In partnership with
JUNE: SHORTER THAN EVER
The challenge of short lead times stabilized earlier this year, but ongoing economic uncertainty and the related need for greater risk
management manifest themselves in June with even shorter lead times than before (including several reports of lead times less than
30 days). Both planners and suppliers report difficulty getting their contracts signed and obtaining final budget signoff.
CURRENT
BUSINESS Conditions
CONDITIONS
Current Business
Favorable (better than last year)
Flat (no change from last year)
Negative (worse than last year)
100%
Survey Respondents
80%
68%
64%
72%
66%
60%
63%
65%
63%
21%
18%
21%
15%
14%
17%
16%
Dec 11
Feb 12
40%
23%
20%
0%
20%
15%
16%
Feb 11
13%
13%
Apr 11
June 11
Aug 11
Oct 11
TODAY’S TRENDS
The events that led up to the GSA meeting scandal in the U.S. are
causing insecurity among professionals about U.S. government policies and meetings (which have declined significantly).
A notable jump in meeting professionals cite an increase in their use
of virtual and hybrid technologies.
TODAY’S PREDICTIONS
Concerns over global economic uncertainty dominate the horizon.
Demand for social media use will continue to increase.
Expect more (but not always welcome) forms of technology.
Meetings and events will become more interactive as new
technologies allow attendees to take more active roles.
In the U.S., the U.S. government will take a larger role in
controlling or influencing the meeting and event industry.
60%
25%
23%
17%
16%
Apr12
June 2012
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Short lead times (sometimes less than 30 days) dominate global
headlines.
European economic uncertainty remains, which spells increasing
anxiety for meeting professionals awaiting resolution.
58%
STORY
The number of U.S. and European
meeting professionals reporting
uncertainty about the economy
hasn’t changed since April 2012, but
anxiety is increasing.
Meeting professionals have been hoping for improved conditions for
the past six months, and the ongoing economic uncertainty challenges their abilities to execute, plan and strategize. These are reducing
cost efficiencies and, in some cases, quality.
Ongoing concerns over the European debt crisis, the November
U.S. presidential elections and anticipated rising fuel costs represent
significant challenges for meeting professionals. Regional challenges
do vary, but many of the solutions are the same—become more
flexible and smarter with technology, broaden customer and supplier
bases, build strong relationships and expose waste. At the same time,
meeting professionals are challenged to provide extraordinary experiences, using engaging and novel concepts.
Even so, the future of meetings holds many known qualities—
increased demands for social media, more technological solutions,
younger attendee populations, relatively high fuel prices and governments that struggle for solutions to sovereign issues—all giving meeting professionals a framework within which to devise their long-term
strategies.
1
CURRENT CONDITIONS
in government policy and decisionmaking. Several indicate their intention
to focus less on the U.S. government
market sector, citing its volatility.
Virtual and hybrid technologies are
once again gaining popularity among
meeting professionals as a way to
expand the impact of events, expose
more people to content with less
budget, increase attendance and be
Media coverage surrounding the decisions that led to the General Services
Administration (GSA) meeting scandal
has left many meeting professionals
dismayed about U.S. government policy
surrounding meeting budgets. The
sharp decline in government meetings
that followed the scandal has further
shaken meeting professional confidence
U.S. government
policies (U.S. only)
Full-Time
100%
Favorable (better than last year)
Flat (no change from last year)
Negative (worse than last year)
Part-Time
100%
80%
80%
71%
63%
61%
60%
25%
29%
58%
39%
31%
28%
57%
10%
7%
0%
37%
5%
9%
5%
0%
Oct 11 Dec 11 Feb 12 Apr 12 June 2012
7%
9%
2%
9%
6%
Oct 11 Dec 11 Feb 12 Apr 12 June 2012
0%
6%
7%
4%
Favorable (better than last year)
Flat (no change from last year)
Negative (worse than last year)
100%
60%
49%
20%
0%
2012: 9%
3% April
June 2012: 6%
More Virtual/
Hybrid Use
2012: 2%
4% April
June 2012: 6%
“There are more hybrid meetings to increase
the reach of events. This means new revenue
streams for organizers.”
