Part 2: How to Pitch…Business Events Media
July 15, 2015 | By: DCI
In part two of our ‘How to pitch’ blog series with Deanna Ting, managing editor at Incentive and senior editor at Successful Meetings, we delve deeper into the business events / MICE (meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions) industry trends.
You can catch up on part one here.
1. What meeting and incentive trends are you seeing as 2015 progresses?
Earlier this year, we published this list of “The Top 6 Meeting Trends for 2015” which is still relevant. It’s a seller’s market where hotels have the upper hand. Budgets are still tight. We’re calling attendees “participants.” Big data is getting bigger. Training meetings are growing in importance. Generational differences are being taken into consideration more often when it comes to planning. Other items/topics that I think are also important to our readership include Wi-Fi, as well as the impact of shared economy tools like Uber and Airbnb.
Incentive trends, we are noting the need to demonstrate ROI and working with tighter budgets. Organizations are expressing desire to travel to more off-the-beaten-path or exotic destinations. There is a desire to provide more immersive, experiential and adventurous activities for incentive groups.
Also, slowly but surely, companies and organizations are realizing the invaluable importance of incentivizing—and motivating—their own employees, and how crucial that is to their bottom lines.
2. How have the needs of your readers changed in your tenure at Successful Meetings and Incentive Magazine? What influence did this have on the editorial content you develop?
Two big movements — one related to the 2008 financial crisis and the other related to technology — have had a profound effect on the meetings and incentive industries. They continue to impact the type of editorial content we publish.
The aftermath of the AIG Effect is still very much being felt throughout the MICE industry. We’re still looking for stories that talk about issues of perception and demonstrating ROI. Our coverage is designed to help planners demonstrate value and ROI for their programs. Today’s planners have to do just as much—if not more—than what they were doing before the Global Financial Crisis, and with a lot less resources.
Technology has had an incredible impact on the way meetings and events are planned today. We’re always trying to stay a step ahead of the latest technology trends and tools.
Our magazines aspire to not only inform our readers but to also inspire them—to give them ideas to use for their next meeting or incentive. To spark a new perspective on the various facets of the industry, whether it’s dissecting a hotel contract or figuring out the top destinations for their particular gatherings.
3. In your opinion, what is the future of MICE-focused editorial?
The future of MICE-focused editorial will focus on not what is traditionally covered. It will be a lot more inclusive of other industries and trends that are having an impact on meeting and incentive planners. We need to break the mold on how we cover the industry—to be more dynamic, to show the relationships between this industry and others, as well as focus much more on innovations.
Our readers are also going to want a lot more digital content that’s more in-depth, and we need to be able to provide them with original reporting on the topics that matter to them most.