Traditionally it has been the sales and marketing departments that have some of the largest meetings spend and, as Kevin Iwamoto recently pointed out, it is the integration of their objectives that may eventually kick meetings management programmes in to place.
But because things cannot stay the same for too long in our industry, it appears there's another department also upping spend in this area.
A new report from Grass Roots (recently acquired by BCD Travel) asked companies from around the world about their meeting and events programmes. The survey found a 47% increase in average spend on events aimed at employees, with delegate numbers up 18% in 2014-2017.
The numbers aren't really a surprise given that more companies are considering how to retain talent, and employees expect more training and a community feel in the workplace.
Customer-facing events are still seeing growth with spend up threefold in five years. These events last a quarter of a day longer and include more international delegates. So not only are employees spending more time at events together but they may be travelling overseas more often and spending slightly longer there.
Not all companies may be aware of the total spend. When asked about consolidated numbers and strategic meetings management (SMM), the results were mixed.
As the graphs show, 59% of those surveyed currently don't know or have no plans to consolidate travel and events spend. However 63% of Grass Roots' own clients either have or are planning to implement a SMMP. It seems that there is still more to do, and more departments to involve, to combine the two and get the overall picture.
