Although the face-to-face events industry may be on hold, planners are anything but idle, with many working around the clock to nail down new dates, renegotiate contracts and develop virtual solutions.
"I've been spending more time cancelling meetings than running meetings. I will say, it's a lot more work," said Tricia Rawh, executive director of the Center for Education at the Cardiovascular Research Foundation, on a Global Meetings Industry Day webcast from Meeting Professionals International. "We're focused currently on how do we take our in-person meetings, which have now been cancelled, and turn those into compelling, virtual experiences? It has certainly been a learning opportunity for us over the last few weeks about going virtual."
For many meeting professionals, this may be their first time organizing an online event. Selecting a virtual platform is only part of the battle -- the traditional planner's playbook must be entirely rethought for a virtual setting.
Rawh was part of a "Pivot to Virtual" panel discussion during the daylong Meeting Professionals International webcast. She and other planners joined event tech and production company PSAV's president Ben Erwin to discuss how they are navigating this new normal, and shared their lessons learned with attendees. Read the full story on NorthstarMeetingsGroup.com for tips on pivoting to virtual events.