By: Laura Bennett
Before there was Zoom fatigue, there was already severe meeting fatigue in many workplaces across Australia. In 2021, it was reported that over 55 million meetings occurred every week in the US, and with the ease of digital access to employees, we can only imagine that number is on the rise and mirrored around the globe.
Countless courses, books, and business consultants have sought to address the need for meetings to be more streamlined, productive and focused, but is it working?
Seasoned entrepreneur Carl Gough doesn’t think so, which is why he developed meetmagic.
The so called “Tinder for meetings” has allowed executives and those who want to meet with them to be matched according to the compatibility of their shared goals, all while raising funds for charity in the process.
“When I think about the amount of meetings people are taking, I think COVID has added literally 30 or 40 per cent more meetings in our calendar,” Carl said.
“When I think about the amount of meetings people are taking, I think COVID has added literally 30 or 40 per cent more meetings in our calendar,” – meetmagic’s Carl Gough
“This is a problem, especially when you think about senior executives, who spend [the bulk] of their time in meetings. What’s even more disturbing, is that 35 per cent of those meetings have no outcome whatsoever.
“There’s a lot to be said about the way people are meeting and the impact of those meetings not only on the bottom line, but also the productivity of the whole country.”
Through meetmagic, companies sign up to have meetings with executives of particular businesses and those executives charge a fee, which is then donated to charity.
“Over the last five years I’ve got involved in the charity space, and I discovered how hard it was to keep going back and asking for more money,” Carl said.
Finding a sustainable fundraising model is tough – although vital – and Carl believes meetmagic’s pay-to-meet concept is the tool they need.
“For example, an executive gives us a little bit of their time, we match them with one of our clients, charge $1000 per meeting and give $700 of that to charity.
“All of a sudden we’ve now created a sustainable model because every meeting that the executive does, generates funds for charity.”
Since its inception, meetmagic has donated over $1 million to charities including the Starlight Foundation and Miracle Babies, and is operating in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and the UK.
For more information about meetmagic visit their website.
Article supplied with thanks to Hope Media.
About the Author: Laura is a media professional, broadcaster and writer from Sydney, Australia.
Feature image: Photo by Benjamin Child on Unsplash