By the sheer number of pharmaceutical meeting planners that attended our virtual meetings session this week in Philadelphia, it is clear that virtual meetings and events are taking front and center stage in the meetings world. What is a virtual meeting? A virtual meeting or event provides for live or archived communications among small to large, local to global attendees by the use of technology. Although the travel and meetings industry began using virtual communications technologies in the last five years, virtual communications usage gained market share in the training and development industry approximately 15 years ago with e-learning collaborative applications.
Similar to e-learning which does not replace instructor-led, virtual meetings often supplement live, face-to-face meetings. For example, a large, global sales meeting may require three days of onsite meetings. To encourage motivation and jumpstart learning, a virtual meeting may be held four weeks and then two weeks before the face-to-face meeting using team building content and pre-learning requirements. Onsite at the face-to-face meeting, a satellite broadcast may be used for speakers and/or attendees who could not travel to the face-to-face meeting. After the face-to-face meeting ends, additional virtual meetings may be held to reemphasize key points and increase attendee retention of the meeting content which leads to higher return on investment.
As part of a comprehensive virtual meeting and event initiative, I recommend communicating the benefits that may not have been considered. Such as, virtual communications may:
1. remove the distance for global workforces, clients and markets;
2. allow immediate immersion into visual, listening and participative environments with people who are not nearby;
3. reduce the carbon emissions and environmental impact of travel;
4. provide immediate access to subject matter experts, multiple presenters from numerous locations and more spontaneous and immediate decisions in lieu of planned meetings;
5. provide for replay/archive capabilities;
6. allow access for people who are unable to be there in person or have fear of being in large crowds;
7. offers scalability so that large meetings can still "fit" without having to reserve more rooms;
8. provides for more people to attend trainings and workshops that could not attend based on travel costs;
9. improve work/life balance and the ability to provide staff with the option of avoiding business travel when possible;
10. provide a safe environment for those people who may not want to provide feedback in a meeting room with their leader present, or a room filled with people they may not know;
11. provide an anonymous environment to obtain survey results by using the polling features;
12. reduce non-productive traveling and flight time;
13. provide for tracking of attendance during live and archived sessions;
14. provide multi-language options using technology;
15. reduce travel expenses;
16. reduce telecom costs with a unified communications strategy;
17. provide for continuity planning during disasters such as flu and other arising risks or epidemics;
18. decrease frustration imposed by heightened security that makes travel a burden;
19. reduce the risk of confidentiality breaches due to lost computers, while traveling, that may include private information; and
20. provide a healthier atmosphere for those who suffer with allergies to smells that may occur in large, crowded environments.
What virtual meeting or event technology should you use? Conference calls, podcasts, telepresence, webinars – all are technology mediums to solve a communications need. Although the attached matrix is not all-inclusive of all technologies, it will provide you with a foundation. Download Virtual Technologies Selection Matrix
If you need assistance in creating your virtual meeting and event strategy, or seek help in choosing the right technology, please contact me.
Debi Scholar, GLP, CMM, CMP, CTE, CTT
Thank you for visiting the T&E Plus Blog on supply chain management, expense management, travel management, business meetings, events, incentives, strategic meetings management, entertainment, virtual meetings, tickets, hotels, airlines, ground transportation, T&E policy, plus more...
Debi has the following designations:
· Wharton Aresty Executive Education/National Business Travel Association (NBTA) Global Leadership Professional (GLP)
· Meeting Professionals International Certificate in Meetings Management (CMM)
· Convention Industry Council Certified Meeting Professional (CMP)
· NBTA Corporate Travel Expert (CTE)
· Six Sigma Green Belt
· Chauncey Certified Technical Trainer (CTT)
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