Meeting Professionals International released the December 2012 Business Barometer report which revealed that budgets continue to rise at a slow pace, the corporate sector has made extremely short lead times de facto business practice, and remote access to meeting content – live or on demand, interactive or not – sees growing popularity. Technological innovation continues with new opportunities for attendee (remote and onsite) interactivity, lower costs and better risk management. Meeting professionals are hiring people who have strong working knowledge of new technology.
The Business Barometer report monitors the meetings industry’s most immediate needs in relation to economic concerns and opportunities. Every two months, research firm Association Insights surveys its Business Research Panel, a select group of senior level meeting professionals from MPI’s 21,000 international members, and asks a short series of quantitative questions related to the economy and a qualitative question regarding the individual’s professional outlook. The survey provides a bi-monthly tracking of current business conditions and outlooks compared with actual business conditions and outlooks a year ago.
The Business Barometer allows MPI to better gauge immediate and future business and economic conditions. MPI provides the report so members can have the information they need to succeed, including current and predicted attendance trends, overall employment and lead times. Members use the insights and findings to forecast annual budgets, inform hiring practices and take their business to an even greater level of success.
