Following are some key take-away findings from this year’s survey:
Career satisfaction: fewer planners are extremely satisfied (down 6 percent from last year’s survey), and more said they are somewhat satisfied or content
Threats: increasing costs are still the biggest challenge; the economy is the biggest threat to the meetings industry as a whole; and downsizing and the perceived value of the profession are the biggest career threats (although only in the 20 percent range)
Career support: a 4 percent increase in the "no training" response for career support, to 21 percent of planners responding that their companies do not financially support professional training; industry memberships were down 8 percent, to 41 percent, and those who said they attend educational events was down 6 percent, to 67 percent
Activities: fewer casinos (-7 percent) and golf (-4.5 percent)
Types of off-site venues: decrease in the use of restaurants (-6.8 percent) and unique attractions (-5.5 percent)
Types of facilities used for meetings: decrease in boutique hotels (-4 percent), "several chains" (-5.7 percent) and special venues (-7.3 percent)
More green meetings in the future: up 9.1 percent, to 47 percent (See MeetingsFocus.com for the full story.)
Changes in planning meetings: fewer days per meeting (up 7.1 percent), fewer meetings (up 14.4 percent) and less entertainment (up 8.8 percent)
Number of meetings in the next 12 months: an increase in the number who said meetings will decrease more than 10 percent (20 percent in this year’s survey vs. 8 percent last year).
Budget changes: the "a decrease of more than 10 percent" response is up 9 percent in this year’s survey, and "a decrease of up to 10 percent" is up 12 percent; those responding that their budgets will increase are down in all ranges compared to last year
Components of meetings: planners are planning fewer meetings, offering fewer social events, cutting back on catering, cutting down on air travel and meetings are shorter
Allowance for attrition slippage: up 4.5 percent over last year
Less air travel expected: up 20 percent, to 32 percent responding that less air travel is expected next year