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Meetings – At Face Value
 As
meeting planners face increasing options in the world of virtual meetings
(including teleconferencing, video-conferencing, and web-conferencing),
they must ask themselves “What is the value of meeting face-to-face?”
Assessment of the value of meeting face-to-face must include three factors:
- Level of communication needed for the meeting
- Convenience for the attendees
- Cost of the meeting.
Every online slot machine has a theme. It can be love, adventure, ghosts and classic one.
One way to assess these important factors is by coming to one’s
senses—utilizing sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell. Teleconferencing
allows a meeting to be held using sound only. Videoconferencing allows
a meeting to be held using both sight and sound. Web-conferencing allows
the use of sight, sound, and involves interaction among its attendees.
A good old-fashioned meeting allows the use of sight, sound, taste, touch,
and smell—all of the attendees’ senses. Would a meeting involving
a new product launch be the same via a web-conference as it would via
a more traditional meeting? Envision a meeting utilizing a computer, a
screen, and a telephone. Then envision a meeting involving education on
a new product during the day with “hand’s on training,”
along with a gala in the evening, involving food, flowers, decorations,
entertainment, lights, and cameras in the evening. They are not quite
comparable. Would the cost savings of a virtual meeting here actually
be worth it? In order to figure out the pros and cons of face-to-face
meetings versus virtual meetings, communication using all senses makes
the most sense for this particular meeting.
Are attendees more likely to get excited at a traditional sales meeting
involving a motivational speaker or a teleconference meeting? Meeting
speakers are supposed to be heard. But what do they say that communicates
to attendees that is not auditory? Nonverbal communication factors are
key here. The important message they are trying to get across involves
their pitch, volume, hand gestures, and rate of speaking, in addition
to their words. The faster they speak, the more they move, the taller
they stand, the more they smile, the more excited meeting attendees are
likely to get.
Meetings involving networking or interviews, are these as effective using
virtual channels as meeting face-to face? Imagine the touch involved with
an initial handshake, eye contact, and an entire first impression in person
versus via a computer. Are costs, convenience, and level of communication
worth their value here?
Virtual meetings are a growing entity within the industry and should
be embraced. They serve the function of savings in travel expenditures,
time, effort, and can be more efficient. However, in judging the extended
value of a meeting, common sense involving the five major senses best
determines the “face” value of a meeting.
To further assess your meeting options, call NTM’s Meeting Services
department at or .
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