"Amenities" are the first items to be cut when the meeting budget must be trimmed, according to an online poll released today from MPI.

Forty-seven percent of respondents said that amenities are the first area to face the axe, followed by "facilities" and "meals," tied at 11 percent, and "transportation" (both air and ground) at 5 percent.

"Accommdations" escaped the planners' sharp pencil, while 23 percent cited "other" as an area in which to trim expenses.