Late last year I commissioned some independent market research into what clients expect from their conference organiser. I also wished to gather insight into the relationships that exist between client and professional conference manager.
Even though I’ve been in this business more than 30 years, it was extremely useful for me and my team to learn quite independently what decision makers on conferences are thinking.
The sessions took the form of focus groups and was undertaken by an independent research company. Inside Story convened the meetings of six to eight participants, some of whom were our clients and others not. The level of experience of the participants varied significantly.
The overriding concern of the clients was the issue of transparency, especially with regard to the financial management of the meeting. When one has a long lead time into a conference – often over some years – budgets need continual revision and clients are not fully aware of the final cost until very late in the exercise. This makes them very uncomfortable and organisers need to be sensitive to this and not assume their honesty is being questioned.
What is also evident is that clients will tend to stick with conference organisers with whom they have a history. This can sometimes be a case of “better the devil you know” where in reality the requirements of the event might well be beyond the capability and resources of the organiser. International meetings can be highly complex events requiring significantly more than a three or four person company can competently deliver.
What also emerged is the differing expectation of clients and the organisers they contact to deliver their events. In some association meetings or non-government organisation meetings, success is measured by the program, feedback and fellowship generated and a balanced budget where profit is not a consideration.
In other meetings, particularly in the medical world, much store is put by the profit the event can return to the local or international association.
This is clearly an area where the objectives of the event are not being clearly canvassed by the companies tendering for an event. We get swept up in the detail and assume what we perceive as a successful meeting is seen the same way by our clients.
Word of mouth remains the most positive referral a conference organiser can have when pitching for business. Our research showed that clients can be suspicious of references provided to past events, feeling that only the best ones are being included. The inference is that organisers should give their prospective clients carte blanche to contact any of their clients over the past three years. It’s another question of transparency.
The discussion also looked at the relationships between a conference organising committee (volunteers usually) and the professional conference organisers, and where the particular business culture of a PCO might foster the concept of a “partnership” the reality can be that the organising committee see the PCO simply as a “supplier”. We need to be sensitive to the way we fit into their organisation.
 Roslyn McLeod is the founder and managing director of Tour Hosts, a Sydney-based conference and event management company.
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