5 Things Your Next Meeting Is Giving Back To You

There’s no doubt that a different emphasis is placed on in-person meetings versus conference calls, where multitaskers anonymous unite. Conference calls are often held in the solitude of an internal office with side conversations taking place on mute, cell signals sometimes dicey or lost, with a general lack of personal connection to the others on the line.

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If you’re in a face-to-face meeting however, the preparation and agenda for the meeting takes on a different shape. Conference rooms are reserved, coffee is prepared, catering is often offered and sometimes, opportunities for after-meeting socializing in a more casual setting exist. The value that follows is only the beginning.

Here are the Top 5 Things Your Next Meeting is Giving Back to You:

1. Make More Money

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In-person meetings and events deliver profits, help win new accounts, serve as education platforms and allow colleagues and partners to come together to innovate and achieve results.

2. Make Some Friends

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Personal relationships are at the core of every business decision and face-to-face meetings provide professionals with that personal interaction, which leads to deeper relationships. The ability to sit down one-on-one with colleagues and leaders across industries provides for instant collaboration and real-time productivity.

3. Support Local Communities

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Holding events and meetings creates hundreds of thousands of jobs in the cities they are held, generates billions of dollars of revenue and supports communities across the country. The industry contributes more to national GDP than the air transportation, motion picture, sound recording, performing arts and spectator sport industries.

4. Grow Your Business

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An Oxford Economics report found that companies that invested more in business travel during the economic downturn grew the fastest. In fact, the report found that every dollar invested in business travel realizes $9.50 in new revenue and produces $2.90 in profits.

5. Get Schooled

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Companies depend on face-to-face interaction to develop high performing talent. Conventions and conferences serve as critical education platforms for professionals and are key components for developing advanced skills and workforce training.

About Meetings Mean Business

The Meetings Mean Business Coalition was created in 2009 to showcase the incredible value that business meetings, travel and events bring to the U.S. economy. Its members span all facets of the face-to-face meeting and events industry, which have come together behind a common goal: providing the resources, tools and information to show the real impact the industry has on businesses, economies and communities. For more information, visit www.MeetingsMeanBusiness.com and download our app on iTunes and Google Play.