What’s on Your Wish List?

Author: Barbara Palmer       

Each year, along with the numbers we collect for the annual Meetings Market Survey, we ask respondents open-ended questions, including this one: What’s on your wish list? 

Here are some of your answers: 

  • A bigger budget
  • A more streamlined marketing campaign
  • A successful student-generated TED-style talk competition. Our younger members are active and coming up with great program ideas, which reassures me for the future of our association.
  • To be more productive
  • A bigger conference
  • Easier tech solutions
  • Easier-to-place meetings
  • Event planning software.
  • To exceed my budget goals in revenue and sponsorship
  • Finding an event planner to take much of the planning off of my plate
  • Finding innovative ways to get attendees to engage
  • Finding a person to mentor.
  • Finding ways to pay for all I want to incorporate into our meetings
  • Helping clients to have really excellent programming for annual conferences — speakers and topics that help to increase registration and to gain greater participation from current members as well as to attract new members.
  • I hope to take a vacation without having to work.
  • I want to find better ways to get our attendees engaged with each other and our content.
  • I would like to see venues have a lower pricing structure for Wi-Fi.
  • Increase conference attendance
  • Increase in attendance and have our company gain more exposure
  • Increase sponsorship and attendance.
  • Job security in a term of new leadership — as well as streamlining events and expenses (too many events)!
  • Management commitment to contract for our known major events up to 2019
  • More challenging clients/projects
  • More focus on event design and strategy to tie it into the business strategy, more recognition of the professionalism and expertise of events management
  • More professional development opportunities and opportunities to be involved in research and development of the industry
  • More staff
  • More work-life balance.
  • Organizational alignment
  • Personal advancements
  • Producing excellent programs with the least amount of bumps in the road.
  • Requiring independent contractors to have their own liability insurance
  • Spend more one-on-one time with my team
  • Staff retention
  • Strong attendance and increased funding.
  • The ability to find new sources of revenue to stop the cutting in the budget.
  • The top two items on my wish list are help and appropriate pay for the hours I work.

 

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