Changing Revenue/
Business Models
2012: 2%
4% April
June 2012: 6%
“The financial model for running large
conventions is broken; no one wants to pay
for anything.”
80%
40%
5%
Oct 11 Dec 11 Feb 12 Apr 12 June 2012
ATTENDANCE TRENDS
Survey Respondents
30%
20%
21%
Increasing Travel
Costs
40%
28%
29%
20%
13%
40%
40%
20%
20%
58%
60%
62%
40%
40%
“With a presidential campaign and the
European financial crisis looming, American
businesses are nervous about sudden changes
in the economy.”
“Due to restrictions in government travel, we
will see a huge decrease in this particular
market segment in our area.”
54%
22%
2012: 1%
6% April
June 2012: 7%
70%
67%
65%
60%
31%
April 2012: 7%
June 2012: 7%
Contractor
80%
70%
60%
--
“Government meetings have really been
impacted by the bad behavior of the GSA.”
EMPLOYMENT TRENDS
68%
“Short lead times on bookings continue. And
when looking at the forecast, tentatives do not
yet exist. It makes it hard to determine if budget
can be achieved. It’s a Catch 22.””
“International business is moving away from
Europe and into Asia due to unstable economy
in Europe. Asia is an emerging market for many
corporations.”
6%
65%
2012: 10%
6% April
June 2012: 16%
Short Lead Times
EU Economy
Concerns about the
U.S. government’s policies
in regards to meetings and
events have increased by
100%
CURRENT TRENDING TOPICS
30%
43%
28%
55%
24%
21%
21%
54%
27%
19%
49%
44%
32%
46%
31%
59%
47%
48%
31%
33%
35%
53%
30%
36%
19%
20%
23%
20%
17%
17%
Apr 12
June 2012
“Flexibility is still on the minds of event marketers, meeting professionals and trade show
organizers. If you are not flexible then you do
not win business.”
10%
Oct 10
Dec 10
Feb 11
Apr 11
June 11 Aug 11 Oct 11
Dec 11
Feb 12
2
Concerns about the global economy
have risen by
7%
environmentally responsible. Meeting
professionals are more at ease with
the virtual and hybrid technologies, as
they have seen successful implementation over time. Some consider virtual
and hybrid technology to be integral to
modern events.
U.S. meeting professionals disagree
greatly on how the upcoming election
will impact events. They disagree on
which candidate will have the most
positive and negative impacts on the
industry, but more consistently agree
that changes are in store.
In general, industry health has
gradually improved for the last 18
months. Budgets are increasing, as are
attendance and employment. Meeting professionals frequently refer to
changes they are making to adapt to a
rapidly shifting marketplace, including
the needs to remain flexible, embrace
new technology, make smarter hiring
MORE CURRENT TRENDS
Ongoing global political and social challenges will keep oil prices, and therefore airline
costs, high into the distant future.
Meeting professionals anticipate the move
to more regional, local and virtual/hybrid
meetings to continue and accelerate in the
future as companies attempt to implement
long-term controls on costs and potentially
demonstrate greater environmental responsibility.
The U.S. presidential election will have a
significant effect on meetings and events,
but it’s unclear what that effect will be.
decisions and provide better training.
Meeting professionals are looking
for new employees with technology and
social media know-how. The increased
demand for social media exposure and
advances in technology are changing
rapidly and require the expertise that
comes from employees who have been
dedicated to the field for some time.
Meeting professionals are also looking at new marketing strategies and
approaching new client bases in order
to stabilize and expand their businesses.
This means learning new vocabulary,
new strategies and new ways of working. Meeting professionals are building
new relationships and alliances that
make it easier for them to adapt to
changing market demands. This trend
emerged almost a year ago and continues to become more prominent.
FUTURE FORECAST
The increasing demand for social media
represents a significant challenge for
many meeting professionals, as they
haven’t come to fully understand the
benefits or implementations of the
different options. They want to understand what various stakeholders need
and expect, and how to harness that.
Most meeting professionals who face
this challenge say they have or will employ the services of a specialist, either
on staff or as a consultant.
