Fusion Productions - Integrating Meetings, Learning & Technology

Editor’s note: Part 1 of this two-part series appeared in the February 2002 issue of Marketing Fast Facts.

Drawing on your creativity, innovation, and relationship with your meetings manager, think about how to reinforce your established goals and objectives (revealed in Part I). Begin by listing core meeting design elements that can be used to deliver a marketing message.

Ask your event team to break down the event content areas and messages into the areas of what attendees should know, remember, and do. Each category will require different actions.

For example, if we just want people to know something, they can receive a premeeting packet of material. However, if there are key phrases or sections in the material you want them to remember, reinforce them across the meeting. If you want the participants to do something after the meeting, reinforce and measure it upon completion of the event.

For HQ Global, the repurposed video meeting content served as a postmeeting training video, which was used to conveniently return to key points in the meeting for reinforcement and action in the field through interactive exercises.

Defining your moments of truth

After listing the know, remember, and do points, identify your meeting’s most important moments of truth as potential places for message delivery.

All meetings have moments of truth, those times when opportunities exist to motivate, communicate, or teach.

For Global HQ, we used stakeholder profiles to determine how these moments of truth could enhance our chances of success for each stakeholder.

Before the meeting

• Meeting announcements and communications,
• conference Web site announcement (e-mail),
• conference preview packet (mail),
• final program (mail),
• meeting Web site,
• registration and travel booking, and,
• measurement tool (questionnaire).

During the meeting

• Arrival and greeting,
• on-site registration and check-in,
• final conference program,
• premium items,
• program book (with planning tool),
• opening reception,
• off-site events,
• general session (videos, stage, media, presentations),
• workshops,
• networking opportunities,
• sponsor displays,
• meals and social functions,
• wake-up call, and
• in-room amenities.

After the meeting

• Meeting Web site,
• measurement tool, and
• postmeeting communications (video and guide).

Meeting results

Were we successful? Let’s see how our results compared against our original goals.

Goal
Embrace the HQ Global Workplaces vision and brand and demonstrate how everyone contributes to bringing it to life for our clients.

Results

• Three months after the meeting, HQ announced its merger with Vantas, creating a new and larger company. The power of the HQ Global Workplaces brand was a key aspect in the merger plans.
• The entire global team of 450 executives signed its commitment to the vision and met in functional groups to discuss how to use the tools to create the branded experiences we want for our customers.

Goal
Communicate that although our company is coming together from many places, cultures, and experiences, we must focus on being One world . . . one company . . . one vision.

Results

• Participants and their direct reports used the postmeeting facilitation tool to ensure front-line team members’ participation in the process.
• Following these meetings, reports were made to regional directors.

Goal
Present the promise of the HQ Global Workplaces office outsourcing tools that will enable us to realize our vision.

Result

• Attendees and regional directors met in breakout sessions and functional groups to discuss client management practices, the new global operational standards manual, and how the company would use technology to support sales and service initiatives.

Goal
Obtain the enthusiastic support and commitment of all stakeholders to the HQ Global Workplaces global operational standards.

Results

• Franchise owners met to assess the implementation of these standards and to create the timetable for adoption.
• Company-owned center managers met with management to discuss phasing these standards into service delivery and how to best present this to local team members.

Goal
Demonstrate how HQ staff will work together within the network to create more familiarity among corporate and field directors and managers.

Results

• Corporate headquarters support team (human resources, training, sales) met with center managers to discuss their support in the field.
• Regional center managers met to build local networks and begin sharing best practices.

Goal
Showcase how HQ Global is using its supply chain (meeting sponsors) to create the ultimate workplace for clients.

Results

• Attendees met with our technology vendor and meeting sponsors to discuss specific technology tool enhancements.

Goal
Demonstrate to alliance and franchisee prospects that HQ is an exciting, industry-leading company with tremendous global sales opportunity.

Results

• Lasting relationships were built with franchise owners and owner prospects, resulting in their embracing HQ’s new global standards.
• Management identified and met with franchise owners who may not have met the new global standards of operation to ensure compliance and safeguard brand experience.

Best practices: measurement tools

We couldn’t track progress nor customize the marketing messages without designing measurement tools. We selected a variety of specific tools, outlined below, in addition to simple meeting evaluations, for HQ Global Workplaces.

To customize and develop content

• Stakeholder profiling helped the senior management team tailor remarks to key constituents and made it easier to track on-site responsibilities and objectives. It also proved useful in scripting the dramatic elements of the meeting production in order to touch every stakeholder group personally.
• E-mail surveys captured audience data that led to effective information exchange among attendees from different regions and countries and allowed us to customize key messages.
• Speaker presentation templates helped our senior leadership team focus presentations on delivering three learning objectives.

To gain emotional commitment to the vision

• A staging technique known as a commitment board was used to showcase the senior leadership team’s commitment to HQ Global Workplaces’ development of vision, client relationships, tools, and people. Across the conference, the commitment board was placed in the registration area, where team members could add their signatures, and ultimately became an emotional symbol of the meeting. At the closing reception, the commitment board was placed on the stage as the CEO toasted our success.

To record on-site take-away actions

• On-site handouts included actions to take that led attendees to immediately consider specific actions they would take following a specific presentation.

To accelerate postconference action by everyone

• Edited from the various presentations at the conference, a cohesive postconference video communication tool brought the meeting goals to life quickly in the field. The video contained key moments from the general session, images of on- and off-site events, and interviews with HQ executives to reinforce the HQ vision and to provide impetus for follow-up action. Combined with an HQ-developed facilitators’ guide (for the conference participant-manager’s use), this was a powerful vision-building tool. Integral to the success of the tool was the emotional element built into its editing and design; viewers were able to feel the full range of emotions inherent in making a personal commitment to the company.
• Three days after the meeting, a postmeeting e-mail featuring key take-aways was sent to participants to ensure that their meeting notes addressed critical thinking from each major presentation.

To assess immediate audience reaction to the conference

• Separate evaluation forms were developed for the general session and breakouts.

Conclusion

Change is constant and accelerating. Association management models that have been around for decades are being challenged by industry consolidations, constant technology advances, and new competition that is faster to market with services that are capturing the attention of association members. Many association executives are questioning old assumptions and designing new association management techniques as we head deeper into this new millennium.

This environment begs us to stretch ourselves beyond tradition, beyond convention to acquire new skills that will help us keep our associations fresh, competitive, and imaginative. James Taylor, co-author of The 500 Year Delta: What Happens After What Comes Next and Business Week magazine’s Brand Manager of the Year, says we should prepare ourselves to be “permanently flexible” in how we manage. You should never expect to manage two projects the same way.

Your association’s marketing professionals should be urged to reach out to their meeting and communication counterparts to build and execute an event plan that will keep your association at the forefront of your members’ minds, emotions, and imagination.