Meeting News - January 5, 2009 - (Page 25)

MN Exclusive Research Knowing What to Do How would you rate your level of expertise? Recently began/just learning the market Moderate experience/ knowledge Good deal of experience/ knowledge Extensive experience/ knowledge 24% 32% 50% 8% 6% 3% 30% 23% 19% Corporate Planners Association Planners Independent Planners 39% 40% 28% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% Source: Martin Akel & Assoc./Wilson Research Group dees, and she also plans full-scale conferences. Until last year, Blas handled all the events on her own, but now she has part-time help. “Our faculty events have almost doubled in the past two years,” she said. “There was someone in the faculty who expressed an interest in helping with events, so now she helps me part-time. It’s a great way for her to learn about planning.” Shonda Spinks-Lackey also gets help from administrative personnel in her role as corporate event planner for Credit Union Direct Lending, based in Rancho Cucamonga, CA. In addition to planning three national events and organizing the company’s participation at about 85 trade shows, Spinks-Lackey plans regional meetings for credit unions and car dealerships around the country with the help of administrative staff in each region. While she doesn’t always attend each meeting, she always does the site inspections. Her meetings sizes range from about 100 to 150 guests for regional events, to 550 for a national symposium, to 1,300 for hosted events in conjunction with a large industry trade show. When it comes to the average number of meeting attendees, survey respondents reported a wide range of numbers. Twenty-nine percent of corporate planners said they average fewer than 50 attendees, but another 21 percent aver- age 101 to 500 attendees. A significant number of independent planners (31%) also said their meetings average 101 to 500, as did association planners (28%). Only 4 percent of corporate planners and 5 percent of independents reported an average of over 1,000 attendees, but association planners registered 12 percent, due to the nature of the projects they handle. But averages only tell part of the story. As director of meetings and events for association management company IntrinXec Management Inc., in Minneapolis, Sean R. Schuette, CMP, said he is personally involved with six or seven of the company’s yearly roster of about 18 meetings. “I’m currently touching meetings that draw anywhere from 80 people to about 1,000, with one to 10 speakers,”he said.At previous organizations, he worked on programs that ranged from 500 to 16,000 participants. Ned Campbell started as a field services manager 21 years ago for the Florida Institute of CPAs. Part of that position involved on-site administration of meetings around the state. Today, he’s the institute’s senior director of professional development, overseeing 370 meetings a year. “I recently did a presentation and had to calculate how many meetings I’d done through the years,”Campbell recounted.“My best guess is that I’ve overseen or attended about 10,000 meetings in my years here. It was pretty amazing to put all the numbers together and see how it added up!” Well-rounded professionals It’s not unusual for planners to be involved with a wide range of meetings. For example, more than half of all the surveyed planners—corporate, association, and independent—are involved in planning trade shows and conventions, education/training programs, special events, and management and board meetings. Twenty-six percent of the corporate planners surveyed also plan incentives, as do 40 percent of the independent planners. Sales meetings are also the domain of 52 percent of corporate planners and 53 percent of independent planners. Campbell noted that 100 percent of his job involves education, but these days that’s not limit- ed to in-person meetings. “We’ve had an online component, but as the economy tightens, I’m doing even more strategic planning for online education,” he said. “In addition to online self-study programs, we have webcasts—which to me are still meetings, since I have to coordinate the videographer, the speakers, and other elements they require, even if we don’t all meet in one physical space.” But Campbell noted, “One thing we worry about is cannibalizing our primary revenue stream if people choose online options instead of attending in-person meetings. But so far, we have not seen that. We think we’ve added to our options and brought in new people to attend the webcasts, rather than just shifting attendees.” Everything plus chief bottlewasher With titles and job functions that range from professional meeting planner to company owner or CEO and from sales and human resources professional to administrative assistant, it’s no surprise that meeting planning ranges from very little to very much of any given planner’s overall job. Still, 32 percent of association planners, 17 percent of continued on page 47 Turning the Volume How many meetings do you plan per year? 30% 1 to 10 19% 23% 11 to 20 24% 12% 13% 16% 7% 31 to 40 9% 10% 25% 41+ 14% 27% 28% 33% 21 to 30 Corporate Planners Association Planners Independent Planners 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% Source: Martin Akel & Assoc./Wilson Research Group www.meetingnews.com January 5, 2009 MeetingNews 25 http://www.mimegasite.com/mimegasite/research/index.jsp http://www.meetingnews.com

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Meeting News - January 5, 2009

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