As a meeting manager, you are working within limits: You have a limited budget and limited time to arrange everything from the educational content to logistics, from meal planning to promotion. It is your job to ensure a seamless experience in a comfortable environment. But for many meeting professionals today, the expectation is higher. Clients and organizations are looking to you to manage the meeting in a way that achieves predetermined outcomes - both in terms of registration numbers and attendee satisfaction.

That's a tall order.

How can you bring new vision to how you perform the necessary meeting logistics in order to increase the return on investment (ROI) for the attendees - and ultimately your boss?

A simple suggestion: Take a look at what you are spending on meals - specifically desserts.

Desserts are that extra treat that you hope leaves attendees with a sweet taste in their mouths. You want to arrange for something that makes the attendee say "Wow!" when it is set down in front of them. But organizations often spend $7 or more per person on the dessert. For large meetings, that adds up to thousands of dollars.

But for the majority of the attendees, the ROI of the meeting is not in the dessert or even the meal itself, but rather the content of the program. When attendees evaluate the meeting experience, seldom do they say, "The dessert made this meeting for me!" It is far more likely that the speakers and the content delivered will determine a good meeting experience.

So why do so many meeting professionals work hard to find a free speaker for their meeting, yet spend thousands of dollars on dessert? If content is what you are evaluated on, why not scale down on the food and beverage and invest that savings in a professional speaker with a message customized to the group, which provides a better return on everyone's investment?

There are many good speakers out there who work for free in exchange for the opportunity to gain exposure for their product, service, or expertise within the industry, but this trade-off can affect ROI. Attendees are savvy: They know when a session is a thinly veiled sales pitch, and they are understandably irritated that they have invested time and money to hear it.

So the next time you have a meal function with dessert, look around the room and see how many people are really eating it. Check the evaluations for any comments on the dessert. Then, plan a meeting where a portion of the money from dessert is actually invested in a professional speaker.

Take time with the speakers so they can customize a message that speaks to the meeting's theme. Check references and make sure they are a good fit for your group. Then, let them wow the audience.

Chances are they will thank you - and so may their waistlines.