As much as the direct selling industry is in a state of change, some things are truly timeless. The importance of gathering in person is an integral part of the culture of practically every company in the channel. Making sure your event—whether it is an exotic incentive trip, regional conference or global convention—runs smoothly and creates indelible memories should be a top priority.

Once your company decides to launch your next event, a site visit can be a very helpful next step in the event planning process. A site visit not only allows you to choose the best location for the trip but also to find the right hotel to meet the demographic needs of your attendees.

Timing and Value

Depending on the timing of your event, this process can be done in one visit. Quite often in the direct sales industry, companies will decide on a location and hotel before even visiting—which is fine as long as you are working with an experienced incentive travel and event company that has actually been there and understands the wants and needs of your company and can help you navigate the inevitable bumps in the road you will encounter. If you are planning to go for a follow-up visit after the hotel contract is signed, make sure you include as least three free nights in the negotiation for that final site visit.

Four Important “Do”s for Your Site Visit

1/ Spend at least one night in each of your top choice hotels.

You will get a much better feel for the overall hotel experience as a guest than you would on a daytime walk through.

2/ Do a detailed walk through.

Include each potential event venue, your meeting agenda and on-site activities. This is the perfect time to run a test trial of your event.

3/ Look into off-site venues for an exclusive VIP dinner.

The right location is key for a successful VIP dinner, so spend time checking out several options, testing their menus, listening to musicians and meeting with the decor team.

4/ Trial the entire incentive trip from start to finish.

If golf is important for this trip, test out the transfer to the course, the greeting, club rentals and cart setup. If you are planning a dine-around, test the food quality and service at each of the restaurants. The more partners and vendors you are able to meet while in town, the better you are in the long run. A thorough site visit to trial an upcoming event can take 3-4 days to narrow down what feels right for your group. You’ll know it when you experience it—trust your gut!

Limit the Surprises

The value and prestige of incentive trips can’t be underestimated—your distributors work hard to earn it and understandably have high expectations for a one-of-a-kind experience. One of the most important things about planning and executing a successful incentive trip is mitigating potential surprises. A detailed and thorough site visit is your best bet to crafting a memorable event for you and for your distributors. Be fully prepared by walking through the entire trip to know where problems could arise and put a plan in place to solve them.

What is a FAM Trip?

A FAM trip stands for “familiarization trip” and is a benefit of being in the direct sales industry. FAMs are sponsored by travel suppliers, hotels, cruise lines, resorts, third-party travel companies and tourism boards. FAM trips are exclusive experiential trips for direct sales executives, incentive travel, conference or conventions decision makers, directors of events, event personnel and third-party travel companies.

Familiarization Trips are the best way to confidently determine the optimal location for your big event—nothing compares to actually experiencing the destination and resorts firsthand. Essentially a FAM trip takes you backstage to experience a location in hopes you return with your company travel incentive, conference or convention. A personal experience is better than any review you could ever read. Experience it, then book it.

Travel Like A Pro: The “Do”s and “Don’t”s of FAM Trips

Have a good time but remember what you’re there for.

Know as much as possible about the location and hotel products ahead of time. That way, it will make more sense and mean more when you experience it. Plus, you’ll be able to get additional information that could be valuable to you or your future event.

Arrive a few minutes early.

Punctuality is important so no other FAM attendees are waiting for you. In your room, requests or complaints about air conditioning, plumbing, etc., should be directed to the appropriate personnel in a diplomatic way, respecting the partnership between you and FAM sponsors.

Use good sense with the people you meet.

You can tell people that you’re a part of the travel industry—but don’t let other guests know that you’re on a FAM trip. Be sociable but always use discretion.

Engage in the kind of travel experience that your attendees will experience.

Get an education but think from the standpoint of your potential event attendees.

Take the time to say “thank you.”

