Meeting News - May 19, 2008 - (Page 8)

Inside the Meetings Industry Edited by Elizabeth West elizabeth.west@nielsen.com Amid Economic Slump, Buzzword Now is ‘Affordable’ Affordable Meetings’ strong attendance implies planners preparing for 2nd-half cost cuts Chicago—Here’s a surprise: Despite ConventionPlanit.com, to present beer budget: Food and beverage costthe rapid weakening of the economy solutions to the most common event- saving techniques.” Other sessions addressed topics since late last year, more than 75 per- housing challenges, and offered cent of meeting planners attending advice on how to maximize the use of that often are more prevalent in diffithe Affordable Meetings Mid-Ameri- search engines and websites to save cult economic times, including handling ethical dilemmas, crafting ca Conference and Exposition contract clauses that avoid or at Chicago’s Navy Pier April 9withstand litigation after the 10 said that their overall meetevent, using webinars strategiing and event budgets for 2008 cally to augment in-person have not been reduced. meetings and events, and partEven so, the likelihood of nering with a property’s convenmany of those budgets remaintion services team to avoid ing intact through year’s end is meeting glitches and cost overslim given most economic foreruns. casts. This made the conferAlso, the expo portion of the ence, organized by Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association event saw 71 new exhibitors, International, particularly releinvolved in market segments vant for the roughly 1,100 such as special event produc—Robert Gilbert, president and CEO, HSMAI attendees. tion, technology, and interna“The sizable turnout for the tional destinations, which conference shows there is great time and money. brought a total booth count of 314 demand for affordable options for In addition, attendees chose from across 31,000 sf of show floor. meetings in today’s economic envi- 20 other sessions, many of which The next several HSMAI meeting ronment,” said Robert Gilbert, presi- addressed cost-containment strate- planner events for 2008 are Afforddent and CEO of HSMAI. gies: “Fundamentals of creating your able Meetings West, June 11-12 in At the event’s opening general ses- meeting budget,” “Effective negotia- Long Beach, CA, and Affordable sion, James Gowell, director of busi- tion: Understanding how hotels eval- Meetings National and the Event ness development for Passkey, joined uate your business,” “Special event Technology Expo, Sept. 10-11 in Katherine Markham, principal of cheap chic,” and “Champagne on a Washington, DC. IMEX Looks at the Present and Future Frankfurt—The International Meetings Exchange (IMEX) show, held at Messe Frankfurt April 22-24, saw 3,600 hosted international buyers, as well 3,000 buyers from the German outbound market, and 3,000 exhibitors. IMEX’s winner of its Green Meetings Awards was Stockholm-based Scandic Hotels, winning the gold medal for its commitment to environmentally friendly meetings and demonstrating tangible outcomes from efforts. The silver medal went to the Unitarian Universalists Association for a 2007 conference held at the Oregon Convention Center. Mary Power, executive director of the Human Resource Certification Institute, emphasized the needed competencies in the future global marketplace. Twenty-thousand public organizations surveyed will recruit people who demonstrate “big-picture thinking” and multilingual/multicultural understanding, Power cited. With the majority of new economic growth coming from outside the U.S. over the next 20 years, “it will be vital for meetings and incentive businesses to understand that success does not lie in replication, but in adaptability.” The sizable turnout “for the conference shows there is great demand for affordable options for meetings in today’s economic environment. ” MPI’s Big International Push Rides on Big Regional Shows Dallas—In April, the 23,000-member Meeting Professionals International saw two of its strategic planner conferences held outside North America—come to fruition. Key to success: Both piggybacked on a larger industry show. The Gulf Meetings & Events Conference took place in Dubai April 5-6, just prior to the Gulf Incentive, Business Travel, and Meetings (GIBTM) show in nearby Abu Dhabi. It was held at the InterContinental Dubai Festival City, providing two days of education that identified meeting trends and possibilities—as well as cultural con8 MeetingNews May 19, 2008 siderations—which are specific to the region. Among the North American-based attendees were planners from the energy, construction, medical, and financial services industries. Delegates were then transferred to nearby Abu Dhabi as part of the hosted-buyer program for GIBTM, which ran from April 8-10 at the new Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre. GIBTM included sessions such as “The protocol of running meetings in the Middle East,” “An overseas buyer’s view of the Middle East as a destination,” and “The 10 essential legal issues for international meetings.” Attention then turned to MPI’s European Meetings & Events Conference. About 600 atten- dees descended on London April 18-20, just days before the giant International Meetings Exchange (IMEX) show held annually in Frankfurt. The MPI event took place at the Excel center in London, situated alongside Royal Victoria Dock and next to Canary Wharf in the city’s East End. It was the first event in the U.K. to reach the “BS8901 Sustainable Standard” for events, which includes having staff on site to monitor and measure the event’s sustainability rating through its usage of water and electricity and food waste. Many attendees continued on to Frankfurt for IMEX on April 22 (story above). H —Section written by Robert Carey www.meetingnews.com http://conventionplanit.com http://www.meetingnews.com

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Meeting News - May 19th, 2008

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