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Who will speak for our industry?
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Joined: 2/5/2009
Posts: 1
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It’s a cold, hard winter for the U.S. Meetings and Events business.
We are hearing from our clients and vendors that cancellations often outnumber actual shows, and the recent economic indicators show no sign of relief. And while we are a large and vital industry, the press is unaware of the value of the non-outsourceable U.S. jobs this industry represents to the economy, and the vital services we provide every day to support commerce and grow the economy.
Our unheralded segment of American business easily contributes over $1 Billion to the U.S. economy through direct effects and multipliers, and the total effects can be measured in terms of wages, employment, and output, both within and outside of the meeting/ convention industry. And the stimulus from our work reaches far outside the meeting room or convention floor.
Corporate meetings, events, and trade shows create jobs for American workers in the airline and hotel industries, for union workers at theaters, convention centers and scene shops, and in the restaurant and hospitality industry just to name a few. Many classes of workers are involved throughout the process, including a large number of independent contractors and small businesses, which are the fastest growing segments of new job creation in the economy. The meetings and events business also supports the production companies who envision and create the communications content used to sell products and increase productivity, and the staging companies who must continually invest in trained personnel and the latest video, audio, and lighting equipment that is required to put on a meeting.
Every day the news brings more reports of huge corporate layoffs and store closings. Those companies are not doing meetings.
Then there are the financial companies and auto makers who are getting bailed out by the government, and they are afraid to do their typical marketing events, or hold winter incentive meetings in sunny and warm places for fear of media scrutiny. And those folks are on the sidelines.
The government and the media say that health care is too expensive, and pharmaceutical companies are wary of scrutiny about the meetings they hold to launch new products, and to inform and motivate their sales forces. And they are holding back.
Recently there was a large global firm who did fine last year, and they had a massive meeting planned in Chicago for the spring. But they became self-conscious about appearing spendthrift while their clients are struggling. So they reacted by canceling their meeting.
All of these scenarios have a negative impact on the U.S. Economy, and do nothing to support our national goal of growing, not shrinking the economy and driving consumption, and hence recovery.
At the same time we see most association conferences are still going on, and we hear staging companies are seeing an uptick in requests for quotes for the summer months. Both of these are somewhat encouraging and will keep hotels, local labor, and most stagers alive for a while. But it is not enough to sustain the industry.
I am holding a vision that the current mood surrounding corporate meetings will start to right itself by May or June, just enough to allow companies to again invest money in face to face communications with their field staff and customers. Companies will have products to sell and the survival of brands will be at stake, and it is difficult or impossible to get people motivated or reward them over a conference call or a streaming internet feed. That is just the way it is. People need connection. They need to hear the story from their leaders. In person. But the mood of the herd will not turn without a concerted campaign to reinforce our benefits to clients, politicians, and the press.
Our industry must make a compelling case to politicians and news media that business conferences and events are part of MAINTAINING AND REBUILDING THE ECONOMY, not indulgences that waste money and produce few tangible results. When the going gets tough and companies downsize, there is no more appropriate time to reach out across a company to present a vision for recovery and growth. Employees need to keep believing in their company – they need to stay connected.
Those employees and sales forces need to know - even more they need to BELIEVE that their firm is on the right track and that there will continue to be a pipeline of new products to sell, and support behind the sales force and the products. Cutting back is a serious message that employees and sales forces take to heart. And the results show on the bottom line, and in lack of employee retention. And slowing sales do not support the recovery of our economy. If businesses want to communicate and motivate sales forces or market their products to clients, the proven best approach is face to face communications. Anything less is just a low-budget attempt to achieve the same goals using superficial means. Clients know nothing is as effective as bringing people together, but in tough times, they often choose to act as if this has not been proven over time, or they are simply afraid to be seen spending money. Nobody wants to be judged in the press for “extravagance in the time of layoffs”, even though every company needs to communicate to survive.
So how do we sell the government, the news media, and corporations on the fact that companies who use meetings or events to market, motivate, and communicate with their employees or customers are not only smart, but also patriotic and providing a service to the recovery of the U.S. Economy? And where do we begin? And who can speak for our industry?
The answers will be key to maintaining the vitality of the U.S. Meetings and Events Industry, and the hundreds of thousands of U.S. Jobs it represents and affects.
Now is not the time to wait for things to happen – we need to move forward and take the lead.
Standby.....and GO!
-Floyd Dillman, January 2009
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Joined: 10/12/2008
Posts: 2
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Sen. Kerry has introduced legislation that would ban all 421 firms including the nation's largest banks that received money from the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) from hosting, sponsoring or paying for conferences, holiday parties and entertainment events.
As fellow industry folks I hope you will click on the link below and email your senators and congressmen and women.
http://capwiz.com/nbta/utr/2/?a=12773376&i=91979931&c http://capwiz.com/nbta/utr/2/?a=12773376&i=91979931&c> =
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Joined: 8/6/2008
Posts: 14
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I attended the Barco Rental Partner meeting in Colorado this past week, and this issue, surrounding U.S. government TARP money,
came up in one of the presentations.
According to Tom Stimson, who mentioned this in his presentation.... and
I discussed it privately with Tom at some length after his presentation...
in the TARP legislation, there is not actually anything that, legally, prevents
anyone, whether they receive TARP money or not, from having corporate meetings,
small or big. There is just vague language discouraging "excessive" meetings
(because of a few execuive junkets that were in the press, bankers that took
money and then went on lavish retreats, etc.)
According to Tom's thinking as shared in his presentation at the Barco meetings, this vague TARP language is contributing be a moderation of meeting activity for a couple of months... and then the concern will die down in the
press, in congress etc...
There is nothing, in the actual TARP legislation, that prevents any
company getting TARP money from spending on corporate meetings, events, etc. It's really more a matter of public mood, mass media coverage, and cost cutbacks, and how corporate policy is reflecting that.
But, yes, lobbying on this issue is still a good idea, especially as regards the Kerry
initiative, that trys to put a bit more teeth into some kind of "no lavish meetings" policy. We strongly suggest that everyone in this industry, email their representatives in congress, and convey the message that the meetings industry is vital to our economy, spinning off many jobs, and it is not a luxury !
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