Step 1: Start with the end in mind

When planning a live meeting, the first objective is to determine your goals. The same is true for a hybrid meeting that incorporates virtual elements into the live platform. Ask yourself what you want the end goal to be. Are you looking to expand your audience to members who could not otherwise attend? Are you offering continuing education units (CEUs), the virtual platform helping to increase the ability to gain this education after the conference concludes? Rosaelena Ledesma-Bernaducci, CMP, congress manager with McVeigh Associates Ltd., stresses the need to align objectives for all facets of the meeting. “It’s important to meet your objectives with the audience that’s virtually present as well as with the live audience,” she says.

Step 2: Decide what goes virtual

Choose the conference elements you want available to a virtual audience. Are you streaming the entire conference, general sessions and educational workshops? Perhaps it’s the well-known keynote speaker who has star power to attract an expanded audience. Just as the on-site audience will pay a fee to see a giant in the industry who may be retired and rarely speaks, so too will the virtual audience pay to have this opportunity.

Andy Straub, president of Blueyed Productions, which produces and integrates distance-learning programs, says it’s important to determine what you can bring to audience members that they wouldn’t otherwise see on their own. Straub’s company produced an event at United Artists movie theaters for Wine Spectator magazine. The theaters were set up with satellite feeds and the audience was taken into vineyards to get the first look at the year’s special wines ahead of the competition. The audience sampled the wines in the theater and asked questions of the vintners in real-time. “The ability to get thousands of people into a wine cellar at the same time was extraordinary,” Straub says.

Another example is within the medical industry, which was perhaps the first industry to broadcast a presentation. Referred to as a “live case,” cameras go into an operating room and a surgical technique or medical device is demonstrated in real-time. A practitioner may never have had the opportunity to see this technique in use before. The value of this never-before-seen presentation attracts an audience both on-site and virtually.

If CEUs can be obtained through the breakout sessions, it’s important to make this education available to the virtual audience. Keep in mind that the more sessions streaming simultaneously, the higher the costs will be. Each room requires its own set of cameras and streaming equipment, plus operating staff. However, fees charged to the virtual audience can offset this cost. If the CEUs are mandatory for their jobs or to maintain a certification, the cost can be justified and attendees are willing to make the investment.

Step 3: Adapt the Agenda

If you’ve determined your virtual audience will view the presentations from varying time zones, try to adapt your agenda to the best times for your participants. Eileen Roehl, CMP, managing partner of the Murfee Group, a medical and corporate meetings management company, has coordinated live case transmissions to 35 locations across the world. “We’ve done transmissions at 7 a.m. Eastern time to accommodate the European audience and at 4 p.m. Eastern time to accommodate the Asian market,” Roehl says. She also suggests placing the streamed presentation before a long break in the agenda. “This way, if there are any issues [with the technology], you have some cushion in the agenda timing.”

Step 4: Define the content

Once you’ve determined which sessions will be streamed, define the content of those presentations. This helps determine the rate of data transfer or bandwidth needed. Do you have one speaker showing a PowerPoint presentation or a panel of speakers with no visual elements? A static image such as a slide with no video does not require a strong signal to transmit. If you are transmitting high-definition medical images, however, the signal will need to be a greater capacity. The more motion or video the presentation contains, the stronger the signal needs to be, which requires a more expensive technology.

Step 5: Guide your speakers

It’s important to let speakers know from the very beginning that they will be presenting to both a live and virtual audience. Give them as much information about the virtual audience as you can, such as the number of people who are viewing online and what cities, states or countries they are viewing from. Kevin Novak, vice president of integrated web strategy and technology for the American Institute of Architects, suggests building the virtual experience as close to the physical experience as possible. “Make sure the virtual attendee has the same opportunity as the on-site attendee,” Novak says. This means speakers should be prepared to take questions from the virtual audience as well, whether the questions are coming from social media sites or a live chat platform. Speakers should acknowledge the virtual audience at the beginning of their presentations and thank them for attending.

It’s also important to make sure speaker contracts include a clause allowing you to distribute their presentations online. If you decide to stream their presentations after the contract is signed, request an addendum granting this permission. Most speakers will likely comply as it gives them a wider audience and greater exposure.

