The Return to In-Person Meetings and Events: 7 Tips for Corporate Planners

Unfortunately, COVID-19 restrictions made it nearly impossible to gather beyond virtual meetings for quite a while. But there’s more to life than staring at a computer screen. We all know that. We’ve all known that.

These past years have left most of us dreaming for the day we could sit around together and plan, celebrate, train… or even argue… face-to-face. The fully-remote systems that defined corporate life during the pandemic left much to be desired when it came to socializing.

It’s probably why over 60% of business travelers say they now prefer to travel for corporate meetings and events rather than individual business trips.

While it’s great that our teammates and coworkers are ready to get back out there again, there’s a lot involved in getting them back out there. Planning group travel can be (generally is) a lot of work – and a lot of details – especially for planners who are trying to regain their footing in an ever-changing industry.

Here’s a list of 7 things we think will help you get your travelers back out there for corporate meetings and events…

# 1: Start early.

Nothing in the travel industry stays the same for very long. At least… not anymore. That’s just how it is.

From entry restrictions to fluctuating rates, it can take a ton of research to figure out what you’re going to need to do to get your team together. Don’t wait until the last minute to start looking for available locations. Seriously. Don’t do it.

The best way to ensure your meeting or event is successful is to start planning as early as possible. That doesn’t mean finalizing every single detail an entire year in advance, but some “ahead of the game” planning could (and generally will) put you in a better position for negotiations with suppliers.

If you’re a Gant client using Gant Together, planning assistance and the travel tech to support it comes standard with your meetings package. You should let your account manager know about any big plans so they can help you navigate through room blocks, negotiated rates, traveler profiles, and any other complex details.

#2: Collect the travel details.

Being a planner is hard enough without all the extra steps it takes to get your travelers on the same page. You shouldn’t have to spend valuable time chasing down their personal information, reservation details, etc. – just so you can cross your T’s and dot your I’s before it’s too late.

Your travelers will probably also want you to consider carrier and hotel chain preferences, frequent traveler points programs, and any existing calendar restraints. Just talking about keeping track of it all is stressful. Collecting key traveler details and putting a communication plan in place before attendees are allowed to book travel is key to avoiding the back-and-forth email/phone onslaught that happens when tracking isn’t in place.

Gant Together, our end-to-end meetings and event tool, streamlines the registration process, whether attendees have an updated traveler profile or not – so there’s no need to collect details in advance. In just a few clicks, you can build personalized email invitations that contain a registration link for your meeting or event. Not only will you have the option to add custom questions, but you can also include a link for travelers to book directly within their secure email invitation. Plus, it works on mobile devices.

#3: Set travel policy for the meeting.

In case you haven’t already picked up on the theme here, travelling with your whole team is bound to come with a lot of questions. Everyone has their own preferences. Some travelers need to go early. Others might want to stay later. Some may need their reservations double-checked because they don’t like to follow the rules. And there could even be a few who staunchly prefer a different airline or hotel than the rest of the group. Setting pre-booking rules for who can come early, who can stay late, who can book first class, and who needs to share rooms can save you from a lot of question-answering and favor-begging headaches.

With Gant Together, you have the option to pre-build policy constraints and custom questions that apply to bookings and combine with the platform's robust automation to provide you with booking summaries, arrival and departure manifests, and integral responses. These features offer controls for your travelers’ booking behaviors without the constant monitoring and tracking. You can even set policies based on an unlimited number of traveler types (e.g. normal, executive, VIP) that will/won’t affect specific attendees.

#4: Send great communications.

You know, the fun part of planning a meeting. The part that anyone who’s never planned a meeting seems to think is the only part of planning a meeting. These days, most would agree that consistent branding and clean-looking communications (if not also creative, funny, pretty, and mobile responsive) is a necessity for their meetings or events. In today’s world, just about every company on the face of the planet has their own logos, colors, fonts, and general way of doing things that represents who they are. The better your communications look, the more information you include, and the easier the process for the attendee… the less likely you are to have to answer question after question.

Gant Together makes it easy to customize registration templates with your own corporate branding and style. Planners can choose to upload their company logos and images to design email invitations and registration pages. No more jumping between different apps or programs. You can create quality materials that meet your organization’s expectations – all on one platform.

#5: Learn the new landscape.

Considering there weren’t many opportunities for in-person gatherings for over two years, it makes perfect sense that companies around the world have started planning off-site conferences and events to bring their teams back together. In an effort to keep up with the times, major hotel brands are catering directly to these business travelers with new meetings and events programs.

For example, Hyatt Hotels & Resorts is facilitating corporate retreats at 60+ international hotel locations for both in-person and hybrid groups. Businesses can invite groups of any size to their ‘Work from Hyatt’ event, which includes discounted meeting space and guest rooms, as well as an on-site event manager who oversees the retreat.

Choice Hotels International offers an exclusive rewards program for qualifying meetings and events planners. Anyone with Choice Privileges® membership status who books group travel at their Cambria Hotels locations will receive 3 points for every $1 spent on eligible purchases such as meeting space, guest rooms, and food and beverages.

At Gant, we help clients get access to programs like these wherever possible by leveraging our agency-level negotiating powers, chainwide agreements, day-one discounts, and dynamic consortia rates. Gant Travel/FROSCH has well-developed relationships and advisory-board memberships with most of today’s leading airlines, hotels, and car rental companies. We also have a hotels team that can help your team source properties that check the needed boxes.

#6: Consider hybrid options.

As in-person business makes an essential comeback, some travelers might be reluctant to abandon virtual options. Whether it’s because of location restraints, health concerns, or just a busy schedule, many organizations have adapted to serve those who can’t participate in face-to-face gatherings.

Around 66% of event planners say hybrid will be their “most used format in a post-COVID world” – which is probably due to their high success rate in engaging a broad audience. Over half of event managers feel that virtual options “contribute to higher audience engagement and overall event success.”

Gant Together makes it easy to organize your hybrid and virtual events. Planners can assign virtual/in-person status or allow attendees to choose if they will be joining the meeting virtually or in-person when they register.

#7: Data, data, data.

Reporting certainly isn’t the most exciting aspect of meeting and event planning, but analysis of bookings and travel spend is one of the most critical parts of managing them. It allows planners to both ensure and prove successful planning from policy application to budget adherence.

Gant Together provides planners with reporting and analytics (single event and roll-up views), detailed flight and hotel manifests, and emailed alerts throughout. You can choose how often this data will be sent - and who it should be sent to - from directly within the platform.

In summary…

There’s a lot of factors that go into producing a successful corporate meeting or event. When you get down to the nitty gritty, it’s easy to miss some of the little details that could make all the difference for your attendees if you’re not keeping track of all of them.

Pro Tip: In the early planning stages, many new/newer meetings planners choose to leave technology considerations for later. Don’t get caught off guard when a hotel, banquet hall, or event center requires you to outline what kind of technology you will need before they agree to host your event. A good rule of thumb is to come prepared with a list of must-haves like projectors, microphones, and lighting equipment.

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Hey, we might not have magic powers, but we do have the tools and connections to make our clients’ return to corporate meetings and events as smooth as possible.

Curious what Gant Together could do for your team’s meetings/events travel? Learn more here. Or reach out to us at [email protected].