In this week’s episode of the exchange podcast, we are joined by Megan Finnell, director of meetings and conferences at Medical Group Associations (MGA). Megan has a degree in vocal performance, and she started her career in performance before transiting to meeting planning. According to her, coming from an artist perspective has really informed her meeting and event planning in creating holistic experiences. 

Event planning is a vital part of any successful event, whether hybrid, virtual, or face-to-face. However, with the current digital disruption, many event planners are fixated on a single hybrid experience. There is no way attendees on a computer will have the same experience as those on-site. Planning for hybrid events that will accommodate both traditional and digital content is the only ticket to success. So learning the pain points both in the face-to-face and virtual events to planning an optimal hybrid event is a big win.

During the episode, Megan shares about optimal event planning-based attendees’ pain points in face-to-face and digital events and staff passions to streamline efforts. We also dive into the strategies that can help you break down the silos to enhance skill utilization, improve your DX and attendees’ experience to scale up, and optimize your events for revenue generation. 

In This Episode, You Will Learn:

[00:01] Introduction to episode 

[00:55] Megan’s career background and how she landed in event planning

[03:44] The tools planner’s need to prepare for hybrid experiences that attendees will demand in future

[07:44] Why most event planners are fixated on a single hybrid goal 

[10:55] Purposing and designing events using content to provide value to attendees

[13:31] Planning hybrid events based on pain points in both face-to-face and virtual events 

[16:11] The main challenge in the planning and designing hybrid events  

[19:13] How to expand opportunities to find more resources or make more revenue  

[23:05] Staffing and restructuring teams based on people make up to streamline efforts 

[27:12] Reshuffling and breaking down silos to be more strategic in skills utilization

[31:16] Marketing and growing your DX in both face-to-face and virtual conversions 

[36:53] The key to the success in planning hybrid events optimally 

[39:06] How to reach out and connect with Megan and the exchange podcast team

[40:02] Question and answer session

[42:58] Call to action 

Notable Quotes:

• “There’s no way an attendee on a computer will have the same experience as someone on site.” Megan Finnell 
• “The most valuable thing attendee want is content, t; theynt to know the content that will benefit them.” Megan Finnell 
• “Most event planners got into digital events because they’re intuitive to human behavior.” Nick Borelli
• “Passion is an emotional and a rational thing.” Nick Borelli

Megan Finnell

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meganfinnell

Nick Borelli

Email: [email protected]

LinkedIn: Nick Borelli

Twitter: Nick Borelli 

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