Everyone’s Itching to Attend Meetings

There seems to be a craving on the part of attendees for in-person meetings—everything from handshakes, to hugs and all. After more than a year of virtual meetings, participants seem to be itching to get back into meeting venues and try to get away from all the constraints they put up with for over 15 months. It will be too optimistic to assume that meetings on the horizon will look and feel like the ones prior to the pandemic.

While mask mandates are fading fast, some restrictions will stay for some time to come. To start with, smaller meetings will appear more like before. However, larger events and meetings will take time to return. And even then, they will likely be subject to some limitations.

Most companies are easing into full-fledged unconstrained in-person events. Our survey of a number of our clients nationwide indicates that large-scale events will likely start taking place closer to the year’s end. This, of course, depends largely on the success of achieving herd immunity by mid-summer. The resurgence of the virus could put all plans for large-scale in-person events in jeopardy.

For now, it seems most organizations are watching each other to see who is rolling out large events, and the success of those events in avoiding any unwanted attention in the form of a possible Covid breakout at such an event. In the meantime, smaller events are popping up everywhere and the participants seem to be eager to embrace them—for better or worse.

Stay tuned as we follow the developments as more and more events get placed on the calendar.

For planning your safe and successful events and meetings, trust professionals at GMSMeetings.com