Dale W. Shuter, CMP
Meetings & Expositions Manager
Electrical Apparatus Service Association
St. Louis
Is the duration of your meetings either shrinking or expanding? Why?
No. We had eliminated a day for our annual in 2008, but that was prior to the current economic challenges. For years our attendees had been requesting a shorter convention to allow them less time out of the office.
Is the attendance at your meetings shrinking or expanding? Why?
Attendance at our annual was down about 18 percent in 2009. Attendance at our seminars is about the same. We feel the lower attendance at our annual was due to the economy. Many of our members have had to lay off employees and they feel that if they had attended the meeting after laying off people it would not be good for the morale of the remaining employees. Smaller companies just did not have the money to attend.
Did you have a smaller budget to work with last year? If so, how much do you estimate it was decreased?
The budget was adjusted for the lower attendance. We did not decrease the amount we spent per attendee; in fact, it went up slightly as we added education/speaker expense.
How are possible perception problems affecting your meetings and your planning of meetings?
As mentioned above, many of our members experienced layoffs this past year. Among these members there was a perception problem with them attending meetings at the same time people were losing their jobs. We had to market to this group emphasizing the advantages of attending, such as making new business contacts and learning about new revenue possibilities that they could take back to the business to get them through these tough times. Also, our location was a plus for us as this year’s meeting was in St. Louis, which is very economical, and the perception of the city is not “over the top.”
Are there any destinations or facility types that are now considered “off-limits” due to perception problems or the current economic climate?
We have historically stayed away from higher-priced destinations.
Have government regulations or actions affected your programs? If so, how?
No.
Are you finding that you are scheduling more meeting sessions per day, and if so, is it at the expense of entertainment or events that are more social in nature?
We have added a few more concurrent sessions to appeal to a larger group of people. This has not affected the amount of entertainment of social events we have.
Are you scheduling more educational components for your meetings? If so, why?
We have added a few more concurrent sessions. We have also started to produce webinars. As mentioned above, we are trying to touch more of our membership and provide for their growing needs.
Are you finding that attrition clauses are being enforced less strictly? Can you share any comments/observations about this?
Luckily, we have not encountered any attrition issues this year.
Do you find that you had much more leverage on room rates during the last year? If so, please give an idea how much discounting you are seeing.
I feel that the hotels are more willing to partner with us to make the meeting a success. They have extended cut-off dates, lowered rates and packaged value adds with the rates such as free parking and Internet. In some cases rates have been lowered as much as 10 percent.
Are you using social networking websites for business purposes? If so, which ones and why?
We are on both LinkedIn and Facebook, but are not doing much with them besides promoting our meetings.
Are you taking less (or no) FAM trips? If so, why?
Do not take FAM trips.
How do you think 2010 will shape up for the meetings industry? Where do you see costs (hotel, restaurant, venue prices, etc.) going? Do you think your budget and/or attendance will increase or decrease? Why?
I think 2010 will be flat. I think the worst is over, but I do not see improvement coming for a couple of years. Personally, I have not seen costs (other than room rates) coming down. Food and beverage keeps going up and is becoming a larger percentage of our budget every year. We feel as people become more comfortable with this new normal that attendance will start to slowly increase.