--- title: "Report: Meeting Planners Stressing Personalization, Sustainability" id: "56264" type: "post" slug: "report-meeting-planners-stressing-personalization-sustainability" published_at: "2024-10-29T15:56:05+00:00" modified_at: "2026-11-09T15:23:33+00:00" url: "https://associationsnow.com/2024/10/29/report-meeting-planners-stressing-personalization-sustainability/" markdown_url: "https://associationsnow.com/2024/10/29/report-meeting-planners-stressing-personalization-sustainability.md" excerpt: "Meeting planners seek to create personalized, high-impact experiences while balancing budget constraints and sustainability goals." taxonomy_category: - "Meetings / Events" taxonomy_post_tag: - "AssociationsNow" - "Environment and Sustainability" - "event planning" - "Financial Smarts" - "Meetings" - "personalization" taxonomy_content_format: - "Article" taxonomy_role: - "Director" - "Manager" taxonomy_persona: - "Association Professionals" --- [Home](https://associationsnow.com/) » [Articles](https://associationsnow.com/format/article/) » Report: Meeting Planners Stressing Personalization, Sustainability Meeting planners are looking to deliver more bespoke and personalized experiences to attendees, while struggling to manage tighter budgets and sustainability goals, according to a new report. [What’s Trending 2025 (opens in a new tab)](https://info.bcdme.com/meeting-and-event-industry-trends?utm_source=press-release&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=2025%2Btrends%2Breport) , a report published earlier this month by the events management firm BCD Meetings & Events, emphasized the importance of personalization in meetings design. “Personalization, immersive experiences and engaging event design are increasingly driving event strategy globally,” said the report “It’s become essential to capture the attention of attendees and demonstrate the clear impact of events.” > Flights are the most expensive piece and the biggest carbon-savings opportunity. > > Charlene Rabideau, BCD Meetings & Events That means planners will need to be creative about their agendas, said Charlene Rabideau, SVP and Managing Director for North America at BCD. That can mean personalized gifts for attendees, as well as more opportunities to experience a host city. “For one client event, we added longer breaks to allow for more networking time where they could go outside and do an activity, as opposed to a typical 30-minute break,” she said. “It’s about being more intentional about the agenda design to ensure that it’s allowing for the networking piece as well as the content and education pieces.” “Know the right questions to ask as people are registering for your event,” the report advised. “When handled strategically, this allows for greater personalization and attendees feeling like they have a choice, but in a controlled way without breaking the budget.” The report notes that planners are also mindful about the length of events, and how an event can be adjusted to meet sustainability goals. “Costs are going up, yet budgets often remain flat,” the report says. “Manage costs in a smart way by understanding the types of meetings and events you are managing across the enterprise — think size, spend, activity, number of meetings — so you can influence where your investment is going on a continual basis.” Rabideau adds that many planners are paying closer attention to where likely attendees will hail from to help reduce the carbon usage related to an event. “Flights are the most expensive piece and the biggest carbon-savings opportunity,” Rabideau said. “So look at that piece first: Who needs to be there, in what place? You might host a meeting on the West Coast for the West Coast attendees, and the East Coast for the East Coast.” That understanding is just one piece of a broader need for increased data savvy, according to the report. “Implement a data policy and understand what your meetings activity and spend looks like through data so you can manage it effectively and use it in negotiations with suppliers,” the report says. “Be able to demonstrate you can control spend and influence behavior to drive better partnerships and relationships across the supply chain base for meetings and events.” Despite that increased consideration around data, sustainability, and use of technology around meetings, enthusiasm around hybrid or virtual events has waned as planners look to trim costs, Rabideau said. “We’ve watched a steady trend downward to the number of hybrid meetings because of the cost and because of the expense associated,” she said. [dusanpetkovic/istock] [Mark Athitakis](https://associationsnow.com/author/mark-athitakis/) Mark Athitakis, a contributing editor for Associations Now, has written on nonprofits, the arts, and leadership for a variety of publications. He is a coauthor of The Dumbest Moments in Business History and hopes you never qualify for the sequel. [More articles by this author](https://associationsnow.com/author/mark-athitakis/) Tags: [#Environment and Sustainability](https://associationsnow.com/tag/environment-and-sustainability/) [#event planning](https://associationsnow.com/tag/event-planning/) [#Financial Smarts](https://associationsnow.com/tag/financial-smarts/) [#Meetings](https://associationsnow.com/tag/meetings/) [#personalization](https://associationsnow.com/tag/personalization/) **Stay Informed** [Subscribe to our free newsletter](https://associationsnow.com/newsletter/) , *Associations Now Daily News*, to find out what’s happening in the association world every business day. ## You Might Like - [ArticleReport: Cost, Stability Top Meeting Planners’ AgendasOctober 20, 2026](https://associationsnow.com/2026/10/20/report-cost-stability-top-meeting-planners-agendas/) - [PodcastSustainable Events: How Associations and DMOs Are Leading the ChargeMarch 31, 2025](https://associationsnow.com/2025/03/31/sustainable-events-how-associations-and-dmos-are-leading-the-charge/) - [ArticleThe New Meeting VIP ExperienceJuly 24, 2026](https://associationsnow.com/2026/07/24/the-new-meeting-vip-experience/) - [ArticleWhat Meeting Planners Miss About AttendeesDecember 12, 2025](https://associationsnow.com/2025/12/12/what-meeting-planners-miss-about-attendees/) ## Comments **Comments are for ASAE members.** [Learn more about comments on this site.](https://associationsnow.com/comments/) [Log in](https://associationsnow.com/login?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fassociationsnow.com%2F2024%2F10%2F29%2Freport-meeting-planners-stressing-personalization-sustainability%2F%23comments) to your member account or [join ASAE](https://my.asaecenter.org/select-a-membership-type/) !