Corporate vs. Association Meetings — "What's the Diff?" In the first quarter of 2000, Conferon was involved in the total meeting management of two of the largest corporate meetings held in the U.S. (Lennox Industries and Office Depot). Attendance at both of these events exceeded 4,000 and involved Conferon meeting planning services, registration & housing, extensive on-site management, supplier management, airline reservations (Lennox), and trade show sales and management (Lennox). These complex events provided Conferon the opportunity to demonstrate the advantages for organizations to select an outsourcing (or co-sourcing) partner that provides a full menu of services from a single-source provider. Since Conferon is also involved in some of the largest and most complex association meetings in the U.S., an inevitable question arises: “How do corporate and association meetings compare and contrast?” Here are a few elements to consider: PURPOSE Most association meetings are held due to a combination of four key elements – education, governance, networking and trade show. Most corporate meetings are held to either train, motivate, reward or launch new products. ATTENDANCE Attendance for most association meetings is voluntary. Association executives need to effectively market and promote their event to drive attendance and revenues. The vast majority of corporate meetings are generally mandatory or attendance is highly encouraged in order to maintain relationships. SIZE Association meetings over 1,000 attendees are not uncommon. Conferon alone plans over 100 association meetings a year of 1,000 people or more. Corporate meetings tend to be much smaller and rarely exceed 4–500 attendees. TIME FRAME Most associations are confirming their annual meeting plans at least three years in advance, while most corporate meetings commonly occur within a twelve-month window. REVENUE vs. COSTS Association meetings and/or trade shows are typically revenue generators and are frequently responsible for a large percentage of operating revenue. Corporate meetings are generally an expense item, however, offsetting revenues are sometimes generated through vendor shows. AIR TRAVEL Commonly, air travel for association events is left to the individual who can select from a myriad of sources. Corporate travel is often a direct expense and is frequently managed by the company's preferred vendor. VIPS While both segments have important attendees that require special attention, corporate meetings generally have more money allocated to provide direct “hand-holding.” These special requirements can range from expanded meet and greet services at airports and personalized ground transportation to highly focused room type assignments at hotels. In addition, corporate VIPs are often easier to identify (due to title) where recognition of association VIPs requires more intimate knowledge of the organization and its structure. For all the dissimilarities between these market segments, there are also incredible similarities. Many associations behave like, and share the same expectations of, corporations due to the corporate make-up of their membership. Conversely, many user group, distributor and customer-oriented corporate meetings, where attendance is not mandatory, often exhibit many of the characteristics of an association. In fact, more and more corporations and for-profit entities are expanding their educational and trade show offerings and are competing directly with associations for attendance. The intriguing wild cards are the .com companies who are venturing into meetings for the first time and will be competing head-to-head with both market segments. From our perspective, Conferon has adapted its service offerings to be able to effectively manage the expectations and demands of both customers. We have a full menu of Conferon-owned and controlled services that offer unique solutions to their varying needs. We have a wide breadth of staff experience that allows us to deploy the right resources against virtually any type of account. We have the personnel resources available through our planners, and our network of independent on-site representatives, to provide almost unlimited on-site support… and we are specialists in mass customization so that each and every customer feels as if Conferon was designed to service their specific and unique needs. At Conferon, “Our Clients Meet with Success!” David Peckinpaugh Vice President Sales - Conferon