Beginning today, you can travel by air to Hawaii without quarantining for 14 days on arrival. Presumably, so can your groups, but more on that in a moment.

There are conditions.

Only flights from the U.S. mainland are currently allowed. International residents from CDC-prohibited countries cannot enter the state.

Hawaii’s online Safe Travels program is mandatory for all travelers. You enter health and travel information within 24 hours of departure and get a QR code via email that’s scanned on your flight’s arrival. You will also get a temperature check. Today begins the pre-travel testing program. To avoid quarantine, all incoming travelers age 5 and older must be tested for COVID-19 within 72 hours before their flight to Hawaii with an FDA-approved nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT) and show proof of a negative test result.

The state only accepts test results from “trusted testing and travel partners.” Here’s the list. Several airlines, including United, Hawaiian, Alaska and American, are also making testing available to travelers flying to Hawaii (at a range of fees) from certain hub airports, or via an at-home kit.

If you successfully comply with all the above, it’s straight to the now-uncrowded beach, right (where you’ll have to wear a mask, as at all public spaces and gatherings)? Well, maybe not quite yet.

Especially if you haven’t booked a direct flight to the island where you plan to stay. An interisland quarantine proclaimed by Gov. David Ige in August remains in effect. Anyone (with limited exceptions) traveling between islands to Maui, Island of Hawaii, Kauai and Molokai must still quarantine for 14 days. Interisland passengers arriving on Oahu are not required to quarantine.

Even direct flights can involve a further step. According to news reports, Island of Hawaii has gotten the OK from Gov. Ige to require a second, rapid-results test upon landing in Kona and Hilo airports. “Authorities will administer the ‘short swab’ nasal test at the airport, paid for by the county, with results available within 30 minutes,” said the San Francisco Chronicle. “Testing positive will mean a follow-up ‘long swab’ test and quarantining until results are available 24 hours later.”

The mayors of Kauai and Maui counties had also asked for the same post-arrival test, but the governor turned them down. “Our county administration has been clear that a single pre-arrival testing program alone does not provide the needed level of protection for our Kauai community,” Mayor Derek Kawakami told a local newspaper. He also complained that the state’s plan appears to “prioritize our visitors first” because it does not allow even resident interisland travelers to shorten or avoid the two-week quarantine.

Kawakami still plans to institute a Kauai-wide requirement for a second confirmation test once travelers have been in Hawaii for a few days, according to some reports.

“What’s not totally clear is exactly how all of the counties are going to implement—if they implement—a post-arrivals testing,” said Major General Kenneth Hara, incident commander for Hawaii’s coronavirus response on Monday, Oct. 12,  before the House Select Committee on COVID-19 Economic and Financial Preparedness. At the briefing, Hara also said that Gov. Ige has empowered individual Hawaiian counties to implement post-arrival supplemental testing to the counties as they see fit, with local government responsible for footing the bill for additional precautions or tests. Who pays for such tests is unclear at this point, although in Kauai’s case, 15,000 rapid, same-day COVID-19 tests have been purchased using CARES Act funds.

The mayor of Maui County, which also includes Lanai and Molokai, is seeking the state’s permission to ask for a voluntary second test, according to news reports, and both Kauai and mofficials say they will restore the mandatory 14-day quarantine if new COVID-19 cases rise to specific levels in their jurisdictions.

As of yesterday, there were 59 active cases on Kauai, 523 on Maui, 985 on Island of Hawaii and 12,169 on Oahu. Thus, visitors will find different rules for what is allowed or not, depending on the island. Oahu, for instance, is still in the first tier of reopening, which does not allow for short-term rentals like Airbnb, helicopter tours, bars or nightclubs; snorkel and other tours are operating at reduced capacities. On Maui, short-term rentals are back in business and bars can operate at 50 percent of capacity; live music is permitted, but not karaoke. No nightclubs can be open on Island of Hawaii.

So, what about groups? Can visitors gather, and in what numbers?

John G. Reyes, senior vice president and chief MCI sales officer, for Meet Hawaii, responds this way: “In reviewing the overall state of Hawaii website, there is a limit of 10 people indoor and outdoor for social gatherings. Currently, to my understanding group meetings are grouped under social gatherings.” He recommends this website for the latest updates.

Reyes notes that each island may have its own rules. On Kauai, for example, up to 25 people (50 outdoors) may gather currently, but only if the island has less than two active COVID-19 cases at that time, according to Katy Britzmann, director of sales and marketing at Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort & Spa.

That makes it a little tough to plan, but meeting professionals are nothing if not resourceful.

If you’re like many meeting professionals, you can’t wait for face-to-face meetings to become the norm again. Well, you’re not alone. A recent survey, titled “The Future of Business Travel,” determined that most of us can’t wait to see human faces in the flesh, shake hands and hug. The survey was conducted by Globetrender and Business Traveller, in association with American Express Global Business Travel.

