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MONTH IN REVIEW HSMAI Releases the Future of Meetings Report BY DANICA TORMOHLEN, contributing editor McLean, VA – Te Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association Interna- tional (HSMAI) Foundation and Maritz Research have released the results of the Future of Meetings (FOM) survey. Te findings are divided into four white papers on the future of meeting design, technology, venues and social media. In the 2011 study, 1,612 hospitality professionals were asked open-ended questions focused on those four primary areas. Most respondents were from North America (89%) and were female (72%). Baby Boomers represented for 47% of total respondents, followed by Genera- tion-Xers (46%) and Millennials (6%). A bulk of respondents noted a prob- lem with a "generation gap" within the industry relating to technology. Younger professionals expect more technology options while older professionals did not put as much importance on the topic. Tis trend, among others, will affect the way hospitality professionals relate to different audiences. "We conducted the FOM open-ended survey in order to gauge an accurate ac- cumulation of what is important to hos- pitality professionals and where they see the industry going," said Rick Garlick, strategic consultant, Maritz Research Hospitality Group, a division Maritz. "Knowing that technology is the omni- present topic shows that meeting plan- ners, suppliers and others in the industry need to find how they can continue to remain competitive in this space." Te survey provides predictions and discussions points about key issues for meetings of the future. Among the survey highlights: y Social media: A recent study of Twitter use at meetings showed that 35% of participants were responsible for gener- ating 80% of the tweets about a meeting. Tis does compare to the general popula- tion — a study outside of the meetings sector found that 10% of users were responsible for 90% of tweets. y Technology: Discussion of the future of meetings technology focused on the im- portance of three technologies in particu- The Jimmie Fore Scholarship Endowment Approaches Six Figures BY HIL ANDERSON, senior editor Houston, TX – Te scholarship endow- ment set up in memory of long time convention center manager Jimmie Fore reached $90,000 less than a year aſter its establishment. A $25,000 donation from Shepard Ex- position Services, Inc. in May spurred the growth of the Jimmie Fore Endowment Scholarship, which was established last August. Te total fund has also grown through sustaining grants from various exhibition industry companies and foun- dations and from matching grants from 10 July 2012 | Trade Show Executive the Conrad Hilton Foundation. "We are very pleased," said Wayne Chappell, vice president of trade show relations for the Greater Houston Con- vention and Visitors Bureau. "We were delighted by Shepard's shot in the arm." Shepard delivered its contribution during an open house for its new regio- nal hub facility in Houston, the city where Fore spent 15 years as executive vice presi- dent of the Astrodome-Astrohall Stadium Corp. and where Shepard just opened its 10th national office. "Jimmie had a significant impact on this industry and this business," said Shepard President Carl Mitchell. "We are honored to be able to contribute in his memory." Fore died last year at the age of 73. He had retired to his Texas ranch in 2007 aſter a stellar career that also included running McCormick Place in Chicago and riding out Hurricane Katrina and overseeing the lar: mobile applications, cloud computing and technologies that enhance the virtual meeting experience. An interesting stat: 64% believed that in the future, all presen- tations, videos, etc. will be downloaded to mobile devices. y Meeting venues: While "cost and value" and "sustainability" are both frequently mentioned topics in survey research, comments concerning cost are mentioned six times for every one men- tion of a sustainability topic. y Meeting design: A key trend in this area is the continued rise in outsourcing to supplier specialists. Given the expec- ted continued pressures on resources, the rise of outsourcing can be expected to continue. To download the complete study find- ings, go to http://www.hsmaieconnect. org/whitepaper/hsmaifoundation.html Reach Fran Brasseux, executive director of HSMAI Foundation, at (703) 506-3280 or fbrasseux@hsmai.org; Rick at (877) 462- 7489 or rick.garlick@maritz.com