Kelli Patton, CPS (Certified Professional Secretary)
Administrative Assistant
Sara Lee Corporation
Sacramento, Calif.
Is the duration of your meetings either shrinking or expanding? Why?
No. The actual duration has not changed. It's the frequency that has changed. Many of our meetings have been canceled.
Is the attendance at your meetings shrinking or expanding? Why?
No. Attendance is about the same.
Did you have a smaller budget to work with last year? If so, how much do you estimate it was decreased?
Our budgets have only decreased slightly. I'd have to guess it's been about 5 percent.
How are possible perception problems affecting your meetings and your planning of meetings?
Vegas is a perception problem. Even though the cost of doing a meeting in Vegas is budget-effective, we had to justify having a meeting there just because it was Vegas. Other than that, perception has not been a problem anywhere else.
Have government regulations or actions affected your programs? If so, how?
No, this has not affected our programs.
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?
I don't see more meeting sessions, however, we have decided to drop the team-building entertainment portion of our meetings.
Are you scheduling more educational components for your meetings? If so, why?
We have set aside more time to training during our meetings. The thought is, we are all together so we should take advantage of everyone being in one place for training. Adding this training has kept our meetings the same duration. The trainings have taken the place of general session meetings.
Are you incorporating more, or less, activities into your agenda? If so, what types of activities are being added or cut?
We have cut our typical entertainment portion of our meetings. These activities would include team building, such as golf.
Are you finding that attrition clauses are being enforced less strictly? Can you share any comments/observations about this?
I don't see much difference in how attrition clauses are being enforced, but it does seem that attrition clause percentages are a little higher.
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 do seem to have more leverage in the room rates. I am seeing a 10 percent to 20 percent drop, depending on the area.
Are you using social networking websites for business purposes? If so, which ones and why?
No, I don't. It's not something that I can leverage
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 the meeting industry will be flat through 2010. I expect to see travel to rise in 2011 but I don't expect the hotel rates to rise until the end of 2011. I think there are an overabundance of hotels in certain cites and they will still be clamoring for business until there is a major increase in travel. Businesses are going to continue to cut back on travel and the slight increase I expect in 2011 may not even be enough. I think my budgets will continue to decrease for 2010 and will remain flat in 2011. Attendance will also remain flat through 2011. We need to meet but we will probably keep it at the bare minimums.