52nd ICCA Congress

International Congress and Convention Association.

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Developing a standard instrument to assess intangible event outcomes from the Ambassador perspective

Dr Leonie Lockstone-Binney Mr Martin RobertsonDr Paul A Whitelaw

VICTORIA UNIVERSITY

International Congress and Convention Association.

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• To date delegate economic spend has dominated studies of the value of business events

• There have been calls to move beyond ‘beyond tourism benefits’ (Jago & Deery, 2010) and to measure the broader benefits of business events

• Limited research on broader, intangible benefits, (and mostly in the form of case studies) (Jago, Deery & Ortisi, 2011; Foley, Schlenker, Edwards & Hayllar, 2011; Foley, Schlenker, Edwards & Lewis-Smith, 2013)

• Challenges? Intangibles are difficult to measure and often require long timeframes to realise (Jago & Deery, 2010)

Intangible Outcomes of Business Events

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What are the intangibles?•Innovation, investment, knowledge transfer, research and business development (Joint Meetings Industry Council, 2011)

•Knowledge expansion, networks, relationships and collaboration; educational outcomes, fundraising and future research capacity, raising awareness, showcasing destination reputation (Foley et al., 2013)

•Innovation, improved organisation performance, personal development, increased productivity, increased sales, new skills and knowledge and awareness (Jago & Deery, 2010)

Intangible Outcomes of Business Events

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Using ICCA seed funding in 2012, we (Victoria University) conducted research examining the motives of Ambassadors in bidding for international association events. The findings revealed:– 66% of Ambassadors surveyed had participated

in at least one bid in the last 2 years– 76% of these bids were successful– Their top 3 motives for bidding were:

• Prestige or recognition for your professional body • Professional body support• Prestige or recognition for your country, region or city

(Lockstone-Binney, Whitelaw, Robertson, Junek & Michaels, 2013)

Genesis of this project

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• Given the professional approach of Ambassadors towards bidding demonstrated by the 2012 study, the research team considered Ambassadors might also be a valuable source to collect data on the intangible outcomes of the events they host

• ICCA provided subsequent seed funding for a 2 year project to design a standard instrument for this purpose

Genesis of this project

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• Jago & Deery’s (2010) proposed outcomes of Association Conferences will broadly frame the instrument: Income generator for non-profit organisations Development of industry positions and policy Media profile of key community-key issues Knowledge dissemination within sectors Release of new research Collaboration between items Community outreach programs New members

• Multiple items to assess each outcome will initially be sourced from the appropriate available literature

How this instrument will be developed?

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Initial feedback collected on draft items

(ICCA Congress 2013)Expert panel to finalise draft questionnaire

(November 2013)Pilot test (December 2013)

Survey administration (Jan-September 2014) Online administration Central database managed by Victoria University

Report on project findings (ICCA Congress 2014)

How this instrument will be developed?

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• As part of a post-event reporting template Ambassadors complete for their host Convention Bureau/Destination Marketing Organisation

• Most items should not require additional primary data collection (rather collation of existing data), although some items may need to be integrated into delegate surveys (e.g., number of business cards collected)

• At the conclusion of the 2 year project, the online survey platform (and database) will be transferred to ICCA for ongoing use and management

How the instrument will be used in practice?

International Congress and Convention Association.

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• Only top-line quantitative data in the immediate post-event period will be captured – this is not a longitudinal approach

• The rich insights that case studies provide will not be captured by this study

• Over time, however, analysis of the database generated by this study will be able to quantity the scale of a number of outcomes associated with a range of international association meetings and events

Limitations of the planned approach

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• Foley, C., Schlenker, K., Edwards, D., & Hayllar, B. (2011). A scoping study of business events: Beyond Tourism Benefits, prepared for Business Events Study.

• Foley, C., Schlenker, K., Edwards, D., & Lewis-Smith, L. (2013). Determining business event legacies beyond the tourism spend: An Australian case study approach. Event Management, 17 (3), 311-322.

• Jago, L., & Deery, M. (2010). Delivering innovation, knowledge and performance: The role of business events, prepared for the Business Events Council of Australia.

• Jago, L., Deery, M., & Ortisi, N. (2011). The holistic value of business events, prepared for the Melbourne Convention + Visitors Bureau.

• Joint Meetings Industry Council. (2011). JMIC Conference addresses industry value proposition. Downloaded from jmic@themeetingsindustry.org

• Lockstone-Binney, L., Whitelaw, P., Robertson, M., Junek, O., & Michaels, I. (2013). The motives for ambassadors bidding for international meetings and events. Event Management 17 (4) (forthcoming).

Any Questions?Any Questions? References