Meeting Resources
In this section you can link through to a variety of resources on meetings. If you would like to add a link please email nfpn@nfpn.com.au
Trends, Statistics & Perspectives
Challenged by Change - By Regina McGee from the Association Meetings Website - It’s no picnic in the park being a convention and visitors bureau executive these days. In the last 18 months, spending scandals at a handful of bureaus have cast a shadow over the entire CVB profession…read more
EIBTM Social and Political Trends Report - In the hectic, day-to-day world of managing a business or organisation in the conference, incentives and business travel market, it can be tempting to concentrate only on reacting to immediate challenges and achieving short-term goals. But our industry operates in a complex market environment, which is constantly evolving – and at an accelerating rate of change…read more
Exhibition Industry Trends: These Are the Good Old Days – By Regina McGee, Association Meetings USA - The days of relentless growth in trade show attendance are behind us, declared Douglas L. Ducate, president and CEO of the Center for Exhibition Industry Research, at the annual meeting of the International Association for Exhibition Management, December 1 to 3, in San Antonio. “These are the good old days,” he said…read more
Focus Forward on the Meeting Industry - By Joanne Dennison, Association Executive Online - We are half way through 2004. Since 2001 we have heard about the decline in the economy and in the meetings industry, how all rules have changed. The infamous pendulum has swung, and for many years a market that favored suppliers has now become a buyers market. At least that was true starting in 2001 through 2003. But what does 2004 and maybe 2005 look like for the association and nonprofit meeting industry? Here is a brief look…read more
Formal Meeting Policies Still Rare - By Corrie Dosh in Business Travel News - Companies remain split over whether to implement formal corporate meeting management policies to save money and control risks, according to an exclusive Meetings Monitor survey. While some buyers said their corporate culture does not support strict policies and mandates, others said a clear policy is key to streamlining the meetings management process…read more
Full Steam Ahead for Association Meetings - Meeting Performance: Up and Away Reflecting the strong national economy, association meetings and trade shows continue to enjoy a healthy growth in attendance, revenues, and expenditures. Nearly half of our respondents reported an increase in attendance at their largest annual event in 1997, while 58 percent said expenditures for that event also grew, and a slightly smaller percentage said revenues associated with their largest annual event in 1997 had increased as well. (See charts below.) These findings correspond to those in this magazine's last three trend surveys, continuing a strong growth pattern for association events…read more
Members Come First - By Regina McGee in Association Meetings Magazine - As this strange, unsettling year draws to an end, news reports show some AARP members burning their membership cards to protest the association's support for a controversial Medicare reform bill, which was narrowly passed by Congress as we went to press… read more
Show Time 2015 - By Regina McGee; Association Meetings - A lot can happen in a decade. Think back 10 years ago. Associations were just starting to put up Web pages, mostly as informational brochures. Hotels were just beginning to realize that they could charge associations attrition fees and not lose business. The exhibition industry was still celebrating four decades of growth — oblivious to the wall ahead. Convention centers were mostly a big-city phenomenon. And of course, 9/11 and all that has ensured was something no one ever imagined…read more
‘Snapshot’ Meetings Survey - Association Sector (Forecasts and issues 2004/5) - Over 100 meetings planners in the Associations sector were surveyed in July 2004. The analysis below takes into account the views of executives from virtually all European countries, plus Russia and the USA…read more
State of the Industry Report - From Successful Meetings – The 2005 State of the Industry Report (SOI) will provide you with an in-depth look at where the industry is today and where it's likely to go in the future. It is based on responses from more than 1,500 corporate, association, and independent planners and it examines in detail the trends taking place across the meetings industry. From budgets to lead times to attrition to salaries and much more, SOI looks at how meetings-related elements are changing for organizations of different sizes, and in different industries [Ed Note: This is a U.S. report but, nonetheless, the responses were interesting]…read more
Articles - General
125 Meeting Planner Cost Saving Tips. Get tips in how to save dollars in most aspects of your meeting or event.
Education Grows Up. By Dave Kovaleski. Several years ago, the Council on Foundations was facing a bit of a conundrum with its annual meeting. Attendance was steady, if not increasing, so it wasn't that people weren't coming to the meeting. They just weren't going to the sessions. “People would go to the plenary sessions with the big speakers, but then when it came time for the breakouts, they would just disappear,” explains Angelique Wilkins, director, conference programming at the Washington, D.C.-based association.
