mpi value of virtual research study

8/2/2019 MPI Value of Virtual Research Study

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mpiweb.org 69

The role of virtual meetings is evolving. Previously perceived by

many industry professionals as one-off event experiments, they

now seek entry into strategically managed meetings portfolios.

And, according to new research from the MPI Foundation and

Maxvantage, some organizations are managing hundreds of vir-

tual meetings each year.

But the virtual event is still in its infancy; its a child of the

new millennium. And most organizations are still trying to un-

derstand just exactly what a virtual event is.

!The researcha combination of online survey and qualita-

tive interviewsshows that industry professionals agree in prin-

ciple on the definition of a virtual meeting, but the details of each

event are variable. There are eight major virtual event formats,

each with six or more vendors. And the planning, execution and

benefits of each format are unique such that switching vendors

requires a learning curve for all stakeholders. Virtual meeting

technologies continue to expand and can now even capture con-

tent and track participant data in ways live events cant.

Anecdotal data shows that travel budgets are still driving the

adoption of virtual meetings. In several interviews for this very

report, meeting professionals reported that their internal clients

had the necessary budgets to hold meetings, but their target del-

egates didnt have the travel budget to attend. Virtual meetings

programs allowed these groups to continue to meet.

But virtual meetings wont just be emergency budget stopgaps

for long. Organizations are beginning to add virtual meetings

to their core business processes. IBM, for example, has tied its

virtual platform into its lead management system and post-event

lead follow-up procedures. As a result, it knows how much

revenue its virtual event center generates.

As the industry continues to experiment and develop more

experience with virtual meetings, event professionals will find

new and innovative opportunities to use this format to deliver

business value and accelerate the pace of commerce.

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!"#$%&'(&')*VIRTUAL MEETINGS OVERVIEW

1. Meeting professionals lack a standard definition for virtual meetings. More

than 75 percent of respondents didnt think their organizations had astandard definition or policy for virtual meetings.

2. There are many technology formats for executing virtual meetings. The

virtual meeting technology marketplace offers eight types of technology

solutions, each one offering a different virtual experiencewhich means

there are multiple answers to how a virtual meeting works.

3. Of these, online meetings and videoconferencing are the most popular

formats. More than 90 percent of meeting planners prefer online meetings

and videoconferencing systems, and 70 percent said they would

recommend online meetings as a virtual event platform.

4. Organizations make virtual meetings shorter than others, because of

limited networking opportunities. Meeting planners are convinced that

virtual meetings were not suitable for networking.

STRATEGIC VIRTUAL PROGRAMS

5. There is no one-size-fits-all virtual meetings approach. Organizations take

different approaches to managing their virtual meetings strategies. Some

offer 2-D virtual worlds, others online meetings or online-video conference

combos. The scope depends on organizational needs, resources, maturity of

process and internal staff capabilities.

6. Meeting departments help drive the adoption of technology. In some

organizations, meeting departments wrap good event processes (objective

setting, planning, speaker training, measuring) and consulting around

technology to drive adoption and format success.

7. Meeting professionals recommend virtual meetings. Three-fifths (61

percent) of respondents recommend virtual meetings in place of face-to-

face meetings, most often when travel budgets interfered with a meeting.One organization enacted a default virtual meetings policy; face-to-face

meetings occurred on a case-by-business-case basis.

8. Success in virtual meetings depends on internal support and integration.

Meeting professionals know what helped them start their virtual meetings

strategies. Leadership support, setting up an internal support team and

integrating with other business processes helped adoption.

9. Key barriers include user adoption and technology and organizational

challenges. Technology and perception of technology challenges from

skeptics put virtual meetings teams on defense early. And many meeting

professionals say that success requires strong cross-functional partnerships

among their meetings, travel, learning and development and IT

departments.

STRATEGIC SOURCING

10. Organizations are strategic sourcing, but dont know why. Some

organizations have strategic sourcing in place for virtual meetings, but lack

a definition for virtual meetings or formal virtual meetings policies.

11. IT leads purchasing decisions. IT traditionally sources virtual events

technology and manages procurement. In some cases, first-wave virtual

arrived via IT to combat early adopters who were sampling technologies by

trial and error.

