15 Sep 10 Does Booking in Advance Really Save on Venues?
There is an accepted industry pricing rule that states unequivocally that securing a hotel and/or conference center in advance will result in money saved. The same logic applies to flights and entertainment as well, but some are starting to wonder if this widely accepted rule is not being exploited by savvy vendors.
Determining whether a vendor is really offering good deals for an advanced booking or purchase contract is difficult, but there are some ways to make the whole process easier:
- The Internet – The Internet is easily the most amazing fact finding tool in the world, and it is full of forums that are used by people with similar questions and experiences. Take advantage of the many forums on the Internet and ask questions but don’t forget to use the search feature first or you might earn a written tongue-lashing.
- Switch the dates – Start by asking about a date closer than you actually want and then asking about a date further out. See what the difference really is, but also remember to factor in travel frequency to your logic. If you ask to book a hotel in the start of September, immediately after school begins, you might be seeing very different pricing than mid to late December due to increased holiday traffic.
- Ask for discounts – This might seem silly, but some people don’t bother to ask for discounts. Booking a hotel is a boon for both organizations and they should arrange to share that boon whenever possible/practical.
Tags: Advanced Booking, Book A Hotel, Book Hotel, Booking Hotel, Boon, Experiences, Flights, Forums, Good Deals, Holiday Traffic, Logic, Money, Purchase Contract, Rsquo, Search Feature, Tongue, Tool, Travel
16 Aug 10 How to Choose a Venue for Your Next Big Event
Planning your next big event almost always involves picking a venue near the beginning of the process. With so many different venues, there must be an easy logic flow for determining how to pick the venue for your next big event. Try this logic flow:
- Size counts – Venues that are too small are not worth looking into and venues that are too large will look empty and deserted if unfilled. Determine a reasonable number of participants and use that as the basis for a venue.
- Look for deals – The number one reason why many people do not attend events and/or seminars is that they feel it is too expensive. If a deal can be arranged that includes the event and meals/accommodations, participation generally increases. Hotels often have large meeting facilities and/or deals with local meeting halls/convention centers and many such centers have deals with reputable hotels.
- Themes and art are important – If your event has some sort of theme, then assign additional importance to venues that work well with that theme over money if it is feasible. A seminar about online art and graphics design would be ideally located in a venue with an artistic theme, and perhaps offer all-inclusive stay options at an art-deco themed hotel or another hotel with a noteworthy sense of style.
Tags: Artistic Theme, Event Planning, Graphics Design, Hotels, Logic Flow, Meeting Facilities, Money, Participants, Participation, Seminars, Venue
09 Jul 10 The Value of Great Gifts
Businesses often find that offering affordable trinkets as incentives makes participation at meetings and events more personal. Furthermore, the trinkets and gifts often prove to be tangible reminders of the relationship between the participant and host, but that means that there is a potential for both good and bad gifts to make an impression. Here is how to decide which kind of gift or trinket you need to consider:
Saving is good, but too much of a good thing is a bad thing – It is important to stay on a budget, especially for a company looking to enhance their bottom line. It is also possible to be too frugal, and that can ruin the investment in the meeting or event itself while still costing money.
Branding – If a company buys trinkets and wants recipients to know where they came from in a year, then they need to associate that item/trinket with the brand. This is easily done with simply adding a logo, which is rarely expensive.
Buy in bulk – It might be intimidating to look at pricing for branded or even non-branded trinkets until you discover that bulk prices are available for almost everything.
Needs and appropriate gifts – Choose gifts that will be appreciated. A USB key might be great for a meeting of staff accountants, but the IT gurus probably have more USB devices than they need and are unlikely to appreciate anything but the most high-tech of gizmos.
Tags: Bottom Line, Budget, Buy In Bulk, Gizmos, Great Gifts, Gurus, Incentives, Investment, Meetings And Events, Money, Participant, Participation, Personal Gifts, Relationship, Staff Accountants, Tangible Reminders, Trinket, Trinkets, Usb Devices, Usb Key
08 Jul 10 Pitfalls on the Road to a Successful Meeting/Event
The following is a list of sentiments and ideas that many people have when planning meetings and/or events that should be avoided whenever possible:
• Who needs to eat? The answer is that everyone need to eat, and letting stomachs rumble is a sure way to ensure that nobody is paying attention to anything but the planning of their next meal. If you are planning a lengthy meeting or event, plan on talking to caterers or buying snacks.
• I get up at 4 A.M. so can everyone else! Just because you get up at the break of dawn to exercise and live a healthy lifestyle does not mean that everyone else does or even can. In some cases it may truly be a case of different lifestyles, but in other situations the early bird may be offended those taking care of young children and/or the infirm/elderly by implying that a 7 A.M. meeting is reasonable.
• Caffeine is a stimulant, and that is akin to offering a drug. Those that need caffeine to make it through their day can be indulged at very low prices. Imposing unwanted ethical beliefs on meeting and/or event participants is unlikely to go over well. At best, it will look cheap. At worst, it may look preachy.
