Chapter 14 Meetings, Conventions, and Expositions

1. Chapter 14 Meetings, Conventions, and Expositions • Development of the Industry • Size and Scope • Key Players • Destination Management Companies • Meeting Planners and Service Contractors • Types of Meetings, Conventions, and Expositions • Meetings, Incentive Travel, Conventions, and Exhibitions • Types of Associations and Meetings • Meeting Planning • Venues • Trends

2. Development of the Industry • People have gathered to attend meetings, conventions, and expositions since the ancient times. • Mainly for social, sporting, political, or religious purposes.

3. Development of the Industry • Associations go back many centuries to the Middle Ages and before. • The guilds in Europe were created during the Middle Ages to secure proper wages and maintain work standards. • Associations began in the United States at the beginning of the eighteenth century, when Rhode Island candle makers organized themselves.

4. Development of the Industry • Associations are the main independent political force for industries like hospitality, offering the following benefits: • Governmental/political voice • Marketing avenues • Education • Member services • Networking

5. Size and Scope of the Industry • American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) • 23,000 members • 6,000 associations at national level

6. Key Players • The major players in the convention industry are convention and visitors’ bureaus (CVBs), meeting planners and their clients, the convention centers, specialized services, and exhibitions.

7. Convention and Visitors’ Bureaus • Enhance the image of tourism in the local/city area. • Market the area and encourage people to visit and stay longer. • Encourages groups to hold meetings, conventions, and trade shows in the area it represents. • Assists those groups with meeting preparations and lends support throughout the meeting. • Encourage tourists to partake of the historic, cultural, and recreational opportunities the city or area has to offer.

8. Convention and Visitors’ Bureaus • Not-for-profit umbrella organization that represents an urban area that tries to solicit business- or pleasure-seeking visitors. • Primary outcome is to generate and increase revenues of a city.

9. Figure 14-1 Convention Center Utilization

10. Destination Management Companies • Service organizations within the visitor industry that offer a host of programs and services to meet clients’ needs. • Initially, a destination management sales manager concentrates on selling the destination to meeting planners and performance improvement companies (incentive houses).

11. Meeting Planners • May be independent contractors who contract out their services to both associations and corporations as the need arises, or they may be full-time employees of corporations or associations. • Plans the meeting down to the last minute.

12. Service Contractors • The individual responsible for providing all of the services needed to run the facilities for a trade show. • Hired by the exposition show manager or association meeting planner.

13. Types of Meetings • Clinic: Workshop-type educational experience in which attendees learn by doing. • Forum: An assembly for the discussion of common concerns. • Seminar: A lecture and a dialogue that allow participants to share experiences in a particular field. • Symposium: An event at which a particular subject is discussed by experts and opinions are gathered. • Workshop: A small group led by a facilitator or trainer.

14. Meeting Set Ups • Theatre style: • Large audience that does not need notes. • Classroom set up: • Meeting set up is instructional. • Workshop style. • Boardroom set up: • Small numbers of people. • Meeting takes place around one block, rectangular table.

15. Association Meetings • Things at the top of the list of places for an association meeting planner to choose from include the destination’s availability of hotel and facilities, ease of transportation, distance from attendees, transportation costs, food and beverage. • Members attend association meetings voluntarily so the hotel should work with meeting planners to make the destination appealing.

16. Conventions and Expositions • Conventions are larger meetings with some form of exposition or trade show included. • The majority are held in large hotels over a 3 to 5 day period. • Expositions are events that bring together sellers of products and services at a location where they can show their products and services to a group of attendees at a convention or trade show.

17. MICE • Meetings, incentive travel, conventions, and exhibitions: • A segment of the tourism industry that has grown in recent years. • Industry statistics point to the fact that the average MICE tourist spends about two times the amount of money that other tourists spend.

18. Types of Associations • Trade Association • Professional Association • Medical and Scientific Association • Religious Organizations • Government Organizations

19. Types of Meetings • Annual meetings. • Board, committee, seminars and workshops, professional and technical meetings. • Corporate meetings, conventions, and expositions. • Social, military, educational, religious, and fraternal groups (SMERF). • Incentive meetings.

20. Needs Analysis Budget Request for Proposal Site inspection Selection Negotiation Contracts Pre-meeting activities Plan agenda Set budget Negotiate contracts On-site activities Post meetings Meeting Planning

21. Contracts • The contract is a legal document that binds two or more parties. • Essential elements: • Offer • Consideration • Acceptance

22. Venues for Meetings, Conventions, and Expos • City Centers • Convention Centers • Conference Centers • Hotels and Resorts • Cruise Ships • Colleges and Universities

23. Trends • Globalization/International participation. • Cloning of shows. • Competition. • Technology. • Number of shows is growing annually. • Better attendance at regional meetings.