Many of us would rather spend the day at the dentist, than have this conversation. In the casual and comfortable world that we live in, it unfortunately needs to be addressed. The world has become very casual and corporate dress codes are much different than they were 20 years ago. Mark Zuckerberg reportedly wore a hoodie for the Facebook IPO. I don’t believe that would have happened in 1993!
Many of the meetings I have attended or helped to plan included a comment on the invite to let my guests know that the event would be “business causal” I added this after receiving many calls or emails from invitees. I quickly learned that “business casual” meant completely different things to different people. To some salespeople, it meant their best suit, but maybe they could skip the tie? To others, it meant ripped jeans, polo shirts and tennis shoes. Maybe this was instead of flip-flops and tube tops? I even had someone sneak in during the second half of a meeting in shorts and a tank top. It was time to address before everyone started dressing this way!
I personally did not think too much of the casual dress until my direct supervisor became concerned. She wondered, “What would happen if the executives at our company saw their attire? Would that be a direct reflection on the program’s success? Would it somehow be a reflection on us and if so, would it be our fault that we didn’t clearly lay out the dress code expectations?” I realized it was necessary to add a detailed dress code description in my registration and pre-event materials, emails and communications. The policy needed to be described in a clear and concise manner to eliminate any room for misinterpretation. I had learned that what was not written became the law.
I started adding the following to all invitees. “Please dress in business casual attire. No blue jeans, tennis shoes or flip flops please. Time will be allowed for you to change after the meeting and before transportation to the airport”. I also started asking for the correct spelling of their name and mentioned it would be for the professional looking custom name tags they would receive. That was another “hint”. It felt like I was babysitting, but in a sense I was. If you do not want to see tank tops or jeans, write that out. If you assume that people will have common sense and dress appropriately, I am afraid someone might prove you wrong.
As planners we can only control so much, we can’t dress our guests. However, you have a right and indeed an obligation to try and create a productive workplace for everyone. Even though some guests claim they are more productive in sweats, spell out the expectations and you can be assured that your guests will look and act the part!
