Exclusive: Claire Lester on How to Bridge the Generation Gap

November 4, 2024

Is there really a generational divide? And if so, how can meeting and event planners bridge the generational gap?

There is a lot of talk about the difference between generations causing a generation gap in meeting design, especially now that there’s an anticipated big generational workforce shift coming over the next couple of years. Until recently, meetings have been geared mainly toward Baby Boomers, who now number just 19% of the workforce, already being overtaken by Gen X (36%) and Millennials (40%). While Gen Z is just 6% of the workforce now, this generation, having grown up in a time of global economic stress and fast-changing markets, also will bring a new perspective — and new demands on the way meetings and events are conducted.

Claire Lester, Senior Design Studio Strategist with Maritz

As Claire Lester, Senior Design Studio Strategist with Maritz, said during a session at this year’s IMEX America, held in Las Vegas Oct. 8-10, while individuals will of course vary, generally, we’re already seeing a shift from Boomers, whose professionals goals are to seek success and achievement, to Gen X’s need to find balance, to Millennials need to search for self — and, increasingly, Gen Z’s goal to search for truth.

Prevue met up with Lester at IMEX to learn more about how the generational shifts are changing attendee expectations — and how planners can plan now to meet those changing needs without short-changing any of the previous generations’ learning and networking needs.

Prevue: How much of these differences are truly due to people being born into a certain time period, versus the life stages they’re currently in?

Lester: The life stage someone is in makes a big impact on what they prioritize, those not necessarily what they value. So while what someone values may not change over time, how those values manifest themselves may differ. For example, Baby Boomers want to leave a legacy, while younger generations say they want to give back to the community and the world. The value is the same — giving back — but how they express it and how they try to accomplish it may differ.

Prevue: What can meeting and event professionals do to meet the needs of a multigenerational audience?

Lester: The number one thing we need to do is to listen more to the younger generations. We don’t understand them because we’re not inviting them to the conversations. It’s difficult to design an event for people who are different than the decision-makers or stakeholders — like the older leader who’s a big golfer and wants to hold an event at a golf resort, even though younger generations don’t tend to care much about that sport. But he’s making the buying decisions.

We need to get better at bringing those younger generations to the table and have them help us build the world they want. Do focus groups at your events, think about who’s on your advisory boards.

Prevue: Our events should be a reflection of the world we live in, but the younger demographics don’t seem to have representation at events anywhere near equal to their actual numbers in society as a whole. Are they just not interested in coming to events?

Lester: You do see more Boomers and Gen X and fewer Millennials and Gen Z at events than you do in the workforce, generally speaking. Are they just not interested, or are we not listening and speaking to them? I think it’s a misperception to say they’re just not interested in events. The younger generations may not have been trained to go in and network from scratch — there are statistics that show they don’t want to go to events alone. Knowing that, how do we change the event? Do we offer a package to make it easier for them to attend with their own cohort? Do we find ways to pair younger generations with those who are mid-career?

Creating environments where engagement is safe is really important. There must be different ways for people to interact, both passive and active. Even something as simple as incorporating a polling system in a session can change the dynamic — younger generations aren’t interested in one-way conversations.

Prevue: How does this translate to incentives?

Lester: From our full-service incentives data, what we’re seeing is that Gen Z and even Millennials are not as interested in going on incentive trips. Is this because they don’t feel the rules are fair, so they don’t want to participate? Or are the rules fair but they’re not motivated? For example, a lot of incentive programs are, by nature, top-performer programs, which means that senior people are going to have the advantage from a sales perspective and younger generations get left behind. If you base it on year-over-year growth, you provide a more even playing field, generationally speaking. Again, we need to talk with the younger generations to understand if it’s a fairness issue or if it’s the idea of the incentive itself that doesn’t work for younger generations.

These are two very different problems that both need to be addressed. I think we’re going to have some really interesting conversations coming up about fairness in incentives related to generations.