It's Your Business: Meeting, event trends put Bloomington in a good position
Meeting and event trends are of interest as the hospitality industry continues to recover. Will people want to come to Bloomington in Monroe County to meet and hold their events?
Bloomington is a strong destination in Indiana. It is centrally located. We are the home of Indiana University that drives and stabilizes our economy. We are known for education, creativity and energy in the Midwest. IU alumni look for reasons to come back to visit. People like to spend time here. We have one of the most respected, nationally accredited convention and visitor bureaus in the Midwest professionally promoting all of our unique offerings and attractions. They provide multiple services supporting more than 4,000 employees in the local economy.
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In 1991, the Monroe Convention Center opened as a multi-purpose venue to fill a void in the local meeting and events market. There was an opportunity to attract state associations to come here to further strengthen the local economy. There was pent-up demand at the time and with its eight rooms it filled immediately. There is even more demand today. We are the second most desired location for meeting planners in Indiana with the smallest venue.
Since 1991, the center has weathered national economic highs and lows. Over that time, IU enrollment, the regional population and the number of state associations all increased. Over that time, technology evolved making live events even more engaging. Reasons to meet continuously changed making for consistent demand for education and training. Over that time, nonprofit, public and private sectors learned the value of live events for engagement as well as technology working together with live events is better for strengthening communication, understanding and services to their stakeholders. Even during the pandemic the Monroe Convention Center hosted vaccine clinics and blood drives to service community needs.
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The one constant is that people love to gather, share and keep up to date with the latest information with in-person connections. They will naturally continue to want to do that.
Nationally, the meeting and event industry is seeing a booming recovery with increased demand for space by meeting planners according to Cvent, a nationally recognized meeting planner resource. Locally, we are definitely experiencing that increase in demand requests. Coming out of the pandemic, there are new organizations and new planners with a readiness to address a backlog of meeting and fundraising needs. Challenges now include date availability, size requests, increased costs with addressing their increased desires and, at times, staffing and supply to accommodate those increased requests. A more stabilized schedule of events Sunday through Thursday will help with this. Groups tend to book a year out, so we are working toward that stabilization.
There is a renewed focus on return on time, experience and financial investment on behalf of the attendee with a desire to attend a memorable event in person. Planners are prioritizing health and wellness activities. They want meetings to reflect the social priorities of attendees. Facilities must continue to provide the latest technology and be staffed to help planners create their events. Virtual reality will make event planning for live events easier and more efficient. We can provide information about the area, sharing space layout, do virtual tours of the space, assist with registration and guest services.
There is a national trend among meeting planners to choose leisure destinations over the larger metro areas. Locally, this positions Monroe County perfectly. Attendees can to enjoy the area supporting our local businesses and attractions. Our local population benefits from the variety of amenities supported by visitors. The demand for meetings and events is strong. There needs to be a belief in the importance of the vitality of our community. We must do what we can to continuously strengthen it.
Talisha Coppock is executive director of Downtown Bloomington Inc. and the Monroe Convention Center.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Trends in meeting, event planning puts Bloomington in good position
