Why town hall meetings rock

I think there's nothing that has a greater impact on cooperative than a live event. Exhibit A to that argument is an annual convention. A very close second are town hall meetings where management hosts regional sessions to both share information with franchisees and members to listen to their concerns. In fact, I could make the argument that town hall meetings might have the slight edge in effectiveness.  And they’re one of my absolute favorite meetings to facilitate.How?For starters, since they're held in smaller venues with less attendees and a more informal setting, I’ve found that it's a better forum for meaningful conversation on key topics. In general, franchisees and members are more candid with their feedback and input, which provides great insights on current issues and can lead to new ideas.What makes town hall meetings a win-win for all? Corporate gets great feedback from attendees. Attendees feel really good about the fact that management spent the time with them and that their voices were heard. Best of all, corporate has the opportunity to extend that good feeling to attendees and others by various follow-up activities-sharing results of the meetings, providing updates on action items taken from the meetings, etc.Coordinating and conducting town hall meetings is a service we offerto both cooperative and franchise clients. We recently conducted two very successful sessions for a security cooperative and a pharmacy franchise. For both, being able to communicate comments and ideas in person created a bond between attendees and management that was not there before. The meeting further reinforced the objectives of both parties-the success of the organization.If you would like information on possibly conducting a town hall meeting for your franchise or cooperative, please call me at 781-569-5900.