Jan 16
Ashley ChalmersMember News, Tips for Meeting Planners advisory council, meeting experiences, meeting ideas, meeting planner feedback
Eight members of the ConventionPlanit.com Meeting Planner Advisory Council met recently at The Donovan House in Washington, DC to discuss current issues facing the meetings industry and how online search directories such as ConventionPlanit.com can help address them.
ConventionPlanit.com Staff and Advisory Council Members at the November Meeting
Some of the issues included:
- Demonstrating the Value of Meeting History – Providing a hotel with historical data from previous meetings is essential in negotiating room blocks, rates, and food and beverage costs. “Everybody complains about not having the history of hotel room pickups and meeting attendance, but nobody does anything about it,” one planner said. “Just once I want a hotel to come to me with this information – I always have to hunt it down myself.” Other planners shared similar experiences, and their common wish is for hotels to be more proactive about providing this information. As electronic information-sharing in common formats becomes more common, this should improve in the future.
- Unauthorized Third-Party Housing Companies Selling Non-Refundable Rooms – This is a lightning-rod issue for many planners, who often see their room blocks erode and subsequent attrition fees assessed as association members book rooms outside the block. These unauthorized companies often launch aggressive marketing campaigns to association members, making it sound like they are the official housing provider. Attendees that book the rooms find they are non-refundable and sometimes cannot reach the companies by phone. Meeting planners agreed that strong communications to prospective attendees warning them of these tactics is necessary, plus legal action against these companies if appropriate.
- “Resort Fees” – Resort fees that typically cover Internet access, spa use, and other amenities are increasingly common. The problem is that government employees cannot usually be reimbursed for these fees when they attend a meeting, and planners noted that the fees are often non-negotiable. Their wish is for hotels to better understand the effects of these fees and be more willing to negotiate them if needed.
- E-Blasted RFPs – Some companies e-blast RFPs out to numerous properties with little regard for qualifying them in advance. This wastes the time of hotel salespeople as they respond to RFPs that don’t match what their properties offer. It leads to complacency that can cause them to not respond to viable RFPs that could bring them business. ConventionPlanit.com pre-qualifies properties to ensure that only those that are a strong potential match receive the RFPs, dramatically increasing the success rate for hotel proposals.
- Hotel Proposals Lacking Necessary Information – When planners send out RFPs, they need all the information requested in order to do an apples-to-apples comparison of prospective properties. The planners agreed that hotels are not doing themselves any favors by not providing complete information – it forces them to follow up and spend extra time getting information that should have been provided in the first place. When RFPs are submitted through ConventionPlanit.com, incoming proposals are checked to make sure they are complete to save planners the hassle of chasing down information.
“This discussion was extremely valuable for both the planners and our staff,” said ConventionPlanit.com Principal and Co-Founder Katherine Markham, CHME. “We found that much of what we are already doing helps to address many of these concerns, and it helps spark ideas for new solutions we can launch in the future.”
We are always looking for fresh faces to contribute to our council! If you are an avid user of ConventionPlanit.com and would like information about joining the Meeting Planner Advisory Council, please contact Katherine Markham, CHME at katherinem@conventionplanit.com.
What improvements would you like to see on the site?
Nov 16
Ashley ChalmersMember News, Tips for Meeting Planners, Trade Shows Event Industry Networking, meeting experiences, meeting ideas, national conference center, social media, Twitter
Please enjoy the following guest post from our friend Sarah Vinning with the National Conference Center, who hosted Event Camp DC earlier this month!
Seven. It’s the total number of Event Camp conferences that have been held in the past year.
The Event Camp series is a concept that first started with Jessica Levin, a meeting planner, and a few friends on Twitter who had the idea to host a bar camp for event professionals in New York City. Its intention was to offer meeting and event professionals an opportunity to come together in an unstructured format without a pre-planned agenda and “just be,” as Levin describes it.
The main selling point behind every Event Camp is that each one is different in its own unique way.
Conference organizers make decisions such as venue selection, conference format, if there’s a virtual component and the content (unless the organizers follow the peer conference concept in which attendees determine what happens).
“I’ve been to one, they’re all the same,” is not applicable to these conferences. Over the first weekend in November, there were two Event Camp conferences held over the same dates across the globe – Event Camp Vancouver and Event Camp East Coast (also referred to as Event Camp DC due to The National Conference Center’s proximity to the Nation’s Capital).
Event Camp East Coast was a genuine peer conference where the attendees reveal in a round table discussion their area of expertise, what they want to learn during the conference and how they hope to get there. The purpose of a conference like this is to ensure attendees learn what they intended to get out of the conference.
