Both in-house and independent event planners forecast a bright outlook for business in 2006, according to the "Forecast 2006" feature article in the January issue of Special Events Magazine. The article analyzes four years of data based on responses from hundreds of event professionals to predict the business outlook this year. Some highlights:

• Optimism about the strength of the business has continued to grow over the last four years. More than half of in-house event pros expect to produce more events this year than last, up from 43 percent in 2003. That number jumps to nearly 70 percent for independent event pros, up from 61 percent in 2003.
• Event pros express greater confidence about the budgets they will able to spend for their events. The percentage of in-house event pros who cite "having to work with reduced budgets" as a top concern has dropped nearly 10 percent in the last two years, while the percentage of independent event pros worried about reduced client budgets is down 11 percent.
• Also significant, concern about proving the worth of special events is ebbing. When in-house event pros were asked if "demonstrating the value/ROI of special events" is a concern, the number reporting "yes" has dropped 8 percent in the last year. "I take this as an encouraging sign that corporate management today recognizes the power of special events as effective business tools," notes Special Events publisher Lisa Perrin.
• And yet another good piece of news: Our survey shows a strong boost in confidence among independent event pros about their own client base. The percentage of independents worried about consolidation in their client base dropped a hefty 13 percent in the last three years, which is a great sign not only for the event producers, but all the vendors they partner with as well.

For the complete article, see the January issue of Special Events Magazine.