Spread across the country, Brass Animals can thank technology for keeping them organized, booked, and at the top of search results for dynamic event musicians. Since teleporting isn’t a thing- yet, – technology can also be thanked for staying in contact with fellow troupe members, from texts and emails to video calls, and now, virtual meetings.
As technology constantly evolves and advances, allowing small business conferences and gatherings to grow into massive multi-hub meetings, it can be easy to feel left out of the loop. But staying in the loop means staying relevant, and staying relevant means your business will continue to grow as times change. The times may be a changin’, but that doesn’t mean you have to be left in the dust.
One thing that remains consistent as technology continues to advance is the need for meetings and team building, especially in the business world. What does evolve, however, is the way these meetings are held. By identifying what were once unconventional practices and making them the norm, worlds of opportunities possibly open up.
Keeping the Band Together
Thanks to ingenious new business strategies, technological advancements and lightning fast internet connections, multi-hub meetings are bringing people together from across the country, even around the world, to experience the same presentation or discussion.
Aside from the traditional business world application of Multi-Hub Meetings, it is also beneficial in settings ranging from classrooms to writers to musicians. For the Brass Animals in particular, with troupes spread out across the country, it can be hard to get the whole band together, but with the help of a multi-hub meeting, everyone in their home locations can still get together for a monthly practice or to hear a guest conductor introduce some new jams.
Gone are the days of donning the suit bag and kissing the family goodbye for a few days as you embark on a soul sucking business meeting, even if it does mean jamming with the group. Traveling for conferences and finding a space to house hundreds of people can be challenging, but multi-hub meetings combat this with their simple and effective take on video conferences.
Sounds Cool, but what is a Multi-Hub Meeting?
Through state of the art video and sound equipment, distributed amongst all participating venues, Multi-Hub Meetings allow a speaker in one location to talk to hundreds of people in several locations near and far.
Depending on the extent of the meeting, it can either be as simple as a webinar on steroids, or so interactive that participants practically feel like they’re sitting in the same room as their colleagues on the other coast. Different venues and meeting types allow for different technology, and the experience can be customized as far as length and size.
Why are multi-hub meetings growing in popularity?
When a lot of people think of a virtual meeting, they think of static, people talking over one another, lame slideshows and repeated participants asking “Am I on mute?!” before disappearing into silence while playing Minesweeper to kill the time. Thanks to technological advancements and state of the art equipment, the vibe of these meetings has taken a complete 180 degree turn.
There are so many benefits to multi-hub meetings, due greatly in part to their accessibility. By virtually bringing together people in a seminar or meeting from different areas, industries, walks of life, and career paths, these meetings can open up a world of opportunities, experiences and ideas to all those who are lucky enough to be involved. When you think about it, it’s harder to believe they didn’t gain popularity much sooner than they did.
- Cost Savings
It may go without saying, but if a person is attending a meeting at a local hub rather than traveling to a distant city, there are fewer expenses associated with hosting an event. Fuel reimbursements are smaller, airline and lodging expenses are fewer.
These savings can be redistributed to attract higher quality speakers, host greater meals, or set up more meetings, further extending the accessibility to more people.
In most cases, these events already require presentation equipment. Using gear specially equipped for multi-hub meetings doesn’t always incur additional costs, making it an easy and cost effective solution.
- Increased Involvement
When there are more locations a person can attend a meeting, it increases the chance for those to be involved. A 90 minute drive to a local hub point is a much easier pill to swallow than a six hour flight to a distant city.
Distance aside, there is a greater chance of people being able to attend when it is a nearby meeting with a smaller group. Like minded individuals can enjoy the benefits a large group discussion, while being surrounded by peers in a smaller classroom setting.
It can also bring together smaller companies or groups that may have not had access to such conferences or presentations in the past. Better involved employees and group members mean they’ll have more to bring to the table.
- Less Disruptive
Decreased time spent on travel and visiting distant locales for a meeting is a plus across the boards, both business and personal. Less disruption to any schedule means time will be better spent and more efficient.
In the office, if employees aren’t slated for a several day trip including travel, there will be fewer days when the team is understaffed. Regular work can continue at a regular pace, when in the past people would spend at least a day or two to travel, hoping to catch up here and there between meetings before returning to the office a day or a week later.
It’s also less disruptive to personal schedules, families don’t need to find extra hands to help out around the house while a family member travels for business, furry friends don’t need to stare longingly out the kennel door for their beloved owners, and that laundry in the dryer doesn’t need to spend an extra day sitting there, but let’s be real it probably still will.
