Going for growth: value and relevance win as ways to drive members to your meetings.

MEETING PLANNERS AND SUPPLIERS ALIKE expect an average 4 percent growth in meeting spending and revenue this year, according to FutureWatch 2004, an annual outlook of the global meetings industry published by Dallas-based Meeting Professionals International (MPI) and American Express. Another sign that the industry may be gaining steam: Planners project employment growth of 3 percent and training budget increases of 5 percent, compared to supplier predictions of 4 percent employment growth and 9 percent increases in training budgets. As for association meeting planners, they predict year-over-year average budgets will hold steady at $1.4 million. (For the full FutureWatch report, go to www.mpiweb.org.)

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"It's not phenomenal growth, but the good news is that it is growth," says 2003-2004 MPI Board Chair Theresa Breining, president of Concepts Worldwide, Inc., San Diego. Like most meetings industry professionals and employers, Breining is cautiously optimistic that 2004 will continue to usher in the reversal of an industrywide slump.

Signs of renewed life

One key to making the aforementioned industry growth projections a reality is growth in meeting attendance. Are members returning to association annual conventions and trade shows--if not in droves, at least in healthy increments? If early reports from the Anaheim/Orange County Visitor and Convention Bureau (VCB), California, are to be believed, the answer is yes. The bureau reports kicking off 2004 with record-breaking trade show attendance for the International Music Products Association, Carlsbad, California. The 2004 show, routinely held at the Anaheim Convention Center, attracted 74,236 delegates, up from 67,601 participants in 2003 and 65,490 in 2002. The Anaheim/Orange County VCB itself realized a 7 percent gain in meeting and convention business from 2002 to 2003, and as of February, the number of booked convention groups for 2004 was up 19.4 percent from the same time last year.

Similarly, overall revenue for the International Sign Association's 2003 exposition grew by 12 percent, while attendance increased by nearly 25 percent, from 13,280 participants in 2002 to a record-setting 16,903. At press time, ISA, based in Alexandria, Virginia, was optimistic that its 2004 International Sign Expo, being held in mid-April in Orlando, Florida, would build on 2003 gains. Already, exhibitor sales were up 12 percent from the previous show.

While the 2003 annual meeting and exposition of the International Association for Exhibition Management, Dallas, didn't break all-time total attendance records, it did surpass IAEM's goal to bring parity to the event's percentage of buyer versus seller participants. Imbalance had long been a problem for IAEM, with ratios of 40-45 percent show organizers compared to 55-60 percent suppliers, says Steven G. Hacker, CAE, president. At its 2002 show in Orlando, Florida, 57 percent of total attendees were suppliers, but in 2003 in Las Vegas, 55 percent of registrants were show organizers. This flopping of the buyer-seller ratio is the result of a concerted effort by IAEM in recent years to shift participant demographics.

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One reason for the 2003 success was an aggressive campaign targeted toward buyer members, says Hacker. For starters, IAEM dramatically reduced its registration fee--from $600 on average to $275. "That had a significant impact on attracting the association segment of the industry in particular, where resources are generally more tight," he says. IAEM also introduced special pricing incentives to attract multiple buyers from the same organization and partnered with exhibitors in a hosted-buyer program to pull in specific clients.

IAEM expects to build on its attendance ratio success for its 2004 meeting and exposition in San Antonio this December. Terri L. Pennington, IAEM director of conventions and exhibitions, says that despite the dramatic reduction in registration fees for the 2003 event, many buyer members had already spent their travel budgets by the time IAEM got the word out about its new pricing structure. "Now they know and can plan ahead to include IAEM in their 2004 budgets," she adds.

While the reduced fee did result in lost revenue for the 2003 event, Hacker says IAEM was prepared to eat the loss. "We don't intend to continue losing money, but we decided that even if it cost us the first year or two, it would pay handsome dividends for years to come if we could increase our show organizer audience." His theory: Bring in the buyers, and the sellers will take care of themselves.

The "v" word

"The real challenge for 2004 is value. Today's attendees are seeking the very best deals in terms of time and money," says Mary E. Power, president of the Convention Industry Council (CIC), McLean, Virginia. According to Power, two trends bear this out: attendees booking at the last minute because of personal schedules and travel uncertainties and attendees using the Internet to hunt for bargain air and hotel rates. As such, one key driver of future attendance gains may be how well associations respect and respond to these dual pillars of member demand.