Step 6: Determine your Virtual Audience

If this is your first time entering the virtual community, it may be difficult to determine who would most likely attend the presentation virtually versus in-person. First, decide if you are reaching a local, regional, national or international audience. Perhaps your membership includes an international contingency that has stopped attending live meetings due to travel costs and budget cuts. This group would be a prime target for the virtual presentation. Novak looked at areas of the country where he didn’t have a strong in-person attendance at the annual convention and geared the virtual marketing towards those locations. “We found our on-site attendance was coming from a 300-mile radius of the convention center,” Novak said. “We weren’t hitting the majority of our membership [with the on-site meeting].”

Step 7: Understand the technology

Knowing your technology needs can be a daunting exercise. While most planners have a general knowledge of audiovisual equipment and online processes, most do not have the specific technical skills to set up the virtual presentation. Consult with your internal IT person and hire a vendor who has a history of successfully streaming presentations, both domestically and abroad.

If your presenter is off-site, you have a choice of three ways to stream the presentation: via Internet, fiber or satellite. “The decision comes down to cost versus image quality,” Roehl says. “The Internet is the cheapest solution, but it doesn’t give the best quality.” Staub says you can boost the speed of the Internet by using Polycom intelligence. Similar to a Polycom conference phone, the unit has video capabilities. One unit is placed at the off-site presentation venue and the other unit is placed at the hotel or conference center where the live audience presides.  The two units “talk to each other” to find the fastest way to move the signal.

Fiber is the wired version of Internet access—think of a T1 line—and is ordered through the venue’s telephone company as a circuit. However, the venue must have fiber available that is not already in use called “dark fiber.” “A lot of venues don’t have the fiber because they offer Internet as an option,” Roehl says.

Fiber can be cost-effective if you are transmitting in a local area, such as in the operating room example where the hospital is in the same city as the meeting venue, referred to as a “local loop.” Costs increase when the signal needs to be transmitted out of state, such as New York City to San Francisco. The local loop in New York City needs to be sent to a long-distance provider (incurring long distance charges of approximately $500) and then sent to the local loop in San Francisco. The fiber circuit must be activated, which can incur a fee upwards of $2,000. A one month’s usage fee of $2,000 is charged whether you use the circuit for one minute or three days. The activation and monthly usage fee are charged on both ends, so your cost is now $8,000—$4,000 in New York City and $4,000 in San Francisco—plus the long-distance charges.

Satellite offers the same high-definition, limitless bandwidth as fiber, but it can be a bit more cost-effective if the venue has a satellite dish. If this is not available, satellite trucks can be rented. An uplink truck at the off-site venue incurs a $3,000 fee and a downlink truck at the meeting venue incurs another $3,000. Satellite space is rented for approximately $600 and similar to a meeting planner’s site visit at a hotel, both venues need to be “scouted” to make sure the signal works. This incurs a charge of $500 for each scout. Total satellite cost is $7,600 as opposed to the fiber option of $8,500.

Whichever method you choose, make sure it is available on both ends—at the meeting venue and the off-site presentation venue. “You can’t have one site fiber and the other satellite, or one transmission standard-definition and one with high-definition,” Roehl says. “It needs to be apples to apples.”

In addition to the technology, the on-site venue must be adapted to enable the best viewing for the online audience. “Lighting is the main complaint of online viewers,” says Erica St. Angel, vice president of Sonic Foundry, which provides a hybrid event platform and webcasting through its Mediasite technology. Make sure presenters are adequately lit to transmit to video and the online audience. Perform a test and tape the speaker at rehearsals or tape one of your staff members and see how the picture transmits online. St. Angel says it’s best to put the speaker on a riser so the camera can shoot over the heads of the audience. She suggests using two cameras, one to film the speaker and one to pan the on-site attendees. “This helps to draw in the online viewers and makes them feel as if they are a part of the audience,” St. Angel says. Testing the noise level in the room is also important. If there is a lot of background noise, not only will the on-site audience have difficulty hearing the presentation, but the online community’s ability to hear will be further diminished.

