Lois Creamer Blog
2024 Meeting Intelligence Report via AAE Speakers – Summary
This yearly report is always interesting as it helps us look into the crystal ball regarding the meetings industry. I’ll put the entire report in the comments, but here’s my summary, including challenges and opportunities and what you need to know. 340 Event...
Market Intelligence – Insights on Speaker Selection and More
A speaking insight report from AAE Speakers Bureau reports the following trends. I’ve summarized it. Rising Costs and Organizers' Concerns: Organizers worried about rising costs (no surprise here) and attendee numbers. Meeting professionals may be more inclined to...
“Narrowing Your Focus: The Power of Target Marketing”
Being a generalist used to be a great thing. Many newer speakers still think it’s a great thing. Now? It’s so last century. The market now wants experts, speakers, and consultants who go deep in one area instead of many. Decision makers wanting speakers who are...
Market Intelligence – Secondary Markets Rule for Meeting
We know that budgets are a huge consideration in planning meetings. Knowland reports that secondary markets led the traditional “Top 25” markets in January 2024. For example – the highest growth city in the Top 25, Nashville, was up 16%, while the secondary market,...
What Speakers Need to Know About Employee Engagement
I recently wrote about employee engagement. Gallup’s most recent survey on employee engagement found, “In 2023, employees in the U.S. continued to feel more detached from their employers, with less clear expectations, lower levels of satisfaction with their...
Event Trends You Need to Know and a BIG AHA for DEI Speakers
Jennifer Best of the AAE Speakers Bureau recently published an excellent article in Forbes outlining some great things we need to know going into 2024. I’ll summarize here. Note: where you see quotes, I’m directly quoting from the article. Meeting trends: 1....
Due Diligence: Creating Your Successful Speaking Practice
As a consultant in the speaking industry for over 20 years, I've refrained from commenting on offers from others promising to help create a million-dollar speaking practice. However, after coming across numerous such offers during the holidays, I am compelled to share...
Creating Our Circumstance
A couple of years ago, I wrote a post about emerging from the depths of a pandemic-induced shutdown and stepping into the exciting unknown. At that time, we all shared the feeling that we couldn't always predict what lay ahead. It was an unusual realization to some,...
Looking to 2024 in the Meetings Industry
It’s been a good year in our industry, and 2024 holds much promise! Here is my summary of a rather extensive report issued by AAE Speakers. Hottest topics: DEI inclusion Leadership Mental Health/Mindset Future of Work Corporate Culture Technology Their data suggests...