Everyone appreciates gratitude when they’ve gone out of their way. Rarely will things be 100 percent to your liking, but it has still been a new travel experience for you. Remember to acknowledge the vendor’s generosity through a verbal “thank you” to staff and crew who have served you well. Don’t forget to thank your housekeeping staff with tips.

Philip Cochrane has been in the direct selling industry for over 20 years and is the Co-Founder and President of iCentiviz. iCentiviz delivers over 100 years of combined industry experiences with a deep-rooted passion in assisting and supporting direct selling companies’ growth through their travel incentives, conferences and conventions.

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Saana Azzam, a professional public speaker and founder of coaching program MENA Speakers, told Fortune magazine, “Those who have had long careers speaking onstage were not necessarily good at speaking virtually. And rookies, who were very tech-savvy, all of a sudden did great in a virtual format. Even people with a fear of public speaking do well.”

Positives of Virtual Speaking

Depending on the platform, virtual allows you to reach a larger audience. The audience doesn’t have to travel and typically can access the virtual event from anywhere and with multiple devices. Virtual events can incorporate audience participation such as feedback, a live Q&A or real-time action steps. Connecting with an audience requires slightly different strategies. For example, since there’s no stage, virtual speakers find that facial expressions are much more important, and projecting their voice isn’t necessary. Not having a live audience requires a different way to be energetic and engaging than on stage.

Negatives of Virtual Speaking

Speakers in virtual events can feel like the audience is “out there somewhere.” Reading a live audience and harnessing the energy of the atmosphere is a major benefit of in-person events. Laughs, cheers and physical participation are absent with virtual. The audience’s experience greatly changes as well, typically only seeing the speaker’s upper body as opposed to experiencing stage presence and body language. Since the audience typically has an up-close view of the speaker’s face, eye contact is even more important. A more communicative dialogue can be more effective and personal than delivering a prepared speech.

Authenticity and unique personality are key in virtual experiences. As Azzam adds in the Fortune article, “Today’s most powerful speakers are authentic and approachable, sharing knowledge with a laid-back, conversational approach that makes the audience feel like their friends.”

Public Speaking Challenges for 2022

LinkedIn recently published its top six public speaking challenges for 2022. Here’s a summary of what was covered:

1/ Participant attention levels are decreasing

This is due to the overwhelming amount of digital information, especially since the rise of post-pandemic digital meetings. “Nature has not designed us to deal with this volume and this way of communicating,” the post mentions. More frequency of virtual meetings doesn’t equate to more effectiveness.

2/ More spectators in virtual conferences

Virtual events allow the audience to be less engaged, sometimes to the point of turning their camera and microphone off or just walking away for a while. An Intercall study in 2020 showed that more than 65 percent of participants in online events do something else such as check emails, browse social media or even participate in another conversation.

3/ Professional speakers adjust to silence

While most people fear public speaking, professionals thrive on the energy of a live audience. The silence of virtual conferences can take speakers out of their comfort zone, and they may need to adjust their content and delivery strategy.

4/ Loss of motivation and support

Because of the silence of virtual events, speakers can be left guessing if their message is connecting with the audience. A benefit of live audiences is real-time testing of the message. This can cause some speakers to lose motivation to adjust their delivery or overuse voice inflection and gestures.

5/ Learning curve for technical concerns

Speakers typically don’t have to worry about the technical production of live events, but virtual events require a few concerns. Video quality and positioning, lighting, microphone quality, background noise, Internet connection and—of course—that pesky mute button can cause problems.

6/ Keeping audience interest

Communication styles might need to adjust in a virtual setting. Offering too much information in a monologue-style delivery can bore audiences. Speakers must interact differently than they would with a live crowd. Asking them to type a number or word in the chat or comment section can help keep them engaged. Briefly bringing audience members on camera can also help to maintain engagement.

The post Public Speaking Faces New Challenges in 2022 first appeared on Direct Selling News.

It seems like the only thing we know for certain is that these are uncertain times.

