CanSPEP Releases Membership Survey Findings

The Canadian Society of Professional Event Planners (CanSPEP) has released the results of the comprehensive membership survey it undertook in March.

The purpose of the survey, the first conducted in more than five years, was to determine the members’ years in business, spend influence and issues entrepreneurial event planners are facing today.

“We instinctively knew that our membership demographic and influence was changing, but we did not have the data to back it up. We are thrilled to see that after outreach to members, we saw a response rate exceeding 60 percent. At a time when there were several other surveys—both internal and external—in the field, this was a fantastic achievement,” says CanSPEP president Bettyanne Sherrer, CMP, CMM. “The data we obtained will help us shape the future of our association and solidify our relationships with our partners. I am thrilled to personally announce one figure: CanSPEP’s annual spend influence has grown. We are at over $58 million accounting for only 60 percent of our membership. It’s a number that can only grow from here.”

Other key findings are:

• 57.54% of CanSPEP members have retained their membership for under five years to date
• 74.24% of members have been in operation for more than five years
• 66.67% of respondents plan seven or more meetings per year
• more than 33 percent of CanSPEP members only hold membership with CanSPEP

“I am very impressed with the results of the survey. We suspected that we had a seasoned membership and the results show this to be true,” says Joe Orecchio, CanSPEP’s vice-president of membership. “There are so many good pieces of information in these results that the board will have many opportunities to improve the membership experience. CanSPEP is well positioned to provide valuable support to small business owners in the business event space.”

About CanSPEP

CanSPEP is the only national Canadian association offering exclusive membership to independent event planner entrepreneurs. Formed in 1996, it provides forums in which members exchange ideas, develop skills through educational programs, and create public awareness around the profession of event planners.