To Meet or not to Meet: That is the question

To meet or not to meet: That is the question


Being in the professional speaking business, I am in effect in the meeting industry business also and I am worried about companies cancelling their national or regional conferences not so much to save money but to save face.
Imagine what would happen to our marvelous Puerto Rico Convention Center if suddenly companies started to cancel meetings?
The comments that I am hearing is that having meetings in this recession wouldn’t look good to employees in the company, customers, and government officials or to the community in general.

The question we must ask ourselves is: Does it make sense for companies, government departments or associations to be meeting in luxurious locations or even in lower priced facilities such as airport hotels or company headquarters?

I will categorically answer: Yes, it does make a lot of sense.

I know that some so called “experts believe that these meetings are a waste of time for executives and employees.

I think they are wrong.

You can imagine that I spend lots of time in many cities and countries participating as a speaker or even attending meetings. In fact, my American Airlines account has already accumulated more than three million miles. My Continental account has also a fair amount but less because there are less flights available from Continental in Puerto Rico.

Now, more than ever in history, executives and their employees need new behaviors, new skills, more creativity and innovation, even new attitudes in order to create new relationships, intensify and heighten existing ones so as to find new opportunities and new ideas that in the short and long run, can generate sales, income and profits.

There is lots of value, in fact, a significant return on the investment when people meet with a clear purpose and objective in mind.

Margaret Mead years ago wrote: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed people can change the world; indeed it is the only thing that ever has”.

The key words in her statement are thoughtful and committed. When you have people that understand what the challenges are and they are totally committed to finding the solutions to those challenges, practically anything is possible.

The thought might cross your minds that if I am in the speaking business, it is logical that I would defend the meeting industry and the fact that organizations should use meetings as a way to bolster productivity.

I think that it is a fair thought to fly through your brain.

However, this is not about me or my business. This is about you, all of you that have organizations that need to survive and prosper in a difficult economic environment. You must continually find ways to be more productive, to make your employees more aware of what is going on, and encourage them to participate in the solutions that you need to implement in order to come out of this in a stronger position in the marketplace.

Guess what? If you don’t do it, your intelligent competitors will and you will be left far behind. When things get better, you will pay the price of not being as well positioned as your competitor.
Believe me. I see it constantly. There is nothing as powerful or as impactful as bringing your people together, in small or large gatherings to shake hands, embrace, talk eyeball to eyeball, laugh and cry together, bond, share and learn. There is simply no substitute for it.

When you get your people together, you are impacting the culture of the organization, you are telling them that you believe in them and that you are willing to invest in their education.
You are convincing them that the future is in their hands and that they must work as a team in order to make the company’s vision a reality.

It is important to understand that in a meeting, everyone will be able to share ideas with their peers and learn from each other. A problem that might have come up in Ponce, the employee from Arecibo might have the answer and that answer is worth millions to the company. What I am saying is that one idea, only one idea that comes out of that meeting, will not only pay for the meeting, it might even save the company.

To meet or not to meet? To me, the answer is obvious.