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Cos. embrace outsourcing hybrids.

Article Excerpt
Corporations are most likely to approach a travel or meetings management company over independent planners or technology providers for help managing their meetings, according to an exclusive Meetings Monitor survey of 186 corporate meeting buyers. Buyers said they often take a hybrid approach to outsourcing, employing key internal staffers to oversee the initiative and using a third party to handle logistical details or negotiations.

According to the survey, 23 percent of respondents said they typically use a travel management company for meetings management, 13 percent of buyers said they partner with a destination management company and 17 percent use an independent meetings management company or individual planner.

The majority of respondents, 60 percent, said the extent to which their companies outsource meeting planning has remained constant during the past two years and 12 percent said outsourcing was on the rise. However, 23 percent of respondents said their companies used external meeting planning providers "much less" last year compared to 2004.

High-tech switch manufacturer Extreme Networks Inc. dramatically has reduced its use of external planners since adopting a meetings management technology tool, said Nancy Garner, global travel procurement manager for...

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