Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/319926
CONVENTION INDUSTRY COUNCIL PREVIEWS NEW FIGURES ON ECONOMIC IMPACT OF MEETINGS AT MEETINGS MEAN BUSINESS LAUNCH The Convention Industry Council (CIC) recently released top-line data from the to be 2014 Economic Significance of Meetings to the US during the Meetings Mean Business Press Conference at the PCMA Convening Leaders event in Boston. The full report, finalized in late January, is an update to the original Economic Significance Study (ESS) published in 2010. Using new data from 2012, the study identified growth in a number of areas. Compared to the 2009 data: •Participant volume at meetings and events increased by 10%; •Meetings' contribution to GDP increased by almost 9%, providing more than $115 billion to fuel the economy; •The industry's contribution to federal, state and local tax dollars increased by 9.6%, providing more than $28 billion in tax receipts; and •The industry stimulated job growth with an 8.3% increase, providing jobs for more than 1.7 million Americans. The report will also reveal information such as: •The number of meetings and participants by meeting type; •Percentage breakdown of meeting expenditures; and •Further GDP contribution analysis. "Commissioned by CIC's members back in 2009, the Economic Significance Study represents much more than hard data," said Karen Kotowski, CMP, CAE, chief executive of the Convention Industry Council. "As an industry we made a commitment to better understand the economic value of the meetings industry. Since then, associations have built on these efforts to promote not only the economic but the social value of what we do, rooted in that same belief. The Meetings Mean Business Coalition is one of them and as a member of the coali- tion, CIC looks forward to being an active member of the campaign." BREAKING NEWS: CEIR RELEASES NEW REPORT ORGANIZATION SIZE: WHAT REALLY MATTERS The Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR) recently released a new report, Organization Size: What Really Matters, which focuses on how an organization's size influences attendee preferences at exhibitions. This report provides insights to assist exhibition organizers and mar- keters in understanding the shared and unique preferences of profession- als by the size of their organization. The study addresses motivations for attending exhibitions, resources relied upon when searching for exhibi- tions and factors considered when evaluating whether to attend an exhibi- tion forthe first time. Several key findings of note: •Attendees from mid-sized and large-sized organizations are more like- ly to want to achieve a greater number of shopping objectives when visiting an exhibition than attendees from small-sized organizations. In addition to shared, top-ranked important shopping objectives such as interest in see- ing and interacting with new products and technology, attendees also place higher importance on the ability to compare brands, find solutions to existing problems and mee t with other product users. •Attendees from medium- and large-sized organizations assign higher importance to multiple shopping reasons when it comes to factors which influence the decision to attend an exhibition. •Word-of-mouth resources and emails from colleagues are the pri- mary information resources of choice, regardless of an attendee's organiza- tion size; however, there are differences examined in the report. CEIR Research Director Nancy Drapeau, PRC says, "Whether an exhibition organizer or exhibitor is striving to ramp up success of market- ing to attendees working for small organizations or the largest, this report is an invaluable resource. It provides insights on how to attract and retain attendees from small-, medium- and large-sized organizations." Dr. Jeff Tanner of Baylor University further notes, "We can't assume that all attendees go with the same needs, wants and desires. Once again, we see how contextual f actors, such as organizational size, influence how attendees select and derive value from their exhibition experience." To purchase full copy of report visit http://www.ceir.org/store_prod- ucts.view.php?id=2559. T R AV E L DATA 37 B M & T ••• March/April 2014 ••• www.blackmeetingsandtourism.com 37 •pg_27-37.qxp__BMT_pg3-58 5/20/14 5:33 PM Page 37