Meet Las Vegas

Harrah’s Entertainment Vice President, Michael Massari, turns the lights down low to explain what Las Vegas can do for the world of pharmaceutical meetings.

As the head of an organization that hosts upwards of 4500 meetings a year, in what is arguably the number one meetings destination in the country, you talk to people all across the pharmaceutical industry at all levels. What are you hearing from these customers? What are they talking about?

Michael Massari. I hear our customers talking about when they should have meetings, where they should have them, what topics should be covered – even if they should have them at all. Most of all, I hear them talking about the ROI of their meetings. They’re asking ‘what is the return on all this time and money spent holding a meeting?’ Everyone is reevaluating and being more strategic. While this is obviously somewhat painful in the short run, in the long run I think this is a good thing as companies really start to think about these things on a more strategic level and business leaders make decisions on how to conduct their meetings based on what’s going to produce the maximum return on investment. They’re thinking about technology’s role in their meetings. They’re asking should I have a meeting and, if the answer is yes, should I do it via teleconference or a Webex – or should I have an in-person meeting?

A lot of companies are considering whether to replace in-person meetings with a technology-based meetings solution. How do you see technology fitting in to the conversation about meetings?

MM. Technology is an amazing thing and it is part of the conversation about meetings. If you’re doing an internal meeting, you may get a better ROI by doing a web meeting or a conference call. Maximizing ROI is what we’re all after. But if you are conducting a sales meeting, customer event or a product launch, nothing can take the place of doing that in-person. What we say is, if you don’t care about the answer or result, send an email. If you kind of care, make a phone call. If it’s really important, do it face-to-face. I really believe that applies across the board, regardless of the subject at hand. A great deal of communication is non-verbal. Nothing beats face-to-face, particularly if the result or answer is important to you.

What about the perception issues Las Vegas has had? You guys have been beat up in recent months by the media and by some of our elected officials.

MM. At the end of the day, it has to come back to ROI and I hear the same thing from the executives I talk to. They recognize that they have a fiduciary responsibility to their stakeholders to do what makes the most sense for the business and – when it comes to meetings – to select the destination and the supplier where they’re going to get the greatest value and realize the maximum return on investment. It’s that simple.
How are you going to produce the best return for your stakeholders?

The perception of the destination does have a place in that equation because it has either a positive or a negative connotation. But it’s not the only factor; if it’s the only factor you’re no longer being a good steward of your business.

So, how does Las Vegas provide this value and return on investment?

MM. Well, I think it comes down to two key things, and lots of places have one, and lots of places have the other, but very few have both, and Las Vegas has both. The first is the ability to execute the best meetings on the planet. And what could be more important to a pharmaceutical company than a sales meeting or a doctor’s conference or a product launch? Las Vegas is better equipped than any other destination to host these types of programs and execute them more successfully than anywhere else. The second is that we have a place where doctors and salespeople and people in general really want to come to. When you’re holding a meeting in Las Vegas, you don’t have to worry about convincing people to come.

Biography

Michael Massari is vice president of meeting sales and operations for Las Vegas Meetings by Harrah’s Entertainment. He has nearly 20 years of experience in meetings and hospitality, and was named one of the 25 Most Influential People in the Meetings Industry by Meeting News magazine.