Value and Impact of Creativity Skyrocketing for Meeting Professionals
For professionals in the multibillion-dollar meetings and events business, being creative is more than a passing desire – it’s a prerequisite for survival and a telling indicator of career and financial growth within U.S. organizations. A recent study by EXPO magazine, in conjunction with the Orlando/Orange County Convention and Visitors Bureau, measured the impact and importance of creativity among meetings and events professionals – who has it, where it’s needed, how it’s fostered and how it’s rewarded.
As business conditions present new challenges within Corporate America, the need to be creative is becoming more important than ever. This is particularly true in the meetings and events marketplace, where functions are often defined by creativity and where industry professionals’ ability to strategize, manage and execute creatively can be the difference between success and survival. Some highlights from the study:
- Four out of five respondents say the current volatile business climate has increased the need for them to be more creative at their jobs
- Almost 95% of meeting/event industry respondents regard themselves as creative, with 40% regarding themselves as very creative
- 97% consider being creative an important part of their jobs
- Three-quarters of respondents feel it’s possible to influence the level of creativity within an organization by setting up certain procedures, infrastructures and environments
- One-third believe that creativity is not fairly and adequately rewarded in the industry.
“Meetings are about generating ideas…new ideas that can solve problems, drive revenue, re-position products/services and provide direct contact with customers,” says Gary Sain, President and CEO of the Orlando CVB. “Ideas drive business, help shape new business relationships and, most important, are what motivates us to consider new ways of approaching our business. This study attaches some statistics to the importance of ROI – Return on Ideas – for the meetings industry.”
A full copy of the survey results is available at: http://www.orlandoinfo.com/media/meet/release/09/creativity.cfm
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‘Meetings are Being Used as a Poster Child for Excess’
Roger Dow has had a long history with the meeting and incentives industry – as a Marriott Corporation executive, a motivational speaker and now as President and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association. Who better to lead a coalition of industry associations in an effort to answer the chorus of media and Congressional voices whose criticism has undermined a $100 million industry and more than a million jobs rather than creating substantive reform.
“Meetings and incentive events held by any one of the companies receiving federal funds are being used as a poster child for excess – which obviously isn’t the case,” says Dow, adding that he wants to see more common-sense thinking in the meetings and incentives arena. “There has to be a consistent set of guidelines. I came out of the corporate sector, and everyone has some sort of guidelines. They ask: ‘OK, you’re going to run a meeting. What’s it going to cost? What’s the incentive going to cost? What’s the anticipated upside revenue?’ And the meeting or incentive makes sense or it doesn’t make sense. The problem is a lack of consistency. We want to have transparent, consistent guidelines that companies can make use of, whether they’re taking federal money or not.”
Dow is featured in the “15 Minutes With…” column in the Spring 2009 issue of Motivation Strategies magazine. To read the entire article, go to: http://www.motivationstrategies.com/15-Minutes-With---Roger-Dow.885.0.html
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Maritz and VELOCITY Go ‘LIVE’ (Local Interactive Virtual Events)
Maritz has been exploring new interactive solutions to help its clients reap the benefits meetings provide in a more cost-effective way. The result is the launch of Maritz LIVE (Local Interactive Virtual Events), a first-of-its-kind suite of virtual services designed to deliver the right content and technology to the right audience at the right time. Maritz and VELOCITY Broadcasting have collaborated to create the initial offering in the LIVE suite of services – immersive satellite broadcast events. The collaboration features complete event management services, from planning and creative consultation to production and post-event evaluation. Specifically, the Maritz LIVE suite of services includes:
- Satellite Broadcast Events – live television broadcasting combined with private dining room screening and interactive technology
- Totally Virtual – events held entirely online in a privately branded virtual world.
- Web Collaboration – online Web meeting and video conferencing.
- Telepresence – high-quality, real-time video and voice conferencing.
Maritz LIVE can accommodate an array of needs, including training and learning sessions, trade shows and corporate and sales meetings. When coupled with incentives, rewards and recognition, virtual meetings can play an important role in meeting business objectives and effectively engaging employees and customers.
