Randy Bryant, Executive Director, CMP, Florida State Assoc. of Free Will Baptists, Vero Beach, Fla.
Do you find that your booking window (the time between starting the process of researching and booking a meeting and the actual event) is increasing or shrinking? Are you finding it harder to book rooms/meeting space in a short timeframe at hotels and other meeting facilities?
My booking window is pretty much the same. With rare exceptions, I book nine months to a year out and with some of our meetings two to three years out. I have only booked very small meeting on short notice and have not had any problems in that area.
Is the duration of your meetings either shrinking or expanding? Why?
Generally, our meetings are staying about the same lengths. With a variety of meetings, we have a variety of lengths from one day to five days.
Is the attendance at your meetings shrinking or expanding? Why?
A few of our meetings have dropped off a bit (maybe 10 percent to 15 percent), but most have stayed fairly consistent.
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?
Our budgets are about to decrease due to the fact that we operate on donations through local churches. As they face shortfalls, then we decline as well.
Do you expect your budget to increase or decrease in 2017?
Anticipate a reduction of about 5 percent in 2017, but I fear more severe in 2018.
Do you expect your attendance to increase or decrease in 2017?
Perhaps slightly due to some change in personnel.
Are perception problems (meeting at luxurious properties, resort destinations, etc.) a great concern for your organization? Do you expect any perception problems in 2017?
Not a problem with us. We generally do not use the very high-end properties due to budgets and perception.
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 have not, but may consider that in the future.
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 would say that we are consolidating our meeting sessions to make our time more productive. For the majority of our meetings, we do not include entertainment.
Are you incorporating more, or less, activities into your agenda? If so, what types of activities are being added or cut?
Not really changing that aspect.
Have you offered, or do you think you will offer, a CSR (corporate social responsibility) component to your meetings?
In one way we do not include CSR in our meetings, but in another way being a nonprofit, charitable religious organization, the function and make up of our meetings deals with CSR.
What are your thoughts on the use of drones at meetings? Have you considered this?
Could be fun if you had very large meetings. Most of ours are under 100.
Are sustainable (green) meetings something your organization has moved toward? If not, do you expect to implement more-sustainable meetings in the future?
No, we have not and as far as I can see will not be moving in that direction other than using more digital materials instead of printing them. There is a general feeling that most of the “green” approach comes from a faulty supposition anyway.
Are you finding that attrition clauses are being enforced more or less strictly recently? Can you share any comments/observations about this?
Although, we have had attrition clauses in most of our contracts, we have not been affected by them, more or less.
How important is Internet bandwidth to your programs (i.e., Wi-Fi), and do you think hotels are being more or less flexible with their Internet bandwidth pricing? Any tips to share with your fellow planners to get free or discounted Wi-Fi for your meetings?
The hotels we deal with on a regular basis are being more flexible with their bandwidth. In most cases, we are able to get free Internet built into the contract.
Do you feel this is a buyer’s or seller’s market? Any observations on this to share?
With rates increasing so much, it seems to be a seller's market. There seems to be less interest in negotiating on guest room rates beyond 5 percent.
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?
Generally, we have less leverage so we look for niche that our pattern for that particular meeting will fit into for the certain hotels.
Are you using social networking websites for business purposes? If so, which ones and why?
Basically, we use Facebook to promoting our meetings and of course, our website.
Are you more optimistic, or less, about the meetings industry and the economy than a year ago? Why?
That seems to be hard to know. I would say at this point, I am a little more optimistic about the overall industry because I see so many new properties being built and I believe the economy will improve with a new administration.
How do you think 2017 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 do see costs increasing with hotel (rooms, meeting space and F&B). I also think restaurant costs will continue to increase with the increase in food production costs. This may cause our attendance to decrease as the majority of our attendees pay their own expenses to our meetings.
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?
The changing demographics (i.e., Millennials) will force meetings to be more meaningful, less doing just to be doing and more of a challenge to get rooming lists in on time since more Millennials are not quick on matters like registration and reservations.
