The Next Wave of Events Management

New Research Director at Ardent Partners and even newer father, Chris Dwyer is back this time to discuss another complex category of spend – Events Management.

The Next Wave of Events Management

In the late ‘90s, enterprises began to leverage a “lifecycle” of processes packaged as strategic meetings management programs (SMMPs) to effectively manage all facets of their meetings, conferences and events spending. These SMMPs included attributes such as:

• Planning / development of events
• Collaborative development of meeting policies
• Procurement / sourcing of travel-related items
• Procurement / sourcing of meeting locations (hotels, resorts, conference centers, etc.)
• Settlement / payment of meeting-related expenses
• Analytics / reporting

Procurement often played a vital role in the development and execution of SMMPs, particularly to drive cost savings within a complex spend category that often ratcheted up millions of dollars for the typical organization. Meetings are truly a complex arena of spending, when considering travel, lodging, entertainment, catering and other key items that factor into a successful meeting. Thus, for the modern CPO, any type of strategic focus on this category is critical.

Much like other indirect spend arenas, such as business travel and contingent labor, meetings and events have evolved years after the inception of strategic meetings management programs. In fact, events management in 2013 is so much different than it was even five years ago that a fresh new term is being leveraged to describe its evolution: engagement management.

With the advent of social media and a focus on engaging attendees beyond traditional means, “engagement management” is quickly replacing events management. This newfound focus on engagements in lieu of events includes: analytics on attendee profiles to align content and sessions, pairing of mobile apps with events to enhance the attendee experience,  and a full lifecycle of “reach out” phases that touches attendees with value (webinars, content, relevant media, etc.) beyond simple requests for registration.

Where does procurement fit into all of this? It’s simple: maintain a strategic focus on the category, understand the complex supplier base, and develop rapport with the marketing and events management teams. As the category evolves, so will the suppliers and the means required to manage those vendors.

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