Event Planning Marketplace

Delivered September 1st, 2019

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Event Planning Marketplace: Market Size

In the United States, the size of the corporate events planning market is an estimated $166.725 billion. 
MARKET SIZEThe size of the corporate events planning market in the United States is around $166.725 billion as can be inferred from the following data published by the Events Industry Council in 2018:
In 2017, direct spending on business events in the United States was $325 billion. 
In 2016, direct spending on business events in the United States was $325.045 billion, and planning/production accounted for 51.3% of this amount.
The Events Industry Council defines business events, direct spending, and planning/production spending as follows:
A business event, otherwise known as a meeting, is "a
 gathering of 10 or more participants for a minimum of four hours in a
 contracted venue." Examples of business events include conferences, congresses, conventions, exhibitions, incentive events, and trade shows. 
Direct spending pertains to "spending directly incurred in the planning and production of business events, travel to business events, and accompanying business events-related activities." It includes the travel and registration expenses of participants, the travel expenses of organizers, the expenses of exhibitors, and the expenses of event hosts and organizers, among others.
Planning/production spending, a component of direct spending, pertains to the "costs incurred by organizers and hosts to plan and put on the meeting." It is separate from travel/accommodation spending.
According to the American Express Meetings and Events North American Survey, of the meetings in the United States in 2018, 32% were internal team meetings or training events, 13% were internal or external product launches, 14% were conferences or trade shows, 17% were senior leadership meetings or board meetings, 15% were client advisory board meetings, and 10% were incentive or special events. 
The Events Industry Council reports that, in 2017, the direct impact of the business events industry on the gross domestic product (GDP) of the United States was $184.2 billion, the business events industry supported 2.489 million direct jobs in the United States, there were a total of 252.6 million business event participants in the United States, and the average spend per business event participant in the United States was $1,287. 
RESEARCH STRATEGYWe initially checked if there are sources in the public domain that readily provide the size of the corporate events planning market in the United States, but we quickly found that no such sources exist. Allied Market Research and Beroe, Inc. have released reports on the global events market and the global meetings and events market, respectively; however, these reports are both paywalled and they do not contain any information on the planning segment of the market. The sources we found most useful were the reports of the Events Industry Council and American Express Meetings & Events. The comprehensive reports of the Events Industry Council on the economic impact of business events or meetings on the United States and global economies helped us triangulate the size of the United States's market for corporate events planning. Page 13 of the Events Industry Council's report Global Economic Significance of Business Events shows that, in 2017, direct spending on business events in the United States amounted to $325 billion. On the other hand, page 10 of the Events Industry Council's report Economic Significance of Meetings to the US Economy shows that, in 2016, direct spending on meetings or business events in the United States amounted to $325.045 billion and that planning/production accounted for 51.3% of this amount. Since there was no marked increase in direct spending between 2016 and 2017, we assumed that current direct spending is not that far from $325 billion and that planning's share of direct spending remains at around 51.3%. With this assumption, we were able to make the following calculation:

 $325 billion x 51.3% = $166.725 billion

Both figures were published by the Events Industry Council in 2018, and the reports of the Events Industry Council are the most comprehensive, non-paywalled business events industry reports available in the public domain. We attempted to determine how direct spending has grown over the years but was unable to find any clue apart from what was provided in the reports of the Events Industry Council. Page 9 of the report Economic Significance of Meetings to the US Economy shows that direct spending had grown at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 23.4% between 2009 and 2016, but the fact that direct spending in 2017 remained at $325 billion suggests that we could not use this CAGR to project the current market size. Given the lack of a more up-to-date CAGR specific to business events, we made the assumption that current direct spending on business events is still in the region of $325 billion.

From the report of American Express Meetings & Events on meetings and events, we were able to gather insights about how corporate events break down by type (e.g., internal meetings, product launches, conferences or trade shows, board meetings, incentive events).

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Event Planning Marketplace: Number of Event Planners

In 2019, the estimated total number of event planners in the United States is 117,970, with 35% of them (41,289) being independent event planners. Complete details on the triangulations used to determine these insights are presented below. 
Total Number of Event Planners in the USFor 2019, the estimated number of meeting, convention and event planners is 117,970 (reference calculations below). 
As reported by the Bureau of Labour Statistics, in 2018, the number of jobs for meeting, convention, and event planners in the United States was 116,700. 
The expected increase in growth for meeting, convention, and event planners is 11% in the United States. This growth rate is observed and expected for 2016-2026 (faster than average).
The expected employment change from 2016 to 2026 is 12,700.
Total Number of Independent Event Planners in the USFor 2019, the total number of independent event planners (meeting, convention and event planners) would be 41,289.  (reference calculations below). 
According to DataUSA, the total workforce in the industry of meeting, convention, and event planners in the United States is estimated at 140,000. 
The meetings industry directly supports 2.5 million jobs. This doesn’t include another 1.5 million indirect jobs and 1.9 million induced jobs, all across a wide cross-section of industries.
In the United States, around 35% of the workforce is freelance and they contributed over $1 trillion to the economy during 2016 alone.
Research StrategyTo find the total number of event planners, including independent planners, the research team primarily went through market research reports and survey reports from reputable sources such as IBISWorld, Kentley Insights, Market Research, and others. These types of reports sometimes also discuss the market size of specific industries in terms of worker numbers. While IBISWorld provided the market size of the event planning industry in the United States, the number of businesses, and its growth rate, it did not provide any information specific to the number of jobs or the number of event planners. Other sources mainly mentioned the spending, budget, wages, etc., but none of them mentioned the desired data.
 
