Meetings Made for Everybody

With five distinct generations currently in the American workplace, the idea of making an event that works for everyone can seem all but impossible. John Folks, CEO of Minding Your Business, an association consultancy, says associations have had difficulty adjusting to that reality, especially when it comes to connecting with younger attendees. 

“We’ve been designing events for boomers and then gradually introducing things for gen X and millennials,” he says. “But our core audience is no longer boomers—they might be 10 to 15 percent of the attendees now.” 

One common response to the need to better connect with younger attendees is to deliver shorter pieces of content.Agendas are now often filled with microlearning opportunities; “flash sessions” of 30, 20, even 10 minutes; and a greater emphasis on visual elements. Those things have their place, says Ken Holsinger, SVP, Industry Research and Insights at Freeman, an events agency. But he adds that meeting planners can err in thinking that appealing to younger attendees means simply catering to shorter attention spans. Rather, content should appeal to their practical mindset—their urge for content that is meaningful and actionable, without bells and whistles.