Even though the recession brought the bailouts, which in turn brought scrutiny into meetings and conferences, emerging from the economic downturn does not guarantee that the meeting business will spring back. However, the hardships don’t not guarantee that it will stay in the toilet, either.
Fourth Quarter Cautions
Conference and business meeting planners may see a slight uptick in business with no real surge simply because companies are concerned about their images. There are articles all over–including blog posts here–about the idea of image and spending. The flip side of that is this: meetings are important to education, motivation, and technology sharing. You can be prepared for reluctant spending by having lots of alternatives to lavish accommodations, high-tech meeting environments, and expensive dinners with high-priced keynote speakers. (more…)
Tags: Bailout, Behinds, Business Meeting, Economic Downturn, Education Motivation, Flip Side, Fourth Quarter, Goldman Sachs, Hardships, Incentive Travel, Keynote Speakers, Last Quarter, Lavish Accommodations, Meeting Planners, Property Owners, Recession, Scrutiny, Strict Rules, Uptick, Warrants
While this sounds like a chapter out of a football playbook, it sort of is and sort of isn’t. Like football, it describes the final chapter of an arbitrary time frame that we use to determine our actions and push for a winning game. However, it is being applied to our business in this blog. What are we going to do for the rest of a stressful year?
What We Do Best
As planners, what we do best is help others. Sure, it’s a business, but it’s one that can help others from losing their marbles trying to book their own events. What may change about that in the fourth quarter is that some of them may want to save money on events by planning some of it themselves. You can be prepared by having a short list of things that they can do that won’t be too difficult but can lop off at least a little bit of your bill. Consider this another service in your collection of offerings. (more…)
Tags: Arbitrary Time, Blog, Clientele, Exotic Travel, Financial Scene, Football Playbook, Fourth Quarter, Game, Hideaways, Little Bit, Marbles, Money, Offerings, Planners, Professional Life, Sounds, Time Frame, Travel Packages, Vacations
The last post was about vacations for the wealthy and borderline affluent. However, there is one play that almost all families will make in their lifetimes, and that is the wedding plan.
The wedding changed drastically the day the economy crashed in November of 2008. Many people who normally spend money into five digits were scaling back to short-and-sweet. Overheard at a restaurant: “Then it’s settled. We’ll offer them a down payment on a house if they will elope.” (more…)
Tags: Airplane, Building Relationships, Celebrations, Digits, Divorce, Fourth Quarter, Frugality, Great Relationship, Happy Marriage, Human Beings, Last Decade, Lavish Wedding, Lifetimes, Pat On The Back, Speculation, Spending Habits, Unnecessary Expenses, Vacations, Wedding Plan, Weddings