Cindy Lo - President/Owner - Red Velvet Events - Austin, Texas

Describe the event - As an independent meeting planner, I plan a variety of events. The most memorable event from 2004 was a statewide event benefiting the Texas Federation of Asian American Chambers of Commerce, which welcomed more than 500 attendees to Austin's Renaissance Austin Hotel. What made this meeting unique was the short time frame for pulling it all together, in just 12 short weeks. The event was a huge success in attendance, fundraising goals and local presence. Guest speakers included Gov. Rick Perry, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and Austin's mayor, Will Wynn.

Did you incorporate any interesting excursions and/or activities into the agenda? - The only special excursion we included was a dinner boat ride out on Town Lake. Due to a limited budget, we had to keep the event simple and found that of the three options we offered—including the Texas State History Museum and a city tour on both land and water, known as the Duck Tour—people generally picked the dinner boat ride.

What did your attendees seem to enjoy the most about the event and/or the city? - They definitely enjoyed the formal evening banquet where we had both local celebrities and Lisa Ling present.

What is the outlook of corporate meeting budgeting heading into 2005 Are budgets expected to increase? - Meetings definitely took a backseat after 9/11. But some companies continued to have events on a regular basis, and I don't see their budgets increasing much. The big change this year is that companies that have put off or canceled events in the last few years are now considering new events or resuming the old events. This is great news for independent planners in the market.

What changes have been made to corporate meeting programs over the past year in regard to corners being cut? Will this continue through 2005? - I've seen that most of the high-profile type of events have slowly been eliminated. For example, during the dot.com boom, it wasn't out of the ordinary to see car giveaways at trade shows, but now it's back to more conservative budgets at events. It's more reasonable now to give away a trip or a $1,000 cash prize at a trade show and still make a statement. I think as budgets get tighter, I definitely see more executives questioning how marketing dollars are spent.

Please add any insight or information about current trends in the corporate meeting planning industry segment. - As the meeting industry becomes more recognizable as a career vs. just a job description, I see corporations bringing people on board who will be solely responsible for planning the company meetings and social outings. Furthermore, a company that already has dedicated staff for meeting planning will likely merge staff to avoid duplication of effort and increase negotiating leverage.