Welcome To The

New NormalTips From A

Meetings Professional

Presenter – Attendee Agreement

Law of Two Feet

Vibrate Please

Texting, Typing

Welcome

Be Present • Be ActiveUse Respect

About Me• Coal Miner’s Grandson

• West Virginia Hillbilly

• Nonprofit Junkie

• Environmental Advocate

• Meeting & Event Professional

• Education Evangelist

Director of Education & Engagement

@JeffHurt

About You

• Find Someone You Don’t Know• Tell Them Your Name• Your Company & Job Title• Find something you both

have in common

About You

Why Are You Here?Get one sticky note

a. Write one thing you want to learn from this session

Agendaa) Identify the four new

consumer behaviors shaped by recession

b) Discuss what attracts meetings and events to your venue

c) Explore ten new normals for event professionals

More regulation, a weaker consumer, higher rates of unemployment, years before housing prices get back to old highs, a weaker dollar, more government debt, more taxes, a little deflation, then a lot more inflation and an end to U.S. global economic downturn…Welcome to New Normal

~ Don Reynolds21st Century Forecasting

Four New Consumer/Attendee Types November 2009 Decitica Research

Great Recession shaped consumer behaviors

Past consumer segmentation no longer valid

Consumers adopted new normal & not a cyclical pattern

Research showed new lens on how consumers Internalized their recession experience

Steadfast Frugalists 20% of population 6 in 10 women Fewer Gen X & Gen Y Already considered

tightwads Most difficult to

market to

Involuntary Penny Pinchers

29% of population 6 in 10 women Primarily Gen X Forced frugality Challenging group

to attract

Pragmatic Spenders 29% of population 6 in 10 men Over represented by people in 60s 1/3 HHI > $75K Best group to

market to

Apathetic Materialists 22% of population Slightly more women

than men Gen Y Indifferent Attractive target for

youth market

So What?What Does This Mean To You?• Steadfast Frugalists• Involuntary Penny Pinchers• Pragmatic Spenders• Apathetic Materialists

Lure To Your Venue• Location Attractiveness• Accessibility• Entertainment factor• Date Availability• Lodging - prices, quality,

quantity• Meeting space• Overall costs

Who’s Involved In Decision?

1. CEO/Executive Director2. Board of Directors3. Executive Team4. Meeting Professional

Lure To Executive Team• Regional Draw• Local support• Venue partnerships with

program• No attrition

Influences Event Prof• Contractual issues• Labor costs/service issues• Variable costs• Ease of doing business• Hotel points

10 New NormalsThe impact of the new normal on

meeting and event professionals

Buyers MarketOn an inflation-adjusted basis ... it’s going to probably take eight to ten years to get hotel room rates back to where they were in 2007.

Mark Lomanno, President Smith Travel Research

No Longer serves us

Multi-Year Contracts Out

Shorter Lead Times

Free Wi-Fi

Green Is In

Monologues To DialoguesTo Polylogues

Reg List Attracts

More Value - Pay Less

Online Content & Communities

Threat or Opportunity

What We Covered

a) Identify the four new consumer behaviors shaped by recession

b) Discuss what attracts meetings and events to your venue

c) Explore ten new normals for event professionals

To expect a normal recovery cycle, whether it is corporate profits or lending or consumer spending or capital investment, or (pick the category—increased meeting attendance, or association growth, or…) is just not reasonable. .

~ Don Reynolds

Welcome To The

New Normal