Meetings & Conferences - Standards & Perceptions
Over the years and across the globe we have organized, attended, or covered as media thousands of conferences, meetings and shows. Our meetings expert, Linda Schnabl-Simpson was responsible for thousands of medical, and pharmaceutical meetings a year, as well as everything from Royal Visits, to Presidential Inaugurations.
From the Press Room, and often with a camera crew, Alan Simpson has seen the good points, and the failings first hand. As the age of meeting planners, and thereby the experience is reducing every year the quality of many meetings and conferences is falling. Many of the faults are not noticed immediately, as many convention centers try and cover up their clients obvious failings as best they can. Yet to an experienced eye the cracks are obvious and attendees, already faced with an economic reason to stay away, vote with their feet next year.
The fact is that there is an overcapacity of meeting places around the country, and with the debilitating downturn of demand for meetings coupled with the end of an era with pharmaceutical joyrides under the guise of product training, the meetings and convention sector of tourism is feeling the strain. The major convention locations now have to justify their existence, and no longer will lousy customer service, exorbitant charges, and downright bad customer service be tolerated.
Aspects such as personal security are becoming more and more important as crime rockets in the inner cities. Several major convention centers are one wrong turn away from major crime and violence. Some, such as Philadelphia means running the gauntlet of homeless beggars and later gangs that can turn nasty at a wrongly spoken word, or gesture. Building conference facilities in run down inner cities may be good for the local economy, but only if the surrounding area is cleaned up as well.
Bare concrete walls lit with glaring industrial Mercury lights may be seen as an architectural statement by some designers but most visitors do not want to be treated as cattle in an processing plant.
Standards of Training
In this desperate economy many conventions, meetings, and conferences skimp with the training of the people who come into contact with the attendees, or delegate responsibility to a local sub-contractor, who whilst they may have supplied staff for hundreds of events, the staff being supplied for your event may have absolutely no experience, training, or briefing. It amazes me how many times you get "Sorry we just do registration" when asked even the simplest question. Having an inner city High School dropout find temporary employment registering attendees is perhaps socially noteworthy, but is counter productive for the person who paid thousands of dollars, and traveled thousands of miles to attend this convention.
Overall food service is improving, but again sub contract, minimum wage temporaries do not enhance the experience, after waiting in line for overpriced sandwiches and mediocre coffee. Attending an expensive convention, or conference is an expensive affair, and the experience should be akin to traveling to a vacation destination. The declining numbers are as much to do with bad service, and bad experience than the economy. Some conventions and conferences you can't wait for the one next year. It's all a matter of perception.