Step 8: Have a backup plan

Every good planner knows that you shouldn’t plan an outdoor function without having backup space indoors. The same is true for a virtual event. If the technology goes down and you lose the signal, you need a backup plan. If a presenter is off-site, as in the example of a live case at a hospital, a taped case can be aired in the downtime or the agenda can be shifted to the next live presentation. “We have taped cases on-site and ready to play if needed, and the session moderators are prepped on the taped cases,” Roehl says. “We also have the next session’s live speakers present, so if there is a problem, we can proceed with the live speakers and do the transmission later.”

If the signal to the online community goes down, the ability to air an alternative presentation is not possible. Simply wait until the signal is back and notify the online audience that any part of the presentation that was missed will be available online after the conference.

Step 9: Ramp up Staffing

Just as a live event has staff members assigned to each meeting function, from audiovisual to food and beverage monitoring, so should the virtual component have a dedicated staff member. St. Angel calls this a “virtual concierge” and advises that this person should have no other job but monitoring the online presentation and perhaps the social media responses. That way, if the transmission signal or audio is lost, the virtual concierge can immediately call tech support to get the problem fixed. This person can also give updates to the online audience if there is a delay in the agenda. If a speaker is 15 minutes late in starting a presentation, for example, the online audience might think the technology is down. The concierge can send messages to the audience via chat or social media sites and get in front of the camera to inform the audience of the delay.

Step 10: Determine virtual fees

If you charge a fee for your conference, determine how the online presentations will be priced compared to in-person attendance. Novak says AIA did not charge a fee for virtual attendance for the 2009 convention. More than 17,000 online viewers attended sessions over three days (22,500 people on-site). In 2010, they charged the virtual audience a fee of $165 for 36 sessions viewed real-time and also available on demand post-event. The online viewership went down to 3,000 people. “Market the virtual component separately so it doesn’t get lost in the on-site fee package,” Novak says.  

In 2011, AIA taped the sessions, but did not stream them to an online audience. Instead they made the presentations available post-conference and on demand, charging $29 per CEU credit.
Don’t forget to communicate the link to access the presentations over and over again. St. Angel says the virtual attendee should receive the link when registering for the conference, then a reminder at least a month before the meeting and again a week prior. The link should take attendees to the organization’s website or event website for added promotion of the brand.

Step 11: Follow up

Just as you would survey your on-site audience for feedback on the meeting’s success, so should you survey the online audience. Generally the same questions can be asked of both audiences. It would be helpful to add questions to the virtual audience’s survey asking them how easy the site was to access, if they had any problems with the signal, etc. Be sure to ask them if they plan to attend the conference next year, on-site or online. It’s also beneficial to track how many times the presentations were accessed post-event.

Know what you want before you begin the negotiating process and stick to it. It can become frustrating to both parties when a contract has to be revised multiple times. The primary negotiating points to address with the sales manager include: getting the preferred dates and meeting room rental; knowing estimated costs up front; receiving concessions on ancillary expenses such as electrical, crowd control and Internet; bringing in outside food and beverage; and addressing key contractual clauses such as cancellation, indemnification and deposits.

Preferred Dates and Meeting Room Rental
Convention centers determine the value and priority of your event based on the number of hotel rooms booked, meeting space needed, F&B requirements and ancillary services needed. The more valuable your event, the more likely you are to get your desired date. Convention centers use different tools to determine value. The Ontario Convention Center, for example, uses the Economic Impact Worksheet, which determines the economic impact of the event based on figures conducive to the Ontario market, and the ROI Worksheet, which determines how the event impacts the bottom line revenue of the center based on the history of a center. This information is invaluable leverage for you. (You can download both worksheets here.)

When you understand the value of your event on both the global scale for the city and the micro scale for the convention center, this gives you a huge advantage at the negotiating table to secure your preferred dates. In the event the preferred dates are not available due to another booking, always ask which dates provide the most value for your event, which will enable you to negotiate even further.

As for room rental, keep in mind the cost generally includes the setup of the meeting rooms and labor costs. Many convention centers charge additional for chairs, tables and basic staging. It is wise to ask upfront what the meeting room rental includes so you know how to begin negotiations.

Estimated Costs
One of the biggest frustrations for planners is receiving a cost estimate a few months before an event with unexpected charges. Always ask for estimated costs in the proposal stage to gain an idea of what they may be. Ask for the center’s rules and regulations along with the proposal, which contain information about almost every cost to expect depending on the nature of your event.

