BOOSTING WITH BOASTING
Richard John , chief operating officer at Realise , shares a few tips on surviving pandemics
ow did the growing Realise team cope with 12 months which saw a 500 % increase in turnover and the core team increase from five to 25 ?
Regular virtual meetings helped . It ’ s important to keep structure in chaotic times and then a general chat . Sharing ideas on coping was well-received , recommendations for books , websites , TV , podcasts . Those meetings also worked with a large dollop of fun .
We also shared free online courses , offered by Udemy and the Open University . Some within the industry stepped up ; Cvent made many of its accredited programmes available free of charge .
As the leaders of the event apprenticeship programme , we also dealt with many apprentices being
Richard John , chief operating officer at Realise
made redundant . Fortunately , the government funding continued , so we came up with ways of ensuring they could complete their programme . The 100 % success record reminded us how motivating it is to help others . Similarly , at Confex we showcased the winners of our first ‘ innovation ’ competition , where £ 10,000 had been paid out to get new industry ideas launched .
We also
www . conference-news . co . uk pivoted to supporting online events , and we have employed more than 60 talented freelancers . Another lesson ; celebrate the successes ; the news has been quite bleak . While I was always taught that it ’ s bad to boast , our positive story acted as a motivator to some who couldn ’ t see any end to the gloom .
Shared experience
The pandemic occasionally offered other benefits ; prospects normally impossible to get hold of are in the same boat ; working from home , to name a few . I discovered that a short message , via email or LinkedIn , would inevitably lead to a connection and a willingness to have a virtual coffee . So many ideas that had been languishing in my ‘ maybe ’ pile suddenly started to take shape .
That shared experience was part of the inspiration for the ‘ Dent in the Sofa ’ project . You see , we all claimed to be fed up with online meetings , yet as soon as work was over , we plonked ourselves down in front of an even bigger screen , to consume hour after hour of content . The ability of the main streaming platforms to keep us sane and entertained during the pandemic led to Realise creating a video and e-book of 21 lessons for organisers to apply to their events .
A final thought : we have all heard about ‘ customised marketing ,’ crafting individual messages to customers , and yet it ’ s all too easy to refer to ‘ delegates ,’ as if they were one , amorphous mass . Instead , let ’ s recognise that they are hundreds of unique individuals , fellow passengers on the Covid-19 journey . Treat them that way , and savour the results . CN