Survey says corporate events cooling off

According to the seventh annual edition of the Special Events Magazine Corporate Event Marketplace survey, in-house corporate event planners are expecting the tightening economy to tighten up their event schedules as well:

After six years of growing optimism, only 19 percent of respondents say they will host more events this year than they did last year, a 10 percent dip from the results of the 2007 survey. A total of 11 percent say they will stage fewer events this year than the year before, the worst showing since the 2003 survey, which went out shortly after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

And they plan to do less business with third-party planners, too, at least for the near term. Here's hoping you're not feeling the pinch, too.