   As with Travel Insight, the new tool allows companies to ask
potential attendees about various meeting attributes in order to
decide what experiences will meet both their needs and corporate
goals. For example, a sales force might be asked what the
optimum number of nights for a sales meeting would be. Those
answers, as well as preferences in venue, schedule, and time of
year, would be weighed to design an effective event.  The main
difference between the two tools is that “the Meetings
Effectiveness solution handles any type of event and includes
the addition of an event measurement scorecard, which allows
meeting professionals to do some attitudinal comparisons pre-
and post-event,” says Lynn Stadler, strategic meeting consultant
for Maritz Travel.  The tool can be used for meetings with 100
or more attendees. Five companies, including Bayer Healthcare
and Cingular Wireless, have piloted the process.