Last week on April 14^th we were proud to participate in Global Meetings Industry Day, a day when leaders from across the meetings and events industry united to showcase the real impact the industry has on business, the economy and the community. Our own McKenzie Kaufeld Counts, Manager of Making It Happen, sat on a panel as part of Greater Orlando’s Meeting Professionals International chapter that discussed why meetings matter.

In Person Meetings Builds Relationships

If you’re trying to convince your colleagues that it’s important to hold an in-person meeting or event, Meetings Mean Business provides a great GMID Talking Points document that will help. Our favorites, which echo our sentiments on why you should host in-person team building events as well, include:

• “Personal relationships are at the core of every business decision and face-to-face meetings provide professionals with that personal interaction, which leads to deeper relationships.” That’s why our networking events are so popular – they encourage people to interact with new people they may have never come into contact with before in a non-threatening way.

With a networking activity meeting new people CAN be fun!

• “When people meet face-to-face, relationships are developed in a way that technology cannot recreate or match.” The only exception is if you can use technology in your team building event to strengthen relationships! For instance, in our iTech Trek events teams use an iPad to work together to explore an area while completing on-iPad challenges.
  

  iTech Trek – connecting people with technology.

• “Meetings create a shared sense of missions and purpose, foster empathy across organizational lines and create camaraderie that positions an organization for success.” All of this is a key component in a face-to-face team building event like our Make a Scene event. In it, teams’ missions are to create a commercial for their company that shows their purpose (what sets them apart from all others). The camaraderie that’s developed in writing, directing and acting in the commercial strengthens what they need to focus on for success.
  

  Set up for our Make a Scene event. Teams are ready for their close up…

• “The ability to sit down one-on-one with colleagues provides for instant collaboration and real-time productivity.” We especially love team building events that inspire people to work together to beat a deadline, such as our Escape program that challenges teams to be the first to solve problems in the form of clues and puzzles to escape a series of rooms they’re held captive in.
  

  Can your team “Escape” in 90 minutes?

• “These events serve as critical education platforms for professionals and are key components for developing advanced skills for workforce training.” And, education delivered in as fun format is more likely to be remembered. Remember Schoolhouse Rock? I never would have remembered the preamble to the Constitution without singing “We the people, in order to form a more perfect union…” That’s why many of our team building events, such as our Not Your Typical Game Show, incorporate our client’s training information – to ensure the information sings in their heads for years to come!

Greater Meetings Industry Day also talked about the economic value the meetings and events industry contributes, highlighting these facts from Oxford Economics – 1) companies that invested more in business travel during the economic downturn grew the fastest and 2) every dollar invested in business travel realizes $9.50 in new revenue and produces $2.90 in profits. Good news for us, as we were on the road conducting team building events again this week!   Aeme’s suitcase is getting some wear and tear as she opened the week conducting a Red Wagon Brigade event for 250 people in Las Vegas and will close it in Miami delivering a jewelry-making charitable event to benefit Dress For Success – just doing our part to support the economy!

Aeme getting wildly different in Las Vegas