Melissa M. Schepacarter, CMP
Meetings manager
Institute for Continuing Healthcare Education
Philadelphia
Is the duration of your meetings either shrinking or expanding? Why?
Live activities are shrinking, online and enduring components are growing.
Is the attendance at your meetings shrinking or expanding? Why?
Yes, more people cannot afford the time and companies cannot afford the money to send physicians to medical symposiums.
Did you have a smaller budget to work with last year? If so, how much do you estimate it was decreased?
Tighter budgets by still workable. Decreased by 10 percent.
Do you expect your budget to increase in 2011?
No.
Do you expect your attendance to increase in 2011?
No, local and regional meetings are coming back, though.
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?
Not less of a concern since the overall economic crisis has taken the forefront.
Are there any destinations or facility types that are now considered “off-limits” due to perception problems or the current economic climate?
No, same as prior, no resort and spa or five-star locations.
Have you planned, or do you expect to plan, virtual/videoconference meetings? Do you expect to see more virtual meetings in the future?
Yes, and many more to come in 2011.
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?
n/a
Are you scheduling more educational components for your meetings? If so, why?
Yes, since I work in medical education (CME).
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.
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.
No.
Are you using social networking websites for business purposes? If so which ones and why?
Yes, but medical landing pages such as medpage, medscape, realcme, modern medicine, cecity.com.
Have you planned more meetings closer to your organization’s headquarters (“drive-to” meetings) recently? If so, why?
No, close to my headquarters but closer to the physicians; more local and regional meetings. Especially dinner programs for which they can drive to after working hours.
