Adding Value to Meetings
Through the recent events we have seen two things happen. First, organizations being embarrassed to hold meetings in case it is seen as a waste of money…and secondly, the increased chatter about ROI (return on investment). The knee jerk reaction of the first is short sighted and the increased emphasis on ROI has meant some stupid decisions being made.
Typical behaviours have included, looking for cheaper venues, shorter meetings, less frills and bringing in industry speakers. The trouble with this approach is that it focuses on saving money or cutting costs on the last event instead of looking for how to provide any ROI. There is an old expression, ‘be careful what you focus on…you may get it!”
I recently heard from a great speaker, Scott McCain, that proves this point. Here is what he told me:
“Just home from a major meeting…I asked the meeting professional to name the speakers they booked for the past couple of years, and she informed me, “We had industry experts, not professional speakers.” So, I naturally had to follow up with, “Why did you have one for this year’s meeting?”
Her great response: “Industry experts are boring. We realized our registrations were down, not just because of the economy — but, who wants to make the effort to attend a boring meeting? Professional speakers bring more than content. I guess I took for granted HOW much more.”
It seems to me that ROI is about deciding the value you need and then finding the most cost effective way of delivering it. When the starting point is, “what costs can we cut?”, we are not focusing on producing value…rather we are seeking to look good compared to last time. Adding value requires knowing what value looks like and what the outcome will be as a result.
This applies to everything relating to planning a meeting, from picking the venue to choosing the food and stage décor. From defining the program to choosing the contributors to deliver the program, it has to start with the end in mind.
Does this mean that costs are not important? Of course not. I am not saying ignore the costs, I am saying don’t make that the starting point. If you have chosen a location for your conference or meeting that meets the needs or outcomes you want from your event, you can now look at maximizing the return on this investment. What can you leverage from this venue to add more value to your event? This approach starts from knowing what you want to achieve, choosing the right place/program/etc. and then looking to maximize what you can get. Starting from a position of “what is the cheapest venue, cheapest stage, cheapest food, cheapest speaker….. end up in BEING cheap.
A good venue, hotel, catering company, sound and lighting company, speaker, etc. will work with you to help you achieve your objectives. They will also understand your need to provide meaningful value and offer ideas to help you. After all, they want you to use them again…don’t they? The adage, “you get what you pay for” is not wrong, but it also doesn’t mean that expensive is best.
Focus on the right things and work with the best to deliver the highest value possible. Your job is to know what the best will be…because you know what you want to achieve.
Paul Bridle
June 2010
Paul would like to thank Scott for his input. Scott can be contacted at www.scottmckain.com
Tags: events, meetings, MPI, ROI
This entry was posted on Monday, June 14th, 2010 at 7:01 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