However, the planner is responsible for providing the convention center with the best information possible so accurate pricing can be determined. The information should include the number of attendees and the projected timeline of the meeting agenda. That’s what determines the number of hours the center has to remain open and the labor needed to provide the services. It also minimizes surprises for speakers by providing appropriate needs for workshops, breakouts and keynotes, including audiovisual, tables and chairs, and display collateral.

Ancillary Expenses
For convention centers, ancillary income such as crowd control attendants, ticket takers and security are not moneymakers due to the cost of labor. Still, planners should negotiate concessions on these expenses. The number of crowd control attendants needed depends on the demographics of your audience. If it is a group of professionals, fewer crowd control attendants will be needed than for a youth group, where more will be needed.

If another event is in-house alongside your event, ask if similar costs can be shared between the two events. Also, ask for reduced pricing on electrical by reiterating the other revenue streams the event is bringing to the convention center, which may include food and beverage and Internet revenues.

Food and Beverage
Many convention centers have exclusive contracts with catering companies that provide all food and beverage services. A few convention centers, especially those managed by SMG, have in-house catering departments, which tend to be more flexible because there are no maximum buyout dates usually associated with exclusive food service companies such as Centerplate and Aramark.

However, it’s your right to bring in your own F&B, though there will still be a cost since you are taking away from the center’s revenue stream. Generally, it is a per-person cost. If you have the center cater it, know the value of your F&B. Applying a 33 to 40 percent profit to the revenue will determine the bottom-line revenue. Propose this cost to the center, being sure to mention it is pure profit without labor costs involved.

Key Contractual Clauses
Be sure to have your in-house counsel review the contract prior to addressing the following clauses to provide you a clearer understanding of what these clauses means, how they impact your event/organization and how you can address them realistically.

Cancellation: The cancellation clause protects the convention center in the event that you cancel a meeting and the center has to recoup losses if it’s unable to rebook the space. Most clauses are based on gross revenues. Negotiate the clause to be based on projected profits instead of gross revenues. Profit is the income that impacts bottom-line revenue. In the event the convention center does re-book the space, make sure it refunds the difference in revenues. Also, be sure to include language in the contract that protects you if the center brings in an event of higher value than yours. Hold the center responsible for finding another venue that is comparable, and have them pay for all of the reprinting cost of brochures and other  marketing materials.

Indemnification: Indemnification is securing against loss or damage, and this clause is typically one-sided in favor of the convention center. Planners can propose language that the group will indemnify the center “except to the extent that the injury results from the negligence or willful misconduct of the center, its employees, agents or subcontractors.” Another option is to ask for similar language from the center, since your organization could be included in any litigation that was generated by an employee of the center.

Deposits: Many centers request a deposit with the signed contract to bind the signed agreement and continue holding the space for your event. In some cases, the deposit schedule is unrealistic since your event may be three to four years away. The best way to address this issue is to discuss a deposit schedule that fits both parties’ needs. First discuss the amount due at signing the agreement, another percentage due in, for example, 24 months and 18 months prior to the event date, and the final amount due the year of the event.

Need to Know
When negotiating convention center contracts, it’s important to keep these two facts in mind:

1. Hotels and convention centers negotiate contracts differently. Hotels negotiate contracts based on room nights and F&B. Guest rooms provide hotels with 73 to 75 percent profit per guest room. Food and beverage averages a 35 to 40 percent profit. Hotels are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and revenue is generated during that time. Convention centers negotiate contracts on very different terms. Their profit centers are meeting rooms, electrical and parking, or costs offered complimentary at hotels. The reason is because convention centers are not open 24 hours a day. If there’s no event booked in a facility, no revenue exists, even though labor costs still exist. Therefore, convention centers charge for ancillary fees because these costs have to be covered somehow.

2. Most convention centers (98 percent, according to a recent PricewaterhouseCoopers study) are funded by the transient occupancy tax paid on guest rooms by travelers. However, some convention centers are funded by a city’s general fund, competing with other city entities such as schools, libraries, law enforcement and fire departments. The convention centers funded by the general fund are often more expensive than other convention centers, but they are typically more flexible with ancillary fees such as cost of crowd control and trash removal. It’s important that planners understand how a center is funded to know what ancillary fees can be negotiated.

