Listen. You hear that?
From Japan to Mexico; from Indianapolis to Orlando; from Pigeon Forge, Tenn., to Dallas there is a crescendo beginning to reverberate throughout the meeting and event industry. It’s the sound of meetings and events taking place—corporate, religious, medical and more. It’s the sound of expositions and festivals. It’s the sound of hotel room doors opening and closing, the euphoria of business travelers getting on airplanes, the sound of attendees clapping after hearing words of wisdom from subject matter experts on a stage.
Face-to-face meetings are happening. Twenty-five people here, 1,400 people there. The city of Indianapolis alone welcomed more than 40,000 people to 18 meetings and events over a 40-day period beginning in early July. In late August, Associated Luxury Hotels International (ALHI) invited 125 meeting planners to an appropriately named Back to Business Experiential Forum at the recently renovated Omni Dallas Hotel to demonstrate how to safely conduct a face-to-face gathering.
Throughout the meeting industry we’re starting to hear of more gatherings, and the visuals are indicative of the emergence of meetings.
Masks are a must. Social distancing in meeting rooms. Prepackaged meals. Adherence to safety and sanitation protocols are aligned with guidelines from the Events Industry Council’s Meeting and Event Code of Conduct and recently released “Practices for Hotel Health and Safety.”
The ability to learn how to meet safely was at the core of the ALHI event in Dallas.
“Leaders like you are the ones who find pathways, and we have faith to be able to navigate through the difficult times.”
“We are so grateful to be together today,” said Ashly Balding, chief sales officer for ALHI. “Look at this room. It’s terrific to be welcoming you. Frankly, it’s a bit emotional. These have definitely been uncertain and enormously difficult times for you, for our hotels and resorts and for the hospitality industry.
“You’re here to listen because you’re eager to learn and focus forward. Leaders like you are the ones who find pathways, and we have faith to be able to navigate through the difficult times. As leaders, we also need to confront the brutal facts of the situation and we need to handle it and advance forward, and that’s what this Back to Business Experiential Forum is all about.”
For many attendees, it was the first time they had been on an airplane since March, when the pandemic shut down the meeting industry. For a day and a half, they experienced firsthand—a virtual audience of more than 500 joined for the education sessions—new protocols designed to keep attendees safe. The Omni’s Safe & Clean policy included such procedures as requiring guests to wear masks when in public spaces, placing television remote controls in plastic bags and signs reminding guests to social distance in all areas.
In the general session, it was one person to a table with six feet of space between other attendees. The breakout rooms were set for social distance in a u-shape for 17 attendees, crescent rounds for 22 and theaters for 28 or 58. Attendees, called out in groups, exited the room through side doors and entered through the main doors.
Wellbeing Resources: Supporting the wellbeing of our meeting and event planner community.
The education sessions focused on industry updates from Michael Dominguez, president and CEO, ALHI; Amanda W. Hite, president of hospitality industry data company STR; Steven Rudner, owner, Rudner Law Offices; Bob Priest-Heck, CEO, Freeman; Norma Dean, director, specialty sales, Delta Air Lines; Daniel C. Surette, chief sales officer, Omni Hotels & Resorts; and Peter Scialla, president and COO, Delos (who appeared virtually).
Dominguez said much of the focus is getting ready for meetings in 2021, as regulations, confidence and the ability to travel will make any 2020 meetings “gravy.”
Yet, this was the second event ALHI hosted, following an Executive Women in Leadership event in Naples, Fla., in early August. There are plans for a 250-person event in November.
Both recent events were planned by Katie Bohrer, CMP (MPI Dallas-Fort Worth Chapter), vice president, meeting design and experience for ALHI. She visualized the events as a laboratory and was given the flexibility to try some different approaches. In the end, she came away with a sense of optimism.
“I was emotional at the end of the day,” she said. “It was good to see so much energy and excitement. I feel like it just gave me a ton of hope and I felt as energized as anybody to have pulled that off and to have had everybody so positively receive it.
“It just feels like we’re back at it, and that’s really exciting. I definitely feel very proud, very proud of everybody that produced (the event) and excited for the future.”
