When the U.S. Department of Labor issued its daunting new overtime rules this
spring, officials at the Community College of Rhode Island knew they’d need
some good training to ensure they understood the rules and could apply them
properly.
At four seminars, top CCRI managers learned about different aspects of the new law, from the basics to exemptions for specific types of employees. But they never left the college. Instead, they hooked up with teleconferences right from campus.
Visit the labor department’s Web site, and you’ll find a whole set of video presentations meant to replace the kind of tutorials you’d normally get at a face-to-face seminar. Law firms, unions and trade associations have also offered teleconferences.
“Nothing replaces one-on-one networking,” said Dennis W. Moore, assistant to the president at CCRI, “but it’s a difficult time, and this is a way of getting the professional development people need in a financially reasonable way.”
There’s no question: Web conferencing, videoconferencing and other forms of teleconferencing have grown dramatically in recent years, their popularity fueled by the relatively low cost, convenience and the near ubiquity of the needed technologies.
Teleconferencing also filled an important need at a time when, for unrelated reasons, business travel had become less attractive or viable. A long recession shrank travel budgets, and security concerns after Sept. 11 made people more reluctant to travel if it could be avoided.
“Since 9-11, people are very conscious about their personal time,” said Jack Riepe, spokesman for the Association of Corporate Travel Executives. It’s one thing to spend a day at a seminar, Riepe said, but the travel time, plus an overnight stay, is a whole extra burden.
Last year, a joint survey by ACTE and Runzheimer International found 40 percent of U.S. corporations polled had cut their travel budgets from 2002 to 2003, with 64 percent saying fewer domestic trips were being taken, 59 percent citing a decline in international travel, and 56 percent citing high-tech alternatives.
The impact of such cutbacks was substantial. The Travel Industry Association reported that domestic business travel was down 9 percent in 2003. Many in the industry predicted that 2004 would finally show a rebound, and indeed it has, Riepe said, because the airfares are so cheap.
“Right now fares are being dropped right through the floor, and anytime that happens, corporations are very quick to snap them up and take advantage of them,” he said. A March ACTE/Runzheimer report showed domestic business trip costs had dropped to 1996 levels or lower: While the average trip cost $958 in 1996 and $1,027 in 2002, it was down to $915 earlier this year. A big part of the savings may come from online bookings, which one survey found are now the choice for two-thirds of business travelers, up from 17 percent in 2000.
The meeting industry is also adapting, making its events more manageable. In a recent interview with Convene magazine, Michael Gehrisch, president and CEO of the International Association of Convention & Visitor Bureaus, said events are getting shorter, with the average length now down to 2.5 to 4 days.
And there’s been a bit of a backlash, as shown in an article by Julianne Vaughn, president of Santa Cruz-based Stargate International, in the May issue of The Meeting Professional: “Face-to-Face Has Its Place.”
Vaughn cited a 2003 survey of business professionals by TANDBERG, a videoconferencing provider, and RoperASW that found face-to-face meetings were the preferred means to achieve 12 of 18 business objectives. They may also be, Vaughn argued, more efficient. The survey found only 23 percent of teleconference participants said they gave their full attention, while 25 percent wrote or checked their e-mail on the side, and the rest were distracted by other tasks.
At CCRI, Moore said people still travel as they always have, but teleconferencing is where the growth is. Webcasts and videoconferences are now held several times a month, Moore said, and the college is making its services available to businesses and outside groups. Even some staff meetings are videoconferenced, to more easily connect people in Warwick, Lincoln, Providence and Newport without long drives.
“It allows people to be much more productive,” Moore said.
