Meetovation - The meeting of the future

The need to meet people in a physical environment in exchange for knowledge, information and experience has been an important concept since human cultivation.  In order to increase your professional competence and knowledge capacity, gain experience and broaden you network within your field, interaction and communication with international colleagues is an essential factor in your own professional development. That is why professional meetings are of important significance in any industry around the globe. 

Professional meetings are organized all the time, regardless of place, in order for participants to fulfill their needs to develop professional skills and to evolve in their professional careers. That is why attention towards meetings has increased with regard to organizing and implementing a successful meeting. In order to truly grasp the essence of a meeting and to motivate and innovate participants whilst gaining maximum value on several levels, meetovation was created as a tool for successful meetings. 

Meetovation is a holistic meeting concept invented and designed to grasp the true meaning of value in contemplation to support the creation of better meetings. The instruments of meetovation enables successful meetings in a creative and responsible way, maximizing the value for participants and for organizers. The tool of meetovation was developed and created in order to spend valuable time efficiently as well as to increase the value of a meeting for participants and organizers in general.

Meetovation takes into account the most important factors and elements of meetings both engaging the participants actively in a creative manner as well as the organizers to increase the return on the investment. The concept of meetovation increases learning, it boosts energy and helps to create change in participants and it change the way meetings are planned and held. For meetings to be more successful and of practical use, the instrument of meetovation is a great way to start planning you meeting and to share the knowledge to participants in a valuable way. 

How the idea come to life

The concept of meetovation was brought together by a leading visionary group of experts in the industry aiming to create optimal meeting conditions and with focus on creating good meetings as early as in 2003. The intention is simply to put an end to boring meetings that do not motivate or change participants. Meetings could and should provide participants valuable experience that can be used in one’s professional and personal development. The vision of meetovation was, and still continues to be, to make Denmark that country in the world where the best meetings are held. Focusing on the creation of a greater meeting industry, several years of brainstorming and research took place in unity with several aspects of the industry and with multiple important actors. Meetovation was officially launched in 2012 after year of development, and still continues to develop and to expand. A lot has happened since 2003, so with the knowledge possessed today and the tendencies we see around us, the principles of meetovation need to be adapted further to date. The concept of meetovation keeps getting sharper and innovative measures are adapted further within the concept still sharing the same vision and aim; Denmark needs to be the best country in which to have meetings. 

In meetovation the thinking process is different than of other countries. In meetovation the meetings are designed in order to ensure a high return on investment, thus focusing on several elements that support these processes. Meetovation is a tool that is developed to help meeting planners and organizers plan better meetings, where all aspects of the meeting are thought about in advance. The meeting is not supposed to be an ordinary meeting where participants listen, is should be a concept that engages the participants to learn and to change thus to develop and to evolve one’s own professional skillset. In order to implement a successful meeting by using the instruments of meetovation the objective of the meeting need to be clarified right in the beginning. 
 

What’s the purpose of your meeting?

If you don’t have the target, it is difficult to find the right way there. Therefore, it is important to start by defining the purpose of the meeting, both the specific output of the meeting, but also the strategic goal the meeting is striving for. 

Meetings have many alternative objectives, thus evaluation and analysis of the target itself is essential.

• If the objective of the meeting is education and knowledge sharing the framework is essential to motivate and inspire the participants, in order to truly fulfill the target. When teaching new methods and learning new tools, a structure with equal parts of theory and practice is effective. 
• If you hold a meeting where the purpose is to make the participants purchase something, whether it is a product or an idea, then it places certain demands on how to design the meeting. The creation of a good atmosphere with a motivational programme is a great start when it comes to sales and motivational meetings. 
• When relations must be created or teamwork must be strengthened integrated exercises are in place, in order for the participants not to only learn the importance, but to also understand the true meaning of the relations. 
• When major decisions have to be made there are several aspects that can be made to ease the process. It is essential to make sure the framework of the meeting works perfectly so that participants are not distracted by unnecessary disturbances. 
• When the desired outcome is creative, new solutions are to be found, or products need to be developed, a sense of inspiration is needed from the participants. In order to gain the benefit of inspirational, brainstorming and innovational meetings, participants need to be involved in the processes in order to get motivated, thus inspirational. 
• A celebration is an event that is out of the ordinary. If your company has reached a milestone and wish to celebrate, the framework naturally has to be festive in order to encourage participants to cheer.

By outlining the purpose and target of a meeting the planning is already half way complete. To implement certain elements using the benefits of the outlined process is the key to a successful meeting. 

Five dynamic concepts

The most important elements of meetovation involve five dynamic concepts, them being; active involvement, responsible thinking, local inspiration, creative setups and return on investment. 

Each of these elements plays a vital role in meetovation and its successful implementation end execution. These five elements interact in synergy in order to customize a meeting, thus creating a meeting of greater value. Each of these elements are necessary in order to create a valuable meeting, but may vary in significance, as they are interrelated to the type of the meeting. 
 

1. Active involvement evolves around the concept of engaging participants in the meeting. Participants should not only attend a meeting and listen, but participation and engagement increases the value for the participant. Communication is aligned along two-sided communication increasing the long-term benefits as well as the learning and understanding process of the participant. The involvement of participants increases the ability to make decisions, enables smoother communication and knowledge sharing, increases motivation and inspires participants towards new learning techniques. Participants get more out of the meeting if they are involved in the process, thus creating greater value both for the participant and the organizer. There are several ways of actively involve the participant in the meeting, just be creative. 

