MICE


Walk talk


the


Exercise, nutrition and wellbeing are the ingredients of a successful modern meeting


By CATHERINE CHETWYND F 116


OR SOME, MEETINGS HAVE COME ON APACE since the days when delegates were holed up for hours while speakers talked at them and subjected them to


death-by-Powerpoint.


Engaging participants before the event; audience participation; light, tasty food (sometimes); and engaging speakers all play a part in the ‘wellbeing’ meetings trend that aims to ensure delegates go away stimulated and having taken onboard the required mes- sages. And this means return on investment. The most recent addition to this cornu- copia of good practice is meetings on the move – walking and talking at the same time. Well-known peripatetic protagonists have included the late Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, Barack Obama and Sir Richard Branson – who posted an article about it on the Virgin website: “In London I used to


BBT September/October 2016


enlist collaborators on a stroll around the canals of Little Venice. The edge of the lake is a well-trodden path in Kidlington... while walking meetings on Necker come with an ocean view. There must be something about water that gets my creativity flowing.” The Virgin mogul continues: “It’s very rare that a meeting on a single topic should need to last more than 5-10 minutes. If you stand up, you’ll find that decisions get made pretty quickly and no one nods off – plus it’s a great way to fit in a bit of exercise and stay focused on a busy day. Another positive about meetings outside the boardroom is a lack of fancy tools and, instead, an emphasis on real communication.” Fay Sharpe is sales and marketing managing director at event management specialist Zibrant. She took to ‘walking in- ternal meetings’, in order to build training for the company’s charity challenges into a busy day. “I didn’t have time to fit


that in as well as everything else I had to do, so I decided to catch up with my marketing team on the move with a 45- minute training walk each day,” she says. “For small groups, it was very effective. Generally, you get the point over quickly – you tend to procrastinate more when you are sitting down and have an agenda in front of you.”


She says it’s been popular with her team.


“It stimulates creativity and it’s good not having technology in the way, which allows you to be more mindful and think about things rather than be rushing to get back to your emails.”


OUT AND ABOUT


A recent survey undertaken by Center Parcs showed that 51 per cent of workers polled spent time outside only during lunch or as part of their commute, and 59 per cent stated they find time spent outdoors relaxing.


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