t would seem to be a good time to be a meeting professional. So good, in fact, that U.S. News & World Report ranked the meeting, convention,
and event planner role as its pick for the No. 1 best business job for 2012. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projects this field to grow by 44 percent between 2010 and 2020, opening up 31,300 more meeting, convention, and event planner jobs. It was the “favorable job prospects (as well as strong job satisfaction scores) [that helped] this profession rank in the top tier of The Best Jobs of 2012,” according to U.S. News & World Report. (For the full report, visit convn.org/ number1job.) The high satisfaction level cited in the BLS report is consistent with the results of Convene’s Annual Salary Survey — nearly 80 percent of
respondents told us that they were satisfied with their career choice (see what they say they like best and least about their job on the following pages). But our survey results portray a significantly higher-paid meeting professional. The Labor Department’s 2010 median annual wage of $45,260 looks anemic compared to our respondents’ average annual income of $71,000. Still, the needle hasn’t moved much: Meeting planners’ average annual wage has hovered in the low 70s in the past several Convene salary surveys. Compared to last year’s survey results, however, a larger percentage of respondents have received or expect to receive a raise this year, and more than half expect a bump in pay in 2013. —Michelle Russell, Editor in Chief