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No matter what your role, you have the ability to positively impact our industry in general and the adoption of Strategic Meetings Management in particular. As meeting professionals, travel managers, procurement directors, hoteliers, 3rd party planners and other suppliers, we have the ability to keep the conversation about our industry's positive impact to the economy in the forefront of many influential business people. You may recall that my friend Roger Rickard recently reminded us of some of the key findings from the Economic Significance of Meetings to the US Economy that was published by PriceWaterhouseCoopers in 2010. Specifically;
- 6.3 million direct and supported jobs in the US meetings industry
- $263 billion in direct meeting spending
- $907 billion in total economic output (in a deep recession year)
We need to keep the dialog alive that our industry should be praised, not disparaged, for holding meetings in major meeting destinations such as Las Vegas or Orlando. We need to keep the dialog alive that incentive meetings held in special destinations are proven ways to increase business revenues, not to be mistaken for worthless boondoggles. We need to keep the dialog alive that face to face meetings drive the economy and keep all manner of people employed. As industry, we are best suited to keep this messaging at top of mind for government officials and other decision makers who can adversely affect the significant output of the meeting and events profession.
Most of you reading this have some role in Strategic Meetings Management. For those in an organization with an SMM, you may be the ultimate leader of the program; you may support the program; you may help to drive compliance and adoption or you simply may be someone who participates in the SMM. Those of you who are hoteliers, 3rd party meeting planners or other suppliers are providing data to your clients; supporting compliance for the SMM or simply sharing SMM best practice ideas. In any case, you can help to educate those not involved in the program as to its importance and benefits to the overall goals of the company. Let's review some key SMM principles:
Potential meeting spend average for most corporations:
- 25 - 30% of Total T&E Spend or...
- 60% of Corporate Air Volume or...
- 2 - 3% of Revenue
#1 benefit of an SMM is increasing the visibility and control of meeting and event spend resulting in:
- Risk Mitigation
- Cost savings/avoidance
Typical first year savings with an SMM is 10% - 20% of spend
Even with these startling statics, I find it remarkable that more companies do not have or have not considered a Strategic Meetings Management Program. Again, collectively we have an opportunity to start the dialog regarding the importance of an SMMP with those outside of our industry. Spreading the word with the likes of procurement, finance, compliance and travel in order to build awareness of how much money is being wasted, and how much risk is involved because of lack of process for negotiating supplier contracts is key to building wide spread support for SMM implementation.
Collectively, we have a strong voice to speak about the benefits of our industry to the economy at large and our companies individually. I implore each of you to spread the news so that we can keep our positive impact to our economy and the benefits of Strategic Meetings Management top of mind with peers, influencers and decision makers |