In this study of more than 2,000 Business Traveller readers, two-thirds were either owners or partners in their businesses or at the senior management level. Most respondents came from the United Kingdom, Asia, North America, Western Europe and Australasia.

Travel and Travel Plans

While business travel isn’t nearly at the level that it was before the pandemic, the overall outlook looks more hopeful, according to the study. It found business travel has increased by 55 percent since restrictions eased. More than a third (37 percent) of respondents expect to resume travel in 2021.

A whopping 91 percent of those surveyed stated they would be less likely to travel if required to quarantine at their destination. This could be contributing to sluggishness in the resumption of business travel, as 14-day quarantines remains in force in many destinations.

More: Will Private Jets Fuel Post-COVID Travel Boom?

A COVID-19 vaccine was ranked highest in importance to jump start business travel in the coming year. Next were the “ability to travel in business or first class” and “high standards of hygiene on transport.”

Safety is Number One

Not surprisingly, health and safety concerns remain paramount among businesses and businesspeople alike. When booking a business trip, pre-pandemic, only 18 percent of respondents were concerned with health and safety—much less of a concern than price (77 percent), schedule (75) and loyalty scheme; now, that number has increased to 64 percent, or roughly equal with price (64) and schedule (61) and higher than loyalty scheme (48).

Remote Work Isn’t Preferred

With all the convenience and ease that remote work offers, the majority still prefers the traditional route: meeting in person. Seventy-six percent of those surveyed agree that face-to-face interactions are preferable to remote work for meetings. Several reasons were cited: Seven out of ten say most meetings cannot happen more efficiently and concisely if done remotely; almost as many (60 percent) agree that most deals and decisions cannot be properly made virtually.

More: Tips and Tools for Remote Work

If you thought there’d be a virtual takeover post-COVID, the world may not be there quite yet.

Editor’s Note: As part of Back Light, a series of articles sharing illuminating insider observations, we asked Andrew Moffett to walk us through his career transition and his vision for the future. 

To say that 2020 has been a year like no other is an understatement. So many of us meeting and event professionals have been on a multi-month emotional rollercoaster adjusting to the sudden downturn in the industry. We are still learning to cope with a new way of life, new strategies for socializing and making personal connections. We are social creatures who evolved to move, meet and collaborate. Being denied these basic needs takes an emotional toll.

More: How to Make the Last 3 Months of 2020 a Victory for Event Pros

At the same time, many of us have had to accelerate a reinvention within the industry. Thousands have been forced to step away from budding careers because those careers came to a halt without any real notice, my career included. Being a glass-half-full guy, I saw an opportunity for reinvention.

I recently stepped away from a 25-year career with Marriott International as an event professional and took a calculated, strategic move to reinvent myself as a Chief Brand Officer with a company I admire, Southern Aluminum, the brand behind all those high quality and flexible linenless banquet and meeting tables that pop-up just when we need them and then magically (with the help of some industrious conference teams) show up in a different configuration in a different room at just the right time. I can say that as someone who cares deeply about our industry and the people who work within it, the move has been both refreshing and rewarding.

As we look to the future (because let’s face it we don’t want to look behind us), I remain optimistic about the path ahead. Technology is allowing us to connect with one another virtually for things like happy hour events, one-on-one catch ups and conducting critical business. We are poised as a society to come out of this pandemic with new ways of doing business that quite honestly will become the norm, and that’s okay. But because we crave those in-person meetings and collaborative moments, we will thrive as a society that desires to be together in the flesh.

I applaud organizations that are making their own bold moves to get us back to traveling and meeting again. With campaigns like “Let’s Go There” from the American Travel Industry designed to inspire travel, and great organizations like IACC who have recently announced its first conference in 2021, we will get back to meeting in person again sooner rather than later.

See also: Some Good News 9/18: Travel, Sports and Zoom Meetings

That future could look a little different, however. This is what I see in my crystal ball and how we can make the most of the new reality:

Socially Distanced Meetings are Here

Because risks of meeting in person remain real in the moment, the large events we are accustomed to will not be a reality for some time. Hotels and event venues are taking the proactive steps needed to ensure planners and attendees alike are comfortable and confident that meeting in person again is safe. This is creating the reality of seeing meetings and events with fewer numbers, yet hosted in a similar size space as before. New seating plans are being developed to account for sets with the right distance apart because it’s the right thing to do.

How can planners use this to their advantage? Think about the purpose of the event and the location it can be hosted in. Hotel event teams are creative by nature. Many are driving elevated experiences outside of the ballroom and breakout space walls—areas that can naturally provide distance without feeling forced.

If possible, look to choose locations that are not the norm, without disrupting your event objectives. Attendees want to get a flavor of the location they are in so think about unique local destinations which offer this. It could be something as simple as a common tourist attraction to get them out and moving. This is a great way to explore the culture of an area and help elevate their energy for the meeting objectives at hand.

