Report: Meeting Budgets Expected to Increase

Sunny days may soon be here again. For the first time in more than a year, the majority of event planners expect their meeting budgets will hold steady or increase over the next six months, according to a new survey by MeetingNews magazine.

Of the 220 respondents, only 19 percent expect further cutbacks. This is a small glimmer of hope in what has been a difficult series of years for event planners—and, well, everyone.

Despite recent signs of life, the recovery may not be quite as quick as some would hope. "We're not out of the woods yet," Maritz Travel Co. president and CEO Christine Duffy told Business Travel News magazine. "I think people are still being pretty cautious and are really taking it quarter by quarter based on earnings and budgets being approved, which has not happened in one fell swoop."

As things are beginning to turn around, perhaps now is as good a time as any to start looking for the right speaker for your next event.