How Compression is Reshaping the Meetings Industry

The meetings and events industry often mirrors workplace trends. Many companies have adopted remote work policies, and this is making an impact.

Key trends in the meetings and events industry highlight shifts in scheduling, space availability, and demand:

Shift in Meeting Days

  • Mondays and Fridays have become common work-from-home days, with Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday seeing the highest in-office traffic. As a result, 80% of Convene’s revenue comes from events held midweek, and meetings on Mondays, Fridays, or weekends have decreased by 24% since 2019.
  • Convene reports that midweek days bring in 300% more business compared to weekends and Mondays/Fridays.

Date Compression and Budget Challenges

  • Date compression, where available event dates are reduced, is affecting budget-conscious groups. With fewer saleable dates (15-20% less than before), clients on tight budgets are shifting to less popular “shoulder” dates, creating a challenging “Tetris-like” booking process.
  • To accommodate this, Convene acquired etc.venues, providing more value-driven meeting spaces for budget-conscious clients.

Lack of Meeting Space

  • A shortage of meeting space is impacting the industry. New hotel builds often focus on limited-service properties without sufficient meeting spaces, despite growing demand for events.
  • The entrepreneurship boom (5.5 million new businesses in 2023) and high CEO turnover are increasing demand for meetings, with new CEOs often wanting to bring their teams together. This results in more meetings, contributing to space and scheduling congestion.

The Growing Need for In-Person Meetings

  • The resurgence of in-person meetings, once considered optional, is now seen as a non-negotiable need for many companies, especially those with new leadership or teams that have not met in years.

In summary, the events industry is grappling with higher demand for midweek meetings, limited availability of meeting spaces, and the growing importance of in-person gatherings for both established companies and newly formed ones.

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