Current Situation - Inefficiencies
        Overlapping and redundant workflows in the meeting and events category
        1. Lack of SMM processes in place leads to multiple resources performing the same 
            activities (e.g. calling hotels to check availability and rates, creating meeting budgets 
            and templates, creating registration websites and/or surveys from scratch, etc.)
        2. Lack of automation or multiple sources of automation used around the organization 
            (e.g. Access, Excel, Survey Monkey, etc.) 
        According to research by Aberdeen, organizations can achieve the following through SMMP 
                                                   implementation:
                        •     55% savings in productivity using dashboards and reports
                   •    43% savings in productivity for budgeting current and future events
                     •    32% savings in productivity for travel management and lodging
                      Current Situation – Lost Savings 
                                         Opportunities
                                 Fragmented purchasing leads to:
       1.   Inability to develop a preferred supplier program with local hotels, hotel chains, 
            Destination Management Companies, transportation companies and other frequently 
            used suppliers.
       2.   Inability to fully leverage spend with suppliers due to transparency and lack of critical 
            usage and spend data.
       3.   An inability to manage suppliers effectively due to the large volume of suppliers.  
       According to “Best Practices in SMM Strategic Sourcing,” a White Paper by Business Travel 
        News (sponsored by Cvent) in 2011, found that “Corporations can achieve an average of 
        10 to 20% savings when they implement best practices in sourcing, processes and policy 
                                                 compliance.”
                Current Situation – Limited Visibility Into 
                                       Meeting Activity 
       Limited visibility results in:
       1.   High risk factors associated with meetings, such as:
            a.   Global Duty of Care;
            b.   Attendee/traveler safety (not everyone travels to meetings by air);
            c.   Inadequate insurance coverage necessary for certain meetings; and
            d.   Unintended contractual risks.
       2.   Limited ability to manage compliance with corporate purchasing policies or legal 
            processes such as:
            a.   Signature authority levels; and
            b.   Meetings contracted without the appropriate approvals
             According to research by Aberdeen, “The gain of visibility into the strategic meetings 
                           space will reduce cost and improve savings by over 50%.”
              Current Situation – Limited Visibility Into 
                              Meeting Activity (cont’d)
      3.   Unawareness into:
          a.   Cancelled space credits available for re-use; 
          b.   Other penalty-related funds available for meetings;
          c.   Meetings that overlap in the same location resulting in lost opportunity to 
               negotiate based on full financial impact; and 
          d.   Cancellation of meetings due to unawareness of real-time Executive 
               unavailability.  
      In looking into meetings data, we found that __________ meetings were cancelled 
                     in the past year, resulting in the loss of  __________.
              Objectives in Implementing an SMMP
       1. Efficiency gains impacting:
            a.   Cost savings;
            b.   Optimization of resources; and
            c.   Ability to re-allocate some resources (if needed).
       2.    Increased visibility and the creation of transparency in the 
             meetings/event category:
            a.    Reduction in regulatory and legal risk to the organization.
       3.    Achieving significant cost savings and cost avoidance, freeing 
             up overall, organizational meeting spend.