<meta content="text/html; charset=utf-8" http-equiv="Content-Type"><p>To some, the Millennial generation is like a team of wild horses in need of taming. Strong willed, speaking a language laced with cyber terms, constantly texting during meetings and reluctance to join group events—traits often associated with the under-30 crowd can leave meeting planners in a quandary.</p><p>However, there is really no reason to despair, say demographic experts and meeting planners experienced with addressing generational differences. It’s a matter of understanding what engages Millennials and how their needs and responses differ from people raised in the pre-digital era.</p><p>“This is a generation to embrace,” insists Dianne Davis, vice president, meetings and marketing consulting for TulNet, an independent meeting planning company in Tulsa, Okla.</p><p><strong style="text-transform: uppercase;">Who Are They?</strong></p><p>So who exactly are the Millennials, a demographic also known as Generation Y, Echo Boomers and Net Generation?</p><p>Millennial birthdate definitions vary. While many say this generation is comprised of people born after 1980, demographics expert Kenneth W. Gronbach, president of KGC Direct, and author of <em>Decades of Differences: Making it Work</em>, pushes the date up a bit.</p><p>“These are persons born between 1985 and 2004,” he says. “Every generation takes up a 20 year span of time; Baby Boomers were born between 1945 and 1964, and Generation Xers were born between 1965 and 1984. If you can’t come up with a standard for understanding a generation, you end up with subjectivity and confusion.”</p><p>According to Gronbach, the generation’s birthdates peaked in 1990, making most Millennials around 21 years old—just coming out of college. He also notes that it’s a generation that grew up with the Internet.</p><p>“They speak cyber as their first language,” he says.</p><p>Maddy Dychtwald, co-founder and senior vice president for Age Wave, a demographic think tank based in Emeryville, Calif., agrees, but adds that while the generation is savvy in tech language, they can be deficient in other modes of communication.</p><p>“Their social skill set—face-to-face—isn’t as strong as their technological skill set,” she says. “They are extremely comfortable chatting online and working with technology, but not as much in social situations.”</p><p>In addition to growing up with the Internet, Millennials also had a childhood filled with structured activities—a vast difference from their elders. Where Baby Boomers and Generation Xers may have been allowed to roam neighborhoods and play pick-up games of football in the street, many Millennials grew up with “helicopter” parents who scheduled every minute of the day.</p><p>“They never went outside to play—they had soccer practice, dance practice and so on,” Dychtwald says.</p><p>So how does this information relate to the meeting planner? First, it helps explain the most important key to managing a Millennial attendee: engagement.</p><p>“You have to actively engage them from the meeting’s beginning to its end,” Dychtwald says.</p><p><strong style="text-transform: uppercase;">Rules of Attraction</strong></p><p>Joan M. Buck, CMP, CMM, owner of Focus On Success, a meeting management company based in Denver, is among planners who have worked out a strategy for keeping younger attendees engaged, starting with the attendance-building and registration processes.</p><p>“Email marketing is best,” Buck says. “Also, make sure your registration website is clear. Don’t overflow it with flash. They don’t want to wait for things to download; they want everything instantly. The website should have bulleted, easy-to-read points and a quick action button—click here for this, etc. Don’t have pop-ups.”</p><p>According to, Gronbach email marketing is not the only option.</p><p>“They respond to snail mail as long as the mailer is customized to them, for them,” he says. “It needs to be something they will get value out of.”</p><p>TulNet’s Davis recommends involving Millennials in the meeting planning process.</p><p>“Millennials have a lot of great ideas for how to market and execute meetings,” she says. “They want to make connections and be part of it, so get them involved before the meeting. They can help tune you into what the generation really wants out of a meeting or event.”</p><p>She also advises getting feedback from Millennials on what kind of meetings content is preferred.</p><p>“We ask them to tell us what they want us to talk about,” Davis says. “They are huge on open communication and really want to be heard.”</p><p><strong style="text-transform: uppercase;">Engaging Content </strong></p><p>When it comes to content presented during the meeting, Buck advises avoiding static, lecture-style general sessions.</p><p>“Obviously, general sessions are more lecture-based, but you can personalize it by having a speaker walk through the audience as they are speaking. It gives the speech a more personal feel,” she says.</p><p>“I also recommend setting up the stage talk-show style instead of podium-style,” she continues. “This attracts the attention of the Millennial generation and makes the presentation more personal. Ask your speaker to shake hands as they walk in.”</p><p>According to Gronbach, another way to keep the audience engaged during general sessions is text tolling—situations in which a speaker poses a question and attendees text answers that appear in real-time.</p><p>He adds that texting during meetings is not necessarily a sign that attendees are rude or that their minds are wandering.</p><p>“The other day, I was speaking to a group at a conference when I spotted one attendee who had his head down and was texting while I was talking,” Gronbach says. “I thought that was terribly rude, so I went up to him and asked him what he was doing—right in the middle of my presentation. He said he was posting information about me and my talk to his social networks. It stopped me in my tracks.”</p><p>As for the content of keynote presentations, Gronbach recommends keeping away from abstract platitudes.</p><p>“In the past, attendees may have been inspired by motivational speakers, but those people don’t fly for this generation,” he says. “Millennials just look at those types of speakers and ask, ‘That sounds nice, but what is the real application of this?’ Instead, give them real information—tactics, strategies and something they can formulate into a takeaway.</p><p>“Make sure everything is based on fact and that you are real and transparent, because those kids will see right through you,” he continues. “If you don’t have data to support your content, you are in trouble. They will be fact checking you as you speak—with their mobile devices.”</p><p>Breakout sessions also need to be designed to engage Millennials. </p><p>“This generation grew up doing things in teams,” Buck says. “They learned in pods and everything was about teamwork. In order to engage them in the breakout session, you need to mimic what they did in school. Instead of setting up a space classroom-style, try pods or crescent rounds. It will help engage them in a way in which they are comfortable.”</p><p>Don’t talk <em>at</em> them; talk <em>with</em> them, Gronbach advises.</p><p>“Interactivity is important to them; it is the social networking thing,” he says. “And if you can, integrate technology into sessions.”</p><p><strong style="text-transform: uppercase;">After-Hours Activities</strong></p><p>Thinking of organizing a golf outing or wine-and-cheese reception? If so, don’t expect Millennials to attend.</p><p>“Baby Boomers like the schmoozing and the golfing; Millennials want structure,” Dychtwald says. “They like structured interactions with other generations and those with different ideas.”</p><p>Instead of a reception, organize a sit-down meal with assigned seats, she suggests.</p><p>“Offer discussion points for each table, and make sure you have a really good objective,” she says. “Millennials can be a little lost in face-to-face interaction and since they had so much structure in their childhoods, they thrive in regimented environments.”</p><p>In addition to discussion points, Dychtwald recommends offering games as a way to interact.</p><p>Carolyn Davis, CMP, meeting and event planner at Strategic Meeting Partners in San Diego, Calif., says Millennials often prefer physical activities, particularly those with a CSR bent.</p><p>“They love corporate service projects, from building playgrounds to planting trees,” she says. “I’m also adding a lot of interactive experiences to evening events such as surf contests on simulators. We are even adding a themed flash mob to a special event in November—now that’s Millennial!”</p><p><em>Katie Morell is a Chicago-based freelance writer and former Meetings Today editor. </em></p>
