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?
Jan 12
Ashley ChalmersTips for Meeting Planners meeting ideas, onsite registration, pcma
A quick tip of the day for you regarding onsite conference registration:
Consider allowing attendees the option to register in their hotel! Instead of sending attendees on a wild goose chase through a large convention center to track down a badge or program, set up a small registration stand in all partnering hotels. The attendees (and their feet!) will be most grateful for the convenience.
Our very own Maureen Pickell, who has just returned from PCMA’s Convening Leaders in San Diego, shared this very smart tip with us. Registering at the hotel saved her an extra trip to the convention center! (Stay tuned for more great information from PCMA later this month).
Do you have a conference tip you’d like to share? Consider entering your tip in the ConventionPlanit.com Stellar Tips Contest!
Each month, planners can submit and vote for their favorite advice. The winner receives a $100 American Express Gift Card!
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 31
Ashley ChalmersTips for Meeting Planners florida hotels, Marriott, meeting experiences, meeting ideas, team building
Do you roll your eyes at the thought of participating in a team building activity, or do they send you into a planning frenzy to find an out of the box activity for your group? 
Us too…until we came across a unique idea from the Marco Island Marriott Beach Resort.
Now your group can participate in a customized flash mob!
Flash mobs have become the latest craze and are popping up everywhere from TV shows like Modern Family and Glee to YouTube videos. (In case you are wondering what a flash mob is, it is a large group of people in a public place who suddenly break out into a synchronized activity, usually a dance).
The reasonably priced packages at the resort range from a choreographer to teach a dance to some or all of a group (maybe the Executive Committee learns a dance to surprise their group!) to inclusion of a videographer and even customized t-shirts.
If the video becomes a viral success, Marriott will even invite the guests back for a free stay!
Interested? Post a comment for more information.
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!
Aug 03
Ashley ChalmersTips for Meeting Planners, Trade Shows attendee interaction, meeting experiences, meeting ideas
As the meetings industry emerges from the economic downturn, all organizations are putting more focus on strategies to drive attendance and manage costs.
At a Bisnow event held in Washington, DC, four association CEOs offered some of their best ideas in these areas.
The executives who led the session and the ideas they delivered include:
Julie Coons, President & CEO, Electronic Retailing Association
- Build community by driving attendees to the exhibit show floor by offering more activities, food, and networkingthere. Make your meeting space a “cocoon” where members can see everyone.
- Every industry has its rock stars – use them as speakers instead of paying for outside speakers.
Craig Purser, President and CEO, National Beer Wholesalers
- Make sure your meeting focuses on your mission. It should be like a seven-course meal rather than a country buffet – everyone will come away saying they enjoyed a “great meal.” Also, ask members what they want to consume before you set the menu.
- Pay attention to the “next generation customers” in your association and make sure you meet their needs.
Howard Nusbaum, President and CEO, American Resort Development Association
- Set up a “speed dating” session where members (customers) sit in an area of the exhibit hall and give exhibitors a chance to do a series of 10-minute presentations.
- Create “councils” that represent certain segments of individuals and have them plan activities at the meeting to personalize the involvement of members. This is especially useful for trade associations where the organization, not the individual, is the member.
- Associations are like churches and the CEO is like the minister – members are coming to your association to feel better about themselves. You have to give them a spirit of success.
All of them urged attendees to be bold, demonstrate leadership, and not be afraid to “blow up programs” and try new approaches.
Jun 08
Ashley ChalmersTips for Meeting Planners meeting experiences, meeting ideas, meeting planner feedback, prezi, technology, Tips for Meeting Planners
So, exactly what is a “Prezi?” 
We first heard about it after a member of the ConventionPlanit.com Meeting Professionals Advisory Council told us that it was one of the hot things for 2011.
It does have a cool name…and it’s free… so we thought we’d give you the lowdown.
But first, we want to clue you in on what a Prezi is NOT:
- It’s not what you call your boss or the head of your association who carries the title of “President.”
- It’s not a new device like an iPad or a Droid – although you can view a Prezi on a device like that.
