Strategic Meeting Management versus ROI

What is the value of meetings? How do you prove the expenditure for the meeting was justified and provided a necessary result?

One of the terms being used to demonstrate the value of meetings is ROI (return-on-investment). It's a term from finance and it has a specific meaning: ROI = [(Payback - Investment)/Investment] x 100. Since most meetings have a financial cost to them and don't have a financial revenue stream, I've always contented that this valuation of meetings is meaningless. Here's a link to an article written some time ago:

http://64.82.36.220/articles/art-roi-On%20the%20QT%20ROI%20RFP%20%20LOL%20-%20meeting.shtml

The industry grabbed onto ROI because it's an easy term to throw around. The problem is, as a valuation model, it falls flat in the boardroom. The ROI line of thinking is why the reaction AIG's incentive meetings was so negative after receiving funding from the public. In ROI terms, it was a big fat expense (PARTY!) on taxpayer money.

Strategic Meetings Management on the other hand focuses on building meetings around specific objectives, and I agree completely with Kevin Maguire's (CCCTE, GLP, President & CEO, National Busienss Travel Association ( http://www.nbta.org ) statement in Corporate & Incentive Travel January 2009 "Strategic meetings management is really redefining what meetings are all about."

The expression has military roots and is all about setting up meeting plans to achieve a specified result. It is about discovery of the desires for the meeting from the stakeholders and defines the resources required to achieve the specified targets (objectives).

Vince Alonzo, Editor-in-Chief for Successful Meetings ( http://www.successfulmeetings.com ) pointed out that Edward Lidy, the chairman and CEO of AIG outlined AIG's Strategic Meetings Management Plan and the role of the incentive meetings to AIG's objectives. Vince pointed out that "As an industry we've done a terrible job explaining to the public at large exactly what role meetings and incentives play in the success of an organization."

I agree with him and Kevin that a focus on SMMP (Strategic Meetings Management Programs) will shed the proper light on the value of meetings.