On the first night of Event Camp East Coast, we wrote topics we were interested in learning based on our own interests and expertise. Then, the conference committee established an agenda that was posted on GoogleDocs that night. Sessions included improv for eventprofs, exploring why some events sell out and others don’t, online community management, hybrid events and the impact on attendance and face to face shyness epidemic – making events warming.
For Event Camp Vancouver, the conference ball-game was another story. Their agenda was established prior to the conference and posted on their website, which can be an easier sell for someone when approaching their supervisor about attending. It also helps them set personal expectations prior to arriving.
Vancouver had a virtual component like Event Camp Twin Cities did for attendees who couldn’t attend. The pre-determined sessions at Event Camp Vancouver included the future of hybrid, what does fair trade mean and how do we find it in our sourcing, room for thought, think before you eat, defining yourself and your brand in the age of social media.
Throughout the entire conference, attendees played Get Your Green On, a gaming app based on sustainability that was initially built for GMIC’s 2011 conference; the app presents attendees with green challenges and they can earn as many points as possible by performing different acts of green.
The Room for Thought at Event Camp Vancouver, a green space designed for participants to have a place to reflect and rejuvenate. Photo provided courtesy of Greenscape Design & Decor.
The sessions in Vancouver and in D.C. had differences but prove for an interesting case study.
Session topics at Vancouver were pre-determined while those at D.C. were created on-site, yet there was clear overlap: brain-friendly food for meetings, where we’re going with hybrid and the future as well as improv.
With unique organizers for both Event Camps and unmatched conference formats, it’s fascinating to see perhaps we’re all influencing each other through social media in the #eventprofs community and as a result, we’re interested in similar topics within the industry.
To find out more about Event Camp conferences, visit EventCamp.org.
Thank you to Sarah for writing this post for us! To contact Sarah with questions about these events or the National Conference Center, please call 703-724-6263 or email her at svining@conferencecenter.com.
Oct 26
Ashley ChalmersMember News, Places to Stay anchorage meetings, meeting ideas, unique activities
This gorgeous photograph was sent to us by our friend (and CP member) Julie Dodds with the Anchorage CVB:
The Northern Lights shown over Anchorage at the end of September around midnight. Can you imagine seeing such a sight in person?
This would surely make for a memorable meeting setting!
Mar 18
maureen-pickellMember News, Trade Shows meeting education, meeting experiences
Again sticking close to home, your traveling ConventionPlanit.com Blogger headed down the mountain from Breckenridge on 3/16 to attend the Meetings Industry Council of Colorado Educational Conference and Trade Show in Denver.
Instead of getting ready for St. Patrick’s Day, an enthusiastic audience of over 700 planners and suppliers convened to find new and innovative ways to get the business of meetings done.
The Denver Convention Center did a great job of welcoming the group with a tasty continental breakfast and a perfect climate controlled environment…not too hot or too cold. Other Centers with break out rooms approaching the temperature necessary to cure meat could take a lesson!
Educational sessions covered topics such as the Meetings Industry: State of the Economy, The Power of Service – How to Provide Customer Service that Rocks! and Mastering Magical Persuasion. (Check out a future e-Alert for more on this subject.)
ConventionPlanit.com Colorado members Denver CVB, Colorado Springs CVB, Lowes Denver Hotel, and the Keystone Resort & Conference Center exhibited while the Anchorage CVB sponsored a Massage Therapist to help ease the strain of viewing over 120 booths on the trade show floor.
All in all, the one day event was an enervating mix of education and networking that had everyone departing on a “Rocky Mountain High!”
Dec 22
Ashley ChalmersMember News Awards, Hilton, Marriott, meeting experiences
Congratulations to ConventionPlanit.com members The Hilton Anatole and the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront for receiving this year’s Meetings & Conventions magazine Gold Key Award!
These hotels strive for perfection in hosting events or conferences. These properties’ efforts deserve industry recognition for their professionalism, and meeting planners have answered the call by voting them Gold Key recipients.
What hotels would receive your vote this year?
Nov 18
Ashley ChalmersMember News, Places to Stay hotels, Innovention Network, Marriott
ConventionPlanit.com now offers Marriott International’s 60 Innovention Network properties on ConventionPlanit.com.
The Innovention Network is a collection of world-class, integrated J.W. Marriott, Autograph Collection, Renaissance, and Marriott hotels and resorts dedicated to providing the ultimate meeting experience. Together, these properties offer the largest collection of meeting space in any hotel chain (4.7 million square feet), employ more than 150 Certified Meeting Professionals, offer more efficient group billing options, and use standardized post-convention reporters to ensure the transfer of knowledge and best practices from one property to another.
“We created the Innovention Network to save customers time and money and give them the best meeting experience possible,” says Luis Lamar, Marriott’s vice president of convention and resort hotels in the Americas.
