I've spoken with a number of planners who are frustrated with their inability to inject what has been proven to have results into their meetings--namely, interactivity, case studies, and multiple formats to fit different meetings needs of the various participants.
While your board, your boss, or even your attendees might balk at doing something other than the usual talking-head Powerpoint lecture, why not put today's big “multipurposing” trend--repackaging live activities and putting them up on the Web--to a better use by slipping in some of the interactive activities that do result in behavior change? After all, a recent study of physicians and online continuing medical education found that online interactivity is welcomed by participants with open minds instead of pushed away with cold, sweaty hands, as is all too often the case when live meetings try to get interactive.
Sure, it can take a little more time and money to create an interactive online activity, rather than just slapping a Powerpoint presentation up on your Web site. But, as Linda Casebeer, PhD, principal investigator of the online CME study, says, “You may multipurpose, but it doesn’t serve any purpose if you’re just changing the media, not the way the message is presented.”
Give it a try, just once, then measure the results. I think you might be pleased to see how effective a little online interactivity can be in changing your attendees' behavior. And if you already are doing this, please let me know how it's going!
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