We have made the call with the Hilton Anatole in Dallas.  We are going to be doing hybrid meetings for North America Q2 in Dallas. 

So, what does this mean?

This is certainly not a decision we make lightly.  One of the reasons we are going ahead with a hybrid meeting is that this particular Hilton is part of Hilton’s development efforts around safely returning to larger gatherings.  We are working closely with the hotel on safety protocols, local ordinances, etc. to make sure we’re doing this as safely as possible.

On the continuum (no pun intended) from a typical Evolve in person meeting where there is plenty of activity and gatherings and encouraged networking to the last year of fully virtual meetings this one will obviously fall somewhere in the middle.


There is no pressure, requirement, penalty, or stigma attached to not being in Dallas.  

We don’t expect or want anyone to be in person that isn’t comfortable, is high risk, thinks they may be sick or simply it’s not convenient to travel yet to feel any pressure to be in person.  We will be working with the hotel’s AV to ensure we have reasonable technology to pull off a hybrid virtual/in-place meeting.  We have some on our Events Team and some facilitators that will not be traveling.


Expectations around Safety Protocols

If you fall into the category of being comfortable with travel, we need to set some expectations for compliance with hotel policy.  Nothing you won’t expect.  We’re still working out some of the details, but you can expect mask or face shield requirements, temperature scans, and social distancing rules to be in place and monitored by hotel staff as part of their hotel safety protocols. If you are ok with travel and willing to adhere to these protocols, then I’d encourage you to consider coming to Dallas. If you’re not comfortable with these requirements, we ask that you attend the meeting virtually.


Agenda & Logistics

We’re going to go back to our full-day meetings, so you’ll begin to see invites and agendas being set for 8-5 Central Time meeting days.  We have a couple of options for Community Day that we’re exploring, but what that looks like in-person is still a work in progress.  A lot of what we’re planning with the hotel is changing daily right now as we work through the challenges of hosting responsible meetings going forward.  These challenges include local restrictions we must adhere to which also continue to change regularly. Once we learn more, we’ll communicate what you need to know.  

We’ll begin working with Solution Partners and SME’s this week to see who and how many might be there. Based on that information we’ll determine what, if any, interaction with those folks looks like.

We’ll have boxed lunches each day.  We will not be providing breakfast, but we’re told that there are safe, reasonable options available at or near the hotel.  We’ll figure out the coffee situation – there will be coffee!


Your Support

I know of a group or two that were planning a meeting at a member site.  Our ask is that you consider being a part of our efforts for a couple of reasons.

• There will be some interaction with the broader group at some level and we would love for you to be a part of that.
• This is a toe in the water start for what we and the hotel are hoping to build on going forward.  What we learn will impact what and how we address Q3 and Q4. The more participation we have from those willing to travel, the more we will learn to quickly ramp up the experience as we move forward.

What We Need from You

In short, we need to know who is committing to being in Dallas AND who will be attending Community Day so we can get an accurate room size and Food and Beverage count and order in place. In order to gather that info, we've added these questions to our Q2 Registration Page. We’re asking registration to be done by March 19th.  That will give us a date where we can begin to lock down meeting space and F&B and AV details with the hotel.

We will need you ALL to do the following as soon as you can:

1. Register for Q2 by March 19th and tell us:
   • Whether you will be attending in-person or virtually
   • Whether you will be attending Community Day in-person
2. Book Your Hotel:
   • Remember registering for the meeting does not register you for your room – you need to take care of that following the link on the registration page.

We’ll be making more information available as we know it.  Thank you for your understanding as we navigate new territory and a somewhat dynamic set of circumstances to get us back to safely meeting in person.

Again – no pressure to be in Dallas but we’re cautiously excited to be planning for us to begin the process of resuming in person meetings starting in Q2 in North America. 

Thanks for being a part of Evolve!  Stay healthy and lead strong!

-Brad Schow