The conference facility has been chosen with the greatest environmental care. It is located “close” which reduces participant transport, the food is of course vegan, nutritious and biodynamic. The facility conducts costly and thoughtful environmental work. Despite all our efforts, we will inevitably and every time we decide to hold a conference “in real life” burden the environment and use resources. Ecological, economic, and social.
The awareness that at each conference we consume resources, both organizational and environmental, should influence you who organize conferences in at least two different ways. First, you should think about whether you really need to hold this conference, and if so, do you have to do it live or is it enough to meet digitally?
It is actually possible to involve participants remotely by using event apps and other smart technology.
It is actually possible to involve participants remotely by using event apps and other smart technology. More on that later in this post. And if the answer is that you need to meet in reality then you should make sure to get as much out of the conference as possible. Because nothing is such an unsustainable waste of resources as a poorly executed conference where participants do not learn, innovate, commit, improve or develop anything.
Hand on heart, the amount of conferences with unclear goals and objectives, with lack of pedagogy and outdated meeting formats, or where the content is separate from concept and format and where the company management comes running in with the presentation on a USB memory five minutes before it starts, is still frighteningly large.
Stay home or start from the beginning!
In short: if the purpose of the meeting is only to inform, if you have an unclear purpose, if the program is filled to the brim with one-way communication – stay home or start from the beginning! An ill-planned or badly implemented conference is a huge waste of resources.
When it comes to conferences, it is often expensive to save money. Instead of saving on planning work, content, technology or meeting format, you should invest a little more so that you really get a return on the resources you consume–whether we are talking about money, time or carbon dioxide emissions.
Invest a little more so that you really get a return.
Maybe it is better to conduct the conference every two years and make sure to get really great results instead of conducting two conferences that cost more than they’re worth?
Several companies are now using MeetApp’s solution as part of their big global events, where an elaborate conference program is broadcasted in real time to a number of local events.
The app is used as a digital hub.
The app is used as a digital hub, where participants can access the same information at the same time, answer questions, conduct workshops, submit questions to the speaker and expand their network – all in one and the same platform. Without such a digital hub, the event would probably have resembled a regular video conference with thousands of participants. A format that often falls flat. Instead, the app creates real dialogue and engagement. Before, during and after the event.
