantages:

1. It has accelerated the amount of innovation in his industry. A recent statistic indicated that the technology innovation in the industry’s space has accelerated by 2,000 percent. Rob says one of his significant hotel partners envisioned using technology to facilitate operations. When guests came to the hotel, they wanted everyone to be registered through their phone and know when they’re in the hotel. They do not have to go in those long lines; the phone would become their key. It was an initiative planned as early as three years ago, and the current situation accelerated that innovation practice.

2. Rob says, “We called virtual events, but what that meant was broadcasting a live experience to an attendee. We see now as a benefit because virtual meetings have been able to connect with more attendees than we ever have had before.”

3. Work-life and family seem to integrate even while the events are going on. While doing virtual meetings, we hear babies crying in the background, dogs barking, the doorbell ringing, and people are excusing themselves because of online order delivery or something. Rob says these types of considerations will be present in the new world of events. Rob says he is sure that even when events go face to face, hybrid events are here to stay, they are not going away. And the reason is that it allows more attendees that may not have been able to come before but now, through technology, they can participate.

Rob tells a story about how an expecting mom could participate in a virtual meet and had the opportunity to connect to that meeting. And this story brings a smile to my face.

On the first day of my Level Up Leadership Master Class (Virtual), I saw in the chatbox a participant notifying me that she would not be able to attend the rest of the sessions because she will have to go to the hospital to deliver her baby! I kid you not! This is true to the amusement and laughter of the rest of the 100 plus participants.

4. Rob says: “Collaboration and innovation in the new workplace meetings have always been a big part of office life; they used to take place in conference rooms, cafes, restaurants, and convention centers. The lockdown transferred all of that to a screen. Now video calls and meetings are the norms. Before, physical geography might have prevented some people from collaborating and given that most people are collaborating virtually, there’s no reason you can’t work with someone from the other side of the world.

5. The lack of commute and travel time, which was already a source of stress for many people, can make scheduling easier. But like everything else, there are downsides, video conferencing technology is far from perfect, and glitches like screens freezing bad connections and echoes are common. Many people have found video meetings to be far more draining than physical ones. Zoom fatigue has become a buzzword.

Studies show that it takes much more energy to process information over video conference than it does face to face because it’s much harder to pick up nonverbal cues, such as eye contact or body language. It’s also psychological. If a new person speaks, you’re not sure where you’re supposed to be looking because the direction signal that you get mainly from your audio doesn’t match where they are; many social cues are missing. Several people will start to talk simultaneously, so you have to be a lot more deliberate about all of your social interactions, particularly when you’re in a large group.

Will the new reality be beneficial in the long run, or will it negatively affect productivity, mental health, and relationships? This remains to be seen. Meanwhile, many of our local events companies are doing their best to provide clients with the best way to do meetings and conferences based on existing resources. I have worked with many of them, and they are doing it well.

(Francis Kong’s highly acclaimed Level Up Leadership Master Class Online runs this August 25-27. Develop your leadership skills that translate into personal, career, and business growth. For inquiries and reservations, contact April at +63928-559-1798 or and for more information, visit www.levelupleadership.ph)