Meeting News - April 21, 2008 - (Page 13)

MN Exclusive Research Planners are loud and clear on internal speaker sourcing By William Ng T The MN poll revealed that the majority of speaker he latest MeetingNews survey shows that many budgets among respondents fell between $1,500 and meeting planners are sourcing speakers from $5,000, followed by a large contingent of those who within their organizations and industries in lieu of have even less money to work with. This has impactoutside professionals and those represented by ed the use of outside speakers and bureaus, too. “I don’t use speaker bureaus because they’re too speaker bureaus. The two biggest reasons cited in the 315-planner study are a desire to ﬁnd experts expensive,” said Kathleen O’Donnell, deputy direcwho can educate on industry- tor for New York City-based International Ticketing Association, who plans the group’s events.“As a speciﬁc issues and cost savings. Attendee demand for maximizing return on time byproduct of my budget, I am limited in hiring outaway from the ofﬁce is driving event organizers to side speakers to keynotes,” she added. And, like 58.3 select speakers who deliver highly targeted informa- percent of the planners in the MN survey, O’Dontion. The push is especially true for planners of nell looks for educators when she brings in outside small meetings or those working on meetings in speakers. highly specialized industries. The budget restrictions, said O’Donnell, heightKaren Brown, managing partner of Conferences en the planning challenge when attendees want to by Design, in Salisbury, MD, has gone away from hear from someone “other than the person they motivational and entertainment-type speakers for work with” but also who can relate to their industry. a pair of meetings by a distribution-industry soft- So, she relies on academia, ﬁnding professors on ware user group of C-level executives. Said Brown: salient subjects, such as the future of commerce “Attendees wanted content-rich presentations. and social networking, though she said many MN It really became an issue. Now, my marketing Exclusive speakers on generational diversity “seem to be Research tied to speaker bureaus.” is focused on content rather than the meeting In the pharmaceutical industry, not only is it amenities.” Brown added that not only has she used speaker more effective to source organization players, it’s bureaus less, because of the nature of the talent, safer, as well, said Aleka Garcia, account supervisor she’s had to pay the price to ﬁnd industry experts. for Costa Mesa, CA-based event planning ﬁrm Pacif“My last speaker, a distribution-trend and econom- ic Communications. “In pharma, there are restricics guru, his price was two and a half times what I’m tions on what can be discussed.An internal speaker is used to paying,” she said. Her budget went to that [aware of] the organization’s ethics and schooled in compliance issues,” said Garcia. “They know what one speaker. Hot for Teachers What is your primary goal in bringing speakers from outside your organization? Educate attendees with industry Motivate attendees Use famous names to draw attendees Entertain attendees 4.4% 10.7% 6.2% 5.7% 1.8% 1.6% Corporate Planners Association Planners 54.0% 62.3% 33.6% 19.7% * Other 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% Source: MeetingNews survey of 235 meeting planners On the Outside Looking In How much money do you typically budget for speakers who are not already part of your organization? Corporate Planners 33.9% $1,501-$5,000 $10,001$20,000 Association Planners $20,000+ 10.4% 28.0% 13.6% 0-$1,500 22.9% 0-$1,500 22.0% 16.0% 7.6% 13.6% $20,000+ $10,001-$20,000 $1,501-$5,000 $5,001$10,000 $5,001$10,000 32.0% Source: MeetingNews survey of 243 meeting planners can be talked about and what’s not appropriate.” But while speaker selection has become more targeted, the outside celebrity/professional speaker is in no way a dying breed. Michael Quatrini, Orlando-based GM for marketing and events ﬁrm TBA Global LLC, contending that speaker budgets are actually increasing, said his clients are mixing professional speakers with targeted speeches to enliven each program. “You’ll still have your Olympic stars,” said Quatrini, alluding to top athletes and celebrities. And, he said the pros are adapting:“Professional speakers are savvy; they’re becoming more on point with brand spirit and company messages.” Then, there are risks when relying heavily on internal speakers, argued Laurie Meyer, president of New York City-based Programs Plus International, an events ﬁrm and speaker boutique. Namely, if the internal speaker is exposed within the organization as someone who doesn’t lead by example, she said, the message delivery can backﬁre. Another pratfall is attendee perception that the group isn’t worth the extra money for an outside speaker. “You have to analyze whether you’ll lose more than you’ll gain,” said Meyer. “And, you can still get outside speakers who customize for companies and don’t cost exorbitant [amounts of money].” H Contact William Ng at william.ng@nielsen.com April 21, 2008 MeetingNews 13 www.meetingnews.com http://www.mimegasite.com/mimegasite/research/index.jsp http://www.meetingnews.com

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Meeting News - April 21, 2008

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