Why Are Meetings Broken and Why Should They Be Fixed?
Wednesday, March 23rd, 2011
How many of us have asked the questions, “Why are meetings broken and how can they be fixed?”
Not for the first time, the “broken meetings” conversation was on the agenda at an event industry conference last weekend. W2W, which stands for Women to Women, is a yearly invitational conference for women in the event industry founded in 2004 by Joan Eisenstodt, chief strategist, Eisenstodt Associates LLC, Conference Consulting, Facilitation & Training, and Vanessa Vlay. It has followed an “open space” format since it’s inception, and began with a desire to do more than just talk, when it comes to improving meetings.
Though it would seem that for the vast majority of event planners it’s business as usual, a slow and steady beat of dissatisfaction has been growing for several years now heralded by research in adult learning, outspoken industry writers/bloggers and the emergence of a whole new set of event formats (unconferences, open-space) invented by do-it-yourselfers.
The W2W participants listed some of the reasons for our broken meetings as:
* Meetings are patterned after a flawed educational system built on a lecture/passive audience model that doesn’t meet attendee needs.
* Meeting planners do not have quality attendee experience as the main objective.
* Meeting planners do not take into account that attendees are often travel weary once they get to the meeting.
* Content distribution at meetings is redundant when people can just get the information online.
* The meeting planning schedule is an automated “train” with very little opportunity for flexibility.
* RFP forms train people to fit their meetings into a particular format.
* Planners, venues and speakers resist change.
Everyone was interested in talking about innovative methods to improve meetings. Though new formats, technology, hybrid events, etc all vie for the chance to be the ultimate fix, one W2W participant asked us all to answer the question, “Why does fixing meetings matter to you?”
The W2W facilitator decided to give each of us a sticky note on which to write our answer. You can see them posted in the picture above.
The answer, for me, drives everything I do with regard to meetings and events. I believe that meetings are evolving with or without meeting & event professionals. If we don’t start innovating soon, we risk becoming obsolete and that would be SUCH a shame, because creating the best environments for humans to share ideas and connect is a truly honorable profession that can change the world for the better.
Is fixing meetings important to you? Why or why not?
For more information on W2W, check out Building a Conference Together: The W2W Experience.
(Photo by Jenise Fryatt)
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
16 Responses to this article
Simply, I agree with all the views and reasons you’ve expressed so well above, Jenise.
For me, ultimately, meetings are vehicles for facilitating connection between people, and the issues you’ve listed are all impediments to this goal.
That’s why fixing our broken meeting designs and mindsets is so important.
Jenise – you rocked it on this one. Great article. In a few choice words you pretty much ID’d what needs to happen in the meetings industry. Bravo!!!!! The word obsolete should cause all of us to take action!
You nailed it Jenise when you said, “I believe that meetings are evolving with or without meeting & event professionals. If we don’t start innovating soon, we risk becoming obsolete…”
Some of the best events/conferences I’ve attended lately were organized by people who didn’t even know there was an meeting planning industry. They had a passion, knew a couple people that also had a passion and they got together. They knew that the attendees drive the event. Not the other way around. Our industry seems to be caught up in the event planning and have completely lost sight of the attendee experience. Well we’ve just re-defined attendee experience to be a logistical thing instead of what it really should be.
Yes, logistics are important…and I fear that if we become obsolete many events will have serious consequences. I’ve seen it happen to friends who didn’t know anything about venue contracts and event insurance. A recent event that had to be canceled put them into bankruptcy. They also have no disaster/contingency plans in place.
Both camps would benefit a lot by learning from each other.
Meetings are really important to me because this is my business.
I also love them. The interaction, learning, connection, travel. Love all of it.
Life should be full of joy and meetings are a real joy in my life. Without them i will dry up and shrivel into nothing( if i were to be dramatic)
I agree in the built around the flawed education system idea. Why do we pattern ourselves around this? When i attend some conference sessions why do I feel like I am in a boring classroom?
With meetings, we can do it differently. Engage, Interact, Spice things up. Make it fun, unexpected, throw people off a bit.
Encourage people to participate, or force them even. Sit by people you don’t know, contribute to discussion at your table. Follow up with someone after an event.
Recommed a session and speaker you want for the next years event.
We need to reach out and actively engage people to be a part of this face to face meetings industry.
Adrian,
Thanks so much. It all comes down to the fact that we are facilitators doesn’t it? Are we creating the best possible opportunities for connection and information sharing? I think we need to ask this question throughout every step of the planning process.