Outdoor Events are the Norm

Grand Hyatt Nashville

For the past several years, in my previous position as global discipline leader, we strategized around how hotels could up their game for hosting outdoor events. Think of spaces like pool decks, gardens, rooftops, event tents or underutilized spaces around the property of any given hotel. This comes with a unique set of challenges to plan and execute events effectively yet offers a refreshing change from the typical indoor meeting. Moving forward, hotels and other meeting venues will identify any outdoor underutilized space as a standard way to host a meeting or event. This is also a great way to organically change the experience of the attendee and provide a different environment to engage them in fun ways.

When I think about future meetings and events that Southern Aluminum will plan, host and execute, I will be looking at venues and locations that help to inspire a local feel complete with outdoor areas that can provide thoughtful distancing between attendees while still achieving business objectives. In regions where outdoor activities are limited due to inclement weather, my mind goes to securing a section of the restaurant and/or bar area, or dividing up the ballroom by partially closing airwalls to provide some separation without it being a hard separation, or look at activating an outdoor space with portable heaters and a firepit.

Sustainability has Accelerated

Sustainability has been a focus for so many of us for so long. With the disruption in business and the state of society in general, we are all looking for those “feel good” ways to contribute to the greater good. Giving back to the environment and doing the right thing for the world has become even more important to give us something to celebrate. Look for ways to promote sustainability at your next event. This can be done through your food and beverage story and sourcing local products or reducing your carbon footprint. It can be something as simple as eliminating linens from all events, both in the meeting and on the banquet side. Have a visible way for attendees to recycle during the event and consider donating left over food to an organization locally. Hotels are eager to partner with planners to put in place high impact, high value ways to protect our environment and give back. This culture will continue to accelerate and remain the important goal it should always be.

Safe and Sanitized is a New Way of Life

cleanWhether you are a transient hotel guest or attending a socially distanced meeting, your awareness of the cleanliness of the space you are in has been heightened. Guests and attendees want to know that each surface has been cleaned and sanitized and there is no risk of not knowing who touched that surface most recently.

Having that visual presence of cleaning is so important to knowing we are protected. Cleaning and sanitizing around the clock give credibility to the venue that it is safe. Think about the products that are configured in your event space and meeting room. Having linenless meeting and buffet tables present is one of the easiest products to keep clean and sanitized. It is also the most efficient and cost-effective way for hotel event teams to remain safe and sanitized. The pandemic is creating a society where we want to ensure surfaces are clean and safe, we want to have that visual presence of hotel staff cleaning around the clock, no matter what part of the hotel you are in.

This is also critical for the activation and execution of F&B within hotels and more specifically in meetings and events. Many have implemented action stations with see-through barriers while associates wear masks to still provide that simple in-person touch through providing made-to-order dishes. The handling of F&B has had to be treated with great sensitivity to ensure meeting attendees have a comfort level. What is helping greatly is the transparency event planning teams have with the meeting planner during the planning process. Collaboration between the two has become so much more critical to come up with an approach that meets the need of the planner and attendee.

As we look to the future, it is a new world for us, and we are learning to adapt to the change. We will see travel return and meetings progressively come back sooner than later. Having flexibility, and patience while we educate ourselves on these new ways of doing business will be paramount to us thriving again as a hospitality industry.

Andrew Moffett is a former global discipline leader with M+E at Marriott International and now serves as chief brand officer with Southern Aluminum in Magnolia Arkansas. Fun Fact: Andrew’s first career was as a chef, working through several kitchens in Canada and Bermuda. Today, he still carries that culinary passion with him spending hours in his kitchen and in front of the grill creating dishes inspired by the places he visits and the people he meets.

What does the future of live events look like to you? The events world is aswirl with ideas and theories. In “Freeman Future Forecast: How Live Events Are Evolving,” a whitepaper by brand experience experts at Freeman, what lies ahead for live events, based on research by the company, was front and center.

Digital Will Be at the Forefront

Digital event technology has been around for more than a decade, but it’s yet to live up to its potential—despite its adaptability, the events world can be slow to evolve, Freeman observed. What the pandemic has done is turn something that was once an option into a necessity, as evidenced by the mass transition to online events in the last six months. Freeman’s research shows three out of four attendees expect digital to play a larger role once the pandemic is over.

With this increased role for digital, the way meetings are held could change forever. The study asks: “What if we discard the idea of what used to work, and permanently evolve events with a new approach? What if events stopped being a thing that happens for a few days once a year and became a continuous, dynamic, interactive conversation?”

The State of In-person Events

Freeman believes there will also likely not be as many in-person events, at least in the short term, as more than half of exhibitors and organizers surveyed responded that they will participate in fewer events after COVID. This, of course, only compounds the need for virtual events.

