BCD Meetings & Events
BCD Meetings & Events is a Chicago-headquartered global corporate meetings and events management agency, a division of BCD Travel Group, serving enterprise clients across 60+ countries with its proprietary EMPOWER platform and creative subsidiary The Collective.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1988
- HeadquartersChicago, United States
- Headcount1,001–5,000
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What BCD Meetings & Events does
BCD Meetings & Events is a Chicago-headquartered global meetings and events management agency operating in 60+ countries with 2,200+ employees across NORAM, EMEA, APAC, LATAM, and the UK. Founded in 1988 as a division of BCD Travel Group (which reported $20.3B in consolidated 2023 sales), the company plans, sources, and executes corporate meetings, incentives, conferences, and events for enterprise clients in financial/professional services and life sciences, among other verticals. The firm reports 60+ clients in financial/professional services, a 98% retention rate in that segment, coverage of 40+ therapeutic areas in life sciences, and $2B+ in cumulative client savings delivered to date.
The company's core technology is EMPOWER, a proprietary platform with six modules that supports event sourcing, registration, attendee management, reporting, and now AI-enabled productivity via EMPOWER Assist. It also operates The Collective, a specialist creative agency subsidiary built around the 2019 L37 Creative acquisition, which handles content, production, and experiential creative. Earlier acquisitions — Zibrant (2016, UK/Europe) and Grass Roots Group (2017, EMEA incentives) — extended its regional and incentive-program capabilities.
The business model is enterprise B2B services revenue: the company charges management fees and program markups on corporate meetings and events, with deeper monetization in higher-margin adjacencies like Strategic Program Management (launched in North America in 2026) and creative services through The Collective (expanded into Germany in 2026). The parent group's global procurement scale and a workforce spread across 60+ countries underpin its cost position on venue, hotel, and airline sourcing, which the firm translates into the disclosed $2B+ in client savings.
BCD Meetings & Events firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- BCD Meetings & Events
- Legal name
- BCD Meetings & Events
- Website
- https://bcdme.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1988
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1,001–5,000 employees
- Short description
- BCD Meetings & Events is a Chicago-headquartered global corporate meetings and events management agency, a division of BCD Travel Group, serving enterprise clients across 60+ countries with its proprietary EMPOWER platform and creative subsidiary The Collective.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
BCD Meetings & Events industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Meeting & Event Management Services
- NAICS
- Convention and Trade Show Organizers (56192), Convention and Trade Show Organizers (561920)
- SIC
- Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Corporate Meetings & Conferences (Internal/External Business Events) (MPAGAHAA)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Meeting & Conference Planning & Coordination (HSACADAA), Meeting & Event Program Technology (Registration, Apps, Badging) (THACAFAB)
Keywords
Where BCD Meetings & Events is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Chicago
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices13 records
Markets served
BCD Meetings & Events business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Meeting Management Services: Comprehensive meetings management services including program planning, budget management, venue coordination, risk mitigation, and compliance alignment. Delivered as professional services to enterprise clients across multiple industries.
- Event Solutions & Production: Full-service event solutions including strategic direction, creative design, production, technical execution, and attendee coordination for corporate events and brand experiences.
- Virtual & Hybrid Event Services: Digital event delivery including live broadcasting, webcasting platforms, interactive engagement tools, and hybrid meeting solutions for global audiences.
- Meetings Technology Platforms: Technology platforms including registration, payment processing, compliance reporting, and analytics delivered as integrated solutions supporting the event services.
- Venue Sourcing Services: Strategic venue sourcing including competitive bid processes, contract negotiation, and supplier management for corporate events and conferences.
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels8 records
BCD Meetings & Events product offering
Product offeringCore offering
BCD Meetings & Events is a global meetings and events management company that designs, plans and executes corporate meetings, conferences, incentive programs, brand experiences, and virtual/hybrid events for enterprise clients. The firm offers end-to-end services spanning meetings management, event solutions, attendee management, venue sourcing, brand experience, and event production, supported by its proprietary EMPOWER technology platform. It serves clients across 60+ countries with deep vertical specialization in Financial Services, Life Sciences, Automotive, and Advanced Technology.
Product overview
BCD Meetings & Events is a global meetings and events management company operating a multi-service portfolio across 60+ countries with 2,200 employees. The company offers three core service pillars: Meetings Management, Event Solutions, and Brand Experience, supported by specialized capabilities in Life Sciences, Financial Professional Services, and Meetings Technology. The EMPOWER technology platform serves as the proprietary technology backbone, comprising six integrated modules: Venues (digital venue sourcing), HCP (healthcare professional compliance management), Invitation (event invitation management), Expense (payment processing), Assist (AI-enabled productivity), and Insights (analytics and reporting). Additional offerings include Event Design & Production, Event Communications, Venue Sourcing, Virtual & Hybrid Solutions, The Collective (creative agency), and Strategic Production Management. The company has documented over $2 billion in client savings with a 98% customer retention rate across 60+ financial and professional services clients.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- The Collective: Creative design agency powered by BCD Meetings & Events, bringing bold ideas and cultural insight into event programs while maintaining alignment with brand strategy.
Products and services
- Meetings Management Smart, flexible solutions for managing corporate meetings and events, covering program planning, budget management, venue coordination, risk mitigation, and post-meeting reporting for enterprise clients.
- Event Solutions Complete event solutions from concept to execution, integrating strategic direction, creative design, production, communications, attendee coordination, technology, and venue support for corporate events.
- Attendee Management Seamless attendee management covering registration architecture, travel and accommodation coordination, on-site check-in, compliance oversight, and post-event reporting for event attendees.
- Brand Experience & Engagement Creative concept development, experiential event design, audience engagement strategy, and brand narrative creation through immersive environments and interactive touchpoints for corporate brands.
