Skip to site content
The Group Travel Leader Going on Faith Select Traveler

Small Changes for Big Impacts

Have you already broken your New Year’s resolutions?

When the calendar flips to a new year, we think about change. How can we live healthier? Break bad habits? Save money? Advance in our career? Lofty goals are set. And then, when they overwhelm us and get lost amid daily challenges, we fall back to our usual ways.

But changes don’t need to be big to be beneficial; small bites are easier to swallow. So here are a few ideas to help you make small changes and improvements that are easy and achievable. Do one or two or maybe all five. Or use the list to spark your own ideas for change — at any time of year.

Try a Different Destination

If you want to spark some spirits, book a meeting at a recently opened or soon-to-open hotel or resort. Go to the mountaintop at the 245-room Cloudland at McLemore Resort on Lookout Mountain, a few miles from Chattanooga, Tennessee, or stay steps from downtown Sioux Fall’s dramatic Falls Park at the new 216-room Canopy by Hilton. Both Hilton properties have plenty of meeting and event space. Hit the beach at the 151-room Trailborn Surf and Sound in Wrightsville Beach near Wilmington, North Carolina. It’s a remake of the Blockade Runner Beach Resort. Or, if yours is a larger crowd, head to Gaylord’s new California property, the Gaylord Pacific Resort and Convention Center in San Diego-adjacent Chula Vista. Plenty of room there, with more than 1,000 rooms and almost half a million square feet of meeting space. If the meeting’s a small one, consider one of the new hotels in the villages of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, convenient to both New York and Philly.

Examine Paperwork and Processes

We tend to start a new year with sharper focus, so it’s a perfect time to review paperwork and procedures and ensure they aren’t outdated or ineffective. For example, is the “required” information on your conference registration form sufficient, or is there other information that attendees could supply that would be valuable? Is your online registration payment system up to speed, or is there new, improved software? Contracts also deserve a quick read — is everything up-to-date and on point? And, as the social media landscape shifts, it makes sense to analyze which platforms are used most by your audience and then put more time and money into those in the future. Another spot that might need some spiffing up? The conference agenda. Are there ways to shake it up by adding new events or options? Is the conference long enough? Too long?

Invest in Some Cheap Tricks

Meeting planners live by the Boy Scout creed, “Be prepared.” So, it might be time to stock up on some inexpensive but often useful little items. A couple of packages of foam ear plugs will protect you from unwelcome noise when your ear buds or noise cancelling headphones aren’t handy. For literal headaches and allergic reactions, tuck small packs of pain reliever and Benadryl in your wallet. Post-It notes have many purposes. Stick them on hotel room mirrors or doors to remind you to make an important call or grab your phone from the charger. Use them to label a tangle of power cords or to work out seating for a board dinner. Safety pins can be lifesavers when a key button pops off, a seam splits, a hem decides to unravel or hotel curtains won’t stay closed. And the five yards of silver tape in a flat, pocketsize pack of duct tape can hold down trippy carpet corners and cords or flyaway tablecloths.

Add Spice to the Menu

A dash of creativity adds so much to conference meals. A scattering of food stations, each with food, music and décor from a different corner of the world, adds international flavor and flair. Interactive options — make-your-own hot dogs or burgers, sundaes or custom cocktails/mocktails — give people the chance to eat exactly what they want as they discuss the merits of hot fudge, dill pickles or Kentucky bourbon with their peers. Go lighter with poké or grain bowls or a baked potato bar. Capitalize on the popularity of board games with finger foods and drinks at card tables set up with Pictionary, Codenames, Sushi Go Party!, Throw Throw Burrito and other games. Brighten up the mid-afternoon drowsies with a potato chip or popcorn bar. If the timing is right, you might be able to gather up the group and head to a local Oktoberfest or other local food festival.

Pack Nice Notecards

If you feel achy or anxious, sad or sleepless, you could get a prescription or you could express your gratitude to people who have helped you in some way. Experts say showing gratitude has a pile of benefits: We’re happier, sleep better, are more productive, have fewer aches and pains, feel more empathy and get along better in the world. So, as you head out for a conference, pack some notecards that make you happy — maybe they are the work of a favorite artist or depict your favorite flower. Then, be on the lookout for someone along your travels who has made your trip a little better. Hand them a short, handwritten note — simply tell them what they did and what it meant to you. Chances are, they will be flabbergasted and will always remember your kindness. And you’ll reap the benefits of showing your gratitude.