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Managing Corporate Meeting Spend
2004 Benchmark Survey
Exclusive survey reveals slow trend toward strategic meeting management, but companies that have adopted enterprisewide policies, procedures, and tools see measurable results.
Introduction
The question of whether corporate meeting and event spending can be effectively managed has come to the forefront, as meeting executives come under increasing pressure to reduce costs and maximize return on investment. The stakes are high. Meeting and event expenses comprised nearly two thirds of corporate travel and entertainment (T&E) spending in 2003, according to corporate meeting executives surveyed in September 2004 by The Meetings Group -- publisher of five industry magazines including Corporate Meetings & Incentives, Insurance Conference Planner, and Medical Meetings. With an estimated average of $5.6 million in total T&E spending in 2003, respondents who plan meetings in a corporation reported an average meeting and event spending total of $3.5 million.
The Meetings Group surveyed a selection of readers to assess how their companies are collecting and leveraging data related to meeting and event expenses, and to determine the extent to which policies and procedures have been put in place to monitor and control these costs—and how useful these have been (see Methodology and Participation, page x). The survey findings indicate that though not widely adopted, strategic meeting management tools and best practices do help corporate planners achieve significant savings.
This report presents a summary and analysis of the survey results, along with conclusions about the implications for future meeting management initiatives.
Challenges of Consolidating Meeting Purchasing
Unlike corporate travel management, which typically centralizes the negotiation of rates and procurement of transient airline tickets, hotel accommodations, rental cars, and other travel-related services, corporate meeting management is typically decentralized, with business units’ regional office locations planning their own meetings and events. To add to the complexity, the meeting planning function is variously delegated to in-house or third-party planning professionals, or non-career planners such as sales and marketing executives, procurement officers, or administrative assistants who often have little or no experience in meeting contract negotiations.
Excerpt from "Managing Corporate Meeting Spend," seeUthere Technologies and Primedia Meetings Group, October 2004 Special Report. Copyright 2004 seeUthere Technologies, a division of OnVantage, Santa Clara, Calif.
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