- Event Design & Production Comprehensive event design and production including stage design, technical direction, audio/lighting/video execution, live broadcasting, and content integration for live, virtual, and hybrid programs.
- Event Communications Strategic messaging architecture, pre-event campaigns, on-site messaging integration, and post-event communications ensuring brand voice consistency across all event touchpoints.
- Financial Professional Services
Quantifiable outcome
- Saved clients over $2 billion through efficient budget management
- +4 more outcomes
Companies that use BCD Meetings & Events
Customer profileNamed customers10 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles5 records
BCD Meetings & Events technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration1 record
AI capability5 records
Feature8 records
BCD Meetings & Events partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- BCD TravelcoreBCD M&E is a division of BCD Travel Group, operating as the meetings and events arm of one of the world's leading travel management companies. BCD Travel helps companies achieve smart business travel with 15,000+ dedicated team members serving clients in 170+ countries.
- AdvitocoreAdvito is part of BCD Group alongside BCD M&E and BCD Travel, providing global consultancy services that complete the comprehensive suite of solutions for corporate travel and meetings management.
- BCD GroupcoreParent organization overseeing BCD Travel, BCD Meetings & Events, and Advito. BCD achieved US$20.3 billion in sales in 2023.
Scale indicators9 records
Recent moves9 records
Expansion highlights5 records
BCD Meetings & Events competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Cvent: Leading event management technology platform providing registration, venue sourcing, and attendee management software to corporate meeting planners. Directly competes with BCD M&E's meetings management and EMPOWER technology offerings and is already integrated into BCD M&E Brazil's event tech stack.
- American Express Global Business Travel (Meetings & Events): GBT operates a global Meetings & Events division serving enterprise clients with strategic meetings management, event sourcing, and production. Closely analogous to BCD M&E in combining corporate travel parentage with a dedicated M&E practice and similar regulated-vertical expertise.
- Encore Global: Provider of event technology, production, and venue services across hotels, convention centers, and corporate events. Competes head-to-head with BCD M&E in event production, AV/staging, and on-site execution for corporate meetings and conferences.
- Maritz Travel (Maritz Global Events): Long-standing direct competitor in corporate meetings, incentives, and events management, serving many of the same Fortune 500 enterprise clients with comparable strategic meetings management, event production, and travel-related services.
- Freeman: Global event experiences and production company offering brand experience design, event production, and digital event services to enterprise customers, directly overlapping BCD M&E's event solutions, brand experience, and production capabilities.
Emerging players
- Bizzabo: Event Experience Operating System platform focused on in-person, hybrid, and virtual events. Represents the modern software-led approach to event management, directly overlapping EMPOWER's registration, engagement, and analytics modules and threatening traditional agencies.
- ON24: Virtual and hybrid event platform providing webinars, virtual event experiences, and engagement analytics. Competes with BCD M&E's Virtual & Hybrid Solutions and EMPOWER Insights offerings in the digital event delivery layer.
- Hopin: All-in-one virtual and hybrid event platform offering event management, registration, and engagement tools. Emerging technology-led competitor to traditional M&E agencies like BCD M&E for digital-first and hybrid event programs.
Broad incumbents
- Pico (Pico Group): Global brand activation and event management group with significant APAC presence delivering exhibitions, events, and brand experiences. Comparable to BCD M&E in offering integrated event solutions and creative production for multinational enterprise clients.
- Informa Connect: B2B events, exhibitions, and conferencing division of Informa plc, organizing large-scale trade shows and professional conferences. Overlaps with BCD M&E's meetings management and event solutions serving regulated and professional-services verticals.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
BCD Meetings & Events social profiles
Digital presenceBCD Meetings & Events financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
BCD Meetings & Events leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles11 records
BCD Meetings & Events subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries1 record
BCD Meetings & Events funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
BCD Meetings & Events M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A3 records
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about BCD Meetings & Events
What does BCD Meetings & Events do?
BCD Meetings & Events is a global meetings and events management company that designs, plans and executes corporate meetings, conferences, incentive programs, brand experiences, and virtual/hybrid events for enterprise clients. The firm offers end-to-end services spanning meetings management, event solutions, attendee management, venue sourcing, brand experience, and event production, supported by its proprietary EMPOWER technology platform. It serves clients across 60+ countries with deep vertical specialization in Financial Services, Life Sciences, Automotive, and Advanced Technology.
Is BCD Meetings & Events a public or private company?
BCD Meetings & Events is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently operating.
When was BCD Meetings & Events founded?
BCD Meetings & Events was founded in 1988. It employs 1,001 to 5,000 people.
Where is BCD Meetings & Events based?
BCD Meetings & Events is headquartered in Chicago, United States, in the North America region.
How does BCD Meetings & Events make money?
Five revenue lines are on record. Meeting Management Services are the primary driver. The others are event Solutions & Production, virtual & Hybrid Event Services, meetings Technology Platforms and venue Sourcing Services.
Who are BCD Meetings & Events's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Cvent, American Express Global Business Travel (Meetings & Events), Encore Global, Maritz Travel (Maritz Global Events) and Freeman. Emerging players are Bizzabo, ON24 and Hopin. Broad incumbents are Pico (Pico Group) and Informa Connect.
Does BCD Meetings & Events have an API?
No public API is recorded for BCD Meetings & Events.
What industry is BCD Meetings & Events in?
BCD Meetings & Events's product category is Meeting & Event Management Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPAGAHAA, Corporate Meetings & Conferences (Internal/External Business Events), with a secondary code of HSACADAA, Meeting & Conference Planning & Coordination. Its NAICS code is 56192 and its SIC code is 7900.