Attendees are more demanding than ever. Some straight talk, and a willingness to listen, can help.

Such things are difficult to measure, but this is probably the most challenging time to be an association meetings professional in recent memory. Venues have fractured into in-person, virtual, and hybrid formats. Attendees are more vocal than ever about their varied tastes for session length and interactivity. Associations need to keep the conversation going on a host of social-media platforms. They have five distinct generations to appeal to, each with different learning styles. Sponsorships that are just banners won’t cut it. 

Oh, and everything’s more expensive now.

It’s natural to feel overwhelmed by all this. But one thing experts suggested to me as I helped report the latest set of Associations Now Deep Dives on meetings, is that meetings professionals should resist the urge to overthink things. Yes, Gen Z attendees are more likely to spend time on TikTok than a Boomer. But that doesn’t mean your event needs to resemble an #fyp.

Rather, take the lesson that what younger attendees—but, really, everybody—wants is clear, concise information about what they’re going to experience at your event. Ditch the buzzword-heavy slogans (“Synergizing for the Future!”) and stop worrying about session length, Freeman’s Ken Holsinger told me. Instead, focus on quality content and clear messaging about what they’ll gain. “Is [the content] captivating, is it interesting, is it well-delivered?” he told me. “It is well-illustrated, does it make its point, and does it leave them wanting more?”

Of course, meeting planners do need to think about the distinct experiences that attendees will be looking for. That can mean online or in-app tools for personalizing experiences. But it also means that planners need to design experiences that reflect an understanding of attendee needs. A gathering of esteemed, long-tenured professionals at a meeting—chatty, noisy, drinks-y, convivial—is a turn-off for young professionals looking for a quieter space more amenable for networking.

Better still, create those experiences in the same space. John Folks, CEO of the consultancy Minding Your Business, told me about one association client that built a quieter “speakeasy” space into a larger reception event, plus an industry-trivia area that allowed people from multiple backgrounds to mingle. 

In many ways, an association meeting’s challenges are a microcosm of an association’s overall challenges. How do you identify the biggest issues facing an industry? How do you ensure members are well-informed and engaged? How do you create a welcoming environment for the professionals who will shape your future, and make it reflect where your industry is, and is going? Talking to meeting planners for the Deep Dives, it’s clear that meetings professionals are more closely integrated with overall strategy discussions, because events are the most visible (and likely profitable) example of that strategy in action.

In short, a tough gig. And it’s not just about meeting your members where they are. It’s also about learning who your future members are. As Folks put it to me: “You have to think beyond, who am I serving today? You need to ask, ‘Who do I want to be serving, or should I be serving tomorrow?’”

That’s true of meetings, to be sure. But it’s true of everything an association does.

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