I attended the first day of the Annual Meeting remotely, and the rest of the days in-person, so I got to experience both sides of the coin this year.
I want the hybrid option to be part of the Annual Meeting moving forward. Attending the Annual Meeting is very expensive if no one is funding your trip and you aren’t local, which makes it a big barrier to participation for younger participants and marginalized groups.
But I also feel strongly that in the future anyone who wants to attend in-person should be allowed to.
The tech worked OK for really small meetings, but the Owls were a nightmare for large meetings. I spoke with Scott Galbreth about it and suggesting that moving forward we only use microphones instead. That can slow things down a bit, but makes the audio more workable for both those attending remotely and those in-person with hearing impairments.
Also, Bizzabo is just awful, in my opinion (and everyone I have talked to). I know that the tech to support a large meeting like this is evolving, and I hope that we continue to evaluate new vendors moving forward.
I would also like to see the National Office invest in some good portable HEPA filters for each room to help reduce the risk of airborne disease at our meetings. We are already transporting tons of signage and such to this event, throwing a dozen or two air purifiers in the truck is not that big of a deal in the big picture.
What feedback do you have?