Virtual Meetings Keep Messages Moving
If your organization is cutting back on business travel, you’re in good company. Travel budgets are often the first casualties of the economic downturn. But with corporate travel on standby, business communicators still have deadlines to make – including training and continuing education, new product introductions, quarterly employee updates, crisis communications and plant announcements. Virtual is replacing the physical as creative organizations use more electronic media to communicate with employees, dealers and members – so the story still gets out while everyone stays put.
Live video Webcasting is a virtual meeting format that lets executives originate big meeting-quality presentations from their offices or boardrooms to employees, customers and investors – complete with PowerPoint and interactive Q&A. Webcasts can be viewed live or downloaded 24/7 at participants’ convenience – even those working from their home– and can be more inclusive than large events. Administrative support personnel, who otherwise might not have been included, can be invited to participate at little incremental cost to the organization.
Larger firms are embracing “cascade meetings” where important announcements and new-product introductions make their premiere at more modestly sized live events, then “cascade” out into the rest of the company via crisply produced media materials including DVDs, meetings in a box and downloadable audio/video/presentation files.
Other companies are taking cues from large financial institutions, known for routinely taking executive teams on tour to smaller employee group meetings. With electronic presentation equipment more portable, these executive road shows help curtail corporate travel costs.