2. Responsible thinking stimulates the energy of meeting participants, enabling the meeting to be more successful. Responsible thinking engages sustainable thinking, which is an important part of the market we operate on today. Sustainability and responsibility towards the world we operate on as well as for the meeting participants wellbeing are highly encouraged in any meeting both from the perspective from the organizer and the participants point of view. Organizers have the responsibility to plan a meeting that encourages and supports responsible thinking on all levels, and participants have the responsibility to follow these guidelines. In unity with organizers and participants can meetings truly be sustainable and responsible.  Examples of responsible thinking from both sides include green hotels, green transport, print on demand, utilization of venues that offers sustainable elements, recycling and planning your responsibility in advance. Using responsible thinking truly engages the participants and the organizers for a cleaner and greener world.

3. In order to create a unique experience local inspiration is a great way to engage the participants. The local surrounding and culture, as well as the social setting of a nation or society, has a great meaning and impact for participants influencing the nature of the meeting to greater lengths. The local input can help support the purpose and topic of the meeting in a different way, engaging the participants in new ways at the same time. Incorporating local inspiration in a meeting, gives

the participants the chance to gain knowledge from a different perspective. Participants will remember the meeting both for professional and personal reason if local inspiration is incorporated, as the meeting has been planned to be a unique experience using these tools. Local inspiration should be relevant and interesting in order for participants to gain maximum advantage. Introducing local and relevant attractions, environments and knowledge in the area of the meeting are great instruments to support theses aspects. In order to truly engage the participant, using the physical environment in new ways motivates the participants and engages their enthusiasm. 

4. Creative setups are important when organizing a successful and meaningful meeting, as the physical surrounding or the change in the surrounding stimulates the brain with new input, thus helps the brain think clearer. By working with inspiring interiors and stimulating senses of the participants helps the physical framework generate energy, concentration and creativity. Changing the setup during the duration of the meeting has proved to be effective, as changes in a person’s mindset can be triggered by changing the environment or space leading to greater perceptions and results. By introducing for example network sessions, round table discussions, poster walks, morning runs and other exercises and activities in meetings have proven to be effective ways of creative setup. The setup and the physical environment can easily be changed by using creativity, but keep in mind that functionality comes first, thus it is important to find a setup that suits your meeting. 

5. Return on investment is one of the cornerstones of meetovation. A meeting will only have value if participants actually gain knowledge and perspective form the meeting that can be used after in professional or personal use. The key is to make a change in the participants, enabling them to develop their skillset and evolve as an individual. 

The concept of meetovation and the utilization of the tools provided ensure that participants benefit from the time and money invested in meetings. By keeping the return on investment in mind helps organizers to define goals and objectives of meetings, making it easier to evaluate appropriate methods that can be used during meetings. Graphic facilitation, reflecting own learning, thinking in new ways, exercises and feedback are all great instruments and examples to measure the return on investment of meetings. Meetings should be attended only if the underlying goal of the participant can be achieved. The meeting must be rewarding and worth the investment, thus inspiring and motivational. By evaluating if participants are doing their jobs better after participating a meeting, is a true indicator on return on investment.

By combining these five elements and the objectives in meetings, a great success rate can be guaranteed. Even small efforts and changes can make a big difference. People tend to seek for innovative and motivational meetings, in order to develop their own professional mindset, thus meetovation serves as a great instrument for that purpose.  

The meetovation manifesto possesses several important factors that enable Denmark to become the best place for meetings. In order to proclaim this declare, attributes need to be considered and obtained in order to do so. 

• First, meetovation focuses on advising on a 360-degree basis, meaning that, a meeting needs to create value on several levels and affect each participant. Meetovation helps to fulfill the meeting’s purpose and – on a strategic level – create a meeting that is in line with the context. 
• Secondly, meetovation also offers co-ownership and strive to listen to the needs of its users. Meetovation offer ownership and advise organizers and planners all the way. As a team, maximum return on investment on meetings can be achieved. 
• Third, meetovation strives to create knowledge sharing meaning that they work from documented and proven learning principles as well as believe in the value of knowledge sharing on several levels. The meeting designs helps organizers facilitate interaction on meetings and thus creates positive change in the behavior of the participants. 
• Fourth, meetovation focuses also on customizing meetings. Simplicity, functionality and high quality; three values that are encountered in the meeting design regularly. With these values in mind, meetovation chooses the environment, technology and cuisine to match meetings that stimulates the senses of participants. Together in unity with organizers can we create a learning environment that strengthens participant involvement. 
• Lastly, meetovations manifesto also states that they strive to do better today than yesterday, thus taking responsibility of their actions. Sustainable approaches are highly appreciated, thus the meeting design reflect these approaches. 

Using the tools of meetovation, Denmark truly has the potential to become the best country when it comes to meetings. Constant development, research and integration enables the foundation of meetovation to grow and to evolve to greater lengths. The concept of Meetovation is in constant development seeking to improve its constellation actively in order to secure successful and meaningful meetings in the future. The tools of meetovation truly enable the planning and implementation of successful meetings that benefit both the organizer as well as the participant now and in the future.