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  • Posted by Jason Hensel at
    12:00AM 04/09/2013 • 0 Comments

    Best Practices to Enhance Delegate Experiences

    The following is a guest blog from Dr. Eliza Hixson, a professor at the International Centre for Research in Events, Tourism and Hospitality at Leeds Metropolitan University (ICRETH) and one of the lead researchers on MPI’s Strategic Meetings Management project.

    Dr. Eliza Hixson

    Dr. Eliza Hixson

    I often tell students that event management is like juggling, because there are so many elements to consider. You have to make sure you take into account all stakeholders in the process and be mindful of their perspectives and what they are aiming to achieve. At the same time, you need to make sure you provide a quality event experience to the participants. This can be very tricky, especially when trying to strategically manage events. 

    The Strategic Meetings Management (SMM) resource center has been created as part of an MPI Foundation study and produced by the ICRETH team alongside Betsy Bondurant of Bondurant Consulting and Peggy Hemphill of Your Corporate Source. The center provides a succinct way of viewing meetings and explains how you can make the most out of your events whether you are a buyer, supplier, planner or intermediary. It illustrates that the key features of SMM are supply-chain management, procurement, centralization of processes, meeting quality/participant experience and executive sponsorship. This center highlights several key developments for SMM, including the need to be more focused on the delegate experience. As Lisa English of Cvent believes, “We need to get people engaged and get the most ROI from a meeting experience.”

    The center, produced after a thorough review of more than 100 resources—including white papers, reports and case studies as well as interviews with practitioners—demonstrates how you can reduce costs and increase value by implementing best practice strategies. The MPI SMM resource center contains loads of resources that can help you to understand SMM and how you can implement it for your events. Whether you have an established SMM program, are just starting to embark upon the journey or have never heard of SMM before, the SMM resource center suggests several ways to gain the best strategic outcomes from your meetings. We hope you enjoy reading and get SMM-inspired.



  • Posted by Stephen Peters at
    12:00AM 10/15/2012 • 0 Comments

    IMEX12: Global Meetings Management Study

    Part of Smart Monday at IMEX America was the Global Meetings Management Study (GMMS) session. This was a discussion centered on global Strategic Meetings Management programs (SMMP) and the benefits, challenges and lessons learned, presented by Kevin Iwamoto, vice president of enterprise strategy for StarCite, a part of ACTIVE Network.

    Iwamoto showcased IBM's Paul Wakelin's implementation of the SMM program on a global scale.

    "It gave people the opportunity to see that it can work and it does work if you apply the principals and you design a program that fits within your corporate culture," he said. "It gave people the opportunity to realize it's more than a theory."

    The goal of the sessions was for attendees to understand the benefits of taking an SMM program global; prepare for any pitfalls and nuances of operating an SMM across various cultures and markets; and learn the steps needed to get started with a global rollout.

    "Paul was able to use [the SMMP] roadmap and kind of design each element of it with understanding the IBM culture on what worked and what doesn’t work," Iwamoto said. "The end result of that, using technology, is a successfully deployed global SMMP." 



  • Posted by Blair Potter at
    12:00AM 10/04/2012 • 0 Comments

    Learning How to Work Through the SMM Process

    When it comes to meeting and event discounts, we have a tendency to attach an unintended stigma to our discounts. Although some types of discount categories are not stigmatized (such as member vs. non-member), others carry an underlying message that some people are not able to afford the full value of the event. This message leads to the risk that those we are hoping will participate in our events will feel that their inability to pay makes them somehow worth less than others.

    There is an opportunity here not simply to “spin” this, but to genuinely engage potential meeting attendees and prospective association members by placing a positive pricing lens on underrepresented groups that provide valuable voices to our communities and conversations. Consider introducing new pricing categories that show that the contributions of these underrepresented groups are worth more, not less, and emphasize that the contribution of these voices is more than financial.

    Examples of this could include the following.

    Industry mentors: This pricing category could be offered to retirees. Baby boomers are starting to retire, and this could have a significant impact on event attendance if this group does not see an important and valued role for themselves. Associations that want to keep this significant group participating in events should begin developing strategies to ensure that this group feels appreciated.

    Valued voices: Many events offer discounted rates to individuals from less affluent groups or regions. Instead of offering discounts based on their inability to pay the full rate, offer them preferred pricing in recognition of the rare and important voice that they bring to your event community. This reinforces the value of diverse contributions to an event and acknowledges that different perspectives together in a meeting enrich the experience for everyone.

