With the state economy still feeling the effects of the global recession, are associations still gathering annually for meetings and conventions?
In many cases, yes. While some events have downsized, state associations have adapted a number of strategies, from changes in meeting frequency to shifts in the types of events held and more, to stay competitive while keeping members informed.

Changing the Landscape
Good meeting planners are constantly looking at opportunities to improve an event’s return on investment, which can mean changing strategy. Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce (MMAC) did just that about seven years ago.

“We began scaling back on educational forums because so many organizations, schools and trade groups offer similar events,” says Julie Granger, MMAC’s vice president of communications. “Instead of hosting large groups with elaborate events and breakout sessions, we now focus on large-scale networking events. There really hasn’t been much slowdown in that area.”

For instance, MMAC’s Council of Small Business Executives has hosted the Future 50 list of fast-growing companies in the area for the past 25 years. In each of the past five years or more, its Future 50 event has been a sellout, attracting up to 650 attendees.

On November 9, MMAC marked its 150th anniversary with more than 1,400 registered for an event at Miller Park; this was the largest turnout MMAC ever had for that event. In 2009, MMAC’s All Member Meeting, held at the Bradley Center, drew 1,250 attendees.

In 1999, the State Bar of Wisconsin dropped its two-a-year conventions, moving to an annual event alternating between Madison and Milwaukee in 2000. Just last year, the organization changed its focus again, offering institutes instead of conventions, says Donna Kinney, meeting manager for the organization.

“These are smaller and narrowly focused,” she says, “with the emphasis on a wide variety of legal practice areas, such as dispute resolution and appellate practice; real estate and business law; litigation and business practices; or child and family law.” In 2011, the bar held three events, with each drawing 300 attendees. This year, the Bar plans to offer five more institutes.

“In addition to these events being much more focused than a single large convention, we’re also realizing huge savings on space rentals,” Kinney says.

Mike Theo, president of the Wisconsin Realtors Association, says his organization has been cutting back a bit on out-of-state events and national meetings. “Instead of sending four or five people to conventions and meetings out of state, we might send just one or two these days.” He adds: “I hope that’s a temporary situation.”

In-state travel, on the other hand, hasn’t witnessed many cutbacks. Theo remains committed to sending staff to conventions, and he never considered eliminating participation in professional meetings.

“If you don’t continue networking, you risk losing exposure to new ideas and policy issues,” he says.

More than most state organizations, the Wisconsin Builders Association (WBA) has not bounced back as soon as other association members have. Jerry Deschane, WBA’s executive vice president, says the sluggish economy delivered a significant blow to the real estate building sector.

But it could have been much worse.

“When you compare it to our peak year, 2005, the level of building now is off 85 percent,” Deschane says. “Yet we’ve only lost 40 percent of our membership.”

The lull in building has given Deschane and his colleagues an opportunity to reflect on its membership and its governance structure, much of which dates back to the 1940s and ‘50s. “We looked at our standing committees and our large board of directors, which now numbers 246. We realized that our governance structure is no longer the best way to have an effective exchange of ideas or translate policy.”

As a result, the association is expanding its meetings to include all members via electronic meetings and webinars. The association has also added a 24-hour hotline with information about legal and regulatory issues.

“If it’s a complex issue that really requires meeting face-to-face with members, we do that, but we’ve found that a lot can be handled by phone and video conference,” Deschane says.

Noticing the Trends
Attendance at conventions and meetings held at Milwaukee’s Wisconsin Center District, which encompasses the Frontier Airlines Center, U.S. Cellular Arena and Milwaukee Theater, have not declined significantly, despite the financial climate, says Dick Geyer, the district’s president and CEO. He has noticed, however, that some organizations are sending fewer people to man booths at the downtown center’s conventions and meetings. At the same time, he adds, many businesses are thriving and booking events three to five years out, while some are still struggling.
“Home builders have had a tough time lately, as the real estate business would indicate,”says Geyer. “At the same time, businesses like Kohl’s, JC Penney and Pick ‘n Save are having great years. Our business, overall, is doing pretty well.”

He did have one complaint: “We’re too small. We need more square footage to accommodate larger conventions. And we don’t have enough hotel rooms in the city either.”

Paul Upchurch, president and CEO of VISIT Milwaukee, the city’s convention and visitors bureau, echoes the observations of Geyer and others, particularly that many annual business meetings are still held but often with fewer attendees. He noted that many associations’ bylaws require them to meet annually.

“We had good years up through 2008, but business started to decline in 2009, and some organizations did rebook,” Upchurch says. “At the same time, event planners recognize the value of face-to-face meetings. The result was that a number of groups continued to attend meetings but in smaller numbers and they were booking later.”

Like Geyer, Upchurch notes that some categories, such as product introductions and sales, have bounced back faster than, for example, educational meetings.

One recent trend MMAC’s Granger has noticed is that people are registering for events later than usual. “We get a lot of last-minute attendees,” she says, primarily because people are busier than ever before and don’t plan as early as they once did.

Weathering the storm
MRA-The Management Association embraces problem solving as a key part of its mission and in this downturn, its membership has held up “remarkably well,” says Susan Fronk, president and CEO.

“Members have turned to us even more often in the poor economy,” says Fronk. “We’re fielding more than 20,000 workforce-challenge inquiries a year. Our goal is to save our members time and money, and help them get things done quickly.”

For its members with urgent questions and concerns, MRA is on call around the clock. As one of the older business organizations in the region, MRA marked its 110th anniversary last year and knows that economic storms are par for the course. MRA and its team of more than 150 professional staff produce a wide variety of conferences and special events, in addition to more than 1,000 training programs each year and comprehensive human resource consulting.

Another tenured state organization, Northwestern Mutual continues to hold its annual meeting as well as four educational meetings in its southern, western, central and eastern regions every year, says Pency P. Byhardt, vice president for the company’s meetings and field services strategy. When the company held its 131st Annual Meeting of the Association of Network Representatives in Milwaukee last July, that event drew more than 10,000 people from across the country, including members of Northwestern Mutual and their families.

“The foundation for Northwestern Mutual’s success over 154 years has been its ability to build long-term relationships with clients and the communities it serves,” Byhardt says. “Our financial representatives are encouraged to join organizations and serve on boards as a way to serve the community as well as strengthen relationships with others who share similar interests and passions.”

Northwestern Mutual’s annual meeting is the largest convention in Milwaukee; according to VISIT Milwaukee, the most recent meeting had an estimated economic impact of approximately $8 million for the local economy, occupying about 12,675 hotel room nights.

By Barbara Abel

Barbara Abel is a freelance writer and editor based in Wauwatosa.

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