Meetings don’t have to instill dread. Smart steps can transform any meeting, large or small, into something to be embraced.

by Brendan Coffey
March 2006

Everyone hates meetings. The nature of discussing a project or proposal has inspired vitriolic blogs, television spoofs and piles of business books. But meetings don’t have to be despised. They can even achieve their ideal intention: to serve as powerful and even enjoyable business tools. “You can always do something with every meeting that people will talk about, that is out of the ordinary, that approaches extraordinary,” says Barry Wolpa, vice president of meetings and incentive trips at insurer Genworth Financial. His approach: “What can you do that makes people think, ‘Wow’?”

The most successful meetings get that wow-factor through combining approach, location and creativity in a way that bolsters the ultimate business aim. In 2005, 7,500 Starbucks North America store managers were flown into Seattle for a week-long series of meetings. With an event of that size, the danger is getting caught up in logistics, rather than the meeting’s goal. “If you’re focused on getting people from point A to point B, the meeting will probably be better served by sending everyone an email,” says Marty Fisher, a seven-year Starbucks veteran who organized the meeting.

Fisher, who recently joined retailer Abercrombie & Fitch as vice president of stores, human resources and training, suggests giving every meeting a clear theme or objective and developing everything around that. In Starbucks’ case, the theme was the human connection, and how it influences every aspect of Starbucks’ business. The gathering reflected that theme in subtle ways, such as people-rather than signs-directing attendees to sessions; and grandiose ways, like the opening night party in Seattle’s Key Arena. Fisher’s staff let it leak that big-name entertainment was slated to perform. Attendees’ anticipation was fulfilled when The Village People ran out on stage. But after a few moments, the crowd realized it wasn’t the disco-era legends, but chairman Howard Schultz, CEO Jim Donald and other top executives in costume, lip-synching.

For Starbucks employees, it was better than the real thing. “The whole idea was not to put on a concert, but to get energy going and to allow people to connect with each other. It was awesome, it got everyone pumped up,” Fisher explains. Ultimately, an impressive 90 percent of attendees reported that it was worth their time to attend. Any meeting, approached correctly, should generate the same result.

Amuse and inform

It’s rarely appropriate for a CEO to don a costume to jazz up a meeting, but many organizers have been finding success in adding other “edutainment” to their meetings, through guest speakers and business theater, which consists of everything from Broadway-type shows to improv troupes to historical re-enactors, each of which weaves in business goals or lessons.

“Theater, by virtue of what it is, is easily accessible to people and can be used in a way a speaker cannot, because it’s less offensive to people,” explains Andrea Michaels, president of Extraordinary Events, a Sherman Oaks, Calif., business event planner. “Most presenters are great corporate leaders, but don’t have stage presence-and if you don’t have stage presence, how much of your lesson is getting lost?” she adds.

Recently, Michaels produced a sales meeting for Miki Prune, a Japanese health products company. The company was a mess, with sales slumping and a dysfunctional sales staff that ranged from overly timid to overly independent. Rather than a lecture or threats, the meeting instead focused on a Wizard of Oz-based play that addressed the staff’s problem issues metaphorically. For instance, one character was an acrobat who feared taking a leap, but eventually learned how. It may sound hokey, but not to Miki Prune: Sales leapt 75 percent the following year.

Theatrics may seem extravagant in an age of tight budgets, but it does actually give more bang for the buck, argues Glenn Gautier, an executive producer with Williams/Gerard Productions, a meetings and event production firm. “Every dollar is precious, and people have to get as much value from bringing people together as possible.” Gautier has used business theater for 15 years, preferring to use a group of professional improvisational comics specializing in meetings. The key is to make a meeting interactive, which invests the audience in the success of the performance, and ultimately of the event itself. It works even with touchy issues, proponents say. With business theater, as with any meeting, planners say whitewashing problems or ignoring them altogether is the worst thing to do, since it erodes trust between attendees and management. Just make sure that a constructive solution is also presented when addressing problem issues.