The challenges we all face in organizing events, conferences, symposiums, and conventions during these chaotic times feel like a rollercoaster we’d rather not ride. Venue restrictions, city ordinances, travel policies and many other factors are reemerging as Delta continues to push COVID cases higher than ever in many areas of the U.S.

So where are we now—hybrid? In person? All virtual? Truthfully, it’s all three with the ability to “flex” any of those three more or less in a particular direction, along with location—in order to maintain the human connection that all of our brands depend on for differentiation, clarity and engagement.

Here are a few key considerations when planning your events over the next few months and how several organizations have worked to navigate the complexities and challenges facing all of us today.

Hybrid Events Provide Flexibility

You might think that creating a hybrid event, by definition, means compromising. Surely you’ll have to sacrifice a few things to make an in-person event work virtually as well, right? Wrong. In fact, if you hope to make a true human connection, you can’t compromise. But don’t worry, it’s not as demanding as it sounds. The biggest requirement is a change of mindset.

Rather than trying to force the in-person portion to perfectly mirror the virtual portion, think of the two as distinct experiences. They’re part of the same event, but they’re different situations. Therefore, they need to be treated as such. Why? Because the best ways to engage an in-person audience are not necessarily the best ways to engage a virtual audience and vice versa.

There’s a marketing principle that goes like this: when you try to appeal to everyone, you wind up appealing to no one. The same holds true when creating a hybrid event. If you try to only use methods that simultaneously engage both audiences, you’ll wind up engaging neither audience.

When you treat the in-person and the virtual as two different experiences, you can leverage the strengths of each platform to create an event that truly engages everyone. That is the guiding principle to creating an excellent hybrid event: create an excellent in-person event and an excellent virtual event.

Color Street 2021 National Convention—A Hybrid Story

The Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida, was the setting for Color Street’s return to large live events. A truly hybrid solution brought together 4,000 in person and 28,000 virtual Stylists from across the U.S. Navigating the landscape of pandemic dynamics demanded a strategic and flexible approach to planning.

The expansive footprint and shared spaces of the Convention Center posed a challenge. The challenge was how to bring the Color Street brand front and center while assisting the Stylists with easy navigation. From the super-sized exterior banners greeting attendees to a branded and quick-moving Registration process, Stylists’ were wowed. Fun and unique photo ops added to the social media buzz before the first session had even begun.

The “Color Street Pave the Way” General Sessions set was a fun, geometric inspired design that incorporated a blended seating approach which allowed all attendees a great seat. The concept used different elements to bring it to life—an enormous stage LED screen, gobos, LED lighting for an electric effect, hard geometric shapes that absorbed bright color light and four projection screens to allow maximum viewing pleasure. From an exciting launch of sales in a new country to the introduction of the new catalog via a New York styled fashion show, to massive recognition marches, the content and execution was flawless.

To achieve a true hybrid experience for virtual Stylists, a partner platform Pathable was utilized. This comprehensive solution delivered easy to access sessions, chat features and social interactions. A dynamic emcee brought speaker, executive and Stylist interviews to the virtual audience along with tours and back-stage sneak peeks that created a sense of community for all. Content was available on demand for those who could not watch sessions live.

In 11 ½ weeks, the overwhelmingly collaborative effort with Color Street resulted in an incredible back to business, back to networking, back to inspiring event.

As one team member said…. “We all pulled off something remarkable!” The passion for an incredible Stylist experience shined through leaving attendees ready for the next event!

Venue Flexibility and Good Partners

In late spring and early summer, as vaccines become readily available and case numbers were going down across large swaths of the nation, a full return to normalcy seemed not only possible but was happening. Then Delta surged.

Now, each person’s calculus of what they’re comfortable with has changed. And beyond people’s personal risk assessment, city and state-directed mandates can force you to make drastic changes. For many organizations, they already have.

As winter looms, as people increasingly move back indoors, as talk of vaccine boosters becomes clearer, as dynamics continue to shift—and shift fast—the certainty in planning events months out is not much better than last year.

