July 2010
Rentals and Staging

In This Issue:

Emerging Trends in the Meeting Industry
Product Spotlight - Digital Signage
Denver Meeting and Events Industry - Upcoming Events
Community Service Opportunity: RAFT
24th Annual Chairman’s Cup a Success!
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Emerging Trends in the Meeting Industry

It’s hard to believe that the second half of 2010 is already upon us. The recession's aftermath has led to many long-term changes within the meeting industry. Image Audiovisuals has compiled a list of a few of these trends that are likely here to stay:

Meeting Size and Scope: Companies are finding ways to tweak their meetings' durations, frequencies, or locations to reduce expenses. Meetings are generally smaller and shorter than they were pre-recession. This means that if a meeting typically runs four days, it might be shortened to three days. Or, a bi-annual meeting might become a lengthier annual meeting. Companies are also waiting longer to book meetings, and some consider holding smaller-scale regional meetings versus larger national ones.

Meeting Expenses Scrutinized: Like it or not, companies are now much
more likely to scrutinize expenses than they were pre-recession. They are not only worried about finding the best deal for their own pocketbooks, but they try to keep costs as low as possible for meeting attendees. This has meant careful consideration of potential destination cities' travel costs. Higher profile cities come with higher travel expenses, so Memphis might be a more attractive option than New York City. Companies are also more apt to shop around to find the very best deal for event services. Many of the pre-recession “frills” have been eliminated.

Social Networking is King: Meeting industry professionals have been joined together by numerous social networking platforms, including YouTube, Facebook and Twitter that provide invaluable networking opportunities and resources. Meeting planners are able to connect with like-minded colleagues, and interact with each other like never before. Social networking platforms like Twitter are also being integrated into meeting logistics.

Green Meetings: Green meetings’ popularity has risen during the recession since implementing green practices can result in significant cost-savings. Being green is becoming more and more of a necessity, and even a requirement for some federal and state government events.

Rise in Webcasting and Virtual Meetings: Virtual meetings are booming. Wired magazine forecasted a 500 percent increase in virtual events this year. GigaOm.com predicts that "high-end virtual technology and virtual worlds will see a growth from about US$50 million in 2009 to $8-$10 billion by 2014."

Face-to-Face Meetings Still Going Strong: As reported in our June newsletter, there has been an uptick in business conditions in the meeting industry. Companies still value face-to-face meetings, and meeting planning is still one of the top career choices out there. Regardless of what the economy or technology brings us, face-to-face meetings will never go away.

We would love to hear from you! What trends have you noticed in the meeting industry? Please e-mail them to Dan Carrese at dcarrese@imageav.com, and we will include them in our August newsletter.

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Dan Carrese
Director of Sales
Rental and Staging
Image Audiovisuals, Inc.
2130 S. Dahlia Street
Denver, CO 80222
303-758-1818
dcarrese@imageav.com

Scott Collinsworth
Director of Sales
Colorado Convention Center
Image Audiovisuals, Inc.
700 14th Street
Denver, CO 80202
303-228-8047
scollinsworth@imageav.com

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