Take care selecting speakers

Whether it’s a theater troupe or a lecturer, anyone speaking at a meeting should be vetted for experience and appeal beforehand. “Nobody speaks at our meetings unless we’ve seen a video of them in action or someone in our organization knows they’re good,” says Genworth’s Wolpa. Every speaker and performer should customize the presentation to complement the meeting’s goals and audience. When selecting presenters, quiz them on how the theme can be illustrated with their method or characters, and make sure they have worked with serious business meeting clients and not just party-type events. Dismiss anyone who won’t meet with you in a professional manner or has iffy references, advises Extraordinary Event’s Michaels. “You cannot afford to sacrifice your company’s image to any company that cannot handle it well.”

Big-name entertainment is more difficult, since finding someone who appeals to everyone is exceedingly difficult, says Wolpa. A good rule for ensuring you don’t insult an attendee or tarnish your company’s image is the “front-page rule,” he adds. “Entertainment is a very tricky thing. Imagine if your meeting was written up on the front page of the newspaper. If anything about it wouldn’t read well, you can’t do it.”

Diverse locations, diverse people

Offsite meetings are often chosen for convenience or to drum up excitement over going to the location. Those are both valid reasons, but exceptional meetings manage to weave the site into its goals, too. For a recent meeting of Abercrombie & Fitch district managers, Fisher wanted to reinforce the importance of image for the company. Managers were flown to Hollywood and learned about the importance of casting and brand image from a partner at Creative Artists Agency. Then managers visited local branches and outlets of competitors, afterward discussing in-depth what they liked and disliked. That could have been done with PowerPoint, but to far less impact, says Fisher. “There has to be a blend of business and fun. That is what makes a meeting work.”

It’s also important to pay attention to the sensibilities of attendees, particularly when meeting internationally or with people of different backgrounds. It’s easy to think that with the world more connected than ever by long-haul flights, the Internet and the rise of English as the language of business, cultural differences matter less. This simply is not the case. According to the trade association Meeting Planners International, multicultural meetings-domestic U.S. and international meetings with people from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds-are rising at 20 percent annually. “The consequences of failing to understand and respect these differences can be significant, especially with regards to meetings,” says Carol Krugman, president and CEO of Krugman Group International, a meeting planner in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Nobody speaks at our meetings unless we’ve seen a video of them in action...


When meeting in foreign countries, inexperienced organizers fail to take advantage of local resources, like a destination management company, which can handle local logistics and inform you of both business and cultural dos and don’ts in the location. More generally, planners should prep presenters to avoid quips or actions that could be offensive to the audience. It’s also worth remembering that non-native English speakers, even fluent ones, need more time to process the language, so speakers need to speak more slowly (not more loudly) than usual. Presentations and references should also take care to include metric measurements for non-American attendees. And everywhere, both with international and American groups, be respectful of ethnicities and sexes, and make contingencies for the dietary restrictions of different religions, Krugman explains.

Measuring return on investment

Proving the value of a meeting is a crucial issue, especially when justifying the cost of speakers and travel. “Measuring ROI is the Holy Grail,” says meeting producer Gautier. “The hard reality is there is no easy way.”

If it’s a sales meeting, one gauge is how sales improved afterwards. Surveys also help gauge relative success. Ask attendees to rate the meeting and solicit praise, complaints and tips. If a meeting is educational in nature, some organizers like to quiz attendees before and after to estimate what people learned. Still other planners generate additional value by creating a meeting-in-a-box: video and materials of the meeting to send to those unable to attend in person.

Ultimately, every measure is subjective, but it should be obvious if a meeting achieved its goals. Explains Gautier, “The meeting must proceed smoothly and the audience should get relevant substance, not just smoke and mirrors.”

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brendan coffey is a freelance writer based in New Jersey. Email Brendan at editor@executivetravelmag.com.