12 Must-Know Meeting Trends. Gathered by:

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Katrina Wilkins
10 years ago
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1 12 Must-Know Meeting Trends Gathered by:

2 1. Budgets & Meetings Get Smaller Respondents in Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Central/South America all suggested smaller budgets are on the horizon. Although the budget may stay the same or decrease, respondents in North America did suggest a 1.5% increase in the number of meetings. The budgets aren t the only thing getting smaller either, so will the meetings. Meetings that require fewer than 25 rooms per night now account for 70-80% of conference bookings. Source: American Express Meetings & Events Forecast Source: New York Times

3 2. Meetings Stay Local Due to the increased budget controls, many meetings will take place inhouse or on a more regional level. This cuts down on travel time and the costs associated with travel. Source: Washington Post Source: New York Times

4 3. Group Fares Become Critical In order to optimize costs, planners are starting to include group fares into a strategic meetings program. Group fares will likely become more critical in the meeting planning process. Source: American Express Meetings & Events Forecast

5 4. Virtual Components on the Rise Virtual components are no longer considered a maybe, but a must have. Planners are seeing virtual components as the top of the funnel. Those who attend virtually and have a positive experience will eventually attend the inperson meetings.

6 5. Designing Across Generations Now that Millennials are in the mix, it is even more important to keep the presentations more captivating and add more integrated uses of social media. However, it remains a battle to include both generations in the same meeting. Here s a free guide on how to market your meeting to Millennials. Check it out!

7 6. Less Lead Time We all know that it s easier to plan a great meeting when you have a long lead time. However, planners may be put to the test. The approval process for meetings is becoming longer in many organizations and that leads to less time for the planner. See tips on how to plan an event or meeting with less lead time. Check it out!

8 7. Mobile is a Must Meeting planners indicated an increased interest in using mobile apps and expressed a desire to learn how to best utilize apps for their individual meetings. With the technology to develop meeting specific apps becoming mainstream, companies are in the process of choosing the appropriate tools and providers for their meeting apps. Take a look at this presentation with over 40 great planning apps. Check it out! Source: American Express Meetings & Events Forecast

9 8. Social Media Only Grows The use of social media within meetings is expected to slightly increase across all regions, as the use of mobile apps and social media is expected to transition from attendees personal to professional lives. Overall, meeting planners are facing increased pressures to use social media and mobile apps before, during and after meetings as a way to communicate with and connect attendees to one another in order to maximize time spent at meetings and create opportunities for increased engagement and efficiency. Source: American Express Meetings & Events Forecast

10 9. Condensed Content It s no surprise that in this digital world, attention spans are shrinking. This means that content needs to be more engaging and easily shareable. Look out for shorter, more vibrant sessions. There s a reason TED Talks have had such success. This article shares other content tips you can learn from TED. Check it out!

11 10. Condensed Technology With the large amount of technology options available, look for more integration within meeting technologies. In order to make planning easier, these different technologies throughout the planning process need to talk to each other. The good news is, many technology companies are catching on. See what Corbin Ball thinks about condensing technology. Check it out!

12 11. Meetings in the Economic Spotlight It seems the world is starting to see that the meetings and events market is a great predictor of our overall economy. Look for meetings to be more in the spotlight from sources you might not normally expect, like the President.

13 12. Design Continue to Be Interactive Meeting designs have been slowly moving away from the classic classroom style setup to more interactive and creative environments. Look for designs to begin more appropriately matching the meeting s goals. Classic board room style may be in the past, making way for Cabaret, Chevron and U-Shaped designs allowing for more small group discussion. Maritz Travel s CEO speaks on why design layouts are critical in this video. Check it out!

14 Staying in Touch Social Tables is the industry leading provider of cloud-based hospitality software that positions venues to work more collaboratively and efficiently with their event and meeting customers. More than 60,000 unique users rely on the desktop and mobile product line, which includes Social Tables On-Site, an online sales and marketing solution; 2D and 3D room diagramming; business intelligence for hotels; and event attendee management. Users have planned over 350,000 events within the company s 320-million square foot Venue Library. Contact Us: Claire Harrington, CMP Manager, Communications [email protected] Learn More at blog.socialtables.com

Clusters Setup. Groups of interconnected rectangular tables.

Clusters Setup. Groups of interconnected rectangular tables. Clusters Setup Groups of interconnected rectangular tables. Benefits: Groups of three rectangular tables, configured to maximize working sessions, collaboration and group participation with the facilitator(s).