NEW YORK -- From meeting registration and reservations to
event-planning functions, the industry is refining online tools to
make the processes more efficient and cost-effective.
These days, for instance, most meeting registrations still are
being conducted via telephone and fax, although there is an
emerging trend toward automated tools.
Using Web-based reservations and registration tools can save the
average organization some $1 million in two years, according to a
PhoCusWright study that was underwritten by B-there.com.
The typical corporation, with an annual meetings budget of $15.9
million, will reap on average a cumulative return on investment of
about $320,400 during the first year of using online tools and some
$989,000 the second year, the study found.
PhoCusWright sought out 52 organizations and surveyed executives
who cumulatively are in charge of about 7,000 meetings, trade shows
and conferences annually.
About 60% of the surveyed "meeting makers" work for Fortune 500
companies, with the remainder working for associations and
exposition companies.
The return on investment using online tools represented 30% to
70% of the companies' operational costs for meeting reservations
and registrations.
The study indicated several ways that using online tools
enhances task efficiency:
• Time spent customizing reports drops from one to 10 days
without online tools to one to two days with online tools.
• The development of Web sites for meetings invitations and
registrations improves to 1.5 to five days with the use of online
tools from up to two to three weeks without Web tools .
• The completion of the registration process, including air and
hotel bookings, which normally takes from two days to one month
without online tools, takes about five days with electronic
tools.
Once considered discretionary for registration and other tasks,
these tools are becoming a priority for corporations and
associations.
PhoCusWright said it believes the greatest impact from the
deployment of online tools might be in registration and reporting,
with these functions having the potential to be streamlined
greatly.
"There are a number of significant cost and time savings
associated with deploying online technology for meetings," said
Philip Wolf, PhoCusWright's president and chief executive
officer.
"These tools not only improve service levels but redefine the
nature of the transaction among suppliers, corporations and
attendees," he said.
For example, when meeting planners have access to real-time
data, the study found, they can negotiate better deals with
suppliers and perform more targeted marketing.
Three leading players in meetings planning are PlanSoft of
Cleveland; EventSource of Sausalito, Calif., and StarCite of
Philadelphia.
The firms are introducing Web-based solutions to provide
low-cost tools for meetings planners. One even created a feature to
help planners cope with cancellations and rebookings of meetings
following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
PlanSoft, for instance, recently unveiled a request-for-proposal
product that eliminates certain fees that planners are charged for
an RFP transaction.
To use the product, planners fill in their requirements on a
single-page inquiry form, and the RFP is sent out to several
properties simultaneously.
EventSource said that by using its services at www.eventsource.com, meeting planners save an average
of 30% of the time it would otherwise take to plan off-site
meetings through nonautomated means.
My Meetings, one of EventSource's Web site features, enables
planners to access competitive rooms rates and create and send RFPs
as well as receive responses from selected properties.
Another EventSource site feature, the Marketplace, includes
offerings from Branders.com, CorporateGifts.com, Payless Car Rental, eBags.com, 1800WineShop.com and
Premiere Speakers Bureau, among others.
One thing that meeting planning companies enable clients to do
is to move quickly when circumstances demand swift decisions.
In late September, for instance, StarCite teamed with the
Convention Industry Council to launch Operation Cancellation
Rescue, an initiative for planners, hotels, conference centers and
other properties, to facilitate the rebooking or filling of
canceled hotel rooms and meetings spaces because of the events of
Sept. 11.
In that regard, StarCite suspended all fees associated with its
online Cancelled Space service through the end of the year.
Planners or suppliers searching for or posting canceled space
can access Operation Cancellations Rescue at www.conventionindustry.org or at www.starcite.com.