Kristen Morris, Event Specialist, PERMA, NEAMI (Northeast Association Management, Inc.), Latham, N.Y.
Is the duration of your meetings either shrinking or expanding? Why?
The duration of our meetings is expanding, kind of going against the trend of making sessions shorter to accommodate shrinking attention spans. We are going more in-depth on individual topics and taking more time to explore and allow for discussion.
Is the attendance at your meetings shrinking or expanding? Why?
Attendance at our meetings is expanding, but slowly! We feel it’s because we are marketing our meetings better, making our brochures and mailings more targeted and more impactful by being very clear about how taking time out of their day to attend is a benefit to them instead of just lost time at the office.
Did you have a smaller or larger budget to work with last year? If so, how much do you estimate it was decreased or increased?
No change to the budget.
Do you expect your budget to increase or decrease in 2017?
Stay the same.
Do you expect your attendance to increase or decrease in 2017?
I expect it to increase, largely based on the factors above but also because we plan to offer more early registrant incentives, more CEUs and more networking opportunities.
Are perception problems (meeting at luxurious properties, resort destinations, etc.) a great concern for your organization? Do you expect any perception problems in 2017?
No
Are you exploring the possibility, or have you already held, a “hybrid” meeting (meetings that combine live events with an Internet/digital component? If so, what are your observations?
We are planning to do some livestreaming via Facebook at PERMA’s annual conference in May 2017. We reviewed a few options but feel like the bulk of our members would be comfortable with Facebook versus Periscope or YouTube. So far we have created a page for the event and we’re trying to build a “like” base leading up to the conference. Thankfully it’s a low-cost option, so we can take this year to experiment with what works without risking much.
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?
No, our sessions have been running longer, but not at the cost of entertainment or other social events.
Have you offered, or do you think you will offer, a CSR (corporate social responsibility) component to your meetings?
We have not, and to be honest I haven’t put a lot of thought into them. Our members are all municipal workers who do a lot for their communities, so usually when we come together we are focused on thanking them for their service.
What are your thoughts on the use of drones at meetings? Have you considered this?
At this time we would have no use for drones at our meetings, although drones are a hot topic among our members. The consensus may not be positive.
Are sustainable (green) meetings something your organization has moved toward? If not, do you expect to implement more-sustainable meetings in the future?
We are making some steps toward being green, introducing an app and reducing by 75 percent our paper production. But, I feel like that’s pretty standard in the industry, and we haven’t taken it past that point.
Do you feel this is a buyer’s or seller’s market? Any observations on this to share?
I feel like it’s becoming more of a buyer’s market, with more and more properties opening all the time there’s increasing competition between them.
Do you find that you had less leverage on room rates during the last year? What are hotels and facilities telling you when you negotiate?
We manage to avoid this because our attendees largely can use the government rate.
Are you using social networking websites for business purposes? If so, which ones and why?
We are using Facebook in advance of our plan to live stream at PERMA’s Annual Conference in May. PERMA also promotes its conference and regional meetings via Twitter.
What other trends are you seeing in the meetings world, such as changing attendee demographics (i.e., Millennials), or any other trends that are impacting your programs?
Regarding changing attendee demographics, so much is made of how “different” Millennials are and how the events industry should be catering to them. Some of it seems to have a fairly negative slant, saying they have extremely short attention spans and need everything to be about them. Having recently had experience working with Millennials entering the workforce, I really don’t see that much of a difference between that generation and the ones that preceded it. As far as I can tell they take their jobs and personal development seriously and aren’t afraid of diving in and doing some hard work. Just like anyone else, they don’t want to be bored, but that doesn’t mean they can’t pay attention when something is engaging, even if it does last more than 15 minutes.
