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By Kristi Casey Sanders
Published: December 7, 2009

Kristi Casey Sanders is the editorial director/chief storyteller of Plan Your Meetings. She frequently speaks at industry functions about how meeting professionals can prove their worth, meet responsibly, integrate technology into events, create innovative experiences and maybe even change the world. Follow her on Twitter @PYMLive or @KristiCasey. And check out her videos on PYM's YouTube channel.

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It’s not surprising that nearly 65 percent of meeting planners say the economic downturn has had some kind of impact on their association. But according to the Association Meetings: Forecasts and Trends 2010 study, conducted by the International Congress and Convention Association and IMEX, more than half of those surveyed felt as if their third-quarter 2009 meetings would have the same or greater number of attendees than similar events held in 2008, and 39 percent expected attendance to rise in 2010 (44 percent expected attendance numbers to hold steady).

Seventy-two percent of respondents said they expected to hold the same number of meetings in 2010 as in 2009, and 16.2 percent said they would be planning more meetings next year. Almost half of respondents (48 percent) said they did not intend to reduce the number of large or smaller meetings organized in 2010. But 46 percent of association planners say they intend to select lower cost destinations/venues for their meetings; 52 percent intend to select lower cost delegate accommodations or lower priced hotels; and 36 percent intend to significantly cut down on costs at future meetings by such measures as cutting out banquets, receptions or reducing the number of days in the program.

Social responsibility and climate change continue to be big issues for association planners moving into 2010. Fifty-one percent say they already plan for groups to participate in socially responsible activities in the host community; and 25 percent say that the issues of climate change and carbon footprint have become more important in their meeting and destination choices. (61 percent say that it will be just as important next year as it was last year.)

The top concerns association planners have for the new year are (in order of importance): How to attract higher attendance; how to offer better value for money; how to devise conference programs that appeal to the broadest audiences; how to appeal to younger delegates; how to negotiate with airlines hotels and convention centers (tie); how to find new meetings destinations and venues (tie); how to find the right suppliers; how to respond to the multicultural preferences of delegates; and how to manage issues of security.

Join the discussion

Diana Schoenberg Says:

2009-12-08 18:05:38

Great numbers, but you're missing a little more of the all important "so what?" analysis! FYI - those 72% of associations that said they would holding the same number of meetings probably HAVE to hold those meetings! They are either A) already booked (cancellation fees are murder on a not-for-profit!) or B) dependent on regular revenue streams - they'd cease to exist if they didn't try to hold events! That doesn't mean they are all confident that the attendees will be there for them when they need it! The 61% that expect attendance to remain the same or decrease (44% remaining the same, and therefore by process of elimination 17% expecting a decrease)is the really scary number.

Kristi Casey Sanders Says:

2009-12-08 18:41:54

Diana- You raise good points. And another one is that some of the associations may require their members to attend the annual (which would explain why 44 percent expect the attendance numbers to stay the same). But I'd argue that rather than look at the glass as half-empty, look at it the other way: 83% of the association planners are expecting attendance to increase or stay the same (39 percent to increase + 44 percent to stay the same). That's pretty good news for a year where attrition was a major budget killer. And it makes that 17 percent decrease look a lot less scary than it probably did going into 2009. I'll see if I can find last year's projections for you, because I have a feeling a higher percentage of planners were expecting attendance to decrease at this time last year.

Jeff Hurt Says:

2009-12-09 12:43:20

I've always struggled with these reports about event professionals expectations regarding meeting attendance. Are the right people being asked these questions? Are meeting planners good at forecasting their event’s actual attendance? Especially association meeting professionals? Who teaches them how to estimate their attendance? That requires market research, doesn’t it? It used to be that we looked at previous year’s history for our blueprints for event attendance in the coming years. Not any more! History no longer serves us. The operative word in these reports is "felt" or "expect." I don't see it as a glass half empty or half full situation. I see it as those being surveyed expect things to continue as they always have. That’s the wrong thing to expect in the new economy. Isn’t that delusional or denial that things have changed? How many of those association event professionals actually survey their members to find out if people are planning on attending the next meeting or conference? Is that question even asked in the survey? It's been my experience working for nonprofit associations that surveying members to see if they plan to attend an event is rarely done. Often association leaders have an entitlement syndrome that people will attend because they are a member and they’ve always done it in the past. When will some of these survey companies actually start surveying the potential attendees so we get a more accurate prediction? That’s what needs to happen. Time to ask the attendees, not the meeting professionals. By the way, my association attendance is expected to be down another 20% in 2010, which was already 60% down in 2009 from 2008. Why? Acquisitions, mergers, budget cuts, travel policies, etc., etc. And, we surveyed our members and planned accordingly. No more planning two or three years out for our events.

Kristi Casey Sanders Says:

2009-12-09 12:53:45

Jeff- Wow! What really struck me was your phrase, "No more planning two or three years out for our events." During this economy, one of the things I heard hoteliers say over and over again was "thank God for the associations." Because their meetings had been on the books and weren't going anywhere and because they were still looking to book well in advance, their business was keeping some properties afloat. What happens to the face of the market if the association business becomes as unpredictable and short-windowed as the corporate market?

Splash: A Blog from MemberClicks » Blog Archive » Friday Top Five: Brrrr! Says:

2009-12-11 12:10:21

[...] Wondering how the economy is going to affect other event and meeting planners? This article from planyourmeetings.com has a bunch of statistics relating to event planning looking forward to 2010. The top two concerns [...]