- It’s not a phrase you utter in anger when something bad happens at your meeting.
Now that we’ve cleared that up, here’s the deal: A Prezi allows you to “create astonishing presentations live and on the web,” according to www.prezi.com. The website also talked about “stunning” presentations, so it got our attention.
Basically, it frees up your creative mind when you’re building a presentation, because it allows more flexibility than traditional PowerPoint presentations, and even has zoom-in and zoom-out features to examine details or view the big picture.
There’s a creative presentation online called “How to create a great Prezi” that offers a quick look at the possibilities. So we encourage you to check it out.
We even created a quick Prezi on “How We Made the ConventionPlanit Flash Back to the Future Video.” You may like that one too. It was fun and took less than an hour to create. So try one yourself and see what you think.
Like anything else in life, a basic version of the Prezi software is free, and it costs money to upgrade the capabilities. But the upgrade cost is reasonable. We’re not even getting a commission for telling you all this.
Have you created or viewed a Prezi? What did you think?
May 25
Ashley ChalmersContests meeting ideas, social media, technology
Remember this awesome music video?
Remember how we asked you to submit your predictions for the future of the meetings industry? Many of you did, and boy are you a creative and forward looking bunch!
View the top 5 predictions for the future of the meetings industry, and then vote for your favorite predictions! Be sure to ask your colleagues to do the same!
What do you think about the predictions? Which do you think will happen in the future?
May 17
Ashley ChalmersPlaces to Stay economy, guest-friendly hotel tips, hotels, meeting ideas, meeting planner feedback
Room rates are creeping back up – or are they?
Smith Travel Research data from January shows that urban hotels at 66% occupancy while suburban hotels are at 58%.
As a result, urban hotels are offering fewer discounts for rooms – but suburban property rates are still lower than 2009 levels…which is shifting the demand.
Are you booking more meetings in the suburbs to secure lower rates? Have you experienced higher rates in urban areas?
Dec 15
Ashley ChalmersTips for Meeting Planners crisis management, meeting ideas, Risk and Liability
We posted these tips last year, but frankly, they are timeless and a must to revisit during the holidays/event/party season!
Lawyers will tell you whether you’re giving alcohol away or selling it at an event, anyone who has control over the facility or the event is typically liable if an intoxicated person causes bodily injury or property damage as a result of the liquor served at that event.
The good news is, provided the meeting planner isn’t pouring the drinks, they normally would not be at much risk of being held personally liable. When an employee is acting in the scope of their employment, liability usually rests with the employer, not the individual.
That good news, however, does not typically extend to independent meeting planners or third-party meeting planners who are independent contractors and not employees. In these instances, the meeting planner could be held liable along with the company, depending on the circumstances.
“The only way to eliminate liquor liability is to eliminate alcohol from your event,” says Marilyn Hauck, founder and president of The Complete Conference and a 20-year veteran in the meetings industry who plans, markets, and manages meetings and events of all sizes. “A non-alcohol event is often not an option, so the next best way to reduce your liability is to create an environment that discourages overdrinking.”
Hauck suggests these steps to take to keep your attendees from overindulging and to reduce liquor liability:
• Give written instructions to bartenders not to serve persons who are either underage or noticeably intoxicated.
• Establish a monitoring system to ensure that minors and intoxicated persons are not served alcohol.
• Designate someone from the planning team to refrain from drinking during the function to monitor the bartenders.
• Avoid self-service bars and kegs of beer.
• Control the length of the cocktail reception and don’t announce last call.
• Always provide food and non-alcoholic beverages where alcohol is served.
• Arrange transportation – or a place to stay – in advance.
• Buy liquor liability insurance if your organization is the server or seller.
• Make sure the group has a standard operating procedure for handling attendees who have had too much to drink.
Since its inception in 1979, the mission of The Complete Conference, Inc., has been to develop and implement high quality cost-effective meetings with professionalism, integrity, customer satisfaction and dependability. The company can be reached at 916-922-7032 or info@completeconference.com.
What are some of your steadfast rules for such events? Maybe we will add your tips to the list!
Older Entries
Current Discussions