Forget about Facebook: Social-Mobile Convergence Will Have a Wide-Ranging Impact on the U.S. Corporate Groups and Meetings Marketplace
The convergence of social media and mobile applications will have a profound impact on corporate meetings and events, but not in the way one might expect. In a new report and upcoming Online Event, PhoCusWright examines the U.S. corporate groups and meetings market, and how meeting planners, travel companies and technology providers can leverage the mobile-social "sweetspot" to their advantage. According to PhoCusWright's Groups and Meetings: Driving Success in Business Travel's Most Complex Segment, nearly one third of meetings and events now incorporate some social media component, while 22% integrate one or more mobile elements.
"There is a lot more to social media and group travel than simply tweeting from a meeting. The convergence of social media and rich, always-on mobile applications will play a significant role in reshaping the end-to-end meeting experience," says Susan Steinbrink, senior research and corporate market analyst at PhoCusWright. "Meetings planners can leverage these tools to drive pre-event interest and attendance, foster real-time engagement among attendees, and introduce new marketing and transactional opportunities. The results could directly impact attendance, ROI and meeting productivity. In short, this is not your teenager's social media."
PhoCusWright's Groups and Meetings: Driving Success in Business Travel's Most Complex Segment presents a comprehensive picture of the U.S. groups and meetings market, including the potential impact of social media and mobile technologies. The report is based on a survey of more than 600 meeting managers, planners and procurement professionals and interviews with more than 30 travel industry suppliers, intermediaries and technology providers.
On February 9, PhoCusWright presents a unique Online Event, Groups and Meetings: Driving Success in Business Travel's Most Complex Segment. The event highlights key findings from the new report, and explores how mobile and social media technologies can drive meeting attendance, foster attendee engagement and enhance productivity. Among other topics, this unique online event reveals how leveraging the mobile/social "sweetspot" in meetings can help:
- Promote pre-event interest and attendance
- Facilitate group travel and other bookings
- Crowdsource content and feedback
- Provide a platform for location-based services and merchandising
- Foster attendee engagement with the event and one another
- Promote follow-up events and activities
- Increase meeting effectiveness and productivity
ONLINE EVENT: Registration is now open for this Online Event for US$199 (free/discounted pricing for research seatholders).
REPORT (Save $150 through Feb. 28): Early-bird pricing is available through Feb. 28 to save $150 off the regular price of $995. Order Now
BUY BOTH – SAVE AN ADDITIONAL $99: Increase your savings beyond the report's early-bird pricing. Register for the Online Event and receive a special code to save $99 off your report purchase… OR… Purchase the report and receive a special code to save $99 off your Online Event registration.
ABOUT PHOCUSWRIGHT INC.
Phocuswright is the travel industry research authority on how travelers, suppliers and intermediaries connect. Independent, rigorous and unbiased, Phocuswright fosters smart strategic planning, tactical decision-making and organizational effectiveness.
Phocuswright delivers qualitative and quantitative research on the evolving dynamics that influence travel, tourism and hospitality distribution. Our marketplace intelligence is the industry standard for segmentation, sizing, forecasting, trends, analysis and consumer travel planning behavior. Every day around the world, senior executives, marketers, strategists and research professionals from all segments of the industry value chain use Phocuswright research for competitive advantage.
To complement its primary research in North and Latin America, Europe and Asia, Phocuswright produces several high-profile conferences in the United States and Europe, and partners with conferences in China, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates. Industry leaders and company analysts bring this intelligence to life by debating issues, sharing ideas and defining the ever-evolving reality of travel commerce.
The company is headquartered in the United States with Asia Pacific operations based in India and local analysts on five continents.
Phocuswright is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Northstar Travel Media, LLC. (116 32nd Street, 14th Floor, New York, NY 10001 United States). www.phocuswright.com
ABOUT NORTHSTAR TRAVEL GROUP
Northstar Travel Group is the leading provider of business-to-business news, information, data, transactions and custom content solutions for the travel, meetings and hospitality industries. Brands under the Northstar umbrella include Travel Weekly, Travel Weekly China, Travel Weekly Asia, TravelAge West, Business Travel News, Phocuswright, Meetings & Conventions, M&C China, Web in Travel and Inntopia. Northstar is the industry leader in marketing solutions, custom content communications, content licensing and database management serving the travel and meetings industries. The company produces more than 52 face-to-face events, taking place in North and South America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Northstar is based in Secaucus, NJ, and is a portfolio company of EagleTree Capital. www.northstartravelgroup.com
