WHO CHIMED IN

A snapshot of the 547 meeting professionals who responded to Convene's late-March survey:

48% work for an association (39% professional; 24% medical/health care; 20% trade; 9% SMERF; 8% other)

22% work for a corporation

12% are third-party associations or show-management companies

10% are independent planners

8% other

Have you canceled or will you be canceling any meetings in 2009?

Yes 31%
No 58%
Possibly 11%

The good news is that only 4 percent more respondents are canceling meetings this year than meetings that were to be held in late 2008. Yet 10 percent more respondents now say they will cancel meetings in 2009 than they anticipated at the end of last year (31 percent in March vs. 21 percent in November 2008).

How has the current economy affected your green meeting initiatives?

64% said there was no change
21% scaled back because of cost and/or manpower
15% had more initiatives planned than last year.

Have you shortened or do you plan to cut short the length of any of your meetings?

Yes, by one day 18%
By more than one day 3%
No 60%
Possibly 19%

Sixty percent said they will not cut back on the number of days of any meetings in 2009, down from the 83 percent who did not shorten the duration of any multi-day meeting in 2008. Fifteen percent more expected the length of their 2009 meetings to stay the same when
questioned late last year.

Of those shortening their meetings, 18 percent will cut back by one day (same as what was anticipated in late 2008); and only 3 percent will shorten their meetings by more than one day compared to the 5 percent who projected multi-day cuts in the last survey. Nineteen percent are now taking a wait-and-see approach.

If you already held your 2009 annual meeting, how did it perform compared to 2008?
(Only 38% of respondents had held their annual meetings by late March/early April.)

15% More attendees than last year
35% Same attendance figures as last year
50% Fewer attendees than year

Attendees: Half experienced a decline in attendees; only 31 percent expected fewer attendees at their 2009 event in last year's survey.

46% Fewer exhibitors/ sponsors than last year
15% More exhibitors/sponsors than last year
39% Same exhibitor/sponsor level as last year

Exhibitors/sponsors: Nearly half (46 percent) had fewer exhibitors/sponsors than last year; only 21 percent had expected the number of their exhibitors to shrink in 2009 when questioned last year.

One respondent found that adding time to the schedule was a draw rather than a deterrent: "We added a half-day to make two full days. Members felt it was more worth their travel time for two full days."

Have you outsourced any portion of your meetings as a result of the economy?

The answer is almost unanimous:

96% said no

only

4% said yes.

Has any portion of your meeting experienced growth?

Yes 22%
No 78%

Some areas of growth cited: abstract submissions; health-care, energy, and scientific meeting segments; "dramatic increase" in daily registrations vs. full registrations; virtual meeting formats and alternative technologies; combining smaller meetings into one large conference.

This survey was produced in partnership with American Express and prepared for Convene by LewisClarkBoone Market Intelligence. All material ©2009 by PCMA.

Michelle Russell is editor in chief of Convene.