Thanks for participating in our 2010 Meetings Market Trends Survey. The archived version of the webinar is available for free On Demand on the webinar portion of our site.

Here are some of the key stats I presented during the webinar, in script form:

Here’s a sneak peek at some of the key statistics that came in for our 2010 Meetings Market Trends Survey. We had more than 800 respondents, which is up a little more than 30% from last year’s survey, so the interest is out there in this volatile time in the economy and for the meetings industry. We’ve made a download available for participants detailing the stats we received for the average number of meetings planned for various segments of the industry, so you can check that out for yourself to gauge the lay of the land.

This year we again asked the rather difficult question, “What do you believe is the biggest threat to your career as a meeting planner?”, and more than 27 percent of planners across the board—and 44 % of corporate planners—responded “downsizing.” All of the responses were up more than 10% from when we asked the question last year, including nearly a 15% rise from corporate planners. All other response options were down.

As can be expected, budgets, attendance and the number of meetings are down.

A staggering 14.2% more planners in this year’s survey said the number of meetings decreased more than 10% over the past year, led by independents, of which more than 26% more this year said their total number of meetings decreased more than 10%. For next year, more than 10% more corporate planners expect their number of meetings to decrease by more than 10%.

Attendance is on the wane once again this year, with more than 16% more planners as a whole saying it decreased more than 10% over 2008. This was led by association planners; more than 20% this year as compared to the previous year said it decreased more than 10%. As far as expectations for next year, the numbers are fairly flat, which one could say is good news, as “flat is the new normal.”

Budgets were cut substantially last year, with more than 14% more planners this year responding that their budgets were cut more than 10%; 26% more independents indicated a budget cut of more than 10% last year compared to the results from the survey conducted at the end of 2008.

The numbers start to flatten out as far as budget expectations for next year, though, but 6.5% of total respondents expect a budget cut of more than 10%, led by 10.6% more association planners. About 45% of corporate planners expect their budgets to stay about the same, which was more than 10% more than answered the same way in the 2008 survey.

Answering a new question this year, more than 57% of planners across all segments said public perception issues are affecting their choice of destinations, and 59% answered the same regarding facility choice.

On a positive note, at least for planners, nearly 20% more planners in this year’s survey responded that the allowance for attrition slippage has increased, with more than 22% more corporate planners providing this response this year over last year.

Thanks for listening to my quick sneak-peek of the results of our 2010 Meetings Market Trends Survey, and check back with us in February for the complete results, including industry analysis, a job market forecast and observations from planners who took part in the survey.