This Week's Herman Trend Alert Women---Expanding their Sphere of Influence

The Herman Trend Alert February 11, 2009 Ripple Effects of Reducing Meetings Though we expect scaled back meetings and reduced incentives during economic slowdowns, this crisis has resulted in "a wave of cancellations". According to MeetingsNet.com, 56 percent of corporate meeting planners and 65 percent of financial or insurance planners report canceling one or more meetings or incentives due to economic conditions. Many planners expect to adjust their meetings, including shorter trips and smaller groups. Among corporate planners, 52 percent plan to shorten their meeting length, while 48 percent plan to reduce the number of attendees and 65 percent plan to choose more affordable destinations. All of these cancellations and cutbacks have produced ripple effects. Organizations responsible for planning meetings have been so hard hit that some have laid off workers. According to Smith Travel Research, convention hotels, 12 percent of the United States room supply, have trended lower than other hotels in both average daily rate and revenue per available room. The opportunity here is for smaller-market convention hotels to provide less expensive alternatives for price-sensitive planners. In fact, all segments of the meeting marketplace are attracted to destinations that offer enough direct flights at affordable prices, so that attendees don’t have to spend an additional night due to schedules. Expect to see an acceleration of this trend in the next year. We are also seeing more planners switching to a combination of in-person and online meetings. Unfortunately, virtual meetings eliminate the networking opportunities which are one of the key reasons most attendees invest in meetings. Some high profile cancellations are Wells Fargo's Las Vegas event, ING Life Distribution's 2009 incentive sale agent trips, General Motors' meetings at the National Association of Automobile Dealers Convention, and Cisco's annual sales meeting. These cancellations and others have resulted in reduced hours and reductions in staff for convention hotels. According to PKF Hospitality Research, hotel occupancy rates in 2009 are forecasted to be down by 4.4 percent over 2008, to an average of just 58.3 percent. We expect to see hospitality and travel to take a major hit in the near-term future. Given that these reductions are greater than we experienced post 9-11, it will be years before we see previous travel and meeting levels. © Copyright 1998- by The Herman Group, Inc. -- reproduction for publication is encouraged, with the following attribution: From "The Herman Trend Alert," by Roger Herman and Joyce Gioia, Strategic Business Futurists. (800) 227-3566 or http://www.hermangroup.com. The Herman Trend Alert is a trademark of The Herman Group, Inc." EMPLOYERS AND JOBSEEKERS: MARK YOUR CALENDARS Advertise at or attend VetJobs Virtual Career Fairs. VetJobs, the top veterans' job board, and PSI, the premier diversity job fair producer, are teaming up to launch these VeteransCONNECT events. Employer registration is now open with loading by February 15th. Candidate loading begins March 1st. Expect 25-30 employers and an attendee goal of 2,000 skilled jobseekers. Promoted extensively, early registration begins NOW. To register or request additional information, contact VetJobs at 877-838-5627 or email info@vetjobs.com; Employers: Mention the Herman Trend Alert to receive a Bonus. LOOKING FOR A UNIQUE VALENTINE’S GIFT? Give the gift of leadership advice in our weekly Lessons in Leadership to help your supervisors and managers remind your leaders about what’s really important The 52-week subscription is only $47, a bargain when you think about the savings to your organization in reduced turnover. Quantity discounts available by emailing Joyce at joyce@hermangroup.com. http://www.hermangroup.com/store/subscription_all.html#3 Order today! PREVENT EMPLOYEE TURNOVER IN 2012 Yes, you can prevent costly employee turnover, when you train your supervisors, managers, and executives. They will learn dozens of low and no-cost strategies and tactics that they can implement right away. We have an impressive track record and stand ready to help you. Call Carl at 336-210-3547 for a no-obligation conference call. Herman Trend Alerts are produced by the Herman Group, strategic business futurists, Certified Management Consultants, authors, and professional speakers. New subscribers are welcome. There is no charge for this public service. The Herman Trend Alert is received by over 30,000 subscribers in 78 countries, in addition to other websites and printed magazines. Do you enjoy receiving this weekly e-mail update? Contact us about our co-branded Trend Alert service. Click here to sign up for the Herman Trend Alert. Subscribe or Unsubscribe to weekly Herman Trend Alert View this week's Herman Trend Alert Archived Weekly Herman Trend Alerts

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