7 Deadly Sins of Executive Retreats - All too often, board and committee meetings and executive retreats feel more like the yearly visit to the dentist: No one really wants to go, the experience can be painful, and participants are frequently relieved when it's over. All of which undermines the retreat's original goals: time in a relaxing setting, the development of plans without constant distractions, and the strengthening of team relationships. The culprits are the Seven Deadly Sins of small meetings, which can corrupt a meeting planner's best intentions. If you recognize and counter these demons with solutions for facilitating productive and energizing meetings, you can turn your retreat into a value-enhancing activity…read more
10 Tips for Successful Food and Beverage at Your Next Event - Quite often, the thing that will stand out most in a delegate’s memory of a conference or function is the food and beverages that were served. Even if you have spent thousands of dollars on a fantastic guest speaker, theming and venue, if the meals and drinks aren’t up to scratch, your guests are likely to leave the event dissatisfied. As an event planner, it is up to you to ensure that all aspects of the food and beverage service are of exceptional standard. Here are ten tips to make sure that you get the food and beverage right at your next event…read more
20 Ways to Cut a Better Deal - Smart negotiating tips for planners (Jonathan Vatner from M&C Online) - Negotiating with hotels can be a daunting task. But meeting planners should not be intimidated, urges James Trombino, CAE, executive director and CEO of the Princeton, N.J.-based Metal Powder Industries Federation. “You should be in the driver’s seat,” he says. “You’re the one bringing business.” Trombino and other seasoned planners offer these points of advice...read more
26 Tips to Meeting Marketing Success - Your planning can be flawless, but disappointing attendance can overshadow an otherwise wonderful meeting. The good news is that you can affect attendance by using sound marketing strategies. Here are 28 to consider…read more
50 Great Ways to Increase Meeting Attendance – By Midwest Society of Association Executives - 1. Choose a creative name that sounds clever and fun, without becoming too unprofessional. The MMPA Mag & Pub Crawl was intriguing to people – although promotions called it A Magazine Celebration, there was still some buzz re: the Mag(azine) & Pub(lications) Crawl. The interest generated in the name, along with the minimal cost to attendees, brought in 100 people, when we were hoping for 50…read more
A Planner's Guide to Preparedness - by Dave Kovaleski in MeetingsNet
Blown Away - By Dave Kovaleski – Nearly a thousand meetings were held in New Orleans last year — and those are just the ones tracked by the city's convention bureau. (An estimated 44 percent of the city's 9.5 million room nights annually are derived from group business, according to a research report issued shortly after Katrina by Wachovia Securities.) So when the Metropolitan New Orleans CVB was forced to cancel all conventions using the convention centre or three or more hotels through March 31, 2006, an unprecedented number of groups were scrambling to figure out what to do: Cancel, relocate, rebook at a later date?...read more
Case Study: Inviting Elected Officials To Section Meetings - Looking for a hook to draw members to your meetings? Looking for a way to influence legislators in Washington or your state’s capital? IEEE's Rock River Valley chapter was - and they did…read more
Cherish Your Constituents: Online, Offline, and In-Between - (Donna Wilkins, Charity Dynamics in GetActive) Your constituents want choices, and they’ve come to expect them. We’re living in the world of TiVo, online banking, and personal shoppers—these and other services allow people to select the most convenient method and time to interact. The global trend in technology and services is to let people respond the way that’s most comfortable for them…read more
Climate change pushes green issues up the agenda for conference organisers - Climate change is pushing green issues higher up the agenda of MICE decision-makers, according to the third annual 'focus group' survey of the nevironment that is undertaken by the IMEX exhibition. Buyers in 10 countries in Europe and Scandinavia were consulted…read more
Education as a Marketing Tool - If you don't offer continuing education, this is your wake-up call. Today's producers want education. They're not just insurance salespeople anymore; they're financial planners who are expected to advise clients with up-to-date information on estate planning, tax-free growth, and a host of other topics…read more
How to Plan Events - Working on a big activity can be one of the best ways to strengthen, focus, and energize IWW branch or group. Events are an excellent opportunity to educate the public, recruit new members, generate organizing opportunities, and, of course, to have fun while organizing workers…read more
March for Women’s Lives Toolkit - League of Women Voters of the United States - The March for Women’s Lives provides opportunities to build your League in a number of ways. A march is an excellent opportunity to encourage involvement and leadership by those League members who haven’t been very involved in your League’s activities. The March can also provide an opportunity to recruit new members and increase visibility for your League. Recruitment for the March is a way to increase active support for reproductive choice and to get your community involved in the political process…read more [editors’ note - whether you agree or disagree with the topic, it is still worth taking a look towards the middle of the page at the Member Recruitment advice they provide].
