By Les Selby, CMP, CMM les_selby@rogers.com Since the holidays, I have been focused on cleaning my home office. One of the most time-consuming tasks has been going through over 20 years worth of industry publications – MPI’s One+ (and its predecessor, The Meeting Professional); M+IT (Meetings & Incentive Travel); M&C; the MPI Toronto Chapter magazine and several others. I realize … Read More about Collective Success Requires Collective Focus
By Les Selby, CMP, CMM les_selby@rogers.com Now that the world has survived the apocalypse supposedly predicted by the Mayans, I thought I would submit my list of predictions on how meetings and events (M&E) will fare in 2013. 1. First (and most obvious), the general economy will remain weak and organizational expenditures will be closely scrutinized by management, stakeholders and the … Read More about Industry Predictions for the Year Ahead
By Les Selby, CMP, CMM les_selby@rogers.com I believe the vast majority of the people who visit the MeetingsCanada.com website are involved in the events industry. So if you are reading this blog, you are a “planner”, “supplier” or “supplanner” (an insider term often applied to third-party planners). That means your job is probably focused on logistics (venue, food & beverage, … Read More about Job Priority – Strategy, Content or Logistics?
By Les Selby, CMP, CMM les_selby@rogers.com According to travelhotnews.com, IATA (the International Air Transport Association), on Oct. 19, adopted a resolution that will implement a new distribution standard that will “modernize airline retailing by enabling innovation in the way airline products are distributed, and making possible personalized offers to passengers who will have access to all … Read More about Technology and Ethics
By Les Selby, CMP, CMM On Oct. 3, the BEICC (Business Events Industry Coalition of Canada) held its First Annual Industry Night at the Intercontinental Toronto Centre Hotel. The evening brought together reps of the coalition’s eight founding member associations, along with several interested industry professionals (including myself). I want to compliment John Houghton, the executive VP of the … Read More about BEICC Continues its Work
By Les Selby, CMP, CMM If you’re not currently using an external sourcing expert, should you consider it? Until the late 1980s, anyone who ran an event did their own sourcing. Then the recession of the early 90s made companies examine how financial commitments were made on their behalf. Procurement experts gained influence within many organizations and companies started to implement … Read More about Who Should Do Your Venue Sourcing?
Like many professionals, I am connected to hundreds (or even thousands) of industry colleagues through social media. I am a member of a number of LinkedIn groups, have a twitter account and maintain a profile on the MPI members’ website. For a while I was a regular foursquare user and knew where a number of my industry friends were at any time. I have become increasingly amazed about how some … Read More about Do Social Media Encourage Professional Incompetence?
It seems that we professionals share a common challenge – how do we properly portray what we do and describe the value that we bring to our clients and companies? The fact that we are depicted as “meeting or incentive planners;” “event professionals;” “experiential marketers;” “third-party planners;” “hoteliers;” “event suppliers;” “audiovisual professionals;” etc., shows how challenging it is to … Read More about Let’s Stop Oversimplifying
I have a grandson who started grade one this year, so I am vicariously reliving those early years of character formation. As I watch him, it struck me that many of the things he is learning have a direct bearing upon what all event professionals do every day. First and foremost, life is an adventure and meant to be lived to the fullest. You need to experience almost everything – you don’t know … Read More about Grade School Lessons for Meeting Professionals
March 6, 2012 Pretty much everything you read right now about the meetings and events industry reflects the lack of certainty in our profession. The Jan/Feb issue of M&IT contained the 2012 Market Report, which indicated that Canadian planners were cautiously optimistic about the future. In direct contrast, Conworld.net reported on the latest industry trends announced by Benchmark … Read More about The Uncertainty of the Marketplace
January 9, 2012 I thought the start of 2012 would be a good time to take a stab at describing the ideal event client. And no, I don’t just mean someone with unlimited budget or someone who wants an event company to create the perfect event, no matter what it takes (but if that describes you, please feel free to contact me so we can discuss how my company can be of assistance!). For me, the ideal … Read More about The Ideal Event Client, Defined
December 5, 2011 The Canadian Marketing Association recently released the results of a study by market-research firm TNS that said too many brands fail to integrate their social-media strategy with real business objectives and therefore, waste money and may actually alienate potential customers. Don’t you think the same can be said for many companies’ event strategy? In fact, a number of … Read More about Event Disconnect
It looks like the meetings and events business in Canada is showing real signs of recovery. But I’m wondering: Did the past 18 months teach us anything? I once had a client who, when told of our agency’s length of experience, asked if we had “10 years experience or one year’s experience 10 times over?” The passage of time does not always translate into learning, and it’s human nature to forget … Read More about Have We Learned Anything?
Determining the value of meetings is a hot topic. In April, there were at least three webinars hosted by industry publications or associations on event ROI (Return on Investment), and in July, MPI is offering a two-day, in-depth ROI workshop at their World Education Conference (WEC), in Vancouver. During WEC, MPI is also promoting an educational track called VOM – “The Value of … Read More about Data’s Critical Role
I hold the opinion that meeting professionals are nice people. Most event professionals take pride in organizing or presenting events that reward and motivate those who attend and help drive stronger corporate culture and business success. We tend to be “people” people. I believe we make our companies or our clients more successful. Having said that, I know our profession must articulate how we … Read More about How Competitive Are We?
In my last blog, I expressed my opinion that successful meetings and event professionals must use their knowledge to design better events and then communicate the business value of face-to-face meetings to the budget owners. If planners can’t prove that our events add value and achieve objectives, events will be seen as a waste of resources. Have you followed the link in the February issue of … Read More about ROI – Why Are You Picking on Me?
It was not surprising that one of the most popular sessions at the Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA) Annual Conference, in January, was, “The Top Industry Leaders on the Future of Meetings”. Their message emphasized that planners need to do a better job explaining the value that their events provide for their companies or clients. It is a pretty consistent mantra right … Read More about Are Events Frivolous?
Here are my 10 predictions for the M&E industry for the next 12 months: 10) MORE EVENTS in 2010, but a slow increase over 2009, due to strong budget restraint, combined with a corporate fear of having the media and investors view expenditures as wasteful. 9) RFPs ARE THE NEW NORM. Procurement, Finance and Third Party Planners will want to demonstrate that they have performed “due diligence,” … Read More about Ten Fearless Industry Predictions for 2010
As we look forward to 2010, most people anticipate another challenging year for the meetings and incentive travel business. Although there has been some talk of the global economies starting to improve, many economists are predicting that Canada's economic recovery will be sluggish at best in 2010 (see an example at Shock minus Control). This is the time of year that many companies issue RFPs … Read More about Price vs. Value Conundrum
This fall, The Wall Street Journal published an article called, “The New Face of Face-to-Face Meetings,” in which it was stated that more “companies are putting greater emphasis on making sure their meetings achieve quantifiable results.” The article went on to say that one of the ways companies are looking at increasing the value of meetings is to integrate face-to-face and virtual events to … Read More about Are Your Events Worth Holding?
