A few weeks ago, two of our ConferenceDirect teams came together for an in-person meeting. Along with my counterpart Mike Ditter, we held a Team Baarman / Team Ditter joint team meeting with simple objectives for our time together:
- Prove that we could ‘safely’ meet face to face
- Enable us to demonstrate, first-hand, to our clients that face-to-face events can be done (and be able to share best practices)
- Check on the health and wellness of the individuals that make up our teams
- Provide training on what we need to do differently and better while coming out of the pandemic
- Build momentum for the comeback of our industry
First, I want to give a shout out to our partners that made this event a success (there are too many to name, and I may forget some so I am listing the partners):
- Hyatt GSO
- Park Hyatt Aviara
- Manchester Grand Hyatt
- ACCESS Destination Services
The Park Hyatt Aviara is an amazing coastal resort that has been completely renovated. We had the pleasure of experiencing the entire resort enjoying both indoor and outdoor events. The Manchester Grand has also taken this opportunity to make some improvements and are gearing up to host some large events in the upcoming weeks. Both hotels looked great, and their staffs were amazing and demonstrated the pride we all feel for our industry. Finally, our partner Access did an amazing job of supporting our transportation needs and educating us on the overall area. They also enabled us to do site visitsof three other hotels in the area (The Seabird, Mission Pacific, Alila Marea).
Based on my experience, I am confident that we can meet safely. From the moment I left my home and jumped into the Uber, through the airports (DC and San Diego), airlines (United) and hotels (Hyatt), I felt the processes were in place to ensure that we could gather safely.
I know it will take time to get back to where we were, but my experience of meeting face to face is that our comeback is beginning…and I believe it will happen more quickly than originally predicted. Are you ready to meet again?
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dougbaarman/