What’s On Your Wish List For 2017?

In addition to data about quantifiable things like the size, frequency, costs, and types of meetings, our Annual Meetings Market Survey also captures a wealth of data in the form of comments in response to a series of open-ended questions. Last week we published comments about what changes meeting planners made last year — positive or negative — in response to the economy. 

For this week: 

In terms of your job, what is at the top of your wish list for 2017?

• A buyer’s market.

• A fully developed app that can be used for multiple events.

• A job promotion. I feel long overdue for one. 


• A seat at the table.


• A way to connect attendee and exhibitor. 


• Access to new technology that will make our job easier and help reach our members. 


• Additional clients with adequate to increased meetings budgets. 


• Additional staff [eight mentions]. 


• An assistant so that I can remove the administrative tasks off my plate to focus on strategic planning [three mentions]. 


• Be able to offer webcasting/ live streaming at our next convention and be able to make it profitable. 


• Better and more effective content design to drive sales and profitability. 


• Bigger budget. 


• Continued financial success for the association, which affords us the opportunity to take a few risks in new areas. 


• Continued stability in my job as well as continued understanding of what I bring to the table in my organization. 


• Create a cohesive team. 


• Exceeding registration numbers and a wide variety of programs. 


• Expanding into Asia. 


• Fewer governmental regulations. 


• Free WiFi in all venue meeting space.

• Have time to see and experience more places to encourage my groups to travel to. 


• Having everyone enjoy themselves at the events and come back. 


• Housing Bureau. 


• I wish there were a path here for progression in terms of responsibility, title and salary, but there really isn’t due to our size. 


• I’d like more responsibility and more money. 


• Increased visibility in my company. 


• Increasing sponsorship revenue and improving the attendee experience. 


• Larger budget. 


• Less stress, more work-life balance, and to KEEP my job [two mentions]. 


• Looking for new opportunities and hopefully a job shift. 


• Mobile App. 


• More attendees. 


• More clients listening to what we can offer. 


• More donations. 


• More empowerment. 


• More flexibility from hotels. 


• More flexibility to work at home or work a 4/10 [two mentions]. 


• More funds for professional development. 


• More supportive staff. 


• Our corporate attendees share rooms. My wish would be that every guest has his/her own room. 


• Pass CMP exam. 


• Raise and/or bonus. 


• Rebuild our website to be accessible on mobile platforms. 


• Retirement! 


• 
Secure all speakers within the first quarter of the year. 


• Several new clients. 


• Start booking further out. 


• Streamline and implement consistency across all our meetings. 


• Stronger membership. 


• The top two items on my wish list are a higher salary and a dedicated, full-time admin. 


• To add more meetings in more remote areas of the world. 


• To find a cheaper alternative to the housing program we are currently using that offers more for us and our members. 


• To grow my team of 13 to a team of 15 to help with the growth of our events. It is also one of my goals to be brand loyal this 
 I also would like to obtain my CMM in 2017. 


• While I love my job, I come from an association background where I planned multiple conferences a year. I would like my 
company to evolve into holding more events per year. 


• Winning more clients.