Meeting
Professionals International (MPI)released the February 2013Business
Barometer report which revealed that significant shifts are afoot in
the meeting and event industry.
Meeting
professionals are emerging from a long-term crisis of economic
uncertainty and budget cuts (excepting those in some European
nations) to find new groups of stakeholders with new expectations,
new tools at their disposal and new opportunities to address the
strengthening meeting and event market. Technology, budgets, lead
times, risk management, employment levels and fluctuating prices
continue to be significant factors, but these challenges have new
solutions.
In
order to make the most of the economic recovery, seasoned meeting
professionals are adopting superior quality standards. These meeting
professionals seek the advice of learned consultants and savvy new
employees to better understand all the tools available. Meeting
professionals had to deal with declining budgets, economic
uncertainty and changing travel policies for so long that these
challenges actually strengthened the industry. New business
opportunities are being met with new priorities and new solutions.
Past
Business Barometers recorded the struggle of meeting professionals
who have had to change their business models to be proactive and to
coordinate and cooperate with various stakeholders. Meeting
professionals now report that their efforts to improve the overall
quality of planning and execution are paying off.
The
Business Barometer report monitors the meetings industry’s most
immediate needs in relation to economic concerns and opportunities.
Every two months, research firm Association Insights surveys its
Business Research Panel, a select group of senior level meeting
professionals from MPI’s 21,000 international members, and asks a
short series of quantitative questions related to the economy and a
qualitative question regarding the individual’s professional
outlook. The survey provides a bi-monthly tracking of current
business conditions and outlooks compared with actual business
conditions and outlooks a year ago.
The
Business Barometer allows MPI to better gauge immediate and future
business and economic conditions. MPI provides the report so members
can have the information they need to succeed, including current and
predicted attendance trends, overall employment and lead times.
Members use the insights and findings to forecast annual budgets,
inform hiring practices and take their business to an even greater
level of success.