SMM At PCMA Las Vegas

Posted by:
Jennifer W. Brown, CMP
President, Meeting Sites Resource




For those of you attending my Strategic Meeting Management (SMM) workshop at the PCMA annual meeting: Convening Leaders in Las Vegas this January, I am looking forward an interactive discussion and analysis on how to get the most value and ROI from your SMM plan.

The big picture goal of course will be on "how to demonstrate real meeting value to senior management" and specific metrics to define and measure success. Whether you control enterprise wide meetings and events for your organization, or only meeting activity in a corporate office, division or department, SMM is a game changer and will play an important role in your overall success. Meetings are big investments and a carefully planned and implemented SMM plan can save 14%-24% annually, which clearly will peak the interest of senior management.

"Value" has different definitions by different stakeholders, which will be revealed during the critical SMM needs assessment and action plan phase. Often, too much emphasis is placed on cost savings and not enough focus on meeting design, architecture and attendee experience / learner outcomes. We all want to squeeze (and demonstrate) more $$$ to the bottom line, however, if you save money but do not achieve meeting goals and objectives, that is not ROI, but ROB (Return On Budget), which is an "F" by SMM standards.

We’ll also discuss additional SMM components, including the need for robust technology that drives data management, including cost savings and risk reduction report by meeting.

I look forward to more dialog on this topic in Las Vegas. Participating as a driver of this essential business initiative will have a big impact on your organization...and career!

If you have any initial questions or thoughts on the SMM initiative, please send me an email...I would love to hear from you. You can reach me at jbrown@meetingsites.net.

Jennifer W. Brown, CMP is President of Meeting Sites Resource, a global Specialist in meeting site research and hotel contract negotiations. The company also offers professional meting support services, custom meeting education, SMM consulting and advanced meeting technology solutions.
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To learn more about Jennifer's session at Convening Leaders, visit pcma2011.org or contact communications@pcma.org for more details.