2008 Trends Report
The Workload’s Getting Heavier & The Stress Is On
These & Other Industry Trends Revealed
By Marlane Bundock | Click here to download ConventionSouth's complete 2008 Trends Report. |
There’s no doubt that the meetings industry has its ups and downs. The past two to three years showed growing demand for face-to-face gatherings during a time when many organizations were cutting budgets and meeting suppliers were raising prices.
Will we see a similar meetings marketplace in 2008, and how is the current state of the industry affecting you? Answers to these questions were revealed in
ConventionSouth’s 2008 Meeting Trends Report, an annual survey of experienced meeting professionals from across the country who frequently plan events in the South. The survey was conducted in September in partnership with Atlanta-based PKF Hospitality Research (PKF-HR), which specializes in tracking the meetings and hospitality industries.
After analyzing the results, PKF-HR Director of Research Information Services Robert Mandelbaum said 2007 brought a resolve in the industry. “Given the strength of the U.S. lodging market, it’s no surprise that meeting planners appear to have accepted the fact that it’s a sellers’ market. Planners have not abandoned their budgets, but rising room rates, attrition clauses and second-tier cities are no longer ‘hot button’ issues with the professionals who organize meetings and exhibitions. Yes, the improving fiscal health of corporations and associations has put less pressure on meeting planners to curb their costs. However, based on our analysis of the attitude of meeting planners, as well as our discussions with hotel sales personnel, we believe that the pendulum of negotiating leverage has clearly swung toward hotel management in 2007.”
While Mandelbaum said planners have come to terms with the current sellers’ market and seem less concerned with budget matters because of improved economics, other hot button issues have arisen as a result of today’s meeting marketplace as revealed in
ConventionSouth’s 2008 trends report.
An Industry That’s Pumping Iron
Meeting planners who responded to this year’s survey say the industry is healthy. More than 35 percent said they believe the overall health of the meetings industry has improved compared to its health one year ago, and nearly 53 percent said they view the industry’s health as stable. Of the respondents who shared his name and comments with
ConventionSouth, Gary Chittaro, marketing services manager with EIS Inc., said, “The healthy economy has allowed companies to increase profits, which in turn allows more money to be spent on meetings.” Similarly, Yolanda Hamer, conference planner with Beta Alpha Psi – AICPA, said, “The sting of 9/11 has lessened.”
And, with their sights on 2008, more than 58 percent said they expect the industry to remain in a similar state over the next 18 months, while nearly 30 percent expect it to become more robust. One planner said, “The economy is on an upswing and we will continue to see growth for now; however, the election and Iraq are both things that could impact this. Also, heaven forbid, if we have another 9/11 then the industry would once again take a deep slide.”
The majority of views on the industry’s stable health were matched by a noted increase in the number of meetings being planned. Nearly 40 percent said the number of meetings they were involved in planning increased from 2006 to 2007, while 52 percent said their meetings volume remained the same. Expectations for the number of meetings planned in 2008 are also high with more than 93 percent predicting an increase or no difference in the amount of meetings to be planned. Dianne Davis, vice president of TulNet, said, “Business levels with my little company continue to increase.”
And, for many, attendance numbers are increasing. In fact, 30 percent saw an increase in the number of attendees to their events in 2006 and in 2007.
This positive outlook on the industry could be a result of how organizations are viewing the meetings component of their operations. More than 45 percent of respondents said the role meetings played in the overall success of their organization had a more significant impact in 2007 as compared to 2006. Don Cantrell, chairman of the South Carolina Association for Educational Technology, said, “I see more demand for the meeting planner to be a ‘change agent,’ resulting in the adoption of new strategies for growing and improving meetings and processes in order to grow conferences and
associations.”
Today’s Busier Planner
So what does the current health of the industry mean for planners and their everyday duties? They’re staying busy. In fact, four out of five respondents said they’re facing a heavier workload this year versus last year. One planner said that while his job has not necessarily changed his duties are “requiring more time and effort.”