- Bringing Regions Together
Local groups may gather on the regular, but sometimes when a business, group, or company is spread across the country, they may be missing out on vital perspectives and conversation that is beneficial to all.
Sure email and social media are a great and helpful way to bring together different groups, branches, and regions, but there is something to be said about the spoken word in a group setting. Group conversation can ignite new ideas, grow on existing, and invoke new thought processes that may be missed without a jam sesh so to say.
The more conversation and shared experiences that can be had throughout a group, the stronger the camaraderie and team feeling.
- Technological Advancements
The technology behind a multi-hub meeting is a business strategy that not only offers benefits to the business world, but to volunteer organizations, groups, educators and so many more options. With equipment available that offers crisp video and sounds, sometimes it’ll feel so real that it’s almost like a former colleague who thankfully moved across the country is back sitting in your own office.
By making this technology readily available to all participants, it can also allow specialists in different areas to participate in a meeting without having to travel to a far location, so if you really want that world famous social media influencer or your hometown tuba player to make an appearance at your meeting, they only have to carve out an hour or two to participate, rather than at least an entire day.
The technology brings the meeting to everyone, rather than everyone having to go to where the technology is located. That is the beauty of such technological advancements.
How can a multi-hub meeting have the same feel as a traditional large scale meeting?
As with anything new, there are always going to be the diehards who like the way things are done and would rather not change that. Of course there are benefits to traditional large scale meetings and conferences- the fancy hotel on the company’s dime, the after party and cocktails, the swag, the mingling with others in your company or field and did we mention the cocktails? The thing is, these things aren’t always practical or cost effective. But just because they aren’t practical, it doesn’t mean they aren’t necessary. Even when people complain about business meetings, there are often perks that improve morale or make it worthwhile.
- Bring the Entertainment
A lot of annual business meetings aren’t just sole business. They’re often looked at as a company retreat or followed by a company party with everyone together. A good reason for a little R&R for a job well done. If everyone is everywhere, it can be hard to imagine this being a group experience.
One way to keep this vibe throughout a multi-hub meeting is offering entertainment at some point during the session. Better yet, why not look into a multi-hub entertainer? Brass Animals answer that call. By giving all the participants similar entertainment, they can have a shared experience, even if they are hundreds of miles apart.
With professional brass musical troupes located in five central hubs across the USA, there is a good chance Brass Animals be close enough to perform at one or more of your multi-hub meeting locations. Once the business is done, let your small meeting group enjoy dinner and dancing to spunky renditions of classics both new and old. Keep your meeting goers happy by emailing black@brassanimals.com or visiting their website, brassanimals.com.
- Host it at a Local Venue
Just because the meeting can come directly to your boring office conference room doesn’t mean it necessarily has to take place there. No matter how fascinating the topic of discussion may be, having it within the same walls you spend every day trapped can make a five star meeting go from fab to drab quickly.
As an alternative to the office, look into local venues such as hotels or restaurants with meeting spaces where the seminar or gathering can take place. Better yet if they can serve an impressive meal during lunch break. If each participating location has their meeting in a similar location, it gives the added feeling of the team being together, even if they are spread out across several locations.
- Keep the Same Format on a Smaller Scale
If you have a meeting style that works and is well received by all participants, why not recreate it on a smaller scale at each location? By keeping the same format, there is a good chance the event will be received similarly to the larger scale version.
If the finale of the meeting is a big fancy dinner with an amazing chocolate fountain at the end, with of course live brass music playing in the background, then don’t skip it just because you’re close to home.
Find out what people really respond well to, and give it to them. Maybe people do enjoy staying in the hotel- so if you travel an hour for the meeting, let people stay if they want to, or head home if they’d rather. And if they’re used to going to a conference, don’t forget the swag. Rather than sending participants home with the post it notes and key chains, offer them something a little more substantial with some of the margin of savings.
Doing things to make your participants feel like they still had a similar experience to their traditional meeting, with a few bonus perks here and there, is a sure way to get everyone on board with the concept of a multi-hub meeting.
When technology advances, there are so many cool things that can happen. People come together while remaining apart, ideas are born and experiences that may have been unattainable in the past become reality.
Technology gave people a platform in which they can share endless cat videos and memes that hardly make sense, so it’s time to let technology do what it does best- bring people together to learn and converse.
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