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 Managing the Millennial Attendee
Planners and demographic experts give tips on engaging young audiences
By Katie Morell
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 reluctant to join group events—traits often associated with the under-30 crowd can leave meeting planners in a quandary.
 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.
“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.
Who Are They?
So who exactly are the Millennials, a demographic also known as Generation Y, Echo Boomers and Net Generation?
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 Decades of Differences: Making it Work, pushes the date up a bit.
“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.” Read More...
Go for Apps
For many Millennials, as well as others, mobile meeting apps and other paperless means of communication are preferred over hard-copy agendas.
“The Millennial generation hates waste and really, really respects green, so you want to make sure to minimize your paper products,” says Joan M. Buck, CMP, CMM, owner of Focus On Success, a Denver-based meetings management company. “Also, look into mobile meeting apps that are designed for smart phones. There are apps out there that will offer a full agenda on the phone and alerts for next sessions. There can even be advertising opportunities on those apps for vendors.”
“Don’t even think of giving them a CD,” adds Diane Guthrie, CMP, president and owner of Guthrie & Associations Meeting & Event Management in San Diego, Calif. “You might be able to get away with giving out a flash drive, but Millennials really want to just instantly download content to their iPhones.” Read More...
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