CITE, president of engagement and events for Carlson Mar- keting, and president of the Site (Society of Incentive and Travel Executives) International Foundation Board of Trustees, why incentive programs work, and the recollec- tions start flowing—about all the “incredible experiences” she’s been “privileged to witness.” There was the group she took to Florence, whose guide
got theminto a monastery storeroom to see frescoes painted hundreds of years ago that the monks there were working to restore. There was the auto-equipment sales group she took to Buenos Aires—where “the tango music is so incredible,” Beauchine said.Almost all of the salespeo- ple were former musicians who had brought their instru- ments along on the trip. Events were planned around the Argentine capi- tal’s beautiful, acoustically great ven- ues, so they could jam together. Equally fresh in her memory is the time she took a group to Scotland. “There we were,” she said, “standing in the fog and the mist with a lone bagpiper playing as we moved into a beautiful candlelit castle for dinner.” While the trips left a lasting
impression on Beauchine, for those who earned them, they are “remem- bered for a lifetime,” she said. “It’s the essence of why travel is a better motivator than cash. People ulti- mately, deep inside, want stories to tell for the rest of their life.” Site Global CEO Brenda Anderson knows firsthand how
powerful those incentive trips can be, having earned several early in her career. “I understand what it’s like to work your butt off and achieve a goal,” she said, “and then go on this amazing experience that you could never replicate on your own.”
Not surprisingly, both Beauchine and Anderson were on
the road when they spoke to Convene about the value of incentive travel and its comeback—albeit in a different form—after a bumpy few years.
POST-AIG:“When the AIG Effect happened, the industry was really caught off guard,” said Fay Beauchine (above). “We did not expect there would be such a stigma attached to the reward of top performers.” In response, said Brenda Anderson (opposite page), “we’ve been spending the last two years untangling that connection froma highly functioning motivational event to CEOs’ business excesses. The net result is that the planner is held to a different standard now.”
How has the incentive industry changed as a result ofthe economic downturn and the AIG Effect? Anderson: The industry has gone through an evolution, and we have come out of it very different. The way that we go to market has changed, the way that people perceive incentive and motivational events has changed, and the pressure on planners is greater than ever before because they have got to deliver under a microscope. One of our Site studies, the Site Index, revealed that since AIG hit, 78 per- cent [of incentive planners] said there are more people involved in the decision-making process. So they aren’t as able to move forward swiftly because they have more peo- ple looking over their shoulder, due to the heightened awareness of what we do.
The chic, high-end stuff, it’s just
not in vogue right now.Value is in. Costco is in. So it’s an interesting par- adox, because incentive and motiva- tional events are all about creating memories and connecting with human beings.We’re being asked to do that in ways that are very cost- and image-conscious and fly in the face of what it is that we do. Plan- ners have a bigger challenge now than they’ve ever had.
Is business coming back? Beauchine: Incentive meetings are coming back, but they look a little dif- ferent than they did before. They’re a
little more purposeful in nature in that we see more educa- tion and business elements incorporated in programs. Anderson: Many of the companies that pulled back on
their motivational events during this period when everything was under the spotlight are coming back to them again, because their profits and revenues have been adversely affected. If you don’t acknowledge your top performers, they’re going to go somewhere else.
LEFT PHOTO COURTESY VISITFLORIDA; TOP PHOTO COURTESY WACVB