Florida Connects - Winter 2008 - (Page 23)

Clearly, planners who want to compete must learn to keep up with these new technologies, but don’t forget to keep up with attendees as well. With the rise of Gen Y planners comes the rise of Gen Y attendees. Just like with those new technology tools, Gen Y-ers thrive off of getting information quickly and efﬁciently. Holding a Gen Y-er’s attention is a difﬁcult task. How do we adjust in a world of shorter and shorter attention spans? How do we get that information into the heads of our attendees? How can we appeal to this crowd? Forget those long PowerPoint presentations; Gen Y wants you to focus on ways to get them interacting with speakers and taking in what they hear. Whether it means allowing your attendees to send text messages to speakers, or foregoing speakers altogether, new ways are emerging to keep up with Gen Y. PowerPoint is a static tool. Get ready for YouTube clips and TiVoing as pieces of presentations. Skip the boring stuff and move on to a condensed version of the crucial information. Focus on not only the important things, but also on what interests the attendees. Customization through specialized breakouts and lots of options will be another way to get this generation on board. Gen Y-ers want to feel empowered in every aspect of their lives. And ﬁnally, consider social consciousness as a huge factor for Gen Y. How can we make meetings and events more environmentally friendly? How can this industry impact world crises such as cancer, poverty and the AIDS epidemic? As Gen Y comes of age, the importance of this industry’s impact on global issues will weigh heavy on the hearts of attendees. In the last few years, huge strides have been made in our industry to make meetings green. Hoteliers and planners alike have worked hard to make changes — using less paper and recycling are just the beginning. Gen Y-ers will demand more changes are made, and faster than we have seen in the past. Whether it means combining meetings with charity runs or auctions or using a truly green hotel, this generation wants to create and be part of these changes. Whether this new generation brings both good and not-so-good change down the road for our industry, one thing is for sure: Hang on tight, because it will be a wild ride! ■ Tara Schratz can be reached at 510-259-5217 or tschratz@thermage.com. This article reprinted with permission from the August 2007 issue of MPI, Northern California Chapter’s Perspective magazine. To Learn More… about Generation Y, check out www.ypulse.com, an independent site for professionals providing news, commentary and resources to marketers targeting a Generation Y audience. 360153_Orlando.indd 1 Winter 2008 Florida CONNECTS 3:17:26 PM 12/10/07 23 http://www.orlandoharley.com http://www.ypulse.com

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Florida Connects - Winter 2008 Contents Message from the Presidents Boards of Directors Chapter Calendars Member News Tampa Bay’s Convention Package Ready or Not Tampa North Florida Orlando South Florida Advertiser.com Index of Advertisers On the Radar

Florida Connects - Winter 2008

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