Sadly, there is a lot of truth to your words, Dave.

While there be many failures with business partnerships, I think with the change in the business environment, we are gonna see some really strong partnerships develop in the coming year. More than ever, people are realizing just how important sustained relationships are to business health, and also the increasing specialization of businesses to niche services will create more opportunities for orgs to work together strategically.

Thanks for adding to the conversation, as always!

@michaelmccurry

When I hear the term “partner” I often think of a hotel or CVB partnering with a client and/or 3rd party to execute an exceptional event. Last year’s downturn, though, really strained these relationships. When a hotel would not drop their rate or waive attrition, they were told that they were a bad partner vs. someone holding up their side of the contract. Moral of the story is that partnership is a term that is often used loosely in our industry and more for positioning oneself for negotiations.

When you look at the business world, I’d have to agree with Jeff’s assessment. According to Accenture, alliances/partnerships represented somewhere between $25 and $40 trillion in total value a couple years ago. Most of these will fail to meet their sponsors’ expectations and less than 2% will survive beyond four years.

The reason for failure is often due to the fact that one party is trying to benefit more than the other. You never want to make a partnership because there will be referral fees paid back and forth or to your sales personnel. You want to form a partnership because collectively you solve client problems better together than apart.

This is really a great testimonial, Mike, to the value of partnerships. Thanks for sharing it!

The funny part about life is we never know who we are going to be working with or, better yet, working for. That’s the part where a giving spirit and a kind heart goes a long way towards sustaining relationships on a lifelong basis.

Clearly, Mike, you have that type of spirit, and it is a pleasure to know you as a friend and do business with you as an event professional.

Thanks for adding to the conversation.

@michaelmccurry

Amen to that Traci… the word does get thrown around a lot.

But… in its proper perspective it has wonderful implications, and in follow through, great results.

This way of thinking will help our business thrive long into the future, if adopted consistently across sectors and brands.

Thanks for adding to the conversation!

@michaelmccurry

I like to use the word partner instead of sponsor when it comes to expos and events that I produce. It creates room for a dialog with those signing up to participate in our events. To me, using the word partner says I don’t just have my own interests at heart, but yours as well. I want our ‘partners’ to be in it for the long haul…not just one event.