Summary of Briefing Paper: "The Case for Meetings and Events: Four Elements of Strategic Value"

Never before have meetings garnered such attention in the press and at the C-suite. So if anything positive is going to come of this intense scrutiny of our industry, it is the drive to make meetings and events even more strategic and in-line with company objectives. Which is not a bad thing at all!

So I read a briefing paper put together by MPI and Boone Associates entitled "The Case for Meetings and Events: Four Elements of Strategic Value." And I'm not going to lie to you - the 9 page paper hurt my head and I had to re-read it several times to make sure I understood the full scope. Don't get me wrong; it's a great read but definitely reinforces the thought that heavy-duty reading has been a far cry from the baby books I have read lately and I am going to have to step it up if I am thinking of pursuing my MBA. Anyway, here is my short and sweet review in bullet points to make for easy reading:

• This crisis brings an unprecedented opportunity for collaboration (and strategic discussions) between the people who plan meetings and the powerful stakeholders. Previously the meetings industry has been thought of by executives as frivolous and party-planners.


• Meeting Planners need to present a clear, comprehensive business case about how to achieve strategic value to gain the resources needed to transform their organization through the effective use of meetings.


• 4 Elements are necessary for driving the strategic value of meetings and events (and apply to for-profit and non-profit organizations): 1) Portfolio Management, Meeting Design (which seems to be the main focus of this paper), Measurement, and Advanced Logistics


• Portfolio Management:
  -How do all of an organizations's meetings and events contribute to the mission, strategy, and objectives?
  -Efficiency orientation vs Effectiveness orientation
  -"Event Alignment" incorporates change management, technology analysis, policies and compliance, processes, and measurement, to achieve results greater than mere cost reduction.


• Meeting Design:
  -Many individual meetings are expertly planned but not expertly designed
  -Meeting Design = the purposeful shaping of the form and content of a meeting to achieve desired results
  -Incorporates methods and technologies that connect, inform, and engage a broad range of stakeholders before, during, and after the meeting.
  -Meeting Planning on the other hand focuses on the logistics of meetings (venues, travel arrangements, lodging, registration, entertainment, staging, etc)
  -Meeting Design is different than Meeting Creative. Meeting Creative=ideas for staging and communications, "broadcast" messages such as PowerPoint design, theme, speakers, entertaiment, videos, set design, etc. Meeting Design=how people will interact before, during, and after the meeting PLUS how leaders tap into the intellectual capital in the room.
  -Meeting Design maintains a laser focus on the business drivers for the meeting and organization as a whole.
  -It is critical that the designer be involved throughout the process.
  -Meeting Design is not the same as Instructional Design=training or activities at a meeting
  -Excellent Meeting Designers have working knowledge or expertise in: social sciences, social network analysis, complexity science, strategic planning, experience design, IT/social media, and more
  -Meeting Design is a collective effort between: meeting owners, selected meeting participants, the meeting planner, designer, and creative and instructional design.
  -CSR and Green initiatives should be addressed in Meeting Design
  -Multi-purposing a meeting =the practice of taking an existing meeting and addressing objectives that were not initially part of the reason for holding the meeting.


• Measurement:
  -Good Meeting Design is linked to meeting measurement
  -A good ROI Model consists of 5 levels of measurement: 1) Reaction and planned action 2) Learning 3) Job application 4) Business Impact and 5) ROI
  -Up to 80% of meetings should be measured at the "learning level." 10% should be pushed to the "business impact" level.
  -ROI should NOT be used to evaluate the performance of the planner; it is about process improvement
  -Complexity-based software and methodology combine qualitiative and quantitative approaches to understanding the impact of meetings on corporate culture, continuous learning, organizational performance, and other areas.


• Advanced Logistics:
  -Portfolio management encompasses procurement.
  -Although contracts with key suppliers and vendors should be negotiated, flexibility is important for strategic needs identified by meeting design that fall outside of these partnerships

I am excited to apply these practices to our clients' events. MPI is going to begin rolling out webinars and workshops on these 4 elements, so much more to come. In all, this was a great article and Mary Boone seems to be a pioneer on this topic and has carved out a great niche for herself.