Meetings Management to Build Lasting Relationships
Take advantage of your next virtual or in-person gathering as a chance to solve problems and build relationships.
Focus
In-person & virtual meeting, webinars, networking, relationship-building
Clients
All managed clients
Meetings can add fuel to your long-term mission and goals
Think about the last time you went to a really good meeting (virtual or in-person). What made it so fantastic? It probably wasn’t just one aspect of the meeting, but a confluence of factors.
Maybe “the content was amazing,” or “the conversations [between attendees] were robust and supportive of all person’s ideas and thoughts,” or the “presenters were engaged and knowledgeable at all levels” of the meeting. Maybe you got to combine work and leisure by traveling to somewhere new and interesting, expanding your professional friendships, or generally having fun.
Ultimately, the value of the last good meeting you attended has to do with the relationships made and strengthened, the insights you came away with to guide your future work, and the tangible impact that the meeting had on your perspective, sense of belonging, and ability to bring passion, creativity, and focus to the work you do every day.
We know that continuous quality improvement is an integral aspect of all work done well, which is why we collect feedback from attendees, speakers, and sponsors to turn the enthusiastic “post-meeting glow” into concrete plans for the future of your organization. We analyze both positive feedback (such as the quotes above, which all come directly from attendees at past meetings GPS has facilitated on behalf of clients), as well as suggestions about what we can do better in the future, because we know these suggestions not only help us to improve the work we do on behalf of clients, but also they provide opportunities to engage more members of the organization in planning, leadership, and collaborative decision-making.
Our meeting experience encompasses both virtual and in-person events, and ranges from smaller regional continuing education meetings of about 50 persons, to large annual and bi-annual industry gatherings with attendance of 5,000+ professionals. Regardless of the size or format of the meeting, we always reach towards the same three-pronged goal: advance the organization’s mission; develop meaningful relationships among attendees; and ensure all meeting content & interactions are facilitative of the organization’s long-term planning and vision.
As we frequently attend meetings ourselves – delivering research presentations on behalf of our clients, networking among industry professionals, and continually seeking to expand our understanding and worldview of our clients’ work – we know what it takes to create a lasting impression from both a meeting planning and attendee perspective.
The best meetings are the ones where we leave having clarified the constant question at the core of our work and the work of our clients and partners – What do we need to change next?
Approaching meetings as an opportunity to clarify change and development is how we consistently foster meeting environments that are engaging, facilitative of new partnerships, grounded in mission and purpose, and dare we say – fun.
Association meetings are an ideal environment to leverage the expertise and passion of dedicated professionals against our ever-evolving context. In the end, a meeting is less of a goal in and of itself, and more of a “checkpoint” on your organization’s evolutionary journey. We use meetings as an opportunity to make that checkpoint as valuable for all parties as possible.
