Meetings

Friday Buzz: Get Ready for Gen Z

With a digital-native generation reaching adulthood, events might have to get more interactive to adapt. Also: a culture problem you might be facing.

Interactivity is already a big deal for meetings, especially those focused on trying to win over younger audiences.

But that problem is about to get much more pronounced, Skift’s Jaimie Seaton points out in a new article.

Here’s the gist: With gen Z—a generation only slightly smaller than millennials—quickly reaching adulthood, interactivity is going to quickly become a requirement, in no small part because younger generations have spent their entire lives surrounded by the kind of technology older generations only picked up on later in life.

That said, the use of interactivity can’t be forced, Red Velvet Events President Cindy Lo tells Seaton.

“Here’s the funny thing about gen Z and even millennials; if it looks like you’re trying too hard it won’t work,” Lo told the publication. “When we are meeting with clients to talk about conferences, before we even begin we ask them a lot about their company culture and what their values and goals are, so we can align it with the event.”

So, in other words, more interactive, but not too interactive, so as not to seem forced. Got it?

What Culture Eats

Familiar with the phrase “culture eats strategy for breakfast”?

It’s a commonly made point about how the wrong culture can break down the right strategy, and it’s one WorkXO’s Jamie Notter disagrees with. But Notter does see culture eating something else: innovation.

“In today’s age of disruption, everyone’s talking about the need for innovation, but too often it stops right there—at talk,” Notter writes in a recent blog post.

Check his post to learn how cultural problems might hamper your innovation efforts.

Other Links of Note

Two-factor authentication is a good way to protect your account, but it’s not foolproof on its own, as journalist John Biggs recently learned. Lifehacker has a guide on strengthening your mobile security.

Find the language around association management systems confusing? Delcor has a glossary of terms to help clear things up. You might want to bookmark this one.

Perhaps too much optimism isn’t a good thing. Mashable’s Aaron Orendorff makes the case against always seeing the glass half-full.

(designer491/iStock/Getty Images Plus)

Ernie Smith

By Ernie Smith

Ernie Smith is a former senior editor for Associations Now. MORE

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