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BEST PRACTICES TO TRACK, MANAGEAND MEASUREMEETINGS & EVENT ROI a Lanyon

Whitepaper

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3 Executive Summary

5 State of the Meetings & Events Industry

9 The Role of Event Management Software

14 Conclusion:

Tighter Control, Big Data Leads to Savings

15 Survey Methodology

15 About Lanyon

Table of Contents

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Successfully managing meetings and events is like a game

of tug-of-war. On one side, there is intense corporate

pressure to control costs and prove event return on

investment (ROI). On the other side, there’s pull from rising

meeting and event costs and spending levels.

But today’s senior executives with responsibility for

meetings and events can win the game.

A new Lanyon-sponsored survey reveals that companies

who adopt and implement event management technology

that centralizes event planning and helps enforce a central

meetings policy can reap up to $2.2 million1 in event

savings annually.

To help organizations better control costs and track ROI,

Lanyon-commissioned a study with International Marketing

& Technology Solutions, Inc. (IMTS) in the fall of 2013.

The study, Best Practices to Track, Manage and Measure

Meetings & Event ROI, polled 201 SVP-, VP- and Director-

level executives at North America-based companies with

global operations and at least $1 billion in annual sales.

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1. Based on Lanyon customer results: 10-25% average in annual savings with event management software

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KEY STUDY FINDINGS

1. Lanyon’s new study found many respondents lack a way to collect critical information about their meetings and events:

+ About half were unable to measure meeting and travel spend across their organization at all times; and

+ Nearly 66% of respondents were unable to measure meetings and event spending against ROI.

2. The study also found many lack the infrastructure to optimize their meetings and events programs:

+ 46% lacked a single technology solution to centralize their data and assist with meetings policy enforcement.

3. Yet, the good news is that those who practice key event management best practices have greater power to control costs, save and measure ROI:

+ Of those with a centralized global meetings and events team, 84% can measure their event spend;

+ Of those with a central meetings policy, 90% can measure their spending

CONCLUSION

To better track, control and save on meeting and event costs and, in turn, better measure event ROI, companies need to employ an end-to-end event management system. A cloud-based event management platform, like the SMART EVENTS™ Cloud from Lanyon, provides companies with access — from one single source — to intelligence on comprehensive event spending as well as ROI metrics.

THE STATE OF THE MEETINGS & EVENTS INDUSTRY

There is enormous pressure on today’s event executives to make meetings work – and to do it with less money.

In total, companies spend $360 billion2 globally on corporate meetings and events. A significant portion of their budget — nearly 9%3 — is spent on strategic meetings and events, and forecasts call for even higher outlays: The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) predicts a more than 12% increase in total group travel spend by U.S. companies over the course of 2014 and 2015.

At the same time, a majority (58%) of companies’ top priority for managing meetings is to reduce event costs, according to an Aberdeen Group study4. And getting good ROI is on top of the agenda, too: one recent Business Travel News study5 found 36% of companies measure event ROI for meetings.

2. Meetings and Events: Where Savings Meet Success, CWT Travel Management Institute, 2010

3. Strategic Meetings Management: A Handbook of Emerging Strategies for the Next Generation of Meetings and Events Management, Aberdeen Group 2012

4. Strategic Meetings Management: A Handbook of Emerging Strategies for the Next Generation of Meetings and Events Management, Aberdeen Group 2012

5. Meeting The Challenge: Business Travel News’ 2012 Strategic Meetings Management Survey

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In the Site International Foundation’s annual

forecast on the incentive travel industry, 79%

of 142 incentive professionals who participated

expect more pressure to prove ROI or return

on opportunity (ROO) to stakeholders over the

next year. Meanwhile, 82% expect a significant

increase in the need to justify programs over

the next one to three years.

79%expect more

pressure to prove ROI or ROO to

stakeholders over the next year.

82%expect a significant

increase in the need to justify programs

over the next one to three years.

ALL SIDES OF THE GROUP TRAVEL INDUSTRY WANT COST‑JUSTIFICATION AND DEMONSTRABLE ROI.

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STUDY: NEW EVIDENCE FOR SAVINGS

This study offers new evidence that implementing key meeting and event management best practices – centralized meeting planning and a central meetings policy – provides a clear trail to cost savings and ROI.

The chief finding from Best Practices to Track, Manage and Measure Meetings & Event ROI is that the 201 respondents can

SAVE UP TO $442 MILLION ANNUALLY(UP TO $2.2 MILLION PER RESPONDENT)

on meetings and events by implementing end-to-end event management software that enables them to centrally manage meeting planning and track ROI.

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However, troubling findings from the survey show that many companies are ill-equipped to reap those rewards because:

+ Almost half (48%) of respondents were unable to measure meeting/travel spend across their organization at all times; and

+ 66% of respondents were unable to measure meeting and event spend against ROI.

FIGURE 1: TRACK AND MEASURE MEETINGS & EVENT SPEND

1%

22%

43%

34%Measure

Spend vs ROIat all times

66%unable to measure

1%

18%

29%

52%Measure meeting/travel spend across entire org

at all times

48%unable to measure

Source: IMTS; N=201

STUDY: NEW EVIDENCE FOR SAVINGS

Always Sometimes Never Don’t Measure

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FIGURE 2: LACK OF MEETINGS & EVENTS INFRASTRUCTURE

THE ROLE OF EVENT MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE

What’s hindering companies’ ability to save?

