Best Practices for Strategic Meetings Management

Yesterday GBTA wrapped up its 2012 Convention. The theme, “Success in Every Direction” definitely proved fitting as I believe all attendees will leave inspired by new ideas to help them achieve success. Boston proved a fantastic host-city to a record number of supplier and buyer attendees who spent the week learning, networking, and discussing trends and the direction of the industry.  One of the highlights of GBTA’s Convention is always the great key-note speakers and this year’s lineup of Seth Meyers, President George W. Bush, and President Bill Clinton was no exception.

As I reflect on the past three days and the numerous conversations and education sessions attended, two interrelated, trends definitely jump out: globalization and  mobilization.

Over the past few years the discussion of taking a meetings management program global has been that, a discussion. On Monday morning I attended an education session with two panelists that are taking that discussion and making it a reality. It’s great to hear from companies that are able to achieve success. Over the past months, Cvent has talked with corporations about how SMM is a journey, not a destination. That journey was clearly discussed by these two SMM practitioners as each of them has taken numerous steps to get their programs to the level they are today. From listening to them talk, neither are done with their SMM journey. While it can seem overwhelming at the start, if you implement a meetings management program in steps, soon you will be able to look back and see how far you have come.

The impact of mobile on managed travel programs was discussed in numerous education sessions and even highlighted during Monday’s general session. It will continue to present challenges, but companies will adapt and can ultimately provide better service to their employees by making mobile usage a part of the travel, meetings, and expense policies. On the meetings front, at our Cvent booth we had many people stop by specifically wanting to learn about our new mobile apps for meetings and events. We were able to demonstrate sample apps and discuss how these apps will be a part of (and benefit) every meeting type in years to come, making your meetings and events more of a successful. For more on the value of mobile apps for meetings, check out the brand new Cvent and CrowdCompass eBook: Mobile App Marketing Playbook: A Guide to Increasing Mobile Event App Adoption.

I look forward to the GBTA Convention every year as it’s such a great breeding ground for so much thought, change, and leadership in our industry. Cvent will be attending a number of other industry conventions, including MPI-WEC this weekend, and I’m sure they will present the same number of great take-aways as well.