Meeting Planning Trends and Solutions

As the industry emerges from the pandemic, sustainability within live events is becoming a hot topic and a top priority with meeting professionals. As we look at the future of in-person meetings, site visits and more, how will this change the way we do business? Panelists will discuss: - How are venues adapting to this trend? - Will it become a mandate? - Will planners look at destination selection through a new lens with a focus on environmentally friendly and sustainable events? - How can a venue or DMO ensure they are staying abreast of this emerging trend? - How can sustainability be financially feasible for both planners and suppliers? After covering these questions, the panelists will have an open Q&A. Be sure to join to get your questions answered!

When it comes to selecting meeting menus, the choices meeting planners and their catering partners make are vital to the well-being of their attendees, budget and the planet. Sustainable food & beverage requires much more than calculating your carbon footprint. In lies a responsibility for making healthy and safe food choices for a large number of people while also maximizing budgets and minimizing waste. And while the COVID-19 pandemic enabled a return to more single use packaging and plastic in the short term, sustainability is still an achievable goal to maintain and improve your events. From incorporating organic products, minimizing transportation, minimizing waste and utilizing registration systems (and even more!), this session will provide key considerations for creating sustainable food and beverage programs for your events as well as resources to assist you.

FICP put out a call for case studies earlier this year and you responded with examples and ideas that took programs to the next level! A variety of hospitality partners will talk through how their partnership with clients elevated the attendee experience during their programs, including awards, hybrid events and safe in-person experiences. This is not your typical webinar – after hearing from the panelists you will be able to dive deeper into each story and topic through virtual breakout rooms. You’ll leave this program with new ideas and ways to increase your attendee engagement throughout your events, no matter the format.

Join Barbara Dunn, Barnes & Thornburg LLP, Lisa Devlin, Devlin Law Firm PC, and Meredith Brewer, New York Life Insurance Company, as they continue the conversation from FICP: Reimagined (2020). They will be discussing force majeure, cancellations, and best practices while drafting these clauses. Questions submitted during FICP: Reimagined (2020) will also be addressed.

As many meeting professionals try to navigate through virtual conferences, hosting in-person events this year or postponing everything until 2021, we want you to know you are not alone! Join a panel of Hospitality Partners, moderated by Susannah Frances (Education Committee Member) as they share how their teams have been working with meeting professionals alike to host the best event possible. Our panelists will provide key takeaways on what their teams have been working on, over the past few months, to follow local and state regulations. With our industry changing, this provides new opportunities for collaboration and partnership between organizations across the board. Susannah will host an open-discussion with Cindy Lo (Red Velvet Events) and Taylor Levy (Destination South Meetings + Events) on how their collaboration opportunities have grown since COVID-19 and how they’re going to continue to work together. Key Takeaways: - Learning how to readjust your mind to utilizing your strengths vs. just outright selling your traditional services/products - Leveraging technology so that we can help each other go beyond our normal audience - Being mindful of how we reach out to clients and prospects (because video fatigue is real) and making a more lasting impression through creative and intentional engagement