INTA News

Hospitality at 2020 Annual Meeting & Leadership Meeting Offers Impromptu Networking

Published: October 14, 2020

Historically, INTA’s Annual Meeting features premier networking options for trademark and brand professionals. Myriad structured networking sessions like Table Topics and Speed Networking create an abundance of long-lasting business relationships and friendships, but some of the strongest connections happen organically.

For the 2020 Annual Meeting & Leadership Meeting, INTA has developed solutions to ensure registrants can partake in both structured favorites and valuable organic networking on the virtual platform.

Hospitality at this year’s Meeting will promote natural, video-based networking opportunities beginning November 9.

Registrants can enter three virtual buildings, including one (Building 2) that will be open 24/7 and the other two open 12 and 14 hours, respectively, to optimally accommodate those in different time zones. Here, you can join video conversations with fellow registrants at different digital tables. Each table functions as an independent video conversation with everyone gathered around the table. Different-sized tables fit two, four, and six people, and anyone can “sit down” at a table and begin a face-to-face conversation with an individual or a small group currently seated.

Registrants can share their screens with one another to watch videos or view presentations, or participate in a written chat to share their social media profiles and other links.

Upon entering Hospitality, you can use the search function to look for specific colleagues already in the area and, if present, simply join their group. Likewise, if you spot someone of interest, you can invite that person to come sit at your table.

Additionally, the agenda functionality allows you to preset a specific meeting time with fellow registrants in one of the Hospitality areas. Once agreed, you simply join a table and use the video chat function to start your meeting.

“Think of Hospitality as another space for face-to-face interactions. It’s the part of the Meeting that will be most like the unplanned interactions that our members love so much at our events,” said Peg Reardon, INTA Director, Membership. “Hospitality’s convenient and long hours allow registrants the flexibility to fully take advantage of this space for a business meeting, friendly catch-up, or a chance encounter.”

On top of both impromptu encounters and the ability to set up informal meetings, Hospitality will also feature tables with specific themes at different times of the day throughout the Meeting. For example, INTA will host gatherings at separate times in Hospitality for first-timers at the Meeting, trademark administrators, young practitioners, industry groups, and others. The agenda for these events will be posted on the Meeting platform.

These structured gatherings provide a more targeted networking experience for registrants. Looking to meet with other young practitioners, for example? The Hospitality area’s young practitioner meet-up will help you engage with other young practitioners who are also looking to make valuable connections virtually.

In addition, INTA will offer times when specific tables are dedicated to languages other than English, so you can make plentiful connections with registrants who speak the same language as you.

Lastly, Hospitality will host regional receptions throughout the Meeting. This is another great channel to meet and greet peers from a specific region.

While Hospitality will provide a fully immersive networking experience, the 2020 Annual Meeting & Leadership Meeting also has many other scheduled networking sessions to sign up for. Plenty of seats are still available—all at no extra cost!

Table Topics, which are small, moderated group conversations on specific topics of interest, still have more than 1,200 seats available across a wide variety of topics. If you have never participated in a Table Topic at previous meetings, now is the time to try it.

Speed Networking, hour-long networking sessions where you share information about you and your organization, has nearly 1,100 seats available. Corporate Meet-Ups, video meetings designed for benchmarking with other brand owners, have more than 100 open spots. A plethora of social networking sessions—within the categories of sports, wellness, tastings, and experiences—are open for registrants.

Thanks to all these options, as well as INTAconnect—the Meeting’s 24-hour networking platform that uses artificial intelligence to match Meeting registrants based on their own unique profiles, interests, and time zone preferences—registrants have many opportunities to make meaningful and important relationships at the virtual Meeting.

Although every effort has been made to verify the accuracy of this article, readers are urged to check independently on matters of specific concern or interest.