“Partnering with ConventionPlanit.com advances these goals, because their search engine is easy to use, charges no commissions, and is highly focused on service through its RFP Valet® program and other features that deliver results for meeting professionals.”
Each of the Innovention Network properties has a Sapphire listing on ConventionPlanit.com, which includes a property description, meeting room specifications, photographs, links to the property website, RFP template, and more.
“In the eight years since ConventionPlanit.com was designed by a group of visionary meeting professionals, we have continually reinvented ourselves with new and better ways to serve the meetings industry,” says ConventionPlanit.com Co-Founder and Principal Katherine Markham, CHME.
“We see Marriott doing the same thing through the Innovention Network. So we are just delighted to partner with them to give these properties the additional exposure they deserve.”
Each Innovention Network property will also be listed on VenueDirectory.com in Europe through a partnership that ConventionPlanit.com has with that online search directory.
For more information, visit ConventionPlanit.com!
Aug 11
Ashley ChalmersMember News, Places to Stay guest-friendly hotel tips, hotels, Kimpton, unique activities
Here’s a fun summertime offer from our good friends at Kimpton:
Get uncorked at Kimpton Restaurants and byow (bring your own wine)!
There’s no doubt that you’re stashing some stellar bottles of wine at home. So now through Labor Day, feel free to bring a bottle of wine, or two, to share with friends at any Kimpton Restaurant. Corkage is complimentary all summer long.
Learn more about planing a meeting at a Kimpton hotel or restaurant.
Jul 07
Ashley ChalmersMember News, Places to Stay hotels, meeting ideas
Most of us expect to pay top dollar when it’s last minute. Yet, you can find special offers for any season you choose on ConventionPlanit.com — It’s simple!
Hotels and convention centers needing to fill certain timeframes are extending great deals for your meeting – a virtual win-win! Check out some Divine Deal samplings below with special offerings for this summer:
Swissotel Chicago, Illinois
10% credit to master account
20% off audio visual
3 Complimentary wireless internet access (meeting space only)
10% off banquet menu pricing
Complimentary continental breakfast daily
Complimentary one hour welcome reception
Fairmont Southampton, Bermuda
The Bermuda Group Delegate Promotion for the Fairmont Hamilton Princess and The Fairmont Southampton offers group customers a $200 Credit per Delegate on new bookings of 15+ rooms with a minimum 3 day-stay.
Ontario Convention Center
Confirm your next event at the Ontario Convention Center in Southern California and receive up to a 20% rebate to the master account.
Hyatt Regency Phoenix, Arizona
10% off your master bill, including meeting facilities, guestrooms, catering and technology!
Group rates starting at $89 valid June through September 2010
Group rates starting at $159 valid October through December 2010
Some minimum requirements apply. To learn more about these special offerings and other great deals visit Divine Deals on ConventionPlanit.com!
Nov 02
Ashley ChalmersMember News Awards, meeting industry
This fall has been a busy time for us at ConventionPlanit.com, between traveling to trade shows & meeting planners and working to improve the website for you!
Our member properties have also been busy – winning awards for their excellent meeting and convention services.
Congratulations to:
-Berlin: ICC Berlin has been voted Europe’s leading conference center for the sixth year in a row. Berlin was also voted as one of the top 3 best conference destinations in the world by Conference & Incentive Travel Magazine. The axica Congress and Meeting Centre at Brandenburg Gate was awarded second place in the Best Unusual Events Venue category for the same poll.
-Kuala Lumpur Convention Center: Won Gold for Best Marketing Campaign and Silver in the Best Use of Budget category in the Meetings Industry Marketing Awards (MIMA) 2009, put on by Meetings and Incentive Travel Magazine.
-Loudoun County, Virginia: has received the National Council of Destination Organizations Destiny Award for a single, targeted promotion. The award was given in recognition of the “Loudoun, Virginia: DC’s Wine Country® Washington Redskins Promotion.” The LCVA received their award September 1st during the closing ceremony at the U.S. Travel Association’s annual Educational Seminar for Tourism Organizations (ESTO) in Reno/Lake Tahoe, Nevada.
Congrats for all of the hard work put in to receive these awards!
Oct 19
Ashley ChalmersMember News, Places to Stay guest-friendly hotel tips, hotels, Kimpton, unique activities
If you have a soft spot for pets, like us, you’ll appreciate ABC News’ list of America’s most adorable hotel pets.
Kimpton Hotels surely wins for the most pet friendly hotels – several of their properties made this list for friendly animal mascots, including the Hotel Monaco Alexandria and The Muse.
What’s your favorite animal on the list? Have you encountered a personal favorite that didn’t make the list?
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