The Meeting Makers

efore Sept. 11, 2001, most changes in the meeting planning industry were rooted in technological advances aimed at efficiency and cost-effectiveness.

Government meeting planners eagerly embraced new services and tools such as online registration and equipment for PowerPoint presentations. The focus was on improving meetings while coping with ever-tightening budgets.

Immediately after the terrorist attacks, meeting planners across the country faced a new set of challenges that surpassed the usual last-minute program changes or software glitches. Planners dealt with anxious, traumatized meeting-goers who wanted nothing more than to get home, as well as with closed airports, scarce rental cars and communication breakdowns.

Chaos erupted in the hospitality industry as meeting planners canceled conferences and travelers postponed vacations. The fallout included high vacancy rates at hotels and airline bankruptcies.

The industry is turning around, but the attacks have had lasting effects on meeting planners.

DOING MORE WITH LESS

Government agencies are planning more conferences than ever. Even before the attacks, agencies with research missions-such as the National Institutes of Health, the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Defense Department-hosted many conferences. Now the focus on bioterrorism and other security concerns has added more meetings to their full agendas.

Meetings have increased at both the state and federal levels, in part because so many agencies are working on homeland security issues, says Donna Carey, president of the Society of Government Meeting Professionals (SGMP) and the statewide travel program administrator for the California Department of General Services.

This increased demand is tricky for agencies working with tight budgets. "We as government professionals need to demonstrate the value of our services. Meetings need to be cost-effective," Carey says.

TIGHT SECURITY

After the attacks, many government conference facilities were closed to the public. Security is a major concern, says

AnnMarie Williams, a program analyst who plans advisory panel meetings for FDA's Office of Device Evaluation. The agency's meetings are open to citizens and the news media, and pre-registration isn't required. But people attending an FDA-sponsored conference at NIH's Natcher Center in Bethesda, Md., last fall "had to bring two pieces of identification-a driver's license and another photo ID-to get in the door," Williams says. "It was hard to get the word out about that."

"We used to have our smaller meetings at [our offices]," Williams says. "After Sept. 11, we realized that we couldn't clear the members of the public [through security], so we now have to have all the meetings in hotels." The change has affected her budget, which doesn't support the higher cost of off-site meetings.

Tighter security requires contingency planning, says Ruth Harris, first vice president of the SGMP and a planner of academic meetings at the CDC in Atlanta. When choosing a site, planners now look at everything from alternative modes of transportation to what plans hotels have in place in case of an emergency. Communications are an issue, too. "Before Sept. 11, I doubt that any meeting planners concerned themselves with a hotel's emergency plan," says Harris. "Since then, there is greater concern." Now meeting planners check specific details such as who to call if a suspicious package is delivered.

"As a meeting planner, I'm responsible for the participants. I'm not willing to rely on hotel security," Harris says. Harris conducted a popular session on crisis management at the SGMP's annual meeting last year, and she plans to take her seminar on the road for the association.

Carl May, director of conference and event services for the University of Maryland's Shady Grove facility, which often plays host to federal government meetings, says many of his clients ask whether the facility is safe. "We're in a remote environment. It's more suburban. They are concerned with whether they can get in and out easily," May says.

TAKE MY HOTEL-PLEASE

With travel down, hotels are pushing harder for government business. Security restrictions at many federal buildings often deter government meeting planners from using their own conference facilities, increasing the chance for hotels to pick up some business.

Now properties that have supported government all along are struggling to compete with four-star hotels offering attractive deals for federal clients, says Carey. But she believes that when the economy picks up steam, the upscale properties may not be as enthusiastic about government business. "It goes in cycles; I've seen this happen two or three times," she says. And despite the deals now available, many agencies continue to work with the same properties they always have because those hotels have a good understanding of their clients' needs.

"Hotels have discovered that [government meetings are] a reliable piece of business," says Carl Thompson, SGMP's executive director. "Ninety percent of government meeting planners have to hold their meetings within the current fiscal year, so the meetings are short-turnaround, immediate investments for hotels." Also, recent increases in government per diem rates have expanded the range of properties available to government meeting planners, Thompson notes.

LETTING THE PLANNERS PLAN

Sept. 11 hasn't limited all the options for government meeting planners. One emerging trend is that agencies are hiring more contractors to run their meetings. Many federal employees who plan meetings do so on an ad hoc basis along with their many other duties. So contracting out the logistics makes sense, says May, who works with both contractors and agency planners on meetings at his University of Maryland facility. So far, it seems to be working well, he says. "The only hiccup in the operation is communication between the agency and the vendor. Sometimes the agency calls and makes a request, then the contractor calls," May says. "Overall, it's a good arrangement because the people running the meeting can focus on hosting a successful meeting instead of looking at so many things going on."

But SGMP's Carey thinks it's smart to keep meeting know-how in the government. "Agencies can save money by staying in-house [and teaching] people in government what it's all about," she says.

GREENER AND CLEANER

Another movement afoot at agencies is making meetings "greener"-easier on the environment. The Environmental Protection Agency developed the Green Meetings Conference Initiative as part of its Environmentally Preferable Purchasing program, which encourages agencies to procure products and services that are less harmful to the environment.

EPA, the Oceans Blue Foundation (a charity dedicated to preserving coastal environments), and other sponsors have developed a Web site about green meetings (www.bluegreenmeetings.org). Tips include setting environmental goals, using less paper and more technology to disseminate information, reusing and recycling containers, limiting travel and saving electricity.

Many planners are thinking about the environmental impact of their meetings even without a nudge from the feds. "In California," says Carey, "we are looking at doing more with transportation, such as using hybrids and electric vehicles." Also, meeting planners no longer assume every traveler needs to rent a car. With measures like these, thinking green can also cut costs.

Clearly, Sept. 11 has resulted in a new set of challenges in all aspects of meetings-from facilities to logistics to security concerns. But new options for government in terms of outsourcing, finding deals on meeting space, and preserving the environment will undoubtedly yield positive results for many years to come.