The global meeting industry back to the future

11/01/2011

“2011 will be a strategically smarter and more hip version of its 2010 attendee cousin”, says Bruce Mc Millan (MPI CEO and president) according to the results of the latest FutureWatch survey.

Economic confidence has returned and meeting professionals forecast a positive change in the industry for 2011.

For this study, conducted by MPI and sponsored by IMEX, in partnership with American Express, 450 industry professionals –planners and suppliers– from 20 countries were surveyed, coming mostly from the USA (76%), Australia (25%), Europe and Canada (11%). Respondents seem rather confident since they predict rises of 8% in the number of meetings planned for 2011, 5% in the average spend and 2% in overall attendance and the same length of meetings. The greater challenge is to evolve from an industry in transition to a lasting, secure one by sustaining existing business models while discovering new methods.

In terms of meeting venue selection, the top 3 priorities are overall cost, condition and quality of venue, and meeting space requirements. Concerning destinations, the previous trend will also apply to 2010/2011: meeting planners organize events locally; US planners mostly organize their events in the USA (87%), Europeans in Europe (82%) etc…

Another trend highlighted by the survey is that technology, or virtual events and social media, is becoming mainstream. First seen as threats to live events, they are now considered to be efficient forms of communication support. Top priorities for technology as quoted in FutureWatch are to improve presentation of the audiovisual experience at meetings and to get better feedback from attendees about their experience. This goes hand in hand with a sharp focus on Smart Meetings Management (SMM) and a greater attention on measuring the value of meetings by both objective and subjective means: direct revenue generation, participant satisfaction, acquisition of new customers…

“Competitive pricing, a preference for value and quality over frills and extras and greater emphasis on ROI measurement will set the tone for an industry that has to rely on its flexibility and creativity to survive. Shorter travel distance, wider use of virtual technologies and a broad commitment to CSR will round out the specifics as meeting professionals embrace a future that is still taking shape, but already offers ample opportunity bur business success” concludes the FutureWatch Report.

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