For example, from Power's perspective, the hotel attrition dilemma--a lingering challenge to association meetings and overall industry growth--is largely an outcome of the demand for value. "You can't shame attendees into booking inside the [room] block. They're trying to be prudent with employer resources," says Power. "What you can do is communicate the long-term consequences of attrition--for example, higher event registration fees to offset association losses from attrition fees." Project Attrition, a CIC initiative, was launched as an industry collaboration in April 2003 to study the issue from both planner and attendee perspectives and to ultimately propose solutions. (Results of the project are available from the council's Web site, www.conventionindustry.org.) One solution that Power is seeing more groups employ in response to the last minute, online booking craze for travel arrangements is to do away with early-bird discounts in favor of providing attendees with discounts and other incentives for booking inside the contracted hotel block.

Consider time constraints. While time and money are both precious commodities for association members, Power believes that "time poverty" is the greater obstacle. And that includes time spent at your event. In response, associations are carefully scrutinizing each minute of educational programming. "With all there is to pack in, you still must provide liberal down time and longer breaks," says IAEM's Hacker.

From a trade show standpoint, Hacker is convinced that many associations provide too much time for their shows, failing to create a sense of urgency for attendees to walk the floor. Networking opportunities must likewise be packaged in ways that allow members to take part without missing something else, says Power. Instead of providing one three-hour networking session, she suggests offering two twohour sessions so that members aren't concerned about skipping one.

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Showcase value. "Associations must help members make the case to their employers as to why it's important to attend their meetings," says Breining of Meeting Professionals International. "They need to know who else is going, who they will meet, and what they will bring home." Even before that, adds Power, you have to convince members that they want to go. "Your event must be deemed valuable not only by the individual's employer and by the individual professionally, but also by the individual from a personal standpoint," says Power.

Keep it relevant. In conjunction with time and cost, relevance is a key criterion by which members will assess the value of your event. Expanded customer contact, personal development, certification, and multilevel educational opportunities can help draw crowds, says Power. In addition to dramatically reduced registration fees, a second reason Hacker cites for the success of IAEM's 2003 meeting and exposition is the turnaround and promotion of the association's education program. While IAEM's Certified in Exhibition Management program has been around since 1979, the association completely retooled it a few years ago. Says Hacker, "It's now the centerpiece for all our major events." The association offered a series of six of nine total modules at its 2003 meeting. While these addressed an intermediate-level learner, the association also revamped its introductory programming to offer something for the infusion of new people into the industry and is continuing to provide more senior-level executive programming as well, says Hacker.

Match higher expectations. Another trend that reflects awareness not only of members' lack of time and travel dollars but also of their heightened expectations for return on investment is the move toward shorter meetings, bundled meetings, and co-located events, says Power. The Distribution Business Management Association, for instance, is experimenting with co-location. DBMA's annual conference includes education, certification programming, and a 50,000-square-foot learning laboratory showcasing industry hardware. The average annual cost for putting together the hands-on lab is about $300,000, says Sue Munford, administrative manager for DBMA, Lancaster, Pennsylvania. This May, the association will for the first time co-locate its conference with the Distribution and Computer Expo (DC Expo), a forprofit trade show focused on industry software. "As a nonprofit educational association, to continue putting on something of this magnitude, we felt we needed a partner that could complement our efforts," says Munford. While none of the content of the two events will be intertwined, the show floors will be adjacent, and attendees of both events will be welcome to walk the entire hall. The two-year trial agreement allows DBMA and DC Expo to explore the benefits of co-location. For DBMA members, those benefits include an opportunity to experience cutting-edge distribution, logistics, transportation, and software options. And the presence of DBMA members gives DC Expo exhibitors access to high-level buyers, with nearly 99 percent of those buyers being qualified to make on-the-spot purchasing decisions, says Munford.

Attendance-boosting tactics

At the end of the day, associations seeking to grow or regain event attendance must revisit mission and membership. For Hacker, no matter how registration figures bear out, a successful meeting hinges first and foremost on understanding your industry. Is your industry or profession expanding or contracting? Are there new players? Are they on the cutting-edge of technology use? "Once you understand these elements, you can build your show and target your audience around your mission of service to your membership," he says.

"You have to focus on your meeting's objectives, not meeting logistics," adds MPI's Breining. That includes clarity about core participants. "It's not a one-person, one-profile identification process. You may have to drill deep to uncover your membership's broad range of skills, interests, and needs," she says.

