When I’m traveling for work, whether it be to cover an industry tradeshow or attend a fam trip, one thing I tend to leave behind almost every time is my work-life balance.
For the most part, that’s intentional. As media, I am onsite at an event or in a destination to experience it all without missing a beat, and when the day is done and I’m back in my hotel room, I write about it until the morning’s earliest hours so Meetings Today readers have the latest news ASAP.
It’s my job to make sure you’re in the know—and to do it fast. The best way I know how to do that is to do, see, listen to and experience everything I possibly can when I am on the road for work, then put it all into writing to share what I learned with you.
That means saying yes to all the additional activities on an itinerary, packing my tradeshow schedule full of back-to-back interviews, waking up at the crack of dawn to catch the early-morning education sessions and staying up late to report on it all. (OK, fine. Maybe it involves quite a few “optional” nightcaps and afterparties, too…But how else am I supposed to cover a destination and its venues without checking them out for myself? *wink wink*)
I make it a goal to do the most when I travel for work, from the moment I land until it’s wheels up again; mostly to learn and take advantage of the opportunities, partially because of my crippling FOMO—maybe a teensy bit because of my susceptibility to peer pressure—but all for the love of what I do.
I’ll admit, work-life balance isn’t something I worry too much about during business travel; I know the trip is just a temporary situation and I reset and recharge when I get home. Most of my generation, however, is prioritizing work-life balance on the road, setting new boundaries for business travel that are causing meeting planners to rethink agendas and event design.
“Attendees are looking for downtime in the schedule and shorter days,” said Jeannie Weber, event director, 360 Live Media. “There can also be decision fatigue if there is too much going on at once.
“At the same time, travel and cost still need to be worth the effort,” she added, “so it comes down to providing flexibility and quality content and networking opportunities versus quantity.”
This gives meeting planners the ultimate challenge: designing events that squeeze every necessary element and experience into a limited amount of time while still allowing attendees extended breaks and, most importantly, delivering enough value to make them want to be there in the first place.
[Related: The Z: How Do You Capture an Audience That Has an 8-Second Attention Span?]
How Are Attendee Behaviors Shifting?
Events are no longer seeing full attendance; they’re seeing selective participation.
As Weber mentioned, younger attendees aren’t packing their event schedules full of meetings and education sessions. They’re prioritizing only the appointments that provide the most value to them, skipping out on anything that may feel redundant, too promotional or sales-pitchy, or like it’d deliver low ROI. Instead, they intentionally leave gaps in their schedules to regroup, check their emails and catch up on work (or catch some Z’s).
“We’re seeing that many attendees are looking for more breaks in the schedule or are choosing to take their own break instead of packing their personal agenda from breakfast through dinner,” Weber said, and more frequently, they’re taking real breaks—not just lingering in the prefunction area between sessions but stepping outside, going for walks and getting away from the event environment entirely.
Not only are they protecting their mornings, skipping out on breakfasts and slowly trickling into later morning sessions, but Gen Z is protecting their evenings, too. Those late-night networking events that feel almost automatic for many experienced attendees—think happy hours, dinners and afterparties—are the activities many Gen Zers are opting out of. Instead, they’re sleeping, enjoying some solo time or organizing intentional meetups with a smaller group.
And when it comes to the actual travel itself, which requires getting on a plane, leaving family behind, losing hours at work and the many other things attendees need to consider when they justify attending your event, “attendees won’t travel as long or choose to leave earlier to get home,” Weber said.
There are shifting demographics attending our events, Weber said, “and we need to adapt to what they are looking for: better balance throughout the day, healthier options, greater personalization of the experience, quality over quantity and more intentional networking.”
[Related: The Z: Advice for Overcoming Onboarding From 10 Meetings and Hospitality Professionals]
How Can Events Adapt?
When planners consider Gen Z’s preferences and behavior in their event design, they’re often faced with another challenge: balancing client and stakeholder expectations for “full” agendas with Gen Z’s values around well-being and work-life balance. Their first response might be to take something away from the event agenda, but the solution actually may be to add more.
“I think the more opportunities you can provide attendees to personalize their experience, the better,” Weber said. (Another value on Gen Z’s list: freedom of choice.)
“We’re adapting our program design by either shortening the event overall or being more strategic with the schedule design,” Weber said. “On one event, we streamlined the number of concurrent education tracks and built in time for each cohort to visit the exhibit hall, network with their peers or take a break depending on what they need at that time.”
This setup meant an attendee on one track could opt to take a break during the time event organizers designated for their cohort, or if they wanted to maximize their continuing education credits, they could opt to go to a session in another track during their break time.
“At another event, the middle of the day is dedicated to the exhibit hall,” Weber said. “An attendee could use that full time to visit exhibitors, go to show-floor education or drop by a sponsored activation, or they could use some or all of that time to rest and refresh.”
A third event Weber mentioned typically features an area on the exhibit hall floor that’s designated for well-being, with a meditation lounge, puppies to pet, healthy snacks and other stress-relief areas such as crafting stations, as well as convenient quiet rooms for attendees to use as needed.
“As we adapt our event design, focus on quality over quantity and provide optional offerings,” Weber said, “attendees will be able to find the balance they need.”
To create that balance, your events don’t necessarily need more change. They just need more choice.
Eeny, meeny, miny, moe!
Taylor
Have a question about Gen Z or a topic you’d like to learn more about? Share your thoughts with Taylor at taylor.smith@meetingstoday.com.
Mission Statement: "The Z: Planning for the Industry’s Next Generation" is an award-winning Meetings Today column discussing the meetings and events industry’s newest and youngest members—the incoming Generation Z. Written by Meetings Today’s Taylor Smith, a member of Gen Z herself, The Z explores how to welcome, work with, understand and plan for the industry’s next wave of professionals while serving as a guide for members of Gen Z themselves, planners and attendees alike.
Read more from "The Z: Planning for the Industry’s Next Generation."
