If you are in the midst of planning your 2021 conference, you might be feeling a mix of pressures and emotions. It’s hard to predict what the world will look like months in advance and what will make your members feel engaged, safe, and interested. As you look down the road of 2021, there are a few things to consider while planning.

The phrase "you're on mute" was one of the most popular phrases of 2020. We are currently living in a digital world and the future is expected to bring even more engagement through virtual platforms. Most of us experienced at least one Zoom meeting or webinar during the last several months, and while we may be fatigued with seeing ourselves on a screen, we must admit that online platforms have helped us pioneer new ways to interact with our peers.

Jodi and JoEllen attended their first hybrid event this month and are here to breakdown their experience. The goal of attending this conference was to gain knowledge on how to planning meetings as we move forward, how to keep attendees safe, and what kind of messaging attendees should be receiving before, during, and after the meeting.

Our team had quite a few conferences planned this year that needed to completely shift gears to virtual. Ingrid just wrapped up her first fully virtual conference and noted what she learned, how she would do things differently, and the tools available to those planning a virtual conference.

Virtual meetings, events, and conferences are the new reality for the foreseeable future, and organizations are wise to focus on maximizing these experiences for all involved. With no clear end date for the pandemic, the quicker the decision is made to move to a virtual format, the more capacity the organization has to build out a thriving event. Scaling up an online meeting is not as expensive as scaling up in person, which opens up plenty of opportunity.