Customize marketing. The International Sign Association has taken to heart its need to re-evaluate its membership's makeup and motivations. Since 1996, ISA's annual exposition has rotated between Las Vegas and Orlando, Florida, and will continue to do so until at least 2012. Attendance historically has been higher in the Las Vegas years, and that's where the association achieved its record attendance in 2003. Determined not to rest on its laurels and let Orlando attendance figures drop for 2004, ISA sought assistance from the Orlando/Orange County Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB). "They were a natural partner in this process, since they also have a vested interest in increasing our show attendance," says Ed Troha, ISA vice president of marketing, membership, and affiliated associations.

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The Orlando CVB developed and administered surveys of attendees and exhibitors from ISA's 2002 and 2003 events to gauge show perceptions and analyze demographics. The bureau's surveys revealed that approximately 81 percent of ISA attendees are from the United States, 83 percent are male, and only 7.9 percent bring their children to the event. "In past years when meeting in Orlando, we emphasized the area's theme parks," says Troha. "That is and has been an important draw for our international members, but what this surveying helped us realize is that our marketing messages had been inconsistent with the majority of our attendee profile."

As a result, ISA marketing staff and the Orlando CVB developed a targeted campaign directed at attendee interests and exhibitor preferences for client interaction. Specific messaging for international and domestic attendees and exhibitor groups were included in direct mail, blast e-mails, and customized Web sites for each group. For international participants, the message remained focused on Orlando-area theme parks and attractions. Messages for domestic participants centered on golf academies, cruises from Port Canaveral, and water ski parks, while exhibitor messages highlighted client entertainment options such as the Richard Petty Driving Experience, airboat rides, skeet ranges, and deep-sea and freshwater fishing. In addition, a postcard campaign was developed to encourage drive-in attendance from the greater-Orlando area.

Part of the follow-up by the Orlando CVB included on-site surveying of attendee and exhibitor response to what ISA came to refer to in-house as its "adrenaline days," says Janay Rickwalder, ISA communications director. "All of the market research and assistance with message development was provided free of charge by the Orlando CVB," says Rickwalder. "We couldn't have asked for a more enthusiastic partner." Mark Nelson, vice president of convention sales and services for the Orlando CVB, says that in many cases, associations often don't ask what a CVB can help them accomplish. As such, some associations remain unaware of the variety of no-cost and low-cost services CVBs offer that can help drive event attendance. (See sidebar, "CVBs: At Your Service.")

Engage marketing partners. Some associations also don't take advantage of marketing partners within their midst. "Until recently, we didn't recognize the key role our sign supply distributors can play in promoting ISA shows," says Rickwalder. "These members are essentially a conduit between ISA members who produce sign components and those who manufacture signs using those components," she explains. The association is now providing its middle members with free trade show passes to distribute via their sales forces. "Sign supply distributors hand out free trade show passes to their customers (the sign manufacturers), thus helping us increase the caliber of our attendees, ultimately increasing our exhibitor numbers," says Rickwalder. "We worked this vehicle for our most recent show in San Diego. Through a post-show survey, we learned that [more than] a third of our attendees learned about the show by receiving these passes from their distributor. This strategy helped make our exhibitors happy, too. Fifty percent of our exhibitors felt the caliber of the attendee was better than expected."

Identify crossover markets. Looking to like-minded groups may likewise boost your meeting attendance. Several years ago during Philippa Gamse's tenure as a board member of the San Franciscobased Northern California chapter of the National Speakers Association (NSA/NC), the chapter initiated a co-marketing relationship with the local chapter of the Institute of Management Consultants (IMC). The two groups essentially agreed to promote one another's events, allowing members of each group to attend the events of the other organization at a member rate. No other benefits apply, says Gamse, president of CyberSpeaker, Santa Cruz, California. "Since many consultants speak and many speakers consult, the idea was to make our programming available to others who might benefit," she says. While no hard tracking of attendance numbers takes place, at least a handful of IMC members usually attend NSA/NC events, says Joanne Ryan, the chapter's executive assistant. NSA/NC is exploring similar co-marketing relationships with local chapters of other crossover groups such as the American Society for Training and Development headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, and Toastmasters International, Mission Viejo, California.

The business of meetings in 2004

In the same way that associations' members are taking a wait-and-see approach to registration and housing, the planning cycles for most events these days have at least been cut in half, says the Convention Industry Council's Power. That also presents an adjustment for suppliers, whose long-range forecasts may appear bleak. "Larger meetings obviously have fewer options if they require the resources of an entire city, but even they are no longer booking six or eight years out. And it's not uncommon for many smaller meetings to book as little as 90 days out," says Power. The compressed time frame is forcing increased efficiency.