• A penny saved is a penny earned. True, but it takes money to make money, so be willing to make an honest assessment of whether or not buying folding chairs instead of office chairs for a meeting is a good idea.
Tags: Break Of Dawn, Caffeine, Caterers, Early Bird, Elderly, Ethical Beliefs, Exercise, Folding Chairs, Healthy Lifestyle, Honest Assessment, Lifestyles, Money, Office Chairs, Participants, Paying Attention, Pitfalls, Sentiments, Snacks, Stimulant, Stomachs
30 Oct 09 More Cheap Seats, More Fees
Airlines will continue to discount tickets, charge more fees, cut capacity and look for other ways to raise cash to deal the the recession through the rest of this year and into next year, according to IATA in its global forecast.
IATA has again asked U.S. lawmakers and other governments to repeal laws and other restrictions that limit foreign investment in domestic airlines to enable the industry to compete as other industries do globally.
Consolidation, especially cross-border unions, and greater foreign investment would help many airlines save money. But the industry will need help from governments, too.
Tags: Cheap Airlines, Cheap Seats, Consolidation, Cross Border, Discount Tickets, Domestic Airlines, Foreign Investment, Governments, Iata, Lawmakers, Money, Recession, Unions
09 Oct 09 Combine an Incentive Reward Trip with a Conference
It’s no secret that business meetings are often a combination of business and pleasure. People are working harder than ever to keep companies solvent. Rewarding employees is a bit more complicated; they deserve a nice trip to an exotic location yet it’s important to keep up appearances to the public. Try combining events, the reward trip with a conference. A corporate cruise event can fill both those needs.
Sea travel is a great way to build team spirit while traveling to an exotic location. An incentive cruise makes an ideal place for a business meeting – after all, how far can your people wander off? Food is available almost 24/7 and there are numerous activities to break up the intensity of the conference. It’s also private and while there is much to do, there is great opportunity to focus solely on the matter at hand.
In addition, when you come into your port of destination, that’s when the fun begins. Everyone feels a sense of accomplishment by completing the demands of the conference and they are ready to cut loose and have a bit of fun. The company saves money because the mode of travel has absorbed part of the conference costs, including food and lodging.
Tags: Accomplishment, Bit Of Fun, Business And Pleasure, Business Meeting, Business Meetings, Business People, Corporate Cruise, Incentive Cruise, Incentive Reward, Intensity, Mode Of Travel, Money, Nice Trip, People Working, Rewarding Employees, Sea Travel, Team Spirit, Traveling
10 Sep 09 Doing Your Part for the Economy
It’s been said–and posted on meeting planner blogs all over the internet–that the economy paired with recent government regulations for bailout companies is creating big trouble for meeting planners. Business are canceling meetings and conferences all over the world, and the ones that are not being canceled are being scaled down almost to ineffective levels. What’s a meeting planner to do?
Step One: Help Your Clients
Instead of canceling, make suggestions on how they can change or postpone the meeting. Also support them. Meetings are not going to hurt companies. They help them, and you need to be vocal about this–not only to companies but to the public. Let everyone know that meetings bring in money to local economies, and they also help the company on many different levels.
Step Two: Be Proactive
Long before your clients cancel a meeting, call them and compliment them on their decisions to continue the meeting. Send them emails with evidence of how meetings help companies. Get them charts, graphs, and testimonials on why their plans are good and you may prevent a problem down the road.
Step Three: Show Results
After a meeting, help your client measure the ROI of each meeting. Help her see the change for the better, and if the results are stellar get the press involved. Write a press release about it, which will get your name in front of the public as well.
Tags: Bailout, Big Business, Big Trouble, Cancel, Conferences, Decisions, Government Regulations, Graphs, Internet Economy, Meeting Planner, Meeting Planners, Money, Press Release, Proactive, Roi, Testimonials
06 Aug 09 Fourth Quarter Play Strategies–Vacations
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
27 Jul 09 “Eh…So What?” – How to Counter Public Criticism for Meetings
This is the response that some companies are giving to the idea of public criticism for their meetings. So why aren’t their head honchos worried about business, and what people will think? Because they are more concerned about what their employees think.
Leaders Being Leaders
If the executives of companies that are doing poorly go ahead and change meeting plans to accommodate public scrutiny, it may be for the best. But what about companies that are doing well? What about the ones who didn’t need a single penny of help from the government and have actually flourished in these hard times?
All companies should not be judged with the same jaundiced eye the public has gotten over the last year. In fact, they should be praised–they held themselves to high standards and should be permitted to continue along their successful route with no interference. This includes meetings. (more…)
Tags: Business People, Conflict, Interference, Jaundiced Eye, Jobs, Money, Public Criticism, Public Scrutiny, Reputation, Send Message, Successful Company, White Flag
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