“Flexibility” seems to be the new name of the game. Fifty-three percent of respondents who never worked from home now plan to continue to do so. After COVID, this flexibility may also be expected when it comes to events, as well. “Quality and flexibility are more important to society—and more necessary—in the post-COVID world, and the traditional event model just isn’t enough to meet that need,” the study states.

Eighty percent of the attendees, exhibitors and organizers surveyed don’t see themselves returning to in-person events until mid- to late 2021. The future that Freeman sees as a result of its research is one in which the power of in-person events is combined with the reach of digital to become an integrated experience, changing the meaning and context of “live event.”

This integrated event model, which will let attendees interact across multiple platforms, at different times and locations, will allow year-round engagement, and not just during the event. Not only will it be easier for people to attend, but it will let them keep the conversation going long after the live portion of the event has ended.

If you’re reading this, then congratulations—you’ve made it to October. I feel like we all deserve awards at this point but then again, maybe you’re thinking, “Girl, we still have three more months in this crazy year. I’m ready to put this one to bed!” And I hear you—but what if. victory

  • What if three months from now you could look back on this challenging time with pride?
  • What if three months from now you were a better version of yourself?
  • What if three months from now you could look back and know that you didn’t just survive 2020—you finished it on a high note and came out stronger than ever?

If 2020 is a story, then make right now a turning point where you get the treasure and find out the hard lessons led you to pure gold. Make the most of this opportunity to turn a new leaf, write a new ending on 2020 and come out of this year the hero your life story needs right now.

Easier said than done, right? No way—as a speaker, I’ve been right there with you in cancellation hell this year, but found a system that works (even if you hate systems like I do) that I repeat every quarter and shared with audiences to rave results. I’m sharing that system and strategy with you, so you can end 2020 on a high note and roll into the New Year with positive momentum.

4 Pitchers of Focus Strategy

Here’s how it works. Over the next 90 days, you’re going to say “Yes” to four things, and “Not right now” to everything else. What you say “Yes” to, is all up to you, because these four Pitchers of Focus are meant to get you closer to the goals that matter to you, the happiness that matters to you and the success that matters to you.

Pick a Focus Pitcher for each category:

Pitcher #1—Body

We’ve been told to love our bodies, but we should also prioritize taking care of it—because when you take care of it, you end up loving it, too. So, for this pitcher, pick something that you want to change about your body. Maybe you want to get stronger or leaner. Maybe you want to lose your back pain and actually make those doctor appointments you’ve been putting off, or get started on that 5K training. Whatever it is that you want to change about your body, make it a priority now and start taking measurable actions to achieve that change.

Pitcher #2—Mind

Your mind is one of the most powerful tools you’ll ever have in your career—and at the same time, it’s one of the stupidest and most gullible sidekicks you’ll have in your life.

Depending on what you fed it, your brain might be doubling as a storage locker for regrets and resentment, memories of how things used to be, and general living-in-the-past fantasies. But by using the Focus Pitcher Strategy, you can flip the room on your mind and have it creating the energy you want 24/7.

Ask yourself a simple question: “How do you want to feel?” Once you pinpoint the answer, you’ll have the focus bucket for your mind and know the steady diet you’ll need to feed it to consistently achieve that feeling. For example, want to feel patient with your spouse, kids, team, political ads, Facebook friends? Great.

  • Don’t assume you know everything
  • Ask questions before responding
  • Be open to learning new things
  • Ask yourself, “Will it matter in 5 minutes, 5 months or 5 years?”
  • Ask yourself, “Can I control it?”
  • Make sure you’re stocked with tequila

Want to feel young? Listen to music from high school, drive with the windows down, stay up too late laughing at your yearbook. Want to feel connected? Write a handwritten note, look for the people in your community that need your help, reach out to someone who lost someone they love and check in on them. Want to feel sexy? Awesome—light some candles, lock the door and where is that damn tequila?

You pick what you want. Own it. Then act on it because action attracts.

Pitcher #3—Wealth/Income

People change the world when they’re broke, but it sure goes a lot faster and feels a lot more fun when you’ve got abundance on your side. Make sure one of your buckets is focused on increasing your wealth and/or your income. This might be monetizing all that coaching work you’ve been doing for free or pivot to getting paid for your speeches like the speakers I coach at The Impactful Presenter.

Maybe you increase your wealth by negotiating a better salary or different benefits, transferring to a new role or even to a whole new industry. Or maybe you just…spend less. That’s right, saving money actually increases your wealth without you having to work harder, change your current position or do a dang thing extra.

However you do it, make sure every 90 Days of Focus Pitchers includes a thoughtful plan for increasing your bank account. Because you get better when you have more money. You get more creative, more generous, more stable and more effective at being the person and industry leader you want—and the world needs you—to be.

Pitcher #4—Community

Success doesn’t mean a thing if you don’t share it, so the fourth pitcher is dedicated to sharing that huge heart you have. Whether you share it with your community of family and friends, with your neighborhood or shared group of faith, or with people you haven’t met or may never meet, contributing one thing outside of yourself has the power to change the world.

