Steve Bova, CAE, is Executive Director, Financial & Insurance Conference Professionals (FICP). Photo by Tori Soper

Steve Bova, CAE, is executive director, Financial & Insurance Conference Professionals (FICP).  For more research insights, including forecasted business expectations through December 2025, visit ficpnet.com/Education-Resources/Industry-Research.

Being a meetings professional is stressful.

Stress is our drumbeat, and there’s truth to it.

The Occupational Information Network (O*NET), which is part of the U.S. Department of Labor, ranked 873 of the most stressful jobs in the United States, and the role of “meeting, convention and event planners” is now number 13 on the list.

While no longer in the top five most stressful jobs — an anecdote referenced more frequently than I’d like to admit — it is an occupation that requires a lot, and that was reflected in the wide range of skills, work styles and requirements shared in the O*NET study.

Pointedly, stress tolerance — defined as “job requires accepting criticism and dealing calmly and effectively with high-stress situations” — was ranked the third-most important skill, with a score of 95 out of 100, behind only attention to detail (98) and dependability (97).

Stress tolerance is likely required because of the deadline-driven expectations and the need to work with so many different people to accomplish your goals. Three out of four people shared that adhering to strict deadlines every single day is a job requirement, while 91% said that face-to-face discussions with individuals or teams is an everyday need.

Balancing people and priorities can be (and is) stressful. It’s the job, yet every job has its positives and negatives.

Rather than stress being our conversational drumbeat, I pose that it’s our opportunity — and perhaps obligation — to change our tune, to strike a more positive chord about the work we do and love, to spark energy and excitement around the impact we make individually and collectively.

What You Do Matters, Truly

There’s a reason why the tagline for Global Meetings Industry Day has been “Meetings Matter” for the past two years. Meetings are increasingly viewed as profit drivers and sources of competitive advantage, rather than as cost centers, by F&I organizations.

That was one of many positive takeaways from the summer 2024 edition of the FICP Pulse Survey completed by 148 F&I meetings professionals and hospitality partners.

Specifically, meetings professionals shared that senior management in their organizations view meetings and events as a 74, which is an improvement of nine points in comparison to 2023 (74 v. 65).

This positive momentum is in part due to the direct impact that meetings and events have on an organization’s bottom line and so much more.

You help drive business growth by designing and executing events that facilitate meaningful connections, help generate leads, strengthen client relationships and close deals. This was reflected in the FICP Pulse Survey through the top two priorities for meetings and events in 2024 being: 1) supporting sales and business development efforts (84.6%) and 2) enhancing client relationships and engagement (73.9%).

You help foster employee engagement and build culture by creating events like town halls, training sessions and celebrations, which have an important role in building a cohesive and motivated workforce. That circles back to business growth, as highly engaged employees experience a 21% increase in profitability (Gallup report) and a productivity increase of 37% (Harvard Business Review).

The corporate events, conferences and sponsorship activations you manage help bolster brand visibility and reinforce your organization’s position as an industry leader.

You directly support professional development by organizing conferences and educational sessions that help ensure employees are informed about industry trends, company and compliance updates and innovations. A LinkedIn study shared that job-related learning activities help reduce stress by 47% and, again, increase productivity by 39%.

You have the opportunity to promote diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) through intentional event design — from speaker selection to creating inclusive spaces — that reflects and promotes your organization’s values. One of your superpowers is creating a sense of belonging through your work, and a greater sense of belonging is linked to a 56% increase in job performance, a 50% reduction in turnover risk and a 75% decrease in sick days. That has tangible business impact as “for a 10,000-person company, this would result in annual savings of more than $52M.” (Harvard Business Review)

Meetings professionals affect nearly every aspect of the business, and there are few other roles that have such wide-sweeping impact within an organization. That all-encompassing impact is likely a contributing factor to why it is such a high-pressure experience. Yet, if we focus on the positives and possibilities, it might lead to more joy in your job.

Bring Back the Joy of the Job

When you first thought about becoming a meetings professional, there was likely a lot of excitement about the experiences you would have, the people you would meet and the places you could travel to.

What if, instead of talking about the stress of the job — as every job has stress — we flipped the script to talk about the joy of what you do. Here are some of the aspects of a meetings professional’s job that are likely to inspire joy:

• Travel to New and Exciting Destinations: Organizing events, especially incentives, often takes meetings professionals to unique locations, offering opportunities to explore diverse cultures, cuisines and attractions
• Creative Expression: Designing event themes, selecting décor and curating unique attendee experiences are just some of the ways that meetings professionals channel their creativity and bring visions to life
• Building Meaningful Connections: Collaborating with diverse teams and interacting with industry leaders, clients and attendees can foster relationships, personally and professionally
• Variety Over Monotony: Each event is different, creating a dynamic environment where not every day is exactly the same. After all, variety is the spice of life
• Access to Unique Experiences: From exclusive venues to behind-the-scenes tours and VIP interactions, meetings professionals often enjoy perks that others might not have access to
• Problem-Solving Challenges: Successfully overcoming unexpected challenges with your meetings and events — such as last-minute changes or logistical hurdles — helps to build resilience and confidence, benefiting your personal life as well

What are some of the moments of joy you experienced in 2024?

Consider carving out 15 minutes in your next team check-in to go around the proverbial table and have everyone share their moments of joy with each other. I’d wager that time will do more to boost morale — and thereby productivity — than most other actions you could take that day.

Now is the Time

O*NET’s study shined a spotlight not only on the needs of this important role, but also on the fact that the number of people doing it is expected to grow more rapidly over the next several years in comparison to most other jobs, with an anticipated rise of 6-8% between 2023-2033.

That growth is going to require motivated employees.

It is going to require a new generation that sees the joy of the job.

It is going to require each of us to be more positive about the job we first fell in love with.

We have a choice to change the narrative about our industry and what we do, and now is the time to do it. Are you with me? I&FMM