Extreme short-term planning and rising demand for remote access to events are two consequences of the current economic uncertainty gripping the meetings and events industry, according to the latest business report from Meeting Professionals International (MPI).
Economic uncertainty caused by indecision at the federal level of the U.S. government, regulatory changes with the federal health care law and global economic instability have made it difficult for businesses to map out their future, according MPI’s December 2012 Business Barometer. The report revealed budgets continue to rise at a slow pace; the corporate sector has made extremely short lead times their de facto business practice; and remote access to meeting content – live or on-demand, interactive or not – sees growing popularity.
In response to current economic challenges, the report indicates many meetings and events businesses and organizations are embracing new technologies and hiring the requisite support staff to continue navigating a stormy economy while minimizing risk. Technological innovation continues with new opportunities for attendee interactivity remotely and onsite, lower costs and better risk management. Meeting professionals are hiring people who have strong working knowledge of new technology.
The Business Barometer report monitors the meetings industry’s most immediate needs in relation to economic concerns and opportunities. Every two months, research firm Association Insights surveys its business research panel, which is a select group of senior-level meeting professionals from MPI’s 21,000 international members, and asks a short series of quantitative questions related to the economy and a qualitative question regarding their professional outlook. The survey provides a bi-monthly tracking of current business conditions and outlooks compared with actual business conditions and outlooks from a year ago.
The Business Barometer allows MPI to better gauge immediate and future business and economic conditions. MPI provides the report so members can have the information they need to succeed, including current and predicted attendance trends, overall employment and lead times. Members use the insights and findings to forecast annual budgets, inform hiring practices and take their business to an even greater level of success.
Founded in 1972, MPI is a global organization comprised of more than 21,000 meeting planners and professionals around the world. Its mission is to make its members successful by building “human connections” to increase and enhance industry knowledge, ideas, relationships and marketplaces.
