An average company spends 2 to 3% of their total annual revenue on meetings and events. But most companies don’t know exactly what they are buying or how what the returns are on their investment.

While related categories like travel are generally managed closely to ensure expenditure is well controlled and policy is adhered to, meetings and events are still largely unmanaged. Venue sourcing, event transportation, room rental. These costs and purchasing decisions can be siloed across the organization, opaque and unclear to management. This presents a huge opportunity for companies to implement a system to manage meeting and events effectively, consolidate policy, establish transparency and ensure costs are controlled.  We call this systematic and thoughtful approach Strategic Meetings Management (SMM).

Without an SMM program, the available data on meetings and events is usually isolated, making it impossible to get a clear picture of what is happening throughout your organization.  A well designed SMM Program gives you the big-picture analysis of what meetings are being held, where, by whom, and at what cost. By simply gathering the right data, companies can build stronger and more cost-effective relationships with suppliers, mitigate risk, control costs and gain a better understanding of the results your meetings are delivering.

Now as we immerse ourselves in the world of digital events and look forward to live events gaining momentum, having an SMM program in place is more important than ever. In 2021, savvy companies will be armed with information to answer important questions like these:

• What is our budget for meetings and events for 2021?

• What is our meeting and event travel policy?

• Which events deliver the most return on investment and should restart?

• Which events should remain virtual or hybrid?

• As we restart in-person events, which destinations are the safest and most cost-effective?

• Who is travelling for a meeting or event right now and are they safe?

And this is just scratching the surface.

Contact Huddle today to take advantage of our FREE 1-hour consultation with an SMM expert to discuss your SMM program needs.