Dianne,
As you know so well, it was the genius of the participants at W2W that created the content for this blog post. This group has been keenly aware of the evolution of events for some time. Anyone interested in the future of events would do well to watch what comes out of W2W.
Traci,
As you say, event professionals and do-it-yourselfers can learn a great deal from each other. The trick is making each aware that the other exists. For event professionals, this is particularly important. Meetings & events will continue on without us but what will we do if people stop hiring us to create their events?
Jody,
You are so right. So much can be done to improve our meetings and events. I believe that the first priority has to be the on-site attendee experience. When we all create events with that as our number one objective, I believe we will begin to see our true potential as meeting/event professionals.
I agree so much with what was said. It is an ongoing challenge that we have an industry that is full of such a diversity of planners – perspectives, level of formal education or training experience that lays a platform for methods that engage people, experience… to name a few. The heart of any event always has to be what is right for the people – no idea is good if it doesn’t fit. I agree with Jody, it is so part of who I am that I can’t imagine not doing events – and the best part is always when you finish and people get that what we did – risky or safe – worked! let’s keep this dialogue going.
Tahira,
Thanks so much! the diversity of planners is definitely a challenge to coming together to improve events. But just agreeing that the ultimate attendee experience should be our number one objective, would be a huge start. Without attendees there are no sponsorships, recognitions, awards shows, speaking engagements, etc. We need to remember not to put the cart before the horse. And I agree! We need to keep this dialogue going!
Before placing a “broken” label on meetings, I think it would be wise to first identify the goals and desired outcomes of each event. Then we can go about saying what is broken and why.
I really take to heart the statement, “meeting planners do not care about the quality of attendees experience as a main objective”. I’m not a planner, but I personally would be offended to read this if I was!
Perhaps it would be less offensive/critical to restate this as “many meeting planners are unaware of the goals and objectives of their attendees so cannot craft the highest quality of experience for them.”
There are obviously thousands of meeting planners for corporations, associations, government, etc. that spend countless hours of their professional (and personal) life trying to create a wonderful, memorable, quality experience for their delegates. They read industry publications, attend industry educational events, they analyze comments from their past gatherings, they personally inspect several properties, they interview speakers, they create non- and traditional marketing campaigns, a few of them have even taken personal risks to implement technological or CSR programs that they were advised as the future of meetings/events.
Plus, if we approach from a goals/outcomes perspective, we will recognize that not all events are the same and can craft more customized attendee experiences.
Some events want to inspire and motivate, to generate energy.
Some events need to provide awareness – of a brand, or a cause.
Some events are about touching/feeling/interacting with a product or concept.
Some events are purely about entertainment (there’s nothing wrong with that, despite the industry’s current perception due to outside influence).
Some events need to bring together buyers and sellers.
I’d like further clarification about “Content is redundant when it’s available online”. I can’t tell you how many events I’ve attended where I had zero idea the content was available on a website or social network. Plus, as a speaker, I’m not always informed when my content will be distributed via online channels. Plus, reading or watching something online is definitely NOT the same as having the information presented in person.
“Speakers/planners/venues resist change”. I think this is a bit of a narrowing statement and would need more dialogue before I could support this assertion.
So, I think in all, we should recognize that the issue is not so much with meeting *planners* but with the meeting designers and educational/program designers. This is often NOT a planner but a training department, committee, Board or other entity handing down these decisions.
This will perhaps better frame the challenges within the structure of the Meeting Industry as a whole, thereby not placing all of the responsibility on the shoulders of planners.
(@Traci LOVE what you said about bringing both camps together, that’s a brilliant observation and idea! I think this is what I’ve enjoyed so much about EventCamps – we’re bringing together such diverse professionals from so many industries that these types of amazing, open conversations and energy have resulted.)
Midori,
Thanks for the comment. A few points of clarification.
This post is the summary of a discussion of meeting professionals most of whom are planners
The points mentioned were in no way meant to be taken as generalizations.
Of course there are meeting planners out there who have the onsite attendee experience as their first priority. There are many meetings that take into account what is available online and many do not resist change.
The point of the post is to address a very real sentiment among event and meeting professionals and explore why the evolution of our industry matters to us as individuals.
Midori – Read your comments and wanted to ponder for a bit before responding.
1) I think meeting planners should be offended enough to ACT! Too many still know bupkes about adult learning, brain learning, learning!
