Transcript Sponsored by Freeman AV

Telling Our Story:
Economic Impact Data and the
Attack on Meetings
Presented by Mitchell Beer, CMM
President and CEO
The Conference Publishers Inc.
www.theconferencepublishers.com
Brought to you by MPI Foundation
Sponsored by Freeman AV
Before We Begin
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Economic Data and the Attack on Meetings
•
•
•
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Why measuring economic impact matters
Canadian study results
Putting the data to work
What’s on the horizon
Why Measuring Economic Impact Matters
• Credibility with our communities
• Political clout
• Point of comparison with other industries and
sectors
• The home run: Get national statistical agencies
to take over the measurement
• Use data to defend our industry when we need to
The Canadian Economic Impact Study
• Funded and managed by MPI Foundation
Canada
• Signature project for the new foundation
• Rigorous, 22-month process
• Built on new methodology from the U.N. World
Tourism Organization
• A world first
The Canadian Economic Impact Study
• One piece of jargon:
A meetings extension to the Tourism Satellite
Account
• “What about the butcher?”
The Canadian Economic Impact Study
The Canadian Economic Impact Study
The Canadian Economic Impact Study
• What is a meeting?
• At least 10 people
• At least four hours
• Booked venue
• Purpose related primarily to business
UNWTO
The Canadian Economic Impact Study
• >70 million participants
• 671,000 meetings
• 1.8% were incentives
• C$32.2 billion in direct spending
• C$71 billion in economic effects
• 235,500 full-year jobs
The Canadian Economic Impact Study
• Beyond direct spending, economic effects
included:
• C$5.7 billion in taxes to all orders of
government
• C$14.6 billion in tax effects: income, sales,
and corporate tax, social security, etc.
The Canadian Economic Impact Study
• Comparing industries (% of GDP)
Tourism
1.86%
Motor Vehicle Manufacturing (pre-crash)
0.75%
Forestry and logging
0.68%
The Canadian Economic Impact Study
• Comparing industries (% of GDP)
Tourism
1.86%
Motor Vehicle Manufacturing (pre-crash)
0.75%
Forestry and logging
0.68%
Meetings
0.78%
C$11.28 B
The Canadian Economic Impact Study
• Comparing industries (% of GDP)
Tourism
1.86%
Motor Vehicle Manufacturing (pre-crash)
0.75%
Forestry and logging
0.68%
Meetings
0.78%
C$11.28 B
• Which of these industries receives the least
attention, support, respect?
Putting the Data to Work
• AIG, Wells Fargo, others go ahead with
scheduled incentives
• Meetings come under attack
• Coalition forms
• Sen. Kerry tables Senate bill
Putting the Data to Work
“Any recipient of TARP funds shall not be allowed
to host, sponsor, pay for conferences and events
and pay for holiday or entertainment events for the
year in which they receive TARP funds.”
Putting the Data to Work
• The claim: A million jobs at stake
Putting the Data to Work
• The claim: A million jobs at stake
• The data (for 10x the population)
• 2.5 million jobs
• Incentives represent 1.8% of all meetings
(±)
• CAUTION: Details may be lost in translation
Putting the Data to Work
• The claim: A million jobs at stake
• The data (for 10x the population)
• 2.5 million jobs
• Incentives represent 1.8% of all meetings
(±)
• Informal contact and a blog/news aggregator
site carried the message first
• “Sen. Kerry needs a scalpel, not a hatchet.”
• We’re still learning to tell this part of our story
Putting the Data to Work
How would you use the data?
1. Support local destination funding
2. Argue for new or expanded convention facilities
3. Educate federal/state/provincial legislators
4. Activate your local MPI chapter
5. Educate media
6. Write your own articles/blog posts
7. Build support in the wider business community
8. Other??
On the Horizon
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•
•
•
UNWTO case studies
Interest on three continents
U.S. economic significance study
Possibility of drilling down
On the Horizon
• A necessary cornerstone, but still just the end of
the beginning
• For meetings, what matters more: What we
consume, or what we deliver?
• ROI…and more
Resources
• The report
www.mpiweb.org/Archive/195/58.aspx
• Huffington Post coverage
http://tiny.cc/kvJiC
• Summary of this webinar
Economic Data and the Attack on Meetings
•
•
•
•
Why measuring economic impact matters
Canadian study results
Putting the data to work
What’s on the horizon
Thank you!
Presented by Mitchell Beer, CMM
President and CEO
The Conference Publishers Inc.
[email protected]
+1.613.594.5960
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