BUYING MEETINGS
BY TOM HALL
MEASURING UP RETURN ON
INVESTMENT IS KEY TO SUCCESSFUL EVENTS, BUT HOW DO YOU EVALUATE?
THE 21ST CENTURY HAS SEEN the events industry elbow its way on to the parlia- mentary agenda and take to the world stage during the 2012 Olympic Games. Return on investment (ROI) has been a key tool in promoting the industry’s legitimacy, helping build a strong case for events being the vanguard for effective brand messaging. The ROI movement has certainly had its
share of evangelicals in the events media. Emboldened PR campaigns, with titles like Events Mean Business and Britain For Events, tout the fiscal benefits of holding an event with ROI and return on objective (ROO).
CALL TO ACTION This all sounds great in theory, but in the majority of cases companies, are either not undertaking ROI evaluations at all, or failing to act on their findings when they do take measurements, thus missing the aim of the process. Amanda Hanlin, director of global
104 BBT MAY/JUNE 2014
sales for meetings, groups and events at HRG, says it’s what companies choose to do with ROI measurement that counts, and inaction is all too common. “Often, our clients take no action at all after undertaking a thorough ROI measurement,” she says. “This is sometimes because after measuring an element of an event, and putting a large resource into this, it can be time-consuming to reverse and start afresh the next time.” Even ROI’s greatest advocates admit it is the exception rather than the rule in corporate events today. “Why senior management lets people get away with spending large amounts of money and time without accountability is still a mystery to me,” says Elling Hamso, managing partner of the Event ROI Institute. ”You should ask them why.” Absolute Corporate Events managing
director Chris Parnham agrees that ROI is something that’s championed by agencies more than corporate clients. “Good event management agencies recognise that the
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