Meetings Matter

1774: The first Continental Congress

1865: Summit at Appomattox Courthouse

1894: The modern Olympic Games established

1945: Yalta Conference

1963: Martin Luther King’s march on Washington

1969: Woodstock music festival

1978: Camp David Accords

1989: Solidarity is founded

1990: Germany is reunited

1995: Russians in space station Mir greet first American visitors

2008: Thousands gather in Chicago’s Grant Park

When there is important work to be done, there’s simply no substitute for doing it face-to-face.

In each of the examples above, the meeting was transformational … for the attendees, for the organization and for everyone they touched.

For any business with far-flung associates—be they employees, field salespeople, franchisees, dealers, distributors or association members—the annual meeting is the centerpiece of communications to those who work on your front lines. The stakes are high: these people usually engage with your customers more directly than anyone else in the organization.

So what’s the difference between a meeting that matters and one that’s just mediocre?

Engineering a transformational meeting experience takes more than executive presentations. More than training. More, even, than a good time, a fun party or sales awards. It takes all these things and something more: It only happens when each attendee leaves the experience with the vision of the enterprise in his or her heart.

In a time of deep budget cuts and painful headcount reductions, this is no time for “meetings as usual.” It’s time to expect more.

A transformational meeting experience gets your people to invest their energy in a way that helps your business meet its goals. To proudly represent your brand. To do the right thing when no one from corporate is looking.

Does that sound like something worth meeting about?

 

Rick Cornish creates communications that inform, influence and inspire… helping organizations increase sales, promote unity and persuade their people to embrace change. Working in video, corporate meetings, event marketing and more; Rick delivers purposeful creative that drives business results and builds stronger brands.