Despite a number of pressing professional issues that meeting planners keep a worried eye on — attrition, liability and return on investment head that list — meeting buyers are most concerned these days with a macro situation that impacts us all: the economy's effect on business.
Presented with an array of professional issues and asked to designate the "most worrisome," 180 meeting buyers who responded to a recent MeetingNews survey overwhelmingly cited the economy as their main work-related concern.
Asked to choose up to two issues from a list of nine, 44 percent of planners selected the economy (see chart, page 1). Next most-worrisome were attendance attrition at meetings, chosen by 24 percent; liability issues, 18 percent; and demonstrating ROI, 17 percent.
"The economy is on everybody's mind," said Amy Drum Caruso, membership services director of Philadelphia-based Soroptimist International of the Americas, an association of female professionals and business owners. "Nothing is getting cheaper. And as for associations, members are always asking what they are getting for their dollar."
Caruso also is concerned about the state of things internationally, given her association's global focus.
"In most cases, our constituents' countries are in a more dire situation than we are," she said.
Alan Barr, president of consulting firm Creative Change Associates in Ann Arbor, Mich., which holds large strategic-planning meetings for municipalities and large corporations, agreed.
"We see clients all the time who are less likely or willing to spend money on big retreats, or who have scaled down what they used to do," Barr said.
He added, "It's the ostrich mentality; they're hoping it gets better but they're not willing to do some of the things to make it better."
Americans overall seem to agree with the MeetingNews survey. Late last month, the Rasmussen Consumer Index, which measures the economic confidence of the U.S. consumer, continued its steady decline through the fall of 2004. In the latest measurement, 34 percent of Americans say their own personal finances are getting better, but 43 percent say they are getting worse.
Regarding the survey respondents' No. 2 concern, attrition, Caruso said she manages her room blocks "constantly." Because her association has a substantial international membership who tend to book rooms through travel wholesalers — which, in turn, often book outside official room blocks — "that contingent is my main concern."
Also in the top half of issues planners pointed to was demonstrating ROI. Barr said his company creates case studies of how meetings have influenced decisions and results. A recent meeting on doing business in China provided input on whether to compete or partner with Chinese automobile manufacturers, for example.
"Clients have a higher expectation of what the value of a meeting should be, compared with the 1990s when there was no end in sight to growth," he said. "And we believe they deserve that."
Just behind ROI came keeping up with technology, selected by 16 percent of respondents. "It amazes me how much it's changed," said Debra Kulik, project manager with MasiMax Resources in Rockville, Md.
"With hotels going wireless, we want to make sure we're looking for properties with that capability," said Kulik, whose company produces scientific meetings for government agencies. "And people are coming to meetings with their presentations on little memory sticks and can revise them right up to the last minute. We need to be aware of and work this new capability."
Contact Christopher Hosford at
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