Just like walking into that ballroom for the first time.

Just like stepping off that plane and being greeted by dancers.

Just like creating moments, memories, connections and the unconventional you’ve done before—and will again.

The power to change the world doesn’t cost much. It just requires your focus, your commitment and your action.

Will you join me in making a pledge to making the comeback of a lifetime? I hope so.

Let’s Do This

These Focus Pitchers clarify what you can do, quickly and effectively to get yourself from Wish List to Did It List—just like you’ve done before a thousand times for your clients.

This time it’s for yourself.

And when the clock strikes 12 on Dec. 31, the cheers will go to you—to the end of an era, to the strength you showed and the hope that the future is better than it is right now. You have the ability to make it so.

Rachel Sheerin is an award-winning keynote speaker and sales trainer focused on burnout, happiness and success. Host of F THIS S, the podcast that keeps love in your work and life, Rachel serves as Director of Global Awards for the Association for Women in Events, is a partner of The James Beard Foundation and takes her margaritas on the rocks. Keep updated with Rachel’s podcast, videos and sales training by connecting with her at RachelSheerin.com.

The best industry updates from the week, every week, to keep your spirits up during the pandemic. This week, we make progress with California wildfires, diversity in the industry and reopening plans in Nashville.

Wildfires in Wine Country 62% Contained, Some Evacuations Lifted

Rain is a good thing. The Glass Fire that has consumed northern Bay Area—including Napa Valley and Sonoma—since late September is 62 percent contained as of Wednesday night, reports KCRA and Cal Fire. Some evacuation orders in Napa County have been lifted or evacuated, and rain is in the forecast for the end of the week. While the situation is taking a turn for the better, California wildfires have burned more than 4 million acres this year alone. A tidbit of good news: You can support local relief efforts and struggling businesses by buying wine. Choose whether to donate to relief funds, tour an open winery, take a virtual wine tasting (a fun and responsible virtual group experience) or purchase a few bottles (also fun) at the link.

MPI and NCBMP Offer Dual Membership

Be your best meeting planner self. Meeting Professionals International (MPI) and the National Coalition of Black Meeting Professionals (NCBMP) are now offering dual membership, furthering your professional growth as well as the industry’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion. MPI membership perks include a network of more than 15,000 meeting professionals and free and discounted prices to virtual and live events and certification courses. NCBMP benefits include attendance to the annual education conference, workshop opportunities for conferences and member database to marketing destinations and services.

What are you waiting for? Click here to join.

Nashville Approves Events Up to 500 in Phase 3

Some good news, y’all. As of Oct. 1, Nashville is in Phase 3 of its reopening plan, which means approved events can operate at 30 percent capacity, or up to 500 people. The rules: You must wear your mask at all events and in all public places. The perks: In addition to meeting again, bars and restaurants are open at 50 percent capacity (with social distancing). Feeling a bit uneasy? The city’s Good to Go program—operated by Vanderbilt Health and Nashville Convention and Visitors Corp—makes sure business are ready to welcome back groups safely, and more than 700 restaurants and venues are on the list.

If you want to experience Music City from afar, Music City Bandwidth is continuing its free virtual concerts for the rest of October. Tune in to support Nashville-based musicians and for a little sound therapy. You can see the full lineup online. #KeeptheMusicPlaying

The most powerful tool available for hospitality professionals looking for their next job might be there waiting right on their phones. Social media apps are one of the easiest ways to connect with your network, find job listings and market yourself—if you do it right. Smart Meetings asked career coaching experts for their secrets on each of the platforms.

Optimize Your Profile

Facebook Groups can be business-focused and have a lot of functionality for industry-specific topics, says Luann Edwards, global strategic marketing consultant and founder of Socially Professional. The right groups can be really active, with an engaged membership, and provide ample networking opportunities.

More: Job Hunting During COVID: What Meeting Professionals Need to Know

Twitter is a way to be seen in the industry and follow trends. Instagram works for people in visual industries.

But LinkedIn, a platform that bills itself as the world’s largest professional network, with more than 706 million users in more than 200 countries, seems like the right place to start a job search. Edwards suggests approaching the platform with the eyes of the recruiter you want to impress.

The first step is to let potential hirers know you are available. Enable the #OpentoWork feature—the green swish that has become so trendy during the pandemic on profile picture frames. If you haven’t quite left your previous employer, you can set your profile to show recruiters you are looking, what job titles you are interested in, where you would like to work and when you would like to start—all without showing this info to your current employer.

You will also need to update your profile. Edwards likes researching what others in the role you aspire to are saying on their pages. Update your description using keywords to paint a picture of the unique value you bring. That way, when you go into full networking mode, people can tell at a glance how you might fit into their organization.

Tracy Timm, founder of The Nth Degree Academy and author of the upcoming book Unstoppable, calls this step “discovery”—digging up everything that makes you tick. What are the commitments you have, your vision for an ideal life and the things you need to live the life you have chosen?

