1. 6 th Floor – 543 Granville Street, Vancouver, BC V6C 1X8 T 604.566.8912 @sentisresearch sentisresearch.com SENTIS MARKET RESEARCH INC. Beyond Spending Measuring The Total Benefits Of Meetings JMIC Value of Meetings Conference May 15, 2015 Julie Winram Managing Partner Sentis Research jw@sentisresearch.com | 604.396.2416

2. Why I’m Here 2 Hey, I’d like you to come to a meeting. What’s it about? …. Is it a meeting on meetings? Hahaha. You guessed it! Well, tell me more first. What’s the plan to move things along?

3. Why I’m Here 3 The plan is this… I’m going to put 50 smart people in a room together. That’s the plan?? Ok, well, first tell me where, when and what you want from me. Not sure what I’ll want you to do yet, but you’ll have to get yourself there. It’s in Paris. Paris? And I have to pay for my own ticket? Hmmm. Jeez Rod, let me think about it!

4. Measuring ECONOMIC Benefit (Sentis Model, circa 2004 - 2013) 4 Spending data from surveyed attendees Total population of qualifying attendees Event Production Costs Total Attendee Spending Total Exhibitor Spending Projected to Spending data from surveyed exhibitors Total population of qualifying exhibitors Projected to Spending figures from facility/event organizer Total Benefit From Spending

5. Measuring TOTAL Benefits (Sentis Model, circa 2015) 5 Spending data from surveyed attendees Total population of qualifying attendees Event Production Costs Total Attendee Spending Total Exhibitor Spending Projected to Spending data from surveyed exhibitors Total population of qualifying exhibitors Projected to Spending figures from facility/event organizer TOTAL BENEFITS Spending + Long Term Social and Economic Development Off-Site Event Spending -Sharing of ideas, techniques, understanding, technology, etc. -Return visits -Connections & relationships -Business deals

6. Measuring TOTAL Benefits (Sentis Model, circa 2015) 6 Spending data from surveyed attendees Total population of qualifying attendees Event Production Costs Total Attendee Spending Total Exhibitor Spending Projected to Spending data from surveyed exhibitors Total population of qualifying exhibitors Projected to Spending figures from facility/event organizer TOTAL BENEFITS Spending + Long Term Social and Economic Development Off-Site Event Spending -Sharing of ideas, techniques, understanding, technology, etc. -Return visits -Connections & relationships -Business deals

7. Case Study: 2010 Paralympic Games 7 Objectives Task 1: Measure the impact of the Paralympic Games on improving public attitudes regarding people with disabilities Task 2: Measure improvement in the City’s accessibility for people with disabilities

8. Case Study: GPS 2012 8 Method  Task 1: Measuring improvement in public attitudes Pre Games Survey Post Games Survey - Immediately after Games Follow-Up Survey - 6 months later  Task 2: Measuring improvement in accessibility Public records pre-Games on wheelchair accessibility at public and private facilities Public records post Games

9. Measuring TOTAL Benefits (Sentis Model, circa 2015) 9 Spending data from surveyed attendees Total population of qualifying attendees Event Production Costs Total Attendee Spending Total Exhibitor Spending Projected to Spending data from surveyed exhibitors Total population of qualifying exhibitors Projected to Spending figures from facility/event organizer TOTAL BENEFITS Spending + Long Term Social and Economic Development Off-Site Event Spending -Sharing of ideas, techniques, understanding, technology, etc. -Return visits -Connections & relationships -Business deals

10. Case Study: GPS 2012 10 Objectives Task 1: Estimate the economic benefit generated by GPS 2012 Task 2: Estimate the total amount of business transactions that were made or are expected to be made in the 12 months following GPS 2012 Task 3: Capture attendee and exhibitors’ overall experience at GPS 2012 Task 4: Measure interest in future attendance and impact of moving to an annual conference

11. Case Study: GPS 2012 11 Method  2837 online surveys with attendees  814 online surveys with exhibitors  The spending data was weighted and projected to the total actual attendee and exhibitor populations  The production costs were added  The value of the transactions (deals) was calculated For this study, there was no need to calculate the impact to GDP or other economic benefits (eg. taxes, employment, etc.) We also did not include off-site event spending

12. Direct Economic Benefit (Total Spending) 12  GPS 2012 brought an estimated $69.4 million in economic impact to the City of Calgary. $25.4M $41.2M $2.8M $69.4 million in direct spending

13. Business Transactions Attributed To GPS 2012 13  In addition to the direct economic benefits associated with holding the event itself, companies attributed an estimated $8.9 billion in business transactions. $4.2 billion in transactions with international companies $4.7 billion in transactions with Alberta- based companies $8.9 billion worth in business transactions

14. Challenges & Caveats 1.Take care in data collection  Sample accurately (sampling frame and approach)  Maximize participation  Optimize accuracy of answers and honest disclosure of information 2.Prevent or remove duplicated transactions 3.Careful weighting and expansion of data 4.Accurate reporting of results 14

15. How is GPS using the results? 1.Promotion of the event  Benefits to attendees and exhibitors to participating  Benefits to City of Calgary 2.GPS is planning to repeat the study in 2016 15

16. Some Final Thoughts On Demonstrating Value 1.What does my stakeholder (client, government official, board) want to achieve? What is their mandate? 2.How can I help them reach their goal? (ie. make them look good)  Relevant events  Community involvement  Thought leader association  Communications about the success  Post event activities 3.How can we prove we made a difference?  Look for information already available (pre-post the event)  Survey attendees and key participants  Round out the data with compelling stories  Possibly: compare against at a control city 16