1. 62 MeetingsCanada.com
PHOTOGenevièveCaron
I
n today’s business environ-
ment, “status quo” is a safety
net that at best affords an
excuse for inaction and at
worst perpetuates unsubstantiated
theories and practices.And meet-
ings and events are directly in the
sightlines of this latter extreme
thinking. Examples include the
recent run on the cancellations of
meetings, and the distorted view-
points of certain U.S. media chan-
nels (demoting our business to
mere junkets and boondoggles).
These actions perpetuate the mis-
conception that meetings and events
are a drain on corporate budgets that hinder economic
recovery. I vehemently disagree. I don’t understand
how a proven and worthy business solution (that
employs hundreds of thousands of people and has an
economic impact of $32.2-billion CAD in Canada
alone) in normal economic circumstances can be a
hindrance in an economic downturn.
Two websites, meetingsindustrycrisiscenter.org
and Keepamericameeting.org, offer valuable informa-
tion you can use to effectively convey the economic
impact of meetings and events. The opportunity has
never been greater for our industry to change the per-
ception of the role of meetings and events.
Our focus should be on the medium- and long-
term business cycles, not on the short term. The
short term is here — it’s now. I can’t think of any-
one more experienced to ignite the flame of change
to the status quo of the business of meetings than
the professional planner.
To help you get started, here are a few suggestions:
Rethink and re-design your role. Today, intellectual
capital is more valuable to an organization than any
other intangible. To raise your intellectual capital net
worth,ask yourself a few questions: Am I learning?
Try and summarize in a 15-second elevator speech
what you’ve learned in the past six months or are
planning to learn. Do you know what you contribute to
your company? If you are unable to explain to a total
stranger what you do and why it matters, chances are
Making the CasePlanners have to help senior management in the public and private sectors understand the power
of meetings and events as it applies to business goals and economic value. written by SUSAN RADOJEVIC
your c-suite probably can’t, either.
Rethink and re-design the role
of meetings and events within your
organization. Properly aligned and
carefully designed meetings and
events deliver effective and efficient
business goals. Start by looking at
your business unit or event-man-
agement department and create a
plan on how to improve efficiencies
and productivity. Leverage best
practices and mitigate risk by
implementing a meetings and
events resource centre and standard
operating procedures. The next
time you are asked to plan an event,
ask a few strategic questions.What would you like to
achieve with this event? What corporate business
goal is this event supporting? What would you like
the participants to do after the event? What does suc-
cess look like?
Champion a meeting re-design. Find a meeting that
you think can be delivered more effectively and cham-
pion a business case to present to the meeting spon-
sor/owner. The case should outline why a change is
being proposed,what the new meeting design will
look like,the tactics that will be used to deliver the
new design,what business goals the re-designed
meeting will support and what success will look like.
By positioning professional planners as business
solution providers and using meetings and events as
a communication tool to demonstrate to corporate
executives and government officials the strategic
value meetings and events represent, the next time
there is economic and financial uncertainty, the
business of meetings is less likely to be a casualty
of corporate belt-tightening and a target for new
government legislation.
The channel is open...
—Susan Radojevic, president of Toronto-based
The Peregrine Agency Ltd., is a leading authority on
strategic event alignment. Weigh in by sending Susan
a message: susan.radojevic@theperegrineagency.ca
or visit Susan’s blog at www.theperegrineagency.ca
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