Then try to uncover your “ninja skills,” both your natural abilities and the life experiences and training that have nurtured your abilities over time.

This is probably not something you want to do alone, or in a couple of hours. Ask friends and former coworkers what it is you bring to the table. Write it down and try to get some objectivity around this picture of you.

The next step is to move from vision to reality and articulate your strengths—so you stand out in the noise of the piles in recruiter inboxes.

Career Pivots

social media

Many meeting professional skills will apply to other careers, in and out of the events industry. Timm calls the process of relating job skills from one role to new environments (in places where they may not look relevant) “making the unbelievable believable.”

Kimberly Montoya, founder of Twenty 156 Events and a wellness coach with VeryBestYou (see sidebar below), has some good news for meeting professionals looking to take those skill sets to another industry. “A lot of your skills go beyond planning an event,” she affirms.

More: 4 Ways to Spice Up Your LinkedIn Profile

You engage in project management, negotiation and a host of other specific activities, for starters. It is important to break that down and recognize the individual skills—and how those can be applied to other jobs and other areas of life. Update your LinkedIn profile and your resume with those transferable keywords and watch all the inquiries come in.

Expand Your Reach

Edwards advises making your skills more visible by posting thought-leadership pieces, engaging with posts, answering questions and joining event-related groups, as well as following popular hashtags and company pages. “That will keep you top of mind,” she says.

Finally, ask for referrals. “Your network is full of referral sources,” Edwards says. “This is no time to be shy.”

Timm describes meeting professionals as exceptionally well connected. “Most are just a couple of degrees separation from anyone they might want to talk to; now is the time to ask for that next layer of connection.”

Make Calculated Asks

Edwards suggests being very specific about what you are looking for, because that will help your network help you. Be prepared with a detailed ask, such as, “I would love to hear about opportunities in [specific field] in [specific geographic area].”

Timm agrees that narrowing the focus of what you are looking for makes the task less daunting and increases odds the job you accept will be one that fits your long-term goals. The best way to get what you want is by being consistent, specific and hyper-focused in how you market yourself on all platforms.

Practice this question until it sounds natural: “I am looking for a role doing [insert job duties you have identified where you can bring value]. Do you know anyone who does that, and can you introduce me to [person you have identified]?”

Being specific has another advantage. Instead of asking someone if you can “pick their brain” for some vague knowledge that could take an unspecified amount of the person’s time, you can message them and ask for a specific thing (review my resume, make an introduction, give a recommendation on LinkedIn).

“Make it easy and your former colleagues will be happy to help,” Timm says. “It’s not like we are all going out for coffee in the middle of a pandemic anyway.”

Timm describes LinkedIn requests as low risk: “The worst thing they can do is look at your profile and say no because they don’t see a fit.” To increase the odds of making the connection, she has a very simple piece of advice. “Just be a human, don’t immediately send a calendar link and try to sell them something,” she says.

Prepare for the Next Job Pandemic

Once you secure your dream job using these tips, don’t shut down the social media channels and let your profiles die slowly of neglect. Timm advocates continuing to engage naturally by congratulating others in your network when they land their next gig, celebrating birthdays and milestones.

“It takes two seconds to login and thank the people who helped you and keep those relationships alive,” she says.

She calls this relationship management a “circle of reciprocity” that accompanies a world view focused on abundance and being willing to partner and give value freely. That way the next time a crisis occurs, you will already be engaged with the people who could help you find your next best job.

How to Mentally Face a Job Change Interview

Are you going through a forced career change? Kimberly Montoya, founder of Twenty 156 Events and a wellness coach with VeryBestYou, suggests starting by interviewing yourself to make sure you are in the right space to make a positive impression.

More: Out of Crisis, New Jobs are Born

“I don’t think we’re talking enough about how psychologically damaging this is. In the hospitality industry, we give so much to make others feel good. When the ability to do that goes away, you aren’t accustomed to giving yourself anything,” she says.

Many meeting professionals who have shifted to virtual just hate it. They didn’t realize that the thing that lit them up about their jobs was the travel and the face-to-face interaction. No one expected this sudden drop-off in business, and it happened so suddenly it is understandable people need to take time to grieve for the life they had.

But then it is time to move on.

Like the thoughtful planner she is, Montoya put the steps required to move forward in a handy checklist.

Establish a consistent routine

  • Get up at the same time every day, even when you don’t have commitments.
  • Shower and get dressed for your day.
  • Establish “office hours” and exercise discipline about honoring that time for professional endeavors.
  • Adopt a movement practice—any movement—walking, running, yoga, stretching, boot camp, cycling, strength training. Even a 20-minute walk around your neighborhood can help clear anxiety and establish a baseline for healthy habits.

