Maarten Vanneste writes a manifesto to look after the meeting contents

The point he makes in his book is simple: meeting owners organise meetings to educate, to communicate, to network, to motivate… yet we spend most of our time, money and expertise into selecting hotels and nice gala dinners.

As Maarten says, meetings need “meeting architects”: professionals who help the client define the objectives, and design the whole meeting formats, content, activities, in order to achieve them. Sounds like what you are doing today?
   
Think again: Maarten is talking about a professional who knows about topics like adult learning techniques, psychology, networking formats, HR, etc. As he points out, most meeting planners book hotels, manage logistics… leaving the marketing manager as the sole responsible for defining what to communicate and how (usually does in a long, not-so-effective powerpoint presentation…). Where are the experts in how to communicate at meetings and events?

This book is not a full solution – as he points out, this science is still very incomplete. It is rather, as the author calls it, “a manifesto” which states the need for meeting architects, and presents the basic elements of what that new type of professional should do. We talk to Maarten…

Your book is quite challenging for our industry…
Yes, it might be a challenging topic, but it is also a great opportunity which we have to seize. Meetings are under pressure anyway. If our industry takes ownership and embraces this opportunity, we will be more in control of what is spent. If not, the education or the marketing industries will take over. The whole industry has to react, and we will need serious momentum from the established players, backing from large hotel companies and associations…

Isn’t it especially hard for players like hotels, which get the lion’s share of budgets, to embrace a cause which gives more importance to content?
What we should aim for is to increase the business for all. And even in those industries, some advanced thinkers see this coming. Some hotel chains are working on the content side, transforming their sales force into meeting designers. MPI is also doing much in that respect, with a strong focus on education.

Who will be these “meeting architects”?
There will be hundreds of variations: some will be more artistic, others into technology or into human connections, there will be facilitators, HR experts, some will be independent, some PCO, some AV professionals, some from event agencies… In any case, it will be difficult to be a professional in both (logistics and content).

Today, there is very little knowledge. Where is the book which takes everything we know in psychology and explains what we could use in meetings? And same point for sociology, HR, etc. Meeting professionals don’t get it today and it is essential.

How do you see end clients?
They are not waiting for that. But this very profession will change their mindset. If you present yourself as a specialist in defining objectives and designing a way to achieve them, you get the client’s interest. In any case, you need time and a good relationship. And once they know it, they love it. I can see in the future any big company having steps with a Meeting Architect in their SOP’s, before spending 0,5M on a meeting.
   
Your business is an AV company… how did you come to write this book?
Our company has been called a meeting support company for more than 10 years. When you have an AV company, you start thinking how to add more value. You add service, photography, signage, internet connexion. You become a “meeting support” company, you help your clients achieve their goals. Then 25 years in the business I thought I was able to write this book. MPI and the certification program CMM was the base for that, for this strategic vision of meetings.

Are you a meeting architect?
No, no one could claim to be that yet. But a couple of clients have paid us for these services, and we increasingly offer them to corporate clients or agencies.

The book is available in Meeting Support