All the more reason for planners and suppliers to pull together, says Breining of Meeting Professionals International. One of the FutureWatch 2004 findings she considers most revealing is that when planners and suppliers were asked how the other could work better with them, both parties expressed a need for more efficient, more complete communication. Planners wanted suppliers "to learn about their needs and work flow," while suppliers wanted planners "to learn about their offerings and resources." At the same time, planners and suppliers agreed that personal contact has decreased even as industry standardization and automation have increased.

Something has to give, Breining says. "We all need to work together more intentionally." Meeting Professionals International believes so strongly in the need to strengthen the planner-supplier relationship that doing so is one of three objectives within the association's strategic plan, along with elevating planners to a higher level of professionalism and communicating the importance of meetings to senior business executives outside the industry.

The need for improved communication notwithstanding, Breining predicts positive strides for association meetings in 2004. "As business goes, so goes the business of meetings, and with recent robust corporate spending on equipment and new technologies, what we should see follow is a greater willingness to invest in meetings and employee training." That bodes well for associations and corporations, says Breining. With continued corporate downsizing in recent years, more companies are sending employees out for training that they previously conducted in-house; and much of that training is the type provided by associations. Says Breining, "To the degree that associations recognize their opportunities and provide education and networking of real value, their [attendance] numbers will grow."

RELATED ARTICLE: CVBs: At Your Service

Convention and visitor bureaus represent an invaluable ally for generating excitement about a destination in ways that can ultimately drive convention and trade show attendance. And these days, their promotion methods and materials are increasingly personalized. Here is what CVBs say they have to offer and what they need from you to provide the best service:

Welcoming Web pages. The Greater Lansing CVB, Michigan, can create a welcome Web page geared toward your association's specific needs, with information about host hotels, surrounding restaurants, local events and ticket information, and a customized map showing meeting venues and attractions. Kent Love, vice president of marketing communications, says that the service is quickly catching the interest of meeting planners because it's a simple yet effective vehicle for communicating up-to-date information of interest to attendees.

Newsletters, videos, oh my. The Atlanta CVB has developed a complete toolbox to assist planners with boosting attendance and providing a top-notch experience for participants. According to Carey Rountree, executive vice president, associations may request a series of blast e-mail newsletters in which each subsequent communication is increasingly tailored to those people actually attending the event. The CVB can also work with the association to develop a video e-mail narrated by an association spokesperson. As for a customized event Web site, planners can go to the bureau's Web site and select specific information that they want to appear on their site, including a welcome message from the governor or the city's mayor. Once a request is submitted, the CVB can have the site available to an association's members within two days, says Rountree.

But to best tailor services to a particular association, CVBs need information. For Diana Pfaff, director of communications for the Irving, Texas, convention and visitors bureau, what's most important to know is not only the demographic makeup of attendees, but also what makes an association's target audience tick. Asks Pfaff, "Is it shopping? Cultural activities? Sports? Are they looking for a true 'Texas experience'? Do attendees typically bring their families?"

Michelle Lawrence, communications and convention services manager of the Cobb County CVB in Atlanta, says that another valuable piece of information for a CVB to have is the association's meeting schedule. "If a group ends formal programming at 4 p.m. one day, I might know of a nearby theatrical performance or concert being held that evening that I could suggest," she says.

It's also helpful to know the best way to communicate with an association's members, says Love. Some questions to consider:

* Are your members Internet savvy?

* Can they take advantage of welcome Web pages and e-newsletters designed specifically for them?

* If they don't use computers, is a postcard the best way to create interest?

* And is a mailing or blast e-mail better received from the destination or from the association?

"We're equipped to provide all of these services, but it's important to know which methods will best reach an association's audience," says Love.

For most CVBs, the work isn't over once events are booked and attendees are registered. What some associations may forget is that CVB staff are able and willing to provide on-site assistance to make meetings memorable and hassle-free for participants. Betsy Keck is meetings and conventions communications manager for the Greater Cleveland CVB. In 2002, her bureau initiated a Meeting Ambassadors Program geared toward small and mid-size meetings. Among other roles, ambassador volunteers can be on hand to greet attendees or help with a host of last-minute details such as restaurant reservations and transportation, she says.

Karla B. Hignite is a freelance writer based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. E-mail: [e-mail].

PHOTOGRAPH BY MARK FINKENSTAEDT