    Click here to read more about improving the use discounts to boost attendance, engagement and room block pickup, while improving social and environmental performance.

    And if you’re participating in IMEX-America in Las Vegas, consider attending Monday’s session “The Evolution of Strategic Meetings Management,” where you’ll learn how to best work through the process and also hear details about MPI’s forthcoming SMM initiative.



  • Posted by Jason Hensel at
    12:00AM 10/04/2012 • 1 Comments

    The Whys and Hows of Global Meetings Management

    People have been talking about SMM for more than a decade. Now, thanks to a growing understanding of how it works, combined with a greater need for accountability in the wake of the recession, SMM seems finally poised to receive the recognition it deserves as a valuable meeting and event industry asset.

    And it isn’t as complicated as many think. At its heart, it’s simply a philosophy to take all the pieces that make up a corporation’s meetings universe and tie those pieces together into a consistent and efficient whole, with the aim of cutting costs, mitigating risk, improving service quality and positively affecting the business bottom line.

    SMM isn’t a lofty principal with big, vague promises—quite the opposite, actually. Its edge is in the specific recommendations it makes to standardize each step within meetings management starting from the moment before someone decides to hold a meeting.

    At IMEX America, you can learn more about SMM practices on a global scale by attending "Global Meetings Management Study: IBM Journey toward Global Meetings Management" on Monday, Oct. 8, (10:30 - 11:30 a.m./10.30 - 11.30) in room Titian 2202 at the Venetian/Palazzo Congress Center. 

    Presented by Kevin Iwamoto and Paul Wakelin, this session will be a high level discussion about global SMMPs and the benefits, challenges and lessons learned. The session will explore the real experiences companies and partners go through as they take up the challenge to provide holistic meetings management to operating regions around the globe.

    Learner outcomes include:

    • Understand the benefits of taking an SMM program global
    • Prepare for the pitfalls and nuances of operating an SMM across various cultures and markets
    • Learn the steps you need to take to get started with a global roll-out

    The session is sponsored by: AT&T Park, AVT Event Technologies, Gaylord Entertainment, MCI and the MPI Foundation (CIC Approved)

    —Additional reporting by Dalia Fahmy 



  • Posted by Jason Hensel at
    12:00AM 08/22/2011 • 0 Comments

    GBTA Foundation's SMM Maturity Index

    The GBTA Foundation, the research and education arm of the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), in partnership with the Strategic Meetings Management Taskforce and StarCite Inc., recently announced the launch of the Strategic Meetings Management (SMM) Maturity Index. The SMM Maturity Index allows companies to accurately identify the developmental progress of their SMM programs and provides a prescriptive report of recommendations for further improvement.

    “The SMM Maturity Index will drive the meetings industry forward by bringing invaluable know-how to organizations at every step along the path toward a best in class program," said Daphne Bryant, executive director for the GBTA Foundation. "We’re excited to build on the success of the SMM Maturity Model to launch the next evolution of this essential industry framework.”

    The SMM Maturity Index will help companies gauge the progress of their SMMP across 13 categories including strategy, data analysis and reporting, policy, approval, technology and sourcing/procurement. Recognizing that each SMMP is as unique as the organization which implements it, the SMM Maturity Index takes differing approaches into consideration and is based on best-in-class models.

    “Having been there for the earliest beginnings of the strategic meetings management profession, it is inspiring to see how far we’ve come with the creation of a new tool that will further standardize best practices and help companies achieve great SMMP results,” said Kevin Iwamoto, vice president of enterprise strategy for StarCite. “Companies will benefit tremendously from the clear guidance and benchmarks the Index provides.”



  • Posted by Theresa Davis at
    12:00AM 01/06/2011 • 0 Comments

    2011: The Year Events Get Smart

    When I start to write anything for Engage of course I have something at MPI I want to tell our readers about, so I always have a topic in mind.  But I'm a very visual person, and to kick start my storytelling I like to have an image that represents the topic.  While searching for an image to represent the latest edition of FutureWatch I came across the image above - a dictionary entry.

    It reminded me of my 7th grade student council campaign speech that - like every other candidate's speech that day - started with a quote from Merriam Webster's Dictionary that defined some aspirational word we had chosen to represent ourselves.  So, even at the risk of sounding like an aspiring young student council candidate, I think the definition of "future" I found today is worth quoting to kick off this post.

    Future - an expectation of advancement or progressive development (thank you Merriam)

    That really is what the newly redesigned and evolved FutureWatch study is all about - defining the expectations that meeting professionals have around the advancement and progressive development of our industry. 

