Not every idea that should be heard company-wide needs to be heard in a large central meeting, where there's as little (or less) control as/than by other methods. If HR's opinion is solicited or permitted, what valid considerations will determine your decision?

Unless it's essential to converse with the individual attendees, there's really no excuse for a face-to-face meeting of any size. Unless simultaneity is essential, smaller, regional meetings will do as well--and sometimes, better. If the former, check on the options, including written memo, phone-or video-conferencing.

Consider all your options, because travel has ceased to be a joy, as once it was. These days, assignments for travel are often resented. Unless HR is immune to budget cuts and the need to produce cost-savings wherever possible, the options can become sanity-savers.

In the present travel climate of fewer offered seats, higher fares, shortened leg room, and anti-terrorist rigamarole, many travelers, especially frequent-flier sales employees, wish that air travel might go away. Whereas the frequent-flier miles were once a compensation, new fees on redemption and/or faster-redemption requirements tend to dilute their value as pacifiers. Some companies claim the frequent-flier miles for the company's use, as a matter of policy--so don't push travel if it's not necessary.

Don't be surprised when the answering option turns out to be a written memo or telephone- or video-conferencing. Both latter modes offer some amount of feedback, if needed now. If you don't need immediate feedback, a written memo will do. If you have no purpose for a "traditional meeting," cancel it. But this cancellation recommendation was first offered back in the mid-1970s.Given much higher prices now, that concept has new legs.

The travel-dominated magazines don't promote cancellation or electronic conferencing, of course. And they also do you the favor of reminding you (truthfully) that many employees don't finish their web courses (good or or bad program structures?). . .without mentioning that many paying students don't finish their chosen university courses, too. Some people are skilled enough to goof off anywhere--they can't be your bottom-line criterion.

Using airlines best if using:

Your company will probably never be able to avoid travel by 100%. No big deal. But to travel when it's essential or to travel because no better way was considered--these are different concepts.

Regarding hang-ups with company group travel: A group-travel officer of a now-defunct international air carrier once told me, "We don't care what happens after they sign the contract." That might explain why they're now defunct. But "convention sevice" at many airlines today still depends mostly on ticketing service--which benefits them more than your company.

Yes, the joyous days of the French Caravelle are gone forever, courtesy of the bean counters. Bean counters also established the rationales for hub-and-spoke arrangement that most travelers hate; we'd like to get from here to there--not from here to elsewhere (to elsewhere?) to there.

If you're not old enough to remember, the Caravelle carried about 80 passengers (quick loading and dependable baggage handling) and--with rear jet engines--was quieter than wing-jet engines. The cabin staff were not overworked and were pleased to serve palatable food.

Compare that to today, and then have some compassion for your travelers.

Of course there will be times when the large (according to your company's size) central meeting is unavoidable. At that time, use a process that travel-consultants will be glad to recommend, for a fee:

a) Leave the departure leg from home open; but
b) Book the return-leg on the scheduled departure day for a decent time interval after the central meeting is scheduled to end; and
c) Charter a bus to pick up everyone for each airport at a given time (as determined above). You'll be amazed at how much money can be saved on charter service via individual cab fares. Calculate.

What's a decent interval? Expect the meeting to run a little late; they always do--so allow an hour; add one hour early arrival that's required for airport check-in; add some time for a last minute goof-up; add the normal travel time from the hotel or other facility to the selected airport(s) for that time of day. That might total 3-5 hours after the printed schedule's end, depending. The idea is to control the available flights out on the return-trip home. . .don't put the traveler at the mercy of flight remainders if they carry open coupons when going home.

The related, significant concept of an open home-departure coupon is that a lot of employees already know how to tell time and set schedules for themselves--and they don't need HR or the travel-staff ticketers to tell them what time is most convenient for them to leave home in order to arrive on time at the destination. The company's old ticketing process might need to be updated.

Using options best if using:

Okay--you don't need instructions on how to prepare a memo. But one-way memos are identical in most effects to one-way directives from the boss from the lectern in a large meeting room.

Key point: Can the recipients actually perform as directed as a matter of reading the memo alone (or hearing the spoken directive alone), or will other helps be needed by the original, smaller-meeting recipients as well as their subordinates? How should they access those other helps, if needed? Will local training sessions be conducted by established methods and measured fairly?

Telephone conferencing is probably limited only by the number of earbuds. However, if the crowd is too large, it'll be difficult to control the in-coming responses. Yes, rented professional equipment can establish response queues, but that adds to the cost and can create boring delays for all those waiting online. Compare that increased cost to VC--can you achieve significantly more with VC for a relatively small difference?

Video conferencing (VC) is probably most convincing because of (at minimum, postage stamp sized) still photos of the key participants--usually 6-10; sometimes more. Some professional softwares give real-time, moving shots of each speaker. That approaches personal involvements because we accept mediated contacts as being "personal." Or how else did the telephone survive? How many meetings might be conducted this year? At the multiple per-time cost, might purchasing a system be the best buy?

VC is also most-affordable when only the few regions are linked, whether with the home office boss only or plus the regional managers. That's true whether or not the district managers are also included. Many VC commercial facilitators are taking back some of the cost savings between travel and VC meetings via overly-high rates. That's easy to justify with a gazillion individuals but too obvious with a few regions. So ask questions!

Given the huge TV projections screens that can be used almost anywhere, all targeted employees in entire regions can probably get into the act. But should they? Don't let possibilities determine your response--what does the company really need this time--and each time?

Regional meetings are always cheaper (as established by "Sales & Marketing Management" magazine in 1973) because large central meetings must usually be held in the major cities that can provide large meeting rooms. Such cities are always more expensive for everything at the huge facilities; plus longer-distant travel for more people. Yes, short hops are higher-priced per mile--so keep your calculator handy. Buses if not cars to the central regional meeting?

On the other hand, too many district meetings will save local hotel expense at the time-, exhaustion, and dollar travel-expense of the meeting caller(s). If special product and/or equipment are also being transported, the overall cost can become exorbitant.

Now, should your company's VP/Sales be reading this? Or, if HR's opinions are invited or permitted next time, you might have a few new concepts that will back up your recommendation. . .and that factual foundation can't hurt!