A recent BizBash item may show a trend that could be bad news for independent planners: Nowadays, more in-house planners are keeping the work in-house.

A recent BiZBash survey of more than 300 event planners and vendors reveals that nearly 80 percent of industry pros have seen in-house planners taking a more hands-on role in planning their events and meetings in the past three years. Most agree that the role of the independent event planner is evolving, as budgets continue to shrink and in-house teams are getting savvier.

This kind of reverses the trend we’ve been seeing the past few years, with more in-house planners getting their jobs outsourced, then going independent themselves. I wonder if we’ll begin to see the revolving door spin in the other direction if this trend keeps up.

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Well, it looks like the story about the Teamsters walking out in Las Vegas came and went before I had a chance to blog about it.

According to a MIMlister, the Sept. 20 edition of Tradeshow Week says:

Vegas Union, Contractors Reach Tentative Agreement
LAS VEGAS–The Teamsters Local Union 631 reported Friday that a tentative
agreement had been reached with Freeman Decorating and GES Exposition
Services. Union members are expected to meet and discuss the proposal this
weekend; until then picketing has been called off.

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OK, we’ve all noticed this phenomenon Seth Godin calls the echo chamber
–at industry shows, the hot new thing is discussed endlessly, all the insiders go crazy over it, but when all’s said and done, no one outside the ballroom cares a whit about it. We see it in corporations and associations, too, where enthusiasm builds on excitement about some new thing, and customers and/or members couldn’t give a hoot once you roll it out.

Kind of like this blog, where me and some of our new media people thought it would be a great new way for us magazine types and readers to connect in a different way. Except we’re not connecting. Just like the magazines, this is turning out to be a one-way street where we (OK, in this case, I) talk and you listen. Which is fine, just not what I was expecting to have happen, which was more of a dialogue.

I know what I think about things–what I’d really like is to get outside my own echo chamber and hear what you all think about life, liberty, and the pursuit of better meetings. So would you do me a favor? Just click on the comment button below–you can do it anonymously if you like–and let me know what’s on your mind.

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Struggling to make your promotions sparkle, or to make your program really user-friendly? Check out the Society of National Association Publications 2004
EXCEL Awards for convention publications winners. While they don’t actually show any of the materials online (bummer!), they do provide full contact info if you want to get in touch and find out how they manage it.

Thanks to an alert MIMlist poster for bringing this to my attention.

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