One + July 2011 - (Page 90)

INDUSTRY INSIGHTS Measuring the Business Value of Your Event B Y J E S S I E S TAT E S The business value of meetings: You want to prove it, but that’s problematic given the diversity of its definitions. Some claim “BVOM” is synonymous with ROI (return on investment); others contend it is ROO (return on objective). Maybe it’s both, or neither, or simply a degree of achievement. Witnessing this utter lack of agreement and realizing its responsibility to the meetings community, MPI engaged research firm Association Insights and launched the first international study into just what BVOM means to professional meeting planners and how it is measured, reported and used. Association Insights interviewed executives at 215 companies worldwide from a bevy of industries including health care, technology, marketing, engineering, manufacturing, finance, pharmaceutical, education, energy, consulting, congress management and legal. The results: BVOM varies widely by meeting types, as do its measures and their uses. While BVOM is always considered in terms of contribution to company success, that contribution is seldom expressed as ROI, with the exception of meetings that exist exclusively to generate sales leads or revenue. The definition also varies by industry and region. Some sectors, such as medical and pharmaceutical, have legal and professional requirements that often define BVOM. The business 90 one+ 07.11 > value of trade shows diverges sharply from that of incentive events, which in turn differs from motivational events and sales training. In Europe, where third-party planners are a significant provider of planning and execution services, BVOM measurement and reporting is often used as a competitive differentiator. As meeting professionals face demands to justify cost, many are asking for help in communicating the value of meetings and events to senior management. They don’t fully understand the techniques for capturing BVOM and communicating it in terms of value. And perceived complexity and cost cause many planners to avoid the practice. The diversity of opinion on the business value of meetings and the merits of its measurement has led MPI to conclude the necessity of a toolkit that helps meeting professionals a) address the assumption that measuring BVOM provides little ROI, b) attain senior management stakeholder buy-in, c) define objectives and realistic expectations, d) devise meaningful ways to measure the business value of meetings and e) analyze and report BVOM data. Get the Full Report Download Business Value of Meetings at www.mpiweb.org/ bvom to learn how your measurements compare. http://www.mpiweb.org/bvom http://www.mpiweb.org/bvom

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of One + July 2011

One + July 2011
Contents
Energy of Many
Impressions
Paradigm Shifts, Part II
Web Watch
Agenda
Thoughts+Leaders
Ask the Experts
Recognizing Community and Organizational Excellence
Overheard
Art of Travel
The Prism Effect
Top Spots
Connections
Irrelevant
Using New Tech for Old Purposes
So You Think You Can Dance
Don’t Use Tech You Don’t Understand
Are You In It to Win It?
Anything is Possible
Night of the Radishes
Well Played
When People Come Together, Magic Happens
Size Matters
Building a Better FAM
One Bar at a Time
MPI + CSR
Industry Insights
Your Community
Making a Difference
Until We Meet Again

One + July 2011