In the 10 days before writing this article, I’ve received invitations to two events, one industry-related and one in an area of other interest, one to be held over Rosh Hashanah and one over Yom Kippur.
To its immense credit, ASAE changed the dates and venue for its Great Ideas 2013 conference after publicizing it and then being told the original dates were on the first two nights of Passover and on Palm Sunday. (I am hopeful that ASAE and the hotel at which the meeting had been booked will do more training with their staffs. ASAE’s Diversity & Inclusion Committee, with the Ethics Committee, which I chair, is looking at how we can better educate all ASAE members.)
Last June, during Ramadan, MPI held its annual WEC, and I also believe PCMA held an international meeting outside of the U.S. that was also over Ramadan.
Learning from ASAE, MPI and PCMA, and other organizations holding meetings over Ramadan, the accommodation made just as it has been at the Olympics for those who are Muslim and those who are fasting in support of Islam and family members would be helpful to all of us. (I’m going to see if the recently completed International AIDS conference can advise what they did. With 25,000 people, and the careful preparation for the conference, I am hopeful there will be lots to learn.)
We all make mistakes booking meetings. I did it: a small event (less than 25 attendees) was scheduled over Palm Sunday. A few of the group who might be impacted were queried; they were okay. Others not asked were not okay. Never again will I do that.
Our industry, on the other hand, seems to make the error again and again and again. Imagine being one who observes other holidays or doesn’t observe any, and the hurt and isolation that is felt.
[Ironic humor: When I pointed out to an industry association staff member some years ago that their meeting was being held over Passover, I was told “Oh well, we can serve the right food.” I suggested, instead, that they move it to Easter and “serve the right food.” They didn’t move it; and they’ve held other meetings over holidays.]
In such a diverse world, one cannot make assumptions about anyone or their families, their practices or their needs. When organizations hold meetings over holidays and holy days, it sends the unintended messages of “We are not smart enough to check the calendar” and “We don’t care about you.”
We’re gonna show that we are smarter than that, right?
To help, here’s a very basic primer:
Meeting and Event Planning and Hotel Sales 101
- Know your audience.
- Make no assumptions about who they are and what will impact their attendance.
- Check calendars. You may know Christmas is Dec. 25, Boxing Day is Dec. 26; Thanksgiving is on the 3rd Thursday of November in the U.S.; and U.S. Independence Day is July 4. You won’t know without checking when Ramadan begins (in and outside North America), or Easter, or Palm Sunday, or Rosh Hashanah, or Yom Kippur, or other holy days, or banking or other national holidays. If you are unsure of a holiday’s meaning or observances, do a Web search, ask others and learn more. Not all holidays in all countries, or for religious or ethnic groups, have the same weight—make no assumptions!
Joan Eisenstodt is chief strategist at Washington, D.C.-based Joan Eisenstodt Associates, as well as the moderator of Meetings Focus Forum.