Most respondents attributed this increased workload on the higher demand for organizations to host meetings. Connie Bergeron, vice president of global sourcing for Atlanta-based Benchmarc360, said she’s planning an increased number of small-sized events and her workload has increased because it’s been “harder to find availability, so I’m working more to find target sites.”
Several planners said that although their organization’s business has increased, their staff has remained the same or, in some cases, has been consolidated. “The company relocated and more duties were given to me because the staff was downsized,” Hamer said. Lisa Esmond, conference manager with Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants, said that her role as a planner is changing because she’s “expected to take on a heavier workload and expected to plan meetings with smaller budgets.”
Managing smaller budgets and increased costs, while not a new trend, was cited as an exhausting mix by several respondents, including one who made the comment that “it is getting more difficult to keep the price of a meeting down while registration keeps going up.”
More than half of the planners surveyed are in charge of budgeting for the meetings they plan and nearly 60 percent said their expenditure per meeting rose in 2007 compared to 2006. In the year ahead, more than 50 percent said they expect costs to rise even more.
Food and beverage, audio/visual and off-site venues were the top three areas where respondents said they are being asked to cut costs. And more than 95 percent said the price of meeting space is critical to their site selection decisions. “Everyone is feeling the pressure to deliver within budget constraints; it’s very difficult to get the hotels to hold down costs, as they inflate charges and need to be watched constantly,” expressed one of the respondents.
Also increasing planners’ workload is the growing need to show a return on investment (ROI). The trends report shows that nearly half of all respondents believe their organization and their groups have placed a greater emphasis on ROI in the past year. Gary Chittaro said, “Meeting planners will continue to justify the success of each meeting based on the ROI they deliver.” Another responded said that “planning is much more strategic now. It used to only be about logistics. Now, we need to set the goals of the meeting and match the facilities, services and outcomes to these needs.”
Managing The Job
More meetings and more work equal more stress for many planners. When asked to rate their current level of stress, 67 percent of respondents said it was somewhat or very high.
The demands of being a planner are often taxing and, for this reason, compensation is often a critical point of concern. Only 30 percent of respondents said they were satisfied with their current income, and 44 percent said they did not expect to make their desired income at their current position within their organization. One planner shared the comment, “There is always more to do. Business is booming and yet salaries never seem to rise.”
But if the industry remains robust, planners are hopeful that their salaries will also become more robust, as 79 percent of survey respondents said they they’ve received a raise in the past 18 months and 83 percent said they expect to receive one in 2008.
Regardless of pay, meeting planners are a dedicated bunch. Nearly three-fourths of respondents said they would likely stick with meeting planning as a profession for the next 10 years. In anticipation of long-term careers, planners said that continuing education and professional development are important to them and their bosses. Less than 5 percent said continuing education was not a priority for their organization.
The Planner/Supplier Relationship
So how do these industry trends affect planners’ relationships with suppliers? Only 10 percent of respondents said they felt they had a weak working relationship with convention and visitors bureau representatives, and even less, 3 percent, described their relationship with meeting site personnel as weak.
A strong relationship with suppliers also plays an important role in how planners feel about their job and how much stress they feel. One planner commented that suppliers were, in part, one of the reasons for their increased workload. “The hotels’ lack of service has added more work to my load,” said the planner, who chose to respond to the survey anonymously. “I am continually having to communicate with hotels to follow up on unanswered questions from my RFP or clarify information or even track down a sales manager to discuss the program. Sales managers seem to have the philosophy that their time is more important than mine, and I will need to wait until they are ready to talk with me.”
While several respondents said that service standards at hotels and other meeting sites could be better, the majority said service standards at meeting sites are sufficient, while only 10 percent said they saw a decrease in service from 2006 to 2007. And, of that 10 percent, only half said they have actively sought a resolution to poor service.
