ROI: Proving your Worth in Dollars and Sense By Brenda Houlihan, CMP How does a meeting planner determine ROI and prove to management the value of events or meetings and their role as a strategic professional? As a strategic meeting planner, there are five steps to proving the value of your event: Identify Your Stakeholders Establish Measurable Meeting Objectives Measure Your Meeting Success Design, Develop and Deliver Meeting Content Demonstrate Meeting Results Identify Stakeholders Whether you are producing an incentive trip or an annual association meeting, we all have stakeholders—the individuals and groups who are affected by the success of your event. They include customers, prospects, business partners, the association board, executive directors, human resources, training, sales, marketing, hotels and supplier partners, press and analysts. Each stakeholder will bring to the table valuable interests and needs. Solicit input from them or look for objectives in existing organization tools. Sources for company or association objectives include newsletters, user group announcements, Board of Committee minutes, and sales reports. By identifying stakeholder objectives, you will be able to create or change a meeting that can respond to new or growing needs. Establishing Measurable Meeting Objectives Why is the meeting being held? What are the stakeholders trying to accomplish? Who is the audience? Develop concise objectives, for example: increase branding, increase attendance satisfaction, launch a product, or increase membership or association exposure. There is a rule of thumb with objectives—make them SMART!—Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-Bound. Measure Meeting Success Measurement of meeting objectives can be tricky. Some objectives can be qualitative (more emotional) versus quantitative (an improved perception or positive response). Start by gathering existing pre-show measurements to compare with end results. Measurement may need to take place over a long period of time. You may want to include short- and long-term objectives. Immediate results after an event can include budget, attendance, or survey results. Long term measurement could include a decrease in customer service call center volumes, higher upgrades to new products from existing clients or investments in association or membership publications. Identify the tools within your grasp to gather results like lead tracking systems, event surveys, or web activity. Design, Develop and Deliver Meeting Content The ROI process up to this point has been building up to the development of a business plan, which will prove the impact of the event. The plan translates the event into “management’s language.” A complete business plan will include: Names, dates & location Stakeholders Goals & objectives Measurements Overall design & theme Audience and expected attendance Development team Suppliers Budget Demonstrate Results Close the loop by building on your business plan. Produce a final report to show your strategy, tactics and creativity. Compare objectives to actual results even if they are less than expected. You can make improvements if you are able to determine what didn’t work. Reporting your results and success keeps your stakeholders involved, so distribute this report to them in various forms like in newsletters, FAQ on websites, exhibitor follow-up and attendee thank you letters. By following this basic plan you will prove the value of your event and your professional contribution to your organization.