Company meetings and events in times of change

Topics

The Covid-19 pandemic has irreversibly transformed both processes and business relations. Meetings and events have changed their nature: it is difficult today to imagine any business interaction without the use of online channels.

It has its advantages – on the one hand, it eliminates borders around the world, increases the potential number of participants in events, and facilitates access to them. On the other hand, the Antal and Corees Polska study entitled “Work model versus employee engagement and satisfaction” shows that more than half of professionals and managers working remotely have a negative opinion on social life and the possibility to meet new people in the organisation, and 26% have a low opinion on integration opportunities. And the latest data show that more and more companies are struggling with declining engagement and difficulties in team collaboration.

The aim of this report is to describe the role that online, in-person (traditional face-to-face) and hybrid (live events with simultaneous online transmission, enabling remote participation) business meetings and events play in building an active attitude among employees, customers and partners of a company. The form of organisation of meetings can vary – from large trade fairs and conferences, through trainings, webinars and meetups to internal company meetings, assuming, for example, the presentation of the company’s strategy, interdepartmental consultations or new employee onboarding.

The objectives may refer to marketing and promotion, training or implementation of the sales strategy. However, they always boil down to one thing – building relationships and effective cooperation.

We invited the representatives of marketing, HR, sales, training and PR departments and all those who organise various types of meetings and events as part of their business strategy to take part in the survey. Thanks to their knowledge, we have developed a comprehensive report which is a collection of respondents’ opinions and experiences facilitating the selection of appropriate solutions for various organisations.

Artur Skiba
President of Antal

Content

The role and function of business meetings and events in various organisations

• Introduction
• Main objectives of organising meetings and events in an organisation
• Impact of the pandemic on customer brand engagement
• Key functions of corporate meetings and events in the context of pandemic-induced change
• The form of meetings and the impact on engaging target groups

Organising events to suit different forms

• Online events and meetings
• In-person events and meetings
• Hybrid events and meetings
• Events and meetings of the future

Specificity of organising events

• Tools used
• Return on investment

Methodology