Many lack the infrastructure or software to optimize their meetings and events. According to the study, nearly half (46%) of respondents lacked a single, end-to-end meetings and event management system to help them track and control costs and measure ROI. In addition, 47% reported a lack of a centralized global meetings and events team, while more than half (51%) lacked a central meetings policy. (See Figure 2).

Centralized Global Meetings

& Event Team

Centralized Meeting

Policy Initiative

47% 51%53% 49%

ComboIn-House YES

Meetings Management

Software

2%

44%

34%

20%

Source: IMTS; N=201

3rd Party Best of Breed NO

Meetings represent the last frontier in managed

travel spend. It just hasn’t been tackled by most

organizations. You find meetings spend on the

general ledger, in expense reports, channeled

through various payment methodologies … and

anytime you have that sort of fragmentation, it’s

hard to get to the bottom of it. Event management

technology that provides a centralized, automated

way to track costs — and then produce big data

in order to compare spend against event ROI —

makes saving money at lot easier6.

Kevin Iwamoto, VP, Industry Strategy, Lanyon

“

”6. Where There’s Mystery, There’s Margin, a Lanyon whitepaper, April 2013

MEETINGS — THE LAST FRONTIER

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FIGURE 3: CENTRALIZED GLOBAL MEETINGS & EVENTS TEAM

THE ROLE OF EVENT MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE

Centralized Global Meetings

& Event Team

47%

53% 53%

32%

14%

2%

84%

YES

NOAre you able to measure your spend? Select one.

Always

Sometimes

Never

Don’t MeasureSource: IMTS;N=179 [Yes (n=97); No (n=82)]

In marked contrast to those findings, Best Practices to Track, Manage and Measure Meetings & Event ROI also revealed that companies who have implemented two key best practices (central meeting planning and a unified travel/meetings policy) are better equipped to control costs and save:

+ Of respondents who have a centralized structure for meeting planning and management, 84% can measure spend – better enabling them to track ROI (See Figure 3): and

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THE ROLE OF EVENT MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE

+ Of respondents who have a central meetings policy, 90% can track their spend – better enabling them to measure ROI (See Figure 4.)

FIGURE 4: CENTRALIZED MEETING POLICY

57%

33%

10%

0%

Centralized Meeting

Policy Initiative

51%

49% 90%

YES

NOAre you able to measure your spend? Select one.

Always

Sometimes

Never

Don’t MeasureSource: IMTS;N=153 [Yes (n=79); No (n=74)]

In one study7, best-in-class survey respondents reported

36% HIGHER RATEof savings on meetings and event spend by using event management technology.

Additionally, in that study, respondents said that

55% OR HIGHERof their events were on or below budget.

7. Source: Aberdeen Group, April 2010

ACHEIVE A HIGHER RATE OF SAVINGS ON EVENTS

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CONCLUSION: TIGHTER CONTROL, BIG DATA LEADS TO SAVINGS

Amidst rising pressure to control costs, save and prove the worth of meetings and events, an end-to-end event management system is your ally. You can pare 10–25% off your event budget per year by implementing an end-to-end event management software system, like the SMART EVENTS™ Cloud from Lanyon, and:

+ Gain full visibility – via “Big Data” into all event planning activity and information across your organization;

+ Enforce a centralized, global meeting and events team and policy;

+ Easily determine and report on event ROI.

Empower yourself. Adopt an end-to-end meetings and event management system to:

+ Drive meetings and event cost savings

+ Prove event ROI

+ Grow your business.

Otherwise, you may be leaving up to $2.2 million on the table. Learn how Lanyon’s event management technology can help you save on your event spending. Contact Lanyon today.

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Don’t leave

$2.2 Millionon the table.

ABOUT LANYON INC.

Lanyon is the leading provider of cloud-based

software for the Meetings and Events industry, and

Transient Hotel Programs. Leveraging more than 40

years of industry experience, the Company enables

thousands of associations, Small to Mid-sized

Businesses and enterprise organizations around the

world to drive efficiency, engagement and growth

from their meetings, events and travel investments.

Lanyon serves over 80% percent of the Fortune 100,

including 10 of the top 10 hospitality, pharmaceutical

and technology companies and 9 of the top 10

financial services and communications companies.

For more information, visit www.lanyon.com.

Contact Lanyon:

(US Toll free) 855.228.4838

(UK) +44 (0) 207.313.5701

Lanyon.com

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SURVEY METHODOLOGY

In the fall of 2013, Lanyon commissioned International

Marketing & Technology Solutions, Inc. to poll 201

Senior Vice Presidents, Vice Presidents and Directors

at North America-based companies with global

operations and at least $1 billion in annual sales. The

respondents authorize shows, meetings and events

and, combined, spent an average $1.768 billion* on

those meetings and events annually.

* Source: Aberdeen Group, April 2010 – $8.8MM average spent annually by one (1) enterprise on meetings and events.