Marketing Events: What Works, What Doesn't - By M. H. "Mac" McIntosh - What works and what doesn't work in event planning? Here are tips to help you avoid learning what doesn't work when planning your next event…read more
Marketing Your Meetings on the Web - The statistics in U.S. Commerce Department's first-ever report on information technology, released in mid-April, should be a wake-up call for any meeting executive not yet convinced of the marketing potential of the World Wide Web. A few of the facts: In 1994, just 3 million people were connected to the Internet; by the end of 1996, 40 million were using it, and by the end of last year, 100 million. Traffic on the Internet has doubled every 100 days and Internet commerce--negligible just a few years ago--could surpass $300 billion by 2002…read more
Media Relations at Association Events - By Shaun Markey - You Scratch Their Back, They'll Scratch Yours. Although media coverage isn't usually the primary reason for staging an annual or one-time event, many associations look to use their conferences, annual meetings and workshops as a way to attract media attention and to leverage editorial coverage about their organization and their objectives…read more
The Value-Add of Archiving - Associations turn to archiving for some mix of the following: to add value to their programming, to generate revenues (either through sponsorships or fees for viewing), or to extend the life of the live event throughout the year by giving viewers access to session contents via the archive site. The best way to learn what makes sense for an organization is to take note of what other similar organizations have done…read more
Keynotes that Buzz not Bomb (MJ Gilhooley) We've got our list of referrals, we've scanned the speakers bureaus and speakers associations and even listened to some presentations, but we still aren't certain that our show's keynote choice is going to hit the home run... read more.
Gathering Requirements (Kendra Lee) Successful training programs don't just happen. They come from knowing exactly what the training must accomplish for the business, the department, and the individual... read more.
Why Free Works (Mack Collier) The other night on Twitter, Tara mentioned that she was going to TED this week. I must admit that a few days ago, my knowledge of exactly what TED is was sparse at best. I knew it was some sort of conference, I remember seeing Katie gushing about it before, but that was about all I knew... read more.
Booths, Banners and Beyond(Dave Kovaleski ) New York City is a lot of things, but inexpensive is not one of them. That left the National Speakers Association, which is holding its 2008 annual convention in the Big Apple, in a bit of a bind… read more.
Blown Away (Lisa Junker) The first in a new series of Associations Now case studies takes a look at a big, stormy problem: What should you do if your annual meeting lies in the path of a hurricane?... read more.
10 Ways to Boost Attendance (Sharon Collins) You don't have to completely overhaul your meeting to attract more attendees. Sharon Collins, director of meetings and expositions at the Kellen Co., an Atlanta-based association management company, offers the following tips to get your numbers up… read more.
Millennials and Meetings (Dave Kovaleski) What you need to know to keep your meetings relevant to up-and-coming generations. Just when the baby boomers thought they had Gen X figured out, along come the Millennials. With a population that rivals the size of their parents' baby boomer generation, the Millennials are often hailed as the future for associations — and their meetings… read more.
Articles - Creating Inspiring Meetings
The New Alchemy - By Sue Pelletie. Association Meeting Planners are Getting a New Job Description: alchemist. But instead of being asked to transmute lead into gold, they're being asked to provide a champagne and caviar-level meeting on a beer and hotdog budget... read more.