2) It may be a training dept.’s responsibility to create content. It is the planner’s responsibility to ensure the content is delivered in a way that is good for all – the participants, the learning facilitator/speaker, the sponsor, etc. – and to do so, a greater understanding of outcomes and so much more is needed.
3) It would be great if all groups took the list you made and those of others and said, outloud, why they were having the meeting. Even when asked, it’s too often “because we’ve always done it.”
4) There’s lots to be done and my passion continues to be to try to change it all. I’d like us to begin to help other (than you and Jenise!) AV people and all facilities to understand more about place and space.
In no particular order…
Big fan of W2W. I’d attend if I wasn’t gender-challenged.
When I look at the reasons for broken meetings above, ‘planners’ seem to represent the most significant barrier.
The question ‘why it matters?’ really is the crux of the issue. The change sought here is, as in most cases, a function of letting go of fear – the fear of something new or of doing things differently. Until we reach that emotional tipping point, the wholesale change many are calling for will remain out of reach.
In my judgement, we need less talk about the need for change and more talk about how to manage or overcome our fears. A very different – and difficult – conversation.
Meetings are designed for the benefit of the meeting professionals and not the attendee. Clearly that needs to change.
The top 2 reasons people attend meetings, and all other reasons PALE in comparison are the educational programs and the networking. In most of the research I’ve seen, these two are interchangeable. In the language of learning professionals, we call programs and networking formal and informal learning. And what we know about informal learning is that it trumps formal learning in terms of retention and knowledge transfer, which is what it’s all about. If you can’t retain what you learn and apply it back to your job, you are wasting your time.
Most formal and informal learning at meetings is not designed for retention and knowledge transfer. Ask any instructional designer…and start focusing more on maximizing the informal learning opportunities at meetings. Don’t leave this to chance.
Meeting professionals operate in an environment that oftentimes sets a limit on what’s possible. Its time we started designed spaces to fit the meeting and stopped designing meetings to fit the space.
I believe meetings represent one of the greatest unrealized opportunities for change, progress, innovation – and bringing together people from all walks of life. And to not take advantage of that opportunity is irresponsible of us as meeting professionals.
Meeting Design is the new black.
Joan,
Thanks for the comment! I do believe that the original goal of W2W – to improve meetings – is important now more than ever. I’m eternally grateful for people like you who are so committed that you are willing to take risks and work tirelessly toward it, even at your own personal cost.
John,
I agree with you that the fear of change is a huge issue to be overcome. That is why it was so refreshing when that brilliant participant at W2W asked us all to shift the focus to “why” changing things matters to us personally.
By identifying this, we often end up tapping into the passion behind what we do as event professionals.
As you say, the true value of informal learning needs to be realized. I think one obstacle to this is the understandable desire to control variables. Formal learning can be controlled. Informal learning, not so much. But here again, event professionals can learn something from the internet tech people who invented unconferences. We have to trust that attendees have something worthwhile to contribute and create environments that make it easy for them to do so.
I’m in whole-hearted agreement with you that meetings have unrealized potential for improving the world. And I also believe that potential will never be realized if we don’t face what’s wrong and take action. Shifting blame, over-analyzing and trying to please everyone will get us nowhere.
Thanks so much for the comment!
Jenise,
Thank you for so clearly summarizing our conversation at W2W about why meetings are broken. I think it is important to note that there are many reasons here – and that each reason is unique and each meeting and event has its own unique issues that need to be addressed. I do believe that we are slowly marching toward innovation, better formats, and even better listening to our stakeholders as an industry. However, I do think it is moving at a snail’s pace. My hope is that a list like this calls attention to potential solutions and opportunities to do things differently for our peers, colleagues, bosses, employees, and attendees, so that we can create more fluid communities. One thing we do have as an industry is passion. We just need to work together to use that passion to our benefit.
Thanks,
Lindsey
Lindsey,
Thanks so much for such an important and well articulated comment. The slow pace of our industry’s evolution is a very real danger. I agree with you that taking a hard look at the issues that are holding us back, is essential to our progress. I also agree that our passion as event professionals is key to our future.
Thank you very much for the detailed information,the events industry is quite complex and requires experienced people like yourselves to advice those who have always had a passion but for some reason never got started until now. Really appreciated
I’m not a W but I’ll comment anyway. I see part of the problem is the networking sessions. Most people look for their friends and ‘waste’ their time. They don’t meet new people. No new people, no new ideas! They have no “networking strategy”.
There is an app for that at http://www.iconnexus.com .