At the time respondents were taking Convene's annual salary survey, the nation was experiencing its biggest monthly job loss in a generation - 533,000 jobs in November 2008 alone. Not since December 1974, near the end of a severe recession, had so many jobs evaporated in one month, according to The New York Times.

Given the sorry state of the overall job market, those 67 percent who had a small pay raise - 2.6 percent, compared to the prior year's average 5.7 percent hike - likely weren't bitter. In fact, even the 21 percent of respondents whose salaries remained flat last year were probably feeling fortunate to be gainfully employed. When asked about the biggest challenges in 2008, only one respondent mentioned "feeling undervalued," which could refer to the way his or her role is perceived within the organization as opposed to his or her take-home-pay.

More than half of the meeting professionals responding to this year's annual salary survey (542 respondents) were directors or managers. Ten percent were CEOs, and 5 percent were vice presidents.

Here are some top-line results of the survey:

• Nearly three-quarters of respondents (71 percent) are age 40 or older; average age of respondents is 46.
• A majority of respondents (80 percent) are female.
• Nearly half of respondents (49 percent) have at least a college degree, while 31 percent have some post-graduate education or an advanced degree.
• Nearly one-third of respondents (31 percent) have at least 10 years of meeting-management experience, while 66 percent have more than 10 years' experience. The average is 13 years of experience.
• Respondents are most likely to be directors (28 percent), followed by managers(27 percent). Eight percent of respondents are owners, 2 percent are at the assistant level, and 10 percent are coordinators.
• With 44 percent of respondents identifying themselves as association meeting professionals, it's not surprise that 32 percent resport to the meetings and events department. Three percent resport to finance, 8 percent to marketing, and 2 percent to sales. Among the 115 corporate planner respondents, only 2 percent (each) resport to the travel department and procurement department. Forty-eight percent of all respondents said they report to another department not listed among our survey choices.
• Two-fifths of respondents (40 percent) indicate that their salary for 2008 was $70,000 or more, the same as last year. On average, respondents report that their salary for 2008 was $72,000, slightly more than last year's average of around $70,000.
• Sixty-seven percent of respondents - compared to 58 percent in last year's survey - report that their salary increased in 2008. This change was most likely (76 percent) due to a regular salary increase. Eleven percent received a promotion and 7 percent changed their employers.
• More directors received pay hikes than respondents in other roles - 78 percent, compared to 75 percent of the managers and 65 percent of the VPs who responded.
• Close to two-thirds of respondents (61 percent) supervise a meeting staff. The average number of staff members supervised is five, and the average salary of those individuals supervised by respondents is approximately $38,800.
• Respondents work at locations throughout the United States, as well as Canada; they were most likely to be based in the Washington, D.C. area (29 percent), followed by the Chicago market (14 percent) and the New York City region (2 percent). Fifty-three percent of respondents live and work in other areas of North America.

The salary survey was produced in partership with American Express, and prepared for PCMA by Lewis Copulsky and Stefanie MacNabb of LewisClarkBoone Market INtelligence. This survey was conducted in conjunction with Convene's 18th Annual Meetings Market Survey, published in the March 2009 issue and available at www.pcma.org/convene/issue_archives.htm

-Michelle Russell, Editor in Chief