Are you sick of the same speakers, ballroom décor and surf-and-turf entrees at your annual conference?
If so, you may need to find a conference intrapreneur. Better yet, start an entire planning culture of intrapreneurship. The term “intrapreneurship” is gaining traction in the business world as a way for companies to encourage an entrepreneurial spirit amongst its current employees. While an entrepreneur is typically seen as an out-of-the-box thinker who breaks the business mold, employees who take on an entrepreneurial way of thinking—by emphasizing creativity, problem solving and new ideas—can greatly help a company remain competitive.
The idea of intrapreneurship has become so popular that there’s even an organization called The League of Intraprenuers organized around encouraging intrapreneurs who work in the corporate world to come together and share their ideas about finding a place in the system. This current rise in intrapreneurship can be attributed to the millennial mindset, as younger employees are eager to make an impact. While some often turn to startups, others are looking to essentially create a startup within their current workplace.
This same ideal can be applied at conferences. The more that event staff members are encouraged to bring ideas to the table, the more it will help with staff satisfaction, productivity and retention. Staff can even bring their hobbies to the event program by teaching a pre-event yoga class or encouraging attendees to “paint” event topics that bring relevancy and creativity to the event. If meeting planners start to encourage this mindset, the event-planning playground is open to a whole new set of possibilities. That means out with the same-old, surf-and-turf meal plan and in with, say, immersive cooking stations.