12. Cost savings were the primary incentive for virtual meeting adoption.

Given the current economic climate, cost savings were a huge driver for

virtual meeting adoption. In some cases, organizations have meetings

budgets, but no travel budgets.

13. Virtual meetings offer more than just cost savings. While cost savings areimportant, organizations also use virtual meetings to reduce out-of-office

VIRTUAL MEETINGS TOOLSVisit www.mpiweb.org/research to read

The Strategic Value of Virtual Meetings

and Eventsresearch paper, which is ac-

companied by an in-depth how-to guide

that demonstrates how planners can

establish virtual events strategies. Also,read through a concise lessons learned

paper for quick-hit tips.

VIRTUAL PLATFORMSMeeting professionals consider the following formats as

virtual meetings.

VIRTUAL OR FACE-TO-FACE?Heres where meeting professionals fell in the virtual

vs. face-to-face question.

Networking

Sensitive issues

Incentives

Celebrations

Client meetings

Team building

Company

updates

Product updates

Internal meetings

Project meetings

Daily meetings

Staff meetings

Recruitmentmeetings

Updates for fieldsales or regionaloffices

Most virtual platformshave limited network-ing capabilities.

These issues are bestdiscussed in person.

Strength of responsedepended on industry.

Simulation workshopexercises must bedone in-person.

One-way presenta-tions can be made oncorporate TV, web-casts or other formats.

Meeting Purpose In-Person Virtual Notes

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JENISEFRYATT;ROSAGARRIGA;R

UUDJANSSEN,CMM;RICHARDJO

HN;

a

ndSAMUELJ.SMITHconstituteT

heStrategicValueofVirtualMeetings

andEventsresearchteam.

time,diminishdemandonexecutivesandbackuplast-

minu

temeetings.Formarketing,organizationsusevirtual

meetingstomoveprospectsthrou

ghthesalespipeline.

PEOPLE

14.Virtu

almeetingscreateanewvoca

bularyformeeting

plann

ers.Thevirtualmeetingsvocabularyisfullofwords:

semi-live,bandwidth,player,synchronous,asynchronous,

switcherandstreaming.Virtualm

eetingplannersdont

have

tobetechexperts;theyjustneedtofeelcomfortable

arou

ndtechnologyanditslanguage.

15.Virtu

almeetingplannersaremore

content-focusedthan

their

peers.Contentdeliveryforvirtualmeetingsismuch

differentthanface-to-faceevents,

andsoplannerstendto

getm

oreinvolvedintheformer,includingvirtualspeakers,

presentations,contentrecordinga

ndrepurposing,

mod

erationandcuration.

16.Virtu

almeetingplannersneedgoo

dorganizationaland

custo

merservicesskillsandafearl

essviewoftechnology.

Resp

ondentsagreethatvirtualpla

nnersneedtobe

comfortablewithtechnology,but

noneofthemthought

plannersneededtobetechnology

experts.

17.Therearefewresourcesfordevelo

pingvirtualmeeting

plann

ers.Asorganizationsstaffupandscaleuptheir

virtu

almeetingsstrategies,theyarehavingproblemsfinding

qualifiedpeople.Mostplannersgettheirknowledgefrom

attendingvirtualmeeting

s,talkingwithotherplannersand

trainingwithtechnology

suppliers.

MEASUREMENT

18.Thewealthofdatainvirtualplatformsisunder-utilized.

Whilevirtualplatformsp

rovidedetaileddelegate-level

data,mostorganizations

onlyusebasicreportingand

measurementcapabilities.

19.Virtualmeetingscansegm

entanaudienceintoaunitofone

person.Sophisticatedvirtualmeetingsplannerssegment

datatotheindividuallev

el,comparedwithmostface-to-

faceplannerswholooka

tdatainaggregate.Some

companiesusetheformerforleadnurturingandeducation.

20.Performancemetricshelp

virtualmeetingplannersasse

ss

success.Inmuchthesam

ewaythatsportsusemetrics

to

assessathleteperformanc

e,measurements(registeredv

ersus

attended,repeatversusn

ew,percentin-platformtime

versustotalcontentavailable)helpsophisticatedplanners

calculateperformancean

didentifyopportunitiesfor

improvement.


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mpi value of virtual research study

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