You have a venue booked and the deposit paid for. You have 3,000 attendees coming in. And three weeks before the event, the city imposes restrictions. Or the city doesn’t, but cases are surging, and it’s all over the news. Do you have a plan B? And is plan B fully operational, ready to put into action at a moment’s notice?

Case in point: A medical device company recently planned an event for 500 people in Dallas. Cases surged, and while Dallas didn’t impose restrictions, the company was uncomfortable with bringing in that many people to a hot spot. But here’s the rub: because the city of Dallas did not impose restrictions, the company was obligated to the contract with the venue.

It’s impossible to get that investment back, but how can we get the most ROI out of it? Having a plan B ready to go allowed the company to shift quickly to maximize the situation. The stage was built in the venue as though it would be a live event but then streamed it virtually to attendees across the country. Participants who had to cancel their in-person plans on short notice were able to remain connected and interact with the company’s team and messages, almost as if they were in person.

Having a Plan A and Plan B is almost a requirement with the current environment. And working with an event planning partner who is flexible, organized and creative in generating solutions for your terms and situation is critical.

Staying Connected, No Matter What

As 2021 nears an end and we look forward to another new year, uncertainty will likely persist for some time, challenging event organizers and planners responsible for bringing people together. One thing is for sure, the pandemic has allowed all of us to explore different and creative ways of maintaining the human connection—with our associates, customers, sales teams and whomever we may be trying to reach. We can be confident there are multiple ways of executing our events, regardless of the current situation, location or circumstances. It’s just a matter of developing more than one option and remaining flexible. 

Leslie Blye, National Sales Director at L!VE, received her CMP in 2016. In addition to leading L!VE’s Sales Team she plays a central role in the development of new business with a focus on managing client and industry relationships.

From the October 2021 issue of Direct Selling News magazine.

The post Managing Events in Uncertain & Changing Times first appeared on Direct Selling News.

Events will always be a driving force for growth and belief building. While the benefits of training motivation and culture are at the core of events, they generate some impressive, tangible growth numbers. Some companies are augmenting live events with some of the latest technology and social media platforms to create a unique and inclusive experience.

Events are Crucial to Enrolling

According to LifeVantage CEO Darren Jensen in his recent article titled, The Social Proof Principle: Does Attending Events Matter?, “Event attendees are 2,241 percent more likely to enroll somebody than their non-event-attending counterparts.” He also states that those who attended at least one major event per year earn an average of 119 percent more.

“Seasoned industry veterans understand the power behind events,” Jensen says. “We keep on coming back because we derive value from them. We continue to invest personal money to attend them because, either we enjoy the experience, or it helps our businesses in some tangible way. Events remind distributors that they are necessary while helping them feel connected to a larger purpose.”

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Technology Changing Event Landscape

ACN will enter its 26th year in business in 2019, and still hosts four major corporate events throughout the year. The largest event is in February, and each one builds to the next. Different locations are selected for each and announced during or right after the current event. The company recently held a live event with some of its top leaders that was also broadcast via YouTube Live for any of its Independent Business Owners to view, creating an atmosphere where everyone felt as if they were in the same room. “All of our leaders truly believe that our events are non-negotiable,” says Katie Mapel, ACN Director of Marketing Communications.

Ambit Energy holds two major corporate events per year for its Independent Consultants. Ambition, historically held Labor Day weekend in Dallas, is the company’s major annual convention. The first event each year, called Simulcast, acts as a one-day yearly kickoff held in January. For 2019, there are two live locations (Texas and Connecticut). It’s a mix of training, motivation, plus a time for announcements and goals for the year. For the first time, an after-party will be held near the live locations to help bolster excitement, culture and networking.

The event is also simulcast (hence the name) online for consultants who cannot attend a live location. Groups of consultants around the country hold watch parties, which Ambit corporate staff members have been known to “crash” with prizes. Attendees, whether live or online, are eligible for special bonus promotions following Simulcast.

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