The achievements and challenges of the meetings and events industry

A ten year past and future perspective

When I was asked to write about this subject with its long title it initially felt like that old school task of writing about the history of the world in one short essay. Well, now like then, I have decided the topic is too vast, too diverse and too subjective to try to cover a large range of topics so I am just going to focus on a small number. I am NOT going to talk about Brexit because like everyone else I don’t have the answers; I am NOT going to talk about Trump despite having a keen sense of humour and I am not going to claim that what I say identifies the challenges and achievements which are the most important as the criteria to judge which are, are simply too complex.

As I look back and peer forward …

… the industry I joined almost thirty years ago feels very different indeed. The first achievement I think worthy of note might be viewed as an academic one and this is how the meetings and events industry in all its guises and definitions has gained much wider political and policy making recognition.

At a macro perspective there is now a methodology which can measure the gross economic impact of our industry at a national level and this can indicate the contribution to GDP, employment levels and the generation of taxation revenues. Who would have thought that in the UK there would ever be a cross party all parliamentary group which acts as a voice for the work that our industry colleagues contribute to the wider economy? This economic value is currently being explored and championed further by the discussions around the subject of the knowledge economy and how the world of meetings and events can and arguably should be aligned in the quest to attract events to a destination.

Such strategic thought of say trying to attract meetings in subjects and industry sectors which are relevant to local economies, their talent pool and academic and research agendas is now to many an obvious thing to do. The Iceberg initiative founded and championed by that clever man James Latham is an example of real joined up thinking about how the destination supply side of our industry can think more strategically about the type of business it could and arguably should try to acquire.

The second area of my ramblings …

… once again focuses on the supply side and its explosion at a global level. Almost every day I read about a new meetings hotel being opened or planned; there are as I write something in the region of 40 new convention and event centres being planned, expanded or opened in Europe alone (Blackpool, Aberdeen, Gateshead, Newport in the UK to name just four) and the opening up of the myriad of new air routes many relatively low cost, presents the meeting, event or incentive planner with an incredibly increase in choice.

This destination competitive landscape will I believe continue to grow rapidly-there are it is reported 5000 towns and cities in Europe alone and the thirst for something new and different among meeting planners from all sectors would suggest that venues and hotels and the cities and region in which they are based will need to keep spending their marketing budgets as competition increase well above current levels.

My personal view is that digital marketing and face to face business development activity will become ever more dominate and that traditional trade press will become increasingly marginalised in the battle to acquire inbound meetings business .

But how have meetings changed?

This alone is one of those topics which spurn many books and much commentary. The transition for meeting planners from a more traditional focus on meeting logistics to meeting content is now well established across all sectors.

The discussions around meeting design, meetings architecture (pioneered by Maarten Van Este) and the ROI of meetings (championed in Europe by Elling Hamso) for example have really aided the debate around the value which meetings and events bring to organisation, and continue to drive the evolution of content and ideally the increase in delegate satisfaction and experience. If any organiser is failing to embrace issues such as these then perhaps as planners they will personally become less valuable in time.

Technological development

I guess there would be howls of derision, not least from Jacqui Kavanagh, if I did not mention technological development. Well although technological developments impact on all elements of our business and many elements of consumer life the old arguments that technology would lead to a dramatic reduction in meetings now surely has been consigned to the waste basket (it seems modern offices no longer have a waste bin for each desk!)

There is little doubt that technology has massively widened how we can plan and deliver meetings and research suggests that despite virtual conferencing increasing still further and replacing some small scale business and other meetings, the underlying trend for meetings continues to rise as economies grow and national boundaries open up.

There is strong evidence that in some sectors the number of delegates at mid to large events has and will continue to decline; in the world of international associations the challenge about how to attract younger generations into membership and then to attend meetings is of growing concern; intuitively it seems to me that this challenge must be associated with how today we all acquire, access and process information and for some will greatly influence how they choose to be part of a community or association.

I have selected just a small number of topics which have and will continue impact my career as a meeting and event planner and supplier. There are many more subjects I could of course have selected but none of the above or those issues not discussed, have been more impactful or important that the network of friends and professional colleagues with whom I have had the pleasure and privilege of working meeting and conversing with.

I can only ponder that the interaction with other professionals or like- minded and inquisitive individuals is why the world of meetings and events exists and continues to build, continues to enthrall and motivate and why I believe will for the long term continue to play a pivotal role in the lives of the many tens and tens of millions who attend meetings every year.

Kennedy Integrated Solutions advises destinations at a city, regional or national level, venues and venue groups, event companies and individual business executives about how to make their businesses grow and their organisations to become more effective and successful.