t’s May 2022 and the long-awaited recovery of in-person associations meetings is upon us: or is it? After two-
events so unique, can we amplify those traits – that uniqueness – for a sustainable recovery? TIME FOR A HARD REBOOT? In the decade leading up to the pandemic, association conferences had evolved with incremental enhancements – a gradual integration of more digital features, steady incorporation of educational design, and improvements to the overall delegate experience or ‘journey’. In the aftermath of the pandemic, this sedate progress seems rather quaint. Associations are now under huge pressure to rethink their flagship meetings, and many are scrambling to redesign their onsite
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and-a-half years’ absence and multiple false starts, event organisers appear confident that the age-old business model, with a tweak here and there, will draw in the crowds and keep them coming back for more. So uniquely robust is the value proposition of face-to-face events, and the pent-up demand for the onsite experience so great, that a strong return to in-person is seen as a no brainer. But without revisiting the original value proposition of in-person meetings, setting it alongside new digital alternatives, and putting it in the context of a radically changed socio-economic landscape, could the urge to get ‘back in the room’ prove short-lived? NEW DAWN, OLD ASSUMPTIONS? A year ago, I began to interview the CEOs of some of Europe’s most prominent medical associations for an academic paper I was writing. I wanted to understand the assumptions and value propositions behind what then seemed like the imminent return of in-person association meetings. What I discoveredwas a conviction that delegates, like migrating birds, would return to in-person events, as though it were the most natural thing to do. A year ago, this seemed reasonable – but now, after another year of digital enhancements, another year without travel, of tightening budgets, lingering sanitary and security concerns, the pressing reality of climate change, and now, war in Ukraine, I wonder how many associations were asking themselves the right questions. We have had plenty of time to re-examine the value proposition of face-to-face meetings – but did we use it well? Did the pandemic reinforce or challenge our assumptions about where the value in in-person meetings really lies? If we have reached a better understanding of what makes live
We have had plenty of time to re-examine the value proposition of face-to-facemeetings – but did we use it well?
experiences to remain competitive. Of the 20 executive directors I interviewed last year, 89 per cent said they would make ‘material’ changes to their in-person events; 84 per cent said they would change their value proposition and the way they express it; and 62 per cent thought that around two-thirds of their 2022 audience would be physical attendees. MATCHING WORDS WITH DEEDS Empowered by encouraging feedback to their digital excursions, association programme planners have started to drive through changes that many had previously failed to get past their boards, and
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