As meeting planners, it is our responsibility to ensure a safe environment, to the best of our ability, for our attendees. This comes into play when choosing the location of the meeting, the hotel, the choice of transportation, and now, another area of concern is data.
Your attendees are physically present at your meeting, but more than likely also conducting business via their mobile devices. How can you help them be safe on line? Here are some factors to consider:
Think confidentiality: What does not need to be accessed or shared on site has no business being on site. Keep confidential information access at the office. Also, keep in mind that there are cameras and recording devices everywhere, be aware of your surroundings and with whom and where you share information.
Password protection: Make sure your attendees are aware that every public network has the potential to be hazardous. This is not the place for them to be ordering goodies online, updating bank accounts or setting up new accounts.
And the Correct Wi-Fi Is: Make sure all attendees know which Wi-Fi to use during the conference and to be leery of anything that uses names like “Free” or “Official.” The venue name is usually reflected in the Wi-Fi name, and it should require some sort of process and information for logging in.
Happy App-y: If you are using an event app of any kind, make sure the app is password protected and follows security criteria.
What Meeting?: In some cases, there is no need to share anything about a conference or meeting with anyone other than the invited attendees. Therefore, signage for such an event may not be necessary.
Registration Expert: Some additional training may be in order for those manning the registration table. If they need to check IDs or any other form of identification, make sure they know what to look out for and how to determine the legitimacy of the information.
IT Pals: When it comes to Internet security, these folks rank as the most experienced and knowledgeable. It’s not a bad idea to ask for their advice on how to best utilize on site access and to know the type of information to share with attendees. Come prepared with some information to share with them as well, for example, what is the nature and information to be shared at the meeting; attendee profile; if there are any known outsiders who may have interest in the content being shared; and potential problems if something that should not get out, were to get out.
Do you have any other information to share? Please comment below and let us all know! Let’s keep our information AND our attendees’ information safe!
