Strategic meetings and events have become a prime means of recognizing top enterprise performers (incentive events), connecting with key customers (client-focused meetings), and driving new revenue streams via targeted conferences and exhibitions. The contemporary strategic meetings management program (SMMP), a phrase utilized to describe a series of capabilities and attributes that are leveraged to manage these events, has certainly evolved as spend on this complex spend category has increased over the last half-decade.

Within the greater realm of events management, it is important to note that centralized programs that manage an enterprise’s meetings include “pieces” from multiple functions across the organization. Thus, it is critical for those executives in finance, procurement, and marketing to take note of how effective SMMPs can be when its attributes can be cross-functionally approached (i.e., marketing develops budget and finance manages it in real-time, etc.)

With this in mind, CPO Rising has taken a three-year outlook at how the strategic meetings management program of 2017 may look based on current trends (engagement management!), evolution of technology, and perhaps the greater need for control over this truly complex spend category.

• Pure linkage between engagement and event management. The concept of “engagement management,” a notion that describes the various “touch-points” that organizations leverage to engage attendees beyond simple registration and a corresponding live event, has been accepted into the events management spectrum as a viable, real entity that is necessary in today’s social environment. However, most enterprises experience a disconnect of sorts between this contemporary concept and the more traditional aspects of events management. The SMMP of 2017 will not only feature strong process representation on both sides, but also pure linkage between these two distinct aspects of meetings management to ensure that the attendee experience is front-and-center. This linkage will also provide foundational support for building a true “lifecycle” for each and every event on the corporate calendar.

• 360-degree event-related data utilized for corporate forecasting, meeting design, attendee management and spend management. Depending on the breadth of an enterprise’s analytical capabilities, the resulting intelligence can be robust…or lacking in effectiveness. The interesting thing about the meetings category is that, as mentioned earlier in this article, it “touches” various functions within the average company. Events must be planned and executed from supplier management, spend management, marketing, and finance perspectives, necessitating “360-degree” data that can be utilized for a host of efforts, including greater financial planning / budgeting / forecasting, event design (target audience, depth of approach, social media strategy, etc.), attendee management, and spend management.

• End-to-end events management technology will enable and link all SMMP aspects. While this aspect of our “futurecast” is something that is actually occurring today, more and more organizations will realize the value of end-to-end technology that can automate all facets of strategic meetings management. Although adoption of these solutions has been on the rise in recent years, however, like some other functions within the average organization (accounts payable), general adoption is quite slow in comparison to other corporate areas. As events management technology platforms evolve to link “newer” SMMP aspects such as social media management, engagement management, and analytics / business intelligence, programs in a few years will find that these solutions must sit in the center of the modern strategic meetings management program.

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