“The economy and the so-called AIG effect have opened the door for companies to become fiscally transparent and accountable, while still providing the same value to their employees and their customers,” says Chris Gaia, Vice President of Marketing for Maritz Travel. “Through research and innovation, Maritz has been able to develop an interactive, virtual solution using current technology and resources to create ‘virtual value.’ The value is based on five core principals: cost, carbon, content, collaboration and community.”
Maritz LIVE addresses client needs based on research the company conducted in 2008 to identify ways people were managing meetings and events. Respondents indicated that they’ve reduced the number of meetings and events or reduced the number of attendees to drive down costs. The research also revealed that many are using electronic communications to replace some of those meetings and events – approximately 70% used e-mail communications, while 63% relied on webinars and 61% used virtual meetings. For more information, go to: http://www.maritz.com
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Company Offers Software Solution to Planners
e-destinACCESS, Inc., a small California-based technology company, recently released the beta version of e-dmc.com, a fee-free, web-based DMC service for meeting and event planners. The firm says that e-dmc.com, modeled after a full-service destination management company, helps reconcile the struggle between production support within the meeting industry, spending responsibility and business policy transparency. e-dmc.com’s technology will directly connect planners and suppliers, with no hidden fees or markups, thereby removing middle-men costs. In addition, e-dmc.com will provide the tools needed to automate procedures within the meeting and event planning business, offering a rich menu of venues, events and activities.
Incentive trips, meetings and events account for 15% of all travel spending, which creates 2.4 million jobs, $240 billion in spending and $39 billion in tax revenue, according to the U.S. Travel Association. “These numbers are significant,” says Wayne W. Beaubien, Chief Software Architect and CEO of e-destinACCESS. “It is evident that the meeting industry is a major contributor to our economy. However, in times like this it is important to help keep the economy alive and still be responsible by preventing abuse and offering the tools necessary to do so. The significance of e-dmc.com is that it provides business procedure transparency while being financially responsible.”
Founded in 2007, e-destinACCESS is a destination services technology company specializing in meeting and event planning software whose products are being used in major hotels across the nation. For more in formation, go to: http://www.e-dmc.com
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Green Meetings Portal Goes Live
A conference content portal designed as a one‐stop knowledge source on green meetings practice, policy and technology was recently launched by the Green Meeting Industry Council (GMIC), in partnership with The Conference Publishers, Inc. The site plans to bring together key content from at least a dozen conferences in its first six months of operation. Coverage will continue for at least a year. The Portal went live thanks the generous support of the Vancouver Convention Centre.
“With the whole rationale for meetings under serious attack, the Green Meetings Portal reinforces the incredible value participants receive when they gather for face‐to‐face learning and discussion,” says GMIC President Amy Spatrisano, CMP. “At the same time, the site will demonstrate a method of using online resources and communities to extend the life and multiply the impact of live events.”
The first content on the site was drawn from GMIC’s annual meeting, the 2009 Greening the Hospitality Industry Conference, held February 24-26 in Pittsburgh. The site establishes a dozen theme areas – from green facilities, food & beverage and transportation to corporate social responsibility, climate change and carbon emissions – that will be expanded with continuing coverage of future events.
“There may be dozens or hundreds of conferences around the world that touch on the process of greening meetings or reducing the environmental footprint of the buildings and services that make meetings possible,” notes Mitchell Beer, CMM, President and CEO of The Conference Publishers. “The Green Meetings Portal will give the meetings industry a single window on the green strategies that will help it survive and thrive.”
The Green Meeting Industry Council (http://www.greenmeetings.info) is dedicated to sustainability for the meetings and event industry. The Council delivers education and spearheads research, policy and standards that support its mission to transform the global meetings industry through sustainability. The GMIC was founded in 2004 and has been a pioneer in raising awareness and sharing knowledge about green meetings. The association recognizes and rewards industry leadership through the annual GMIC‐IMEX Awards, and brings together top green meetings expertise at its annual conference.
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