Practice daily gratitude

  • First thing in the morning, name five small things from the last 24 hours that you are thankful for.
  • Before you go to bed each night, reflect on your favorite moment of the day.
  • Constantly catalog small things that delight you. The more you look for what is good, the more you will see it.

Be your own cheerleader

  • Write down every single skill you have that would be helpful to someone else. Do not edit yourself or be humble about it.
  • Actively seek affirmations and inspiration from outside media sources. Choose your favorites to print and paste where you can see them and be encouraged.
  • Search for your dream job and connect the dots between the requirements and your skills.
  • View available positions through the lens of what you can do for that company/person instead of what it means to you. How can you help them be more successful?

Lead with empathy

  • Acknowledge how hard this season is—for yourself and those around you.
  • Reserve judgment at all costs. You sincerely have no idea what others are going through, and there is no regret to be found in kindness.
  • Give yourself the same TLC you give to others. If you can’t clear the cobwebs or overcome your frustration on a given day—don’t. Find a book to read, a show to watch or an afghan to knit. You can start again tomorrow.

Amy Riley

Riley is director of group sales for Dreamscape Companies in Las Vegas. Riley was formerly senior director of business development for Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. Before that, she worked as director of sales for Caesars Palace and Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. She is engaged in a long list of organizations, including Meeting Professionals International, Society for Incentive Travel Excellence and Incentive Research Foundation.

More: Out of Crisis, New Jobs are Born

Chris Hague

HotelAve appointed Hague chief operating officer. Previously, Hague worked as senior vice president of Pebblebrook Hotel Trust, which he joined through a merger with LaSalle Hotel Properties, where he worked as vice president of asset management. Hague is former president of the New England Chapter of Hospitality Financial & Technology Professionals and is a member of Hospitality Asset Managers Association and Westin Advisory Board.

Vibeke Sansone

Sansone is director of sales and marketing for JW Marriott Orlando Bonnet Creek Resort & Spa. Sansone’s career began with JW Marriott Century City, Los Angeles, as director of national accounts. She’s worked in sales leadership roles for other Marriott properties, including The Ritz-Carlton and Renaissance in Los Angeles, New York City, Florida, Mexico and the Caribbean. She recently worked as director of sales and marketing at Vinoy Renaissance St. Petersburg Resort & Golf Club in Florida.

See also: Job Hunting During COVID: What Meeting Professionals Need to Know

Bryan Woody

Woody is general manager for Madeline Hotel & Residences, Auberge Resorts Collection, in Telluride, Colorado. Before joining Madeline, Woody was general manager of Spring Place, a professional collaborative workshop New York City. He also worked as area general manager for Morgans Hotel Group; and before that, as assistant director of F&B at The Ritz-Carlton New York, Central Park.

Carolyn Rebeck Allen

Auberge Resorts Collection named Allen area director of leisure sales, East Coast. Allen has worked with Lake Austin in Dallas as senior sales manager. She’s also worked as director of travel industry relations for Atelier Group and at luxury properties for Omni Hotels and Rosewood Hotels & Resorts.

Savannah Tirey

Tirey is director of marketing and public relations for Ridgeland Tourism in Mississippi. The last four years saw Tirey working as public relations specialist for Mississippi Development Authority. Before this, she worked at Mississippi Energy Institute as communications manager.

Rose Caple

Caple has been promoted to visitor center manager for Louisville Tourism. Caple has been with the DMO since 2011, having worked in the Louisville Visitor Center, destination services and tourism development departments. Caple is heavily involved in the community, in organizations such as Young Professionals Association of Louisville, Leadership Louisville and Kentucky Travel Industry Association; she is treasurer of Kentuckiana Association for Volunteer Administration.

An agreement between Caesars Entertainment and U.K.-based international betting company William Hill was struck Tuesday, reports the Reno Gazette Journal. This deal comes just two months after the $17.3 billion Eldorado Resorts-Caesars Entertainment merger. The $3.7 billion cash acquisition will place the largest sports betting operation in the United States under the Caesars brand. expansion

Although Caesars already owned a 20 percent stake in William Hill, this deal will expand Caesars’ footprint in the sports betting and online gaming market as it continues to expand and more states become open to it. Analysts say the online gaming sector is worth upwards of $35 billion.

“The opportunity to combine our land based-casinos, sports betting and online gaming in the U.S. is a truly exciting prospect,” said Tom Reeg, CEO of Caesars Entertainment. “William Hill’s sports betting expertise will complement Caesars’ current offering, enabling the combined group to serve our customers in the fast-growing U.S. sports betting and online market.”

William Hill also has operations in the Bahamas, Italy, Spain and Sweden.

Small steps taken by the men and women returning to the meeting space are being heralded as giant leaps for the industry for demonstrating best practices for a safe return to gathering. And Omni Orlando Resort at ChampionsGate is boldly going where no group has gone since March—back to the ballroom.