To compound these challenges,
meeting professionals are aware of the
many companies creating and pro-
FUTURE TRENDING TOPICS
Global Economic
Uncertainty
7%
Feb 2012: 7%
June 2012: 14%
“Again, the economy remains a huge question
and will influence how corporations and associations do business.”
“A double dip recession would have a dramatically negative affect on convention attendance
and corporate travel.”
More Virtual/
Hybrid Events
2%
Feb 2012: 7%
June 2012: 9%
“We will continue to see the need to boost
attendance at meetings by offering options of
hybrid components, community outreach and
customization.”
More Use of
Social Media
6%
Feb 2012: 3%
June 2012: 9%
U.S. Presidential
Election
5%
Feb 2012: 3%
June 2012: 8%
More Local/
Regional Meetings
4%
Feb 2012: 2%
June 2012: 6%
More Focus on
Measuring Value
2%
Feb 2012: 3%
June 2012: 5%
“We will need to focus on the value of meetings
and the use of professionals, like myself, to
accomplish strategic initiatives.”
“I see complete accountability in terms of
having to provide solid value for attendees.”
Concern Over a
“GSA Effect”
--
Feb 2012: 3%
June 2012: 3%
“We will see continued turmoil with government
meetings due to the GSA scandal and knee-jerk
reaction for oversight.”
3
moting new (but untried) technology
solutions. With increasing numbers
of proven existing technologies, many
meeting professionals say they are slow
to adopt newer options until they are
proven and intuitive. Cost is another
barrier to adoptions.
Meeting professionals also expect
to see more tools that help attendees
better interact, including smart phone
apps, web-based systems and social
media resources. Meeting professionals
anticipate interactivity will be key to
future engagement, especially as average attendee age goes down. Aligned
with this expectation is the concern that
facilities will not be capable of handling
bandwidth.
In the U.S., meeting professionals
anticipate that the U.S. government
will take a greater role in limiting and
controlling how its events are conducted and will possibly try to take a
greater role in limiting and controlling
private sector meetings and events.
These professionals cite recent experi-
ences with TARP fund recipients and
government entities.
Oil prices in the U.S. have stabilized
since April, but meeting professionals
generally expect that these will remain
high as instability in the Middle East,
domestic dependence on foreign oil and
political factors take their toll on the
market. This will drive more local, regional and virtual events. Some meeting
professionals also see a forced reduction in carbon footprint.
CURRENT NUMBERS
Current Business Conditions Compared to
Last Year
Favorable
No Change
Negative
60.22%
23.66%
16.13%
More than 10% better 6 to 10% better 1 to 5% better Flat (no overall change) 1 to 5% worse 6 to 10% worse More than 10% worse 12.90%
21.51%
25.81%
23.66%
8.60%
4.30%
3.23%
Current Employment Trends
Full-Time
Increasing 28.09%, Flat 67.42%, Decreasing 4.49%
Part-Time
Increasing 27.50%, Flat 66.25%, Decreasing 6.25%
Contract
Increasing 36.71%, Flat 58.23%, Decreasing 5.06%
Change in Attendance Since Last Year
Change in Budget/Spend Since Last Year
Favorable
No Change
Negative
53.19%
29.79%
17.02%
Favorable
No Change
Negative
26.97%
51.69%
21.35%
Greater than 10% increase
6 to 10% increase
1 to 5% increase
Flat (no overall change)
1 to 5% decrease
6 to 10% decrease
Greater than 10% decrease
5.32 %
7.45 %
40.43 %
29.79 %
11.70 %
4.26 %
1.06 %
More than 10% increase 6 to 10% increase 1 to 5% increase Flat (no overall change) 1 to 5% decrease 6 to 10% decrease More than 10% decrease 3.37%
5.62%
17.98%
51.69%
11.24%
6.74%
3.37%
Client Segment with Greatest INCREASE in
Activity
Client Segment with Greatest DECREASE
in Activity
Domestic Association International Association Domestic Corporate International Corporate Government Other
Domestic Association
International Association
Domestic Corporate
International Corporate
Government
Other
18.99 %
8.86%
55.70 %
10.13 %
6.33 %
0.00 %
12.90 %
4.84 %
14.52 %
17.74 %
46.77 %
3.23 %
FUTURE NUMBERS
Predicted Business Conditions for 2012
Predicted Attendance in 2012
Favorable
No Change
Negative
73.40%
18.09%
