Posts Tagged ‘meetings’
Tuesday, February 9th, 2010
Theme for experts who speak: be a bargain. That’s what buyers are looking for now according to Meeting Professional International’s FutureWatch 2010. Top three concerns: budget cuts, doing more with less, and not having enough staff. Basically saying the same thing in three different ways: no money or time for frills. Get ready for intense negotiations on speaker fees. Your antidote: have no less than five things you are giving away — for free — for every paid speech.
Yes, there is good news: overall, respondents expect a 2.8 percent increase in meetings this year — especially the corporate market, where planners project a 3.6 percent increase. Click here for a free summary of FutureWatch 2010.
Tags: experts, meetings, Speaking, strategy, trends, Vickie Sullivan
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Thursday, February 4th, 2010
Interesting findings from CareerBuilder’s 2010 Job Forecast survey. Social media experts will have plenty of work this year, as organizations plan to restore their brands through these campaigns. Other big opportunities loom for hiring experts, as organizations invest in efforts ranging from recruiting a diverse workforce to finding top performers.
Bad news for meetings, especially in the association market: Corporate America will continue to cut travel expenses in this year. Why do we care? Because convention attendees won’t go unless their employers pay for travel. Which means attendance challenges will continue to dog these groups, which means less money for speakers. Their antidote: virtual meeting attendees for association conventions. Stay tuned…
Tags: Marketing, meetings, Speaking, strategy, trends, Vickie Sullivan
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Thursday, January 21st, 2010
Think the AIG effect has gone away? Think again. A recent survey by Ypartnership reports that “35 percent of respondents would plan fewer meetings in 2010 because of image / publicity / public policy considerations.” Ouch! That translates to an estimated $2.5 billion in lost economic impact.
The industry’s response is a PR campaign — “Face time. It matters.” Yet another clue that two things — interactive experiences and education — take center stage this year. Position your expertise accordingly…
Tags: branding, education, interactive experiences, meetings, Speaking, strategy, Vickie Sullivan
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Thursday, December 31st, 2009
For the meetings industry, we’ve got an interesting mix of good/interesting news for next year. According to Meetings Trends 2010 survey, planners are optimistic about the return of meetings. Yep, the era of canceled meetings is over. The newest threat on the horizon for speakers: meetings are back, but the budgets are flat. About 45% of corporate planners report no increased budgets for their meetings. This matches a lot of antidotal information out there — every expense will be scrutinized. Be prepared to negotiate everything: speaker fees, travel, even for books.
Tags: budgets, Marketing, meetings, planning, Speaking, strategy, Vickie Sullivan
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Thursday, July 23rd, 2009
Whew! That was close. The Treasury regs on meetings are out and the travel industry heaved a collective sigh of relief. No big problems — just requiring a bunch of procedures. U.S. Travel Association and the National Business Travel Association applauded the new guidelines. Yes, the comment stage is still open, but no one expects material changes. Will go into effect the middle of August.
A great example of how to turn the tide of negative perceptions. What the industry focused on: their value in the overall economy. Which begs the question: how are we experts showing up? Are we showing our value in the bigger picture? Are our descriptions specific? The cutbacks won’t last forever – but the perception of value will last a long time. No more pie in the sky promises. The more specific, the better.
Tags: branding, economy, experts, meetings, positioning, strategy, travel, Vickie Sullivan
Posted in Marketing, Speaking, branding, strategy | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, June 30th, 2009
Well, 2009 is half over. Whew! Crystal balls are now turning to 2010. Two words: cautiously optimistic. Exhibit A: LIMRA’s survey on 2010 meetings in the insurance industry.
According to the life insurance industry association, only five respondents out of 57 have canceled 2010 incentive meetings. The rest are holding their breath and working now on restricted budgets. One popular idea: leverage travel expenses by adding extra days of luxury to an already attended conference. Bottom line: top producers will be rewarded for success in a stressful environment. And those rewards will be balanced against a reduced budget.
Tags: 2010, incentive meetings, Marketing, meetings, strategy, Vickie Sullivan
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Tuesday, June 9th, 2009
Unless you’ve just splashed down from your trip to the moon, you’ve already heard about the meeting industry’s fight against the public’s (and Corporate America’s) perception of unnecessary lavishness. The good news: watch for a ream of research to promote the value of incentive meetings and customer events. This stuff is always valuable in making your business case. And many times, you can get it for free.
The interesting news: the crackdown on getting full return on investment will not go away soon. Watch for new complicated formulas to emerge. Get clear on your contribution and the value it adds. The more specific towards behavior change, the better.
Tags: incentive meetings, meetings, research, ROI, strategy, Vickie Sullivan
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Tuesday, May 12th, 2009
What’s it worth to avoid negative publicity? Plenty according to Corporate America. A recent study from Association of Corporate Travel Executives reports that sixty percent of decision makers surveyed said they would avoid a perceived resort location for a corporate event in favor of a less opulent setting — even if rates were better in the resort city — to avoid negative perceptions (from media, Congress, employees who couldn’t go, etc.).
My take: avoiding witch hunts are expensive and worth every penny. Buyers believe that it’s better to pay more and be safe than to explain yourself to a hostile crowd. This is good news for experts in second-tier cities who want speaking engagements without the plane ride. Check your local convention and visitor bureau calendars. You’ll be surprised who’s meeting in your city.
Tags: events, experts, meetings, strategy, Vickie Sullivan
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Tuesday, March 17th, 2009
Meetings industry is fighting back on the recent U.S. Treasury’s announcement calling for strict business travel policies for executives. Seven industry groups have produced guidelines that increase accountability but also protect the $740 billion travel industry as a whole. Proposal includes a 15 precent cap of sales/marketing budgets go to meetings, events and incentive travel and limiting executive attendance to less than 10 percent. Why speakers care? Any conference costing more than $750,000 requires a written report on the purpose and plan for a positive return-on-investment.
This self-policing is a pre-emptive strike to Congress’s tinkering with travel. A great example of how the perception problem is bigger than the budget cuts. Moral of the story: help with the ROI and you’re golden…
My question to you: what pre-emptive strike are you taking? How are the buyers responding?
Tags: budgets, meetings, strategy, travel, Vickie Sullivan
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