“What is coming is better than what is gone.” -Arabic Proverb
This quote well-articulates my vision for 2021. Twenty-twenty was undoubtedly a year of strife for many personally and professionally. My original goals for 2020 are laughable. Recreating our goals for 2020 became a question of “what is one win we can achieve for our clients this year?” The revised goals for 2020 quickly became somewhat of a bible for ensuring each of the organizations we manage not only survived but thrived in some way.
Looking back, I am proud to say that each client can clearly articulate at least one way their organization grew during the pandemic. PMG, as an organization, was agile and able to pivot all client meetings to virtual meetings and create growth for many of our clients. We seized opportunities and have grown because of our quick action. The challenge before us now is creating what the future of medical and research meetings and member engagement will be in the year ahead.
Blog By Sarah Timm
President and CEO
As with many of our client organizations, the pandemic has brought change and opportunity… Opportunity that must be strategically acted upon. This is a time for organizations to look to their management company for creativity and for resetting their strategic plans.
The pandemic caused us to embrace a more virtual world. Through this PMG learned what it takes to run a virtual meeting that is both educational and entertaining. Sitting at a computer for an entire day can be exhausting, so PMG’s staff researched social platforms to make it more fun. We started using Gather.town, which gives users a virtual world in which to walk around and video chat with others online. This platform has been so successful with our clients that a future group will use it for its poster session in 2021!
Twenty-twenty forced us to see what a fully virtual meeting feels like and how productive it is, and in doing so, we learned valuable lessons that have led to innovative solutions for our clients. With our technology partner, Joyn, we have built a fully integrated virtual platform as an addition to our clients’ Association Management System. This platform has features that can translate into a hybrid meeting.
For example, the new virtual poster and exhibitor platform allows clients to have poster sessions during and outside of the normal meeting times. This past year we also created additional opportunities for leadership to consider how to continually disseminate our members’ research to provide member value and advance their mission and scientific fields.
I look at other industries that have struggled mightily in the pandemic and compare them to PMG. Many of our partners have moved from thriving business models to no horizon in less than a year. To address this, PMG has continued to utilize our A/V partners for our virtual meetings. Using these companies in this capacity both ensures expert service and facilitation for our meetings and supports a struggling industry.
PMG is fortunate to be staffed by incredible people not scared of change or chaos. This group has made a strange and tumultuous year prosperous. I have complete confidence that what is coming will be even better!
Are you are looking for a new AMC to call home? Please click here to start a conversation with PMG. Our mission is to help our clients to achieve theirs.
