Return on Investment for Meetings and Events

Within the last decade, ROI has become one of the most challenging issues facing, not only the training and development industry, but also the meetings and events industry. In the last two years, the Phillips ROI Methodology has been brought to the meetings and events industry through the help of Meeting Professionals International, the largest association for the meetings profession with more than 19,000 members in 66 chapters and clubs across the USA, Canada, Europe and other countries throughout the world.

The US-based Convention Industry Council recently reported that meetings, conventions, exhibitions, and incentive travel generated $122.31 billion dollars in total direct spending in 2004, making this industry the 29th largest contributor to the gross national product. Considering the size and spend of this industry, meeting professionals everywhere are under pressure to prove the impact their meetings and events are having to their employers, associations, meeting attendees, meeting sponsors, trade show exhibitors and meeting host cities. As long as there is a need and a pressure for accountability and the concept of an investment payoff is desired, ROI calculations will be used to evaluate major investments in meetings and events.

The Best Meetings and Events for ROI Studies

ROI calculations on meetings and events can be done from multiple perspectives such as the meeting organizer, meeting attendee, exhibitor, sponsor, speaker and even the city hosting the meeting. It is most appropriate for associations, non-profit organizations, and government entities to consider these multiple perspectives. For associations, the best meetings and events on which to conduct ROI impact studies are:

Annual conferences from the attendee, exhibitor and sponsor perspectives

Trade shows from the exhibitor perspective

Specialty or in-depth member training or certification programs from the participant perspective

Corporations may also want to consider conducting ROI impact studies from both their own perspective and that of their meeting attendees. For example, a franchise company can calculate the ROI for franchise owners participating in their meetings and events. The best corporate meetings and events on which to conduct ROI impact studies are:

• User, customer, client, independent agent and franchise owner group conferences
• Product roll-out meetings and events
• Marketing events
• Team-building meetings
• Management meetings
• Annual sales kick off meetings
• Incentive travel programs
• Trade show booths

Like in the training world, not all programs are candidates for ROI measurement. Only 5 to 10 percent of an organization's meetings and events should even be taken to the ROI level. The best meetings for an ROI study would be linked to the operational goals and/or strategic objectives of the organization or attendee and would incur significant costs and staff/participant time.

Levels of Evaluation Applicable to Meetings and Events

As shown in Table 1, the Kirkpatrick and Phillips levels of evaluation have been slightly expanded to include a level 0 which encompasses meeting statistics and attendee demographics. As some of the ROI junkies out there will recall, Jack Phillips has included a level 0 in his balanced scorecard approach, which is labeled as indicators. This level is particularly relevant to the meetings and events industry in light of contracted hotel room block requirements; budgeted revenues from attendees, exhibitors and sponsorships; anticipated press coverage and procurement's involvement in corporate meetings and events.

Table 1: Levels of Evaluation for Meetings and Events

Source: Phillips, Jack, Breining, Terri, and Myhill, Monica, Measuring Return on Investment for Meetings and Events, meeting Butterworth-Heinemann 2007

For meetings and events, the chain of impact starts at level 0 since the right attendees for which the meeting was designed and planned must first be present at the meeting and participate. Demographic information can help to identify if the right mix of attendees were present at the meeting.

As with training programs, a successful meeting is dependent upon carefully collected needs assessment data. It is best when a meeting or event defines the target audience and their educational and/or networking needs before planning and designing a program. For example, similar employment positions/roles, levels of industry experience, employer types/categories, leadership roles and workplace challenges will predispose attendees for success at a meeting while attendees outside the target audience may find the content challenging and unrelated to their workplace demands. In addition, similar or complementary demographic groups will find networking easier and likely more rewarding.

Level 2 and 3 have also been expanded to include acquisition of and/or a change in attitudes, opinions and professional contacts as a result of the meeting or event. Company wide meetings, sales kick-off meetings and marketing events are often conducted to change the attendee's attitude or opinion about the meeting host or its policies, products or services. Regarding professional contacts, we can all acknowledge that the people we meet and converse with in the hotel bar after hours or, for us women, in line for the restroom, often make the meeting beneficial and of value to us.

Evaluation and ROI Case Studies on Meetings and Events Needed

In late 2006 to early 2007, Meeting Professionals International and the ROI Institute, Inc. will be co-publishing a case study book featuring ROI calculations and evaluation studies conducted on meetings and events.

I bet that many of you may have done evaluation and ROI work on programs that could be considered a meeting or event. A meeting or event would be defined as a gathering of individuals for the purpose of:

• Delivering and/or communicating educational content, an idea or message
• Motivating attendees to purchase a product, support an initiative or achieve a goal/objective
• Networking among participants to initiate relationships or strengthen existing relationships
• Determining future goals, strategies, policies or actions by an individual, group or organization
• Achieving an organization's mission, vision or goal

Case studies are sought from a range of industries, countries, meeting types, and evaluation/ROI perspectives. If you are interested in submitting a case study, please let me know.

Help spread the ROI word and methodology to this sister industry!

2006 ASTD, Alexandria, VA. All rights reserved.