Mary E. Barlow
Executive director
Eclipse Users Group/UFO
Valrico, Fla.
Is the duration of your meetings either shrinking or expanding? Why?
Shrinking. Attendees cannot take the time away from the office; no one to take their place.
Is the attendance at your meetings shrinking or expanding? Why?
Shrinking–same as above–attendees cannot take the time away from the office, no one to take their place.
Did you have a smaller budget to work with last year? If so, how much do you estimate it was decreased?
Yes, it was smaller. The decrease was 10,000 to 15,000.
Do you expect your budget to increase in 2011?
No.
Do you expect your attendance to increase in 2011?
No.
Are perception problems (meeting and luxurious properties, resort destinations, etc.?) a great concern for your organization? Have they become less of a concern in the past few months, and do you expect them to be a problem in 2011?
Yes, they are a problem. Owners don’t want to spend money to send attendees to a place where they feel they would “goof off” and not attend the classes.
Are there any destinations or facility types that are now considered “off-limits” due to perception problems or the current economic climate?
Casinos and their area; amusement park areas.
Have you planned, or do you expect to plan, virtual/videoconference meetings? Do you expect to see more virtual meetings in the future?
Yes, we do video classes and yes, we have increased those classes.
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 never had social or entertainment events during the day.
Are you scheduling more educational components for your meetings? If so, why?
All of our meetings have been strictly educational in the past and in the future.
Are you incorporating more, or less, activities into your agenda? If so, what types of activities are being added or cut?
n/a
Are you finding that attrition clauses are being enforced less strictly? Can you share any comments/observations about this?
No, not so far. Attrition is actually a higher percentage than in the past.
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.
Only to a small degree.
Are you using social networking websites for business purposes? If so which ones and why?
No, we have our own website and bulletin boards.
Have you planned more meetings closer to your organization’s headquarters (“drive-to” meetings) recently? If so, why?
No, but we are holding more meetings at member sites, which offer up their training rooms free of charge.