    In collaboration with Association Insights who conducts the research and compiles the data, our team here at MPI decided to take a new approach to FutureWatch this year.  While the study still provides hard data on the predictive direction of business in the year ahead, it now provides more insight into the "Why". 

    By utilizing real answers from real research participants in interview excerpts, readers can now gain insight into the deeper details behind the numbers.  Additionally, the new format breaks out the critical data on major trends that indicate meetings are going to get smarter and be more strategic. The study also breaks out trends in enhancing supplier and planner relationships and a provides separate section on technology trends. 

    I also think the team did a great job at connecting the dots from the trends back to applicable tools that are available through MPI that can actually help readers take this data and do something about it.  For example, one of the top trends identified is that SMM is now critical, not optional.  So in addition to outlining what respondents say, the report then provides additional links to webinars that provide guidance on how to get an SMM program started.

    In this new edition of FutureWatch you'll not only find predictions on advancements- but also tools for how to progressively develop skills to adapt to them.  I'm really hoping that savvy speakers out there will dig into FutureWatch and develop new presentations around these progressive and trending topics.  And smart suppliers or destinations (both big and small) can really dive in and get inside the modern planner's head when it comes to decision making.  Anyone in the tech sector who wants to break into the meeting and event industry should also be turning a critical eye to the statistical data on technology integration into face-to-face meetings (i.e. 72% of planners anticipate digital event strategies).

    So if all of this has piqued your interest and you'd like to learn more about the study (of course you do), I'm going to encourage you to spend some time with Bill Vogelei in a webinar on Jan. 19.  You can find out how to register here.

    Our team here at MPI and Engage would love to hear how you've used data from FutureWatch or other MPI research to conduct business in a smarter or more strategic way.  What have you done?



  • Posted by David Basler at
    12:00AM 12/15/2010 • 2 Comments

    Why I Just Can't Wait. I Want it Now!

    We now live in a "need it now" society. It doesn't matter what it is—food, entertainment, feedback, content, etc. We need it now and a constant flow of it.

    I live with my iPad on 24/7 and my phone is on alarm every time a major news event occurs. I want to know the news so when I see a post from a friend on Facebook it's already old news to me. I live for constantly updated content. But I'm not sure why.

    Like most everyone who falls into the over-30 age group I wasn't always this way. I can remember years when I didn't even own a cell phone. I went about my day just fine not being fully connected to the world. Now, I leave my house with out my wallet I think, "well, I'll be okay," but if I leave without my cell phone I instantly turn the car around because I can't stand the idea of being separated from the constant stream—the lifeline if you will.

    And I know I'm not the only one . . . if you're reading this blog entry you're probably as much of a content junkie as I am. Ever wonder why that is?

    According to Harvard economist David I. Laibson it's because we assess future benefits as if we had two brains—an "impatient" brain and a "patient" one. The "impatient" brain dominates when we think about immediate satisfaction and the "patient" brain takes control when we contemplate much-later benefits.

    Laibson shared his theory of “multiple selves” to an intrigued audience on Dec. 2 at Yenching Library on the campus of Harvard University. The occasion was the 2010-11 Mind Brain and Behavior Distinguished Harvard Lecture.

    Professor Laibson began the presentation by asking the audience a question—a mini-experiment if you will. "Imagine you’re at a spa right now. You’re offered two options—a 15-minute massage now or a 20-minute massage in an hour. Both are free. Which would you choose?"

    If you said a 15-minute massage now, you'd be in line with almost a third of the audience.

    The takeaway from this? We want things now.

    A massage is one thing, news from the world content stream is another, but I think this can also be relevant to what our attendees want from our meeting content. No one wants to sit through an hour long session to get two key takeaways if those same takeaways can be received in a 20-minute session just as easily.

    It's all about thinking strategically, knowing our audience and providing the content they want in the time frame and format they want it. Think about that the next time you start designing your next attendee experience.



  • Posted by David Basler at
    12:00AM 08/02/2010 • 1 Comments

    Success with SMM

    MPI’s strategic meetings management (SMM) white paper, due out in August, promises to bring together content, common themes, and major takeaways from selected WEC 2010 sessions that explored one of the most powerful tools available to meeting professionals. MPI was one of a very small handful of organizations that introduced SMM several years ago by laying out a consistent method for consolidating meetings spending and mapping an entire meetings program back to the host organization’s core objectives. The white paper reflects the latest thinking and best practices in this growing field of professional interest. Keep an eye out for the August issue of One+ as well for an in-depth look into how SMM can ensure your success!