Next, we looked through statistical databases, such as Statista.  The idea behind this strategy was that Statista or other statistical databases generally provide yearly data for the number of people working in specific industries. But these sources mainly provided B2B events industry revenue worldwide, revenue in the event ticket segment, total number of consumers, etc. and not the quality or the specific data for which we were most interested. Later we searched through government sites such as the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and DataUSA. There we found the number of jobs in the industry. These sources also provided some other relevant information on the growth of employment in the "Meeting, Convention, and Event Planners" industry. 

We also looked through media articles and credible blog sites on the total number of event planners. The sources we looked through include The Bizzabo Blog, Eventbrite, Concierge.com, and Event Manager Blog. However, we found that these sources referred to the government databases BLS that we referred to above. Therefore, in the absence of any other direct information on the number of event planners in the United States, which is publicly available, we have decided to calculate the information based on the available data. Additionally, the research team assumed the term "Meeting, Convention, and Event Planners" was appropriately transferable for our data needs.  

TOTAL NUMBER OF EVENT PLANNERS IN THE US — CALCULATION
--> As reported by the BLS in 2018, the number of jobs for Meeting, Convention, and Event Planners in the US was 116,700.
--> The expected employment change from 2016 to 2026 is 12,700.
--> From the above, the total number of expected employment change per year from 2016 to 2026 would be 1270
--> For 2018, the number of meeting, convention, and event planners was 116,700
--> So, for 2019, the estimated number of meeting, convention and event planners would be = 116,700 + 1270 = 117,970

TOTAL NUMBER OF INDEPENDENT EVENT PLANNERS IN THE US — CALCULATION
--> In the United States, around 35% of the workforce was freelance during 2016 alone.
--> Assumed the 35% freelance figure applies across the meetings/events planning industry.
--> As the total number of event planners (meeting, convention, and event planners) was = 117,970
--> For 2019, the total number of independent event planners (meeting, convention and event planners) would be = 35% of 117,970 = 41,289.50

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Event Planning Marketplace: Competitive landscape

Top companies in the United States that offer corporate event planning include Cvent Inc., Aventri, and Ungerboeck International. A brief overview and revenue for each company are detailed within the attached spreadsheet.
Cvent Inc.Brief Overview: Cvent claims to be a leading events, meetings, and hospitality management company with over 4,000 workers, 27,000 customers, and 300,000 global users.
Revenue: $600 million 
AventriBrief Overview: Aventri is focused on aiding event and meeting planners in order to help them produce valuable in-person experiences, expand influential communities, and grow brands.
Revenue: $29.6 million 
Ungerboeck InternationalBrief Overview: Ungerboeck, a Missouri-based event planning company, offers comprehensive event planning professionals and a leading-edge SaaS technology which provides a total view of the clients business, allowing them to minimize costs, increase revenue, and save time.
Revenue: $30 million 
Research Strategy:After an exhaustive search, the research team identified a 2018 press release by Market Watch that contained information on the global event management market. According to the report, North America is the largest leader in the industry, by region. Further, the report listed the major industry leaders by market share. From the list, we conducted additional research to identify which of the companies were based in the United States and also offered corporate event planning solutions. We leveraged information from trusted business directory sites (e.g., Crunchbase) to provide some of the companies' revenues.

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Event Planning Marketplace: Competitive landscape (2)

Cvent's latest round of funding raised under a million dollars, while Aventri's brought in $20 million. Ungerboeck International has an office located in St. Louis, Missouri. The requested details for each company is provided below and on the attached spreadsheet in rows five through eight, columns B through D. 
Corporate Event Planning - US Companies1) Cvent, Inc.Funding Details: Cvent's latest funding round occurred on January 17, 2012 (Venture) in which it raised about $912,000.
Geography of Operations (United States): 1) Tysons Corner, Virginia (headquarters), 2) Portland, Oregon, 3) Minneapolis, Minnesota, 4)Chicago, Illinois, 5) Lexington and Boston, Massachusetts, 6) Atlanta, Georgia, 7) Dallas and Austin, Texas, 8) Phoenix, Arizona, 9) San Diego, SanFrancisco, and Los Angeles, California, 10) Draper and Salt Lake City, Utah, 11) Jersey City, New Jersey, 12) New York City, New York, 13) Miami and Orlando, Florida, 14) Washington D.C., 15) LasVegas, Nevada, and 16) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Employee Headcount: More than 4000 employees, with 4352 listed on LinkedIn 
Key Partners: Cvent runs a program where it partners with businesses operating in certain segments, including management, travel, industry, meeting, events, and service technology. [3]
2) AventriFunding Details: Aventri's latest funding round was in May 2016 (Series C) in which it accumulated approximately $20 million from four separate businesses. The Argentum Group served as the lead investor.
Geography of Operations (United States): Norwalk, Connecticut (global headquarters), 2) Sandy, Utah, and 3) Bethesda, Maryland.
Employee Headcount: 380 
Key Partners: Sciensio, InGo, Eved, Uber for Business, EmpireCLS, miMeetings, Swiftium, Meetingmax, CardConnect, and Plannernet.
3) Ungerboeck InternationalFunding details: N/A 
Geography of Operations (United States): According to its LinkedIn profile and Featured Customers, Ungerboeck International operates a single office location in the United States, which is in St. Louis, Missouri. 
Employee Headcount: Between 201-500 employees, 322 total workers listed on LinkedIn
Key Partners: Venuworks, DocuSign, Tibco Scribe, Tessitura Network, and PayPal
Research Strategy:We were unable to find any funding details for Ungerboeck International. We searched through company profiling databases such as Hoovers, Crunchbase, Zoom Info, and Pitchbook, among others. Additionally, we scoured the company's official website, along with its available press releases for information, however, nothing was listed publicly. Due to the unavailability of relevant data in the public domain, we have entered N/A (not available) in row five of column D of the spreadsheet.