Bring New Life To Meetings - Michael Bassett, Association Meetings - As staffers filed into the conference room, some joked, others spoke in hushed tones, and a few buried their faces in their PDAs. This was to be a routine meeting, nothing special, nothing earth-shattering. The group started out with an ice-breaking exercise designed to help the session get off to a good start. But then, without warning, one woman gasped, managed to utter a few choking sounds, and keeled over…read more
Encouraging Meaningful Exchanges - How many times have you run into a roadblock in an undertaking, and then found an alternate path because you knew someone with more expertise who could guide you? Or perhaps you've shortened the path to a solution because you knew someone who could put you in touch with the "right person?"…read more
Make Your Meetings More Interactive - Picture a group of attendees at a small meeting being given this challenge: First they are divided into groups to come up with some ideas. The room surges with energy. Voices spill over each other. Participants introduce themselves and eagerly share the strategies they have already used in different business situations and toss new ideas back and forth. After about ten minutes, the whole group reconvenes and discusses solutions…read more
Play By the Rules - Ask anyone from Coverall North America about their most recent national sales meeting and the first thing they're likely to mention is the laser tag game they played a la Star Wars. "We divided the group into two teams and gave them all laser guns," says Amy James, director of marketing at the Ft. Lauderdale-based professional cleaning company. "Bringing Star Wars to the gathering was a stroke of genius that won the day. It created a team environment and a competitive mindset--and everyone had a ball."…read more
Shake It Up! - by Dave Kovaleski - Faced with several years of declining attendance, the Air Conditioning Contractors of America decided it was time to reinvent its annual conference. Among the many changes instituted at the 2002 conference, there is one that really captured the essence of what ACCA leadership was trying to do. They decided to step out of the box and create some controversy with the keynote speaker, so they hired Democratic strategist James Carville. The decision, not surprisingly, riled the conservative-leaning membership…read more
Tailor Made – By Larry Keltto in Association Meetings US - Renee Aubin's meeting-planning challenges are not the same as yours. Aubin is the manager of the convention division for Lions Club International, a fraternal organization. The Lions Club strives to serve people with sight challenges, so it's probably not surprising that 5 percent of the attendees at its major annual meeting are blind. With at least 15,000 attendees in town, that means several hundred guide dogs will be in attendance, too. No, it's not your everyday meeting…read more
Taking the Snooze Out of Seminars - Your board of directors tells you that even though your association is attracting new members, the veteran members are no longer attending meetings. Their participation is critical--after all, they are the most expert and influential people in your industry. How will you entice them back to your conferences?...read more
The Power of Random Encounters - By Maarten Vanneste on the Association Gateway - Finding this Black & White photo from a 1911 scientific conference of 24 people was not hard. The hotel where it took place still exists and it is one of the world's finest historic meeting places situated in Brussels. Having the original photo proudly presented behind glass in the lobby, a smart marketing mind started to reproduce this testament of stability as a give-away for clients. A plain postcard, testimony of the Hotel's ancient and high class history. This image was simply put in my hand, during a tradeshow. It immediately caught my attention. Walking along the stand I looked closer to see the only woman between these, all but one, moustached men. "MME CURIE" it said at the bottom of the card. Madame Curie, or Marie Curie as we all know her. Now I'm really curious…read more
US Meetings Survey Released! - By PCMA Convene - Did you know that more that more than 35% of all independent meeting professionals plan more than 20 meetings annually, and that 90% of meeting planners hold at least one event with an exhibit every year....read more
Trade Shows & Conferences
There are a number of trade shows and conferences around the world available that showcase various destinations and suppliers. A number of these have hosting opportunities (where your travel and accommodation is paid for or heavily subsidized).
Some of these include:
- AIME (Asia Pacific Incentive and Meetings Expo) - Melbourne, Australia - This event showcases destinations and suppliers in the Asia Pacific Region.
- ASAE Annual Conference (American Society of Association Executives) - USA - This event is a conference for Association Executives that also has a large exhibition that showcases a range of products and services for associations including destinations and suppliers (mainly located in the US).
- CBITM (China International Business & Incentive Travel Mart) - Beijing, China - This event showcases destinations and suppliers from within China.
- EIBTM (European Incentive Business Travel & Meetings Exhibition) - Barcelona, Spain - This event showcases destinations and suppliers from around the world.
- IMEX (The Worldwide Exhibition for Incentive Travel, Meetings and Events) - Frankfurt, Germany - This event showcases destinations and suppliers from around the world.
- ITCMA - Pattaya, Thailand - This event showcases destinations and suppliers in the Asia Pacific region.
Meetings & Incentive Travel Show - London, UK - This event showcases destinations and suppliers from Europe.
Meetings New Zealand - Christchurch, New Zealand - This event showcases destinations and suppliers from within New Zealand. - PRIME (Pacific Rim Incentives & Meetings Exchange) - Hawaii, USA - Showcases destinations and suppliers from Asia, Australia, New Zealand and Hawaii.
- PTM06 (Pata Travel Mart) - Hong Kong - This event showcases destinations and suppliers in the Asia Pacific region.
- The Motivation Show – combining IT&ME (Incentive Travel & Meeting Executives Show) and NPIS (the National Premium Incentive Show) - Chicago, USA - This show is the world largest exhibition of motivation products and services include incentive programs, branded products, awards, destinations and attractions, promotional products and related technology
Famils/ Site Inspections
Many destinations conduct site inspections to give people thinking of bringing their conference to that destination the opportunity to experience the destination, meet some of the suppliers you could use and gain a better understanding of how that destination may fit your requirements.
Some up and coming famils include…
Hong Kong
In 2008 NFPN is co-ordinating a group famil to Hong Kong. For those interested in running an event in Hong Kong this is an opportunity to have the destination showcased to you.
This event is fully hosted (all travel and accommodation expenses paid for by Hong Kong). For more information please click here