8.51%
Favorable
No Change
Negative
65.96%
23.40%
10.64%
Favorable
No Change
Negative
43.82%
39.33%
16.85%
More than 10% better 6 to 10% better 1 to 5% better Flat (no overall change) 1 to 5% worse 6 to 10% worse More than 10% worse 7.45%
25.53%
40.43%
18.09%
3.19%
3.19%
2.13%
More than 10% increase 6 to 10% increase 1 to 5% increase Flat (no overall change) 1 to 5% decrease 6 to 10% decrease More than 10% decrease 3.19%
11.70%
51.06%
23.40%
7.45%
2.13%
1.06%
More than 10% increase 6 to 10% increase 1 to 5% increase Flat (no overall change) 1 to 5% decrease 6 to 10% decrease More than 10% decrease 3.37%
5.62%
17.98%
51.69%
11.24%
6.74%
3.37%
Change in Budget for 2012
4
The MPI Business Barometer
About MPI
The MPI Foundation launched the Business Barometer in April 2008 to monitor
the meeting industry’s most immediate needs in relation to economic concerns
and opportunities. Meeting professionals must understand how perceptions
and realities of the economy affect decision-makers. Beginning in February
2012, the Business Barometer began reporting on predicted conditions, previously relegated to a single annual report. The Business Barometer became a
function of a live web experience featuring articles, blogs, research, on-topic
discussions, polls and interactive features.
Meeting Professionals International (MPI), the meeting and event industry’s largest and most vibrant global community, helps it’s members thrive by providing
human connections to knowledge and ideas, relationships and marketplaces.
MPI membership is comprised of more than 22,000 members belonging to 71
chapters and clubs worldwide.
Survey Approach
3030 LBJ Freeway, Suite 1700
Dallas, TX 75234-2759
tel +1-972-702-3000
fax +1-972-702-3089
Every two months, research firm Association Insights surveys its Business
Research Panel, a select group of senior-level meeting professionals from
MPI’s 23,000 international members, and asks a short series of quantitative
questions related to the economy and a qualitative question regarding each
individual’s professional outlook. The survey provides a bi-monthly tracking
of current business conditions and outlooks compared with actual business
conditions and outlooks a year ago.
MPI developed the survey questions with guidance from the Chairman’s
Advisory Council, the MPI International Board of Directors, the MPI management team and Association Insights. The Business Barometer allows MPI to
better gauge immediate business and economic conditions, enhancing its
ability to enrich and focus its offerings to members and affects the organization’s various research initiatives and its resource prioritization.
For additional information, visit www.mpiweb.org.
Meeting Professionals International
Headquarters
Europe/Africa
28, Rue Henri VII
L-1725 Luxembourg
Grand Duchy of Luxembourg
tel +352-2610-3610
fax +352-2687-6343
Middle East
PC5 Offices,
Education City,
Doha, Qatar
tel +974-454-8000
fax +974-454-8047
Canada
6519-B Mississauga Road
Mississauga, Ontario
L5N 1A6
Canada
tel +905-286-4807
fax +905-567-7191
About the MPI Foundation
The MPI Foundation launched FutureWatch in November 2002 as a forecasting
vehicle for the meeting industry. This groundbreaking study has changed with
time, measuring different aspects of the industry and experimenting with new
ways to create an accurate forward-looking picture for the event sector. In order
to address the increasing speed of industry progress and communications, MPI
changed this annual study in December 2011 into an ongoing program of industry monitoring, with bi-monthly reporting and an annual benchmark study.
About Association Insights
Association Insights provides research and consulting services to nonprofit
organizations and helps them find solutions and make better decisions.
Association Insights
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1 (866) 733-6460
+1-404-355-3414
www.associationinsights.com
Editorial Support
Bill Voegeli, president, Association Insights
Jessie States, editor, meeting industry, MPI
Design Support
Jeff Daigle, creative director, MPI
MPI Staff
Marj Atkinson, research manager, MPI
© 2012, Meeting Professionals International. All Rights Reserved
5