Event Assists Ensure Smooth Meetings for NAHB

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United States in March 2020, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), like every other organization, had to quickly pivot its operations.

Work from home became the norm, and meetings big and small had to be held virtually.

The NAHB already was using a meeting and webinar platform before the pandemic but quickly became frustrated with the program’s instability once they were forced to utilize it full time.

With more than 700 state and local associations representing more than 140,000 members, the organization felt the pressure to find a virtual meeting solution that could handle hundreds if not thousands of people.

After testing a couple of other platforms with similar results, the NAHB eventually discovered Webex. While the organization found Webex was more stable and reliable than the other ones used previously, the learning curve was a bit too steep to tackle alone.

Wanting to focus on running the meetings rather than the technical aspects of ensuring everyone could virtually attend and participate in them, the NAHB reached out to the technology division of Hungerford, which has been helping the trade association with its large-scale meetings for the past four years.

“And it went from bleak to a wonderful experience instantaneously,” said Jeff Bankert, vice president and executive producer for the NAHB, which represents the housing industry. “There was still a little bit of a learning curve, but it was fantastic to have an expert who understood the platform, understood the usability and the interaction and the function for the users themselves.”

“Both of (the experts) were personable, they were understanding of our limitations and our expectations, and they were very helpful in walking us through the process and letting us lean on them quite a bit, as well, from meeting to meeting.”

Hungerford Manages Technical Side of Events

The event assists pair a Webex expert from Hungerford with the production team at the NAHB to coordinate and collaborate on the organization’s leadership meetings, board of directors meetings and leadership council meetings. These events can range from 100 to more than 1,000 attendees, either completely virtual or a hybrid of some in-person and virtual participants. While the content of each meeting varies, they generally include guest speakers, financial reports, organizational updates and Q&A sessions.

The trade association holds roughly six or seven of these large-scale events per year that Bankert and his team produce. In total, Hungerford helps the organization with around 25 meetings per year.

The Webex expert’s job is to ensure the event runs smoothly. This involves sending meeting invites, sending meeting reminders and attending meeting rehearsals — known as dry runs — a couple of days before the actual event. During the meetings, the Webex expert will educate attendees on how to use the platform, help those who can’t log in and troubleshoot any audio or video problems they may have.

“I can’t speak highly enough of them,” Bankert said of the experts. “Very good at what they do, extremely helpful, proactive and always there when you need them.

“Tens across the board.”

The NAHB holds a mix of scripted and nonscripted meetings. The scripted meetings are completely mapped out from beginning to end and require the Hungerford Webex expert to attend the script review sessions beforehand to ensure everyone is coordinated and on the same page. The nonscripted meetings, on the other hand, follow a general outline but aren’t as meticulously orchestrated.

The Webex expert focuses on the technical side of the meetings so the NAHB can focus on the production and content parts.

Because of the NAHB’s older members who aren’t as technically savvy, Bankert said having a safety net in Hungerford has been instrumental in ensuring that everyone can attend and participate. He added since the Webex experts have to be well-versed in how the NAHB runs its events, he essentially considers them an extension of his organization.

“Both of (the experts) were personable, they were understanding of our limitations and our expectations, and they were very helpful in walking us through the process and letting us lean on them quite a bit, as well, from meeting to meeting,” Bankert said.

“Now they are just part of the team. They literally are part of the team and just one of us.”