As the Recession Waxes, Business Meetings Wane | nytimes.com
Call it the case of the incredible shrinking — even disappearing — meeting. According to a survey released last month that was conducted by the industry trade group Meeting Professionals International and American Express, 7 percent of business meetings already scheduled for 2009 have been canceled. And attendance is expected to be down by about 5 percent at those meetings that are still being held, the survey found. While anecdotal reports indicate that few industries have been spared, a large number of the canceled events appear to be in industries hit hardest by the recession: banking, mortgage lending, credit cards, housing construction and renovation.