The brand announced its commitment to the meetings industry in August by putting five properties—Omni Dallas Hotel at Park West, Omni Jacksonville Hotel, Omni Austin Hotel at Southpark, Omni San Antonio Hotel at the Colonnade and Omni Houston Hotel at Westside—up for sale. Peter Strebel, president of Omni Hotels & Resorts, called the move part of a pre-COVID strategy and said the capital will be reinvested in the convention center and resort market space because it “allows us to grow our business and play to our strengths.”

As part of that “live, work, play” mission, the brand just welcomed the opening of Omni Viking Lakes Hotel with MV Ventures, the development arm of NFL’s Minnesota Vikings, with 320 guest rooms and 35,000 sq. ft of event space.

Dan Surette, chief sales officer at Omni Hotels & Resorts, predicted that the market will come back quickly, particularly in regional, second- and third-tier cities where small and midsize meetings with hybrid components are already getting booked. “Every week is a learning opportunity,” he said.

Trust as the Ultimate Amenity

But what will the meetings inside these sprawling campuses look like in the not-so-distant future? LeAnn Davis, director of sales and marketing; and Amanda Perales, director of conference services, both with Omni, shared the coordinates that led to a stellar staging for a group of 400 that recently launched at the Orlando property.

Florida Recreation & Park Association was a repeat client that has brought 1,200 people in the past, but this time it limited the gathering to locals who could drive to the meeting. “They trust our level of service,” Davis said. “The meeting planner wanted to ensure the event was done safely, and we served as a true partner to help make it happen.”

The event included a general session, a reception, multiple breakout sessions and an exhibit area. After months of lockdown and virtual meetings, attendees were just happy to be able to meet in person and have that face-to-face interaction, reported Perales. “We worked hard to communicate all of our updated and extensive cleaning and safety procedures to our clients and meeting planners to give their attendees confidence in meeting.”

Confidence Measures

These were the practices designed to instill confidence in the hygiene and safety of the event.

  • Registration in a meeting space to control the number of people gathering to check in
  • A sponsored health-care station to conduct temperature checks
  • Wristbands issued on passing the temperature screening
  • Face masks offered at check-in and made available at tables throughout the event
  • Multiple smaller breakout sessions to control the number of people in one room
  • Doors always propped open
  • Exhibit aisles a minimum of 14-feet-wide to encourage social distancing
  • Exhibitors not permitted to serve food to cut down on large groups gathering
  • Exhibit time scheduled as a breakout session to reduce the number of people at one time
  • Scheduled exhibit appointments, which had the bonus of allowing sponsors to engage actively with potential customers due to a smaller amount of traffic
  • Appetizer stations spaced out to protect staff
  • Alcohol limited to drink tickets, which reduced crowding at bars
  • Plexiglass shield between the bartender and patron for added safety
  • All food served in individual containers with safety seals
  • Dining tables spaced out and every other chair removed, to seat three per table
  • Rolled silverware, individual condiments and bottled water at each seat the only items on each table

A Retreat with a Purpose

Monica Jones

Monica Jones, director of operations with Community College Preparatory Academy, was a meeting professional on a mission over the summer. She needed to introduce the new CEO to the board and bring them together for a critical planning meeting.

“Everyone wants a clean start,” she said. The organization is going through a name change, and this meeting was designed to be a pivotal point in that evolution.

Her first step was a poll to assess comfort levels with gathering, food allergies and other accommodations. This allowed her to create customized menus and accommodations for each attendee. She also asked for feedback on what they wanted to discuss. “I need to know what they want me to give them, so I can create a meaningful agenda,” Jones said.

For this important meeting, Jones chose Hyatt Regency Chesapeake Bay Golf Resort, Spa and Marina, a waterfront property on 342 acres of Maryland’s Eastern Shore. The property offered complimentary Wi-Fi in all event spaces, 100,000 World of Hyatt bonus points and waived cancellation and attrition fees.

But the bottom line for Jones was that she trusted the team on site to take care of her 16 VIPs.

To save money on AV, she bought a projector and screen. “I always carry a mobile printer, extension cords, phone chargers, sharpies and paper,” she said. “I travel with everything I can imagine we will need, but this time, I also added lots of hand sanitizer to the checklist.”

Jones prides herself on her ability to personalize meetings to fit the needs of individual guests, but now she has another need to accommodate. “I need to help people feel OK with stepping out,” she said.

She assured guests in advance that the property would be deep cleaned before their arrival and the meeting space sanitized during breaks. As soon as attendees arrived to check in at the resort, she tested their temperatures and handed them sanitation kits, explained safety protocols—again—and directed them to drop their bags and meet on the pier with these random items: pinecones, rocks, bark.

Then she had them throw all but one into the water and instructed them to see the exercise as discarding what they want to change and holding on to what they want to keep.

Before Jones indulged in a little post-event self-care, she did what she always does at the end of an event. She sent a note to the staff thanking them for their service, just as she does throughout the event. “I want everyone to feel important and valued,” she said.