Global
Improving Strategic Meetings Management, piece by piece
Global perspective
Strategic meetings management (SMM) has certainly reached buzzword status in the meetings & events (M&E) industry. However, by its very definition, SMM is no small undertaking: the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) and Meeting Professionals International (MPI) define it as “a disciplined approach to managing enterprise-wide meeting and event activities, processes, suppliers and data in order to achieve measureable business objectives aligned with the organization’s strategic goals/vision, and deliver value in the form of quantitative savings, risk mitigation, and service quality.”
While corporate travel today is managed at an enterprise-wide level by most organizations, that
is not the case with M&E. In fact, progress varies widely and most organizations are only
beginning to embark on SMM. Given that, CWT offers the following “dos” and “don’ts” for beginning
or advancing an SMM program. While not every tip applies to every organization, there is something
for every buyer or planner, regardless of a program’s maturity level. CWT Meetings & Events is
a contributor to GBTA’s and MPI’s recommended SMM framework, and subscribes to each component as
best practice in guiding an organization’s efforts today. The below recommendations align with that
model.
