Beyond logistics: Creating Your Meeting’s Story

We know, we know: Content rules.

When you’re putting together the annual meeting or get-together for your group, developing a compelling program that speaks to their special interest is the most important objective. But you also need to think about “designing,” “shaping,” “framing” or “coloring” your event, according to meeting pros who mix the latest buzzwords frequently when discussing creative ways to attract attendees and elevate their meeting experience.

Planning your meeting involves logistics, objectives, budgets, site selection, registration, transportation, speakers, food and beverage—the overall foundation of the event.

Designing your meeting refers to the creative side of the meeting, and needs to be customized for your client or group. It’s a different way of thinking and involves vision, not only for the particular meeting but also for the organization. What impression do you want them to leave with? How do you reinforce the group’s goals or message?

This year’s trends reflect the current economic realities. At least for the rest of 2009, the demand to keep costs low means planners need to search for value, be flexible, be innovative.

One of the best ways to ignite attendees without spending lots of money is to create a theme for your event. Whatever their common interest, your target audience is tuned into the wider world and current trends. Take advantage of what’s on everyone’s frequency and come up with your own twists.

In our hyper-stimulated world, most people want to be immersed in experiences. Whatever the objective of the various portions of your meeting—education, entertainment, networking—you need to engage as many of their senses as possible, says Don Neal, executive vice president of Leading Authorities Inc. http://www.leadingauthorities.com/ He suggests planners brainstorm with committee members or other associates, referring to pop culture and applying it to feel, smell, sound, taste and sight.

Storytelling is another way to think about how to frame your meeting, says Lenn Millbower of Offbeat Training, who calls himself the “learnertainment” trainer. First, he says, know your message. Then, develop the story with a plot, a beginning, middle and end. Communicate the story using multiple messages: Theme the scene, reinforce it with music to create the right moods, and immerse your attendees every step of the way. Use the theme to decorate the foyer, the walls, the host, the presenters, the performers and the food. Some examples: For a gathering of women involved in sports, Millbower suggested using the movie A League of Their Own to build the event. The message might be “no crying” in our organization, instead “we hit home runs.” Fun giveaways might be pink bubblegum (i.e. chewing tobacco) and pink t-shirts with numbers and the group’s name. For a casino event, hire an Elvis impersonator. 
Millbower also emphasizes the importance of music in creating transitions between activities: “Sugar, Sugar” during a dessert and coffee break and “Hit the Road, Jack” at the end of an event.

Creating a story that helps people share their connection is the new responsibility, says Dianne Devitt, CMP, president of The DND Group. “Oprah has build an entire brand around helping people share their stories and emotions,” she says. She advises planners to develop a hook and start painting the picture of the event. If your message is one of change, use small blackboards at each place setting and tell the group you are going to start the meeting by “wiping the slate clean.” The chairman should reinforce the message in his speech, and the idea can be used at every break, e.g. Scrabble letters spell out the message at a meal.

Color is an important component that can tie the meeting together, says Devitt, bringing in all elements from invitations to flowers, food, linens, gifts and props. Colors can also help maximize budgets (e.g. bowls of lemons, instead of floral arrangements; pineapple-yogurt parfaits for a healthy, colorful dessert that also serves as table decoration; and inexpensive rolls of yellow caution tape to tie into chair bows, to reinforce a safety theme.)

Whether you call it coloring, framing, shaping or designing, the message is loud and clear. If you want to make sure your attendees leave with an emotional connection to the group or organization, a clear understanding of the meeting’s purpose, and a positive experience they’ll remember, you need to be a social engineer as well as a logistic specialist.
Not surprisingly, both Devitt and Millbower offered a quote from poet Maya Angelou: “People will forget what you said. People will forget what you did. But people will never forget how you made them feel.”