Amita Patel, CHSP, is an experienced hospitality executive with a focus on high level strategic sales and marketing, brand awareness and collaborative partnerships.

Whether to convey mood, atmosphere, motivation or excitement, a well planned and designed use of lighting instruments can create different settings. Lighting needs change for different aspects of an event; a general session requires different lighting than a live music performance, for example. Lighting can be complex and expensive, but with enough forethought and planning, you can create a very dramatic look within your budget.

Color and Contrast 

Look at the example of the stage set for NBC’s stand-up comedy television competition “Last Comic Standing” (example A). Is it dramatic? Absolutely. But you can count the number of lighting instruments used on one hand. Using a black draped background, one white light illuminating a stool, a video projector display for the graphic and a few lights for the blue effect on the floor, a focused and theatrical stage was created. The key to achieving this dramatic look is the combination of contrast and color. This technique easily can be adapted for any large keynote or entertainment session at very little cost.

Simple Can Be Powerful

Keep this in mind when planning your next event: You don’t need a million lights to create memories. Performing artists Jars of Clay put on a concert for an audience (example B). The setting is dramatic and intense, yet only four lights—and no color—are used. For added effect, planners can use a theatrical “haze” to create a scene and help lights show their true color. Without the haze, the audience wouldn’t get the beaming light effect. Haze helps create this effect, unlike “fog,” the low-lying effect that rolls off the floor (think “Dancing with the Stars”).

Planning for Projectors 
When planning the lighting and staging for events, don’t forget your audience, especially if you are using image projection (IMAG) in a general session. When lighting a stage or speaker for videotaping or IMAG, make sure that you don’t wash out your presenters by only using white light. Flesh-tone covers or “gels” give a more natural look to presenters. Also, using a “key light,” or a light placed slightly behind a presenter or performer to highlight the person, can make a big difference. In lighting, often the smallest changes can yield the biggest differences.

Get creative. Get ideas from television shows, concerts, events or other  meetings you attend, then share your ideas with your audiovisual team or lighting designers to see what you can achieve within your budget. Stay informed and don’t ever be afraid to try something new.

Kevin R. Johnston, CMP, is the executive vice president at Collinson Events and has produced events globally for Fortune 500 companies and international associations for more than 25 years. You can reach him at kjohnston@collinsonevents.com.

Here are a few questions you need to answer to determine if you should consider cancellation and interruption insurance:

◗ Does your show/event generate a significant amount of your annual revenue?

◗ Would a sudden, last-minute and significant downturn in attendance (5 percent or more) substantially impact your organization’s financial status?

◗ Could your organization cancel an event and not be significantly affected by the loss of profit?

All of these questions relate to the financial viability of the sponsoring organization. For those unfamiliar with this type of coverage, it protects your revenue—not your profits. Here’s an example, based on some very real stories:

You produce an annual event with 2,500 attendees. Each registrant will pay $500 for registration. Your event has a trade show component; 150 exhibitors each pay $2,500. And don’t forget your sponsors: Add another $500,000. Between all of the above, you’ll generate $2.125 million in revenue. Your profit will be based on the difference between what you spend to produce the show and your
revenue—an estimated $1 million.

Close to the start of your program, there is a health issue—say swine flu or SARS. Remember SARS? Your host city has a high number, or the highest number of documented cases.

A renowned medical agency publicly recommends, “Don’t go there because there’s a chance you may get sick.” It isn’t an epidemic, but suddenly your attendance starts falling. You’ve already contracted and committed based on 2,500. Now it may be 1,700 or as low as 1,200. Your revenue projections now look like you may break even at best. If you purchased an event cancellation/interruption policy, you can now get a good night’s sleep. Here’s why: The insurance will protect your top-line revenue. You’ll be able to pay your bills, protect your income and remain financially intact. A claim of this magnitude will take a while to settle and requires an enormous amount of documentation and substantiation.

There’s a reason we don’t drive without insurance: risk. Ask yourself how much risk you’re willing to accept for your association, organization or company. The premium for this type of coverage is expensive. You have to plan for it, budget for it and apply for it each time you want it. It may not be best for everyone, but this is where you need to do your homework, assess your risk, discuss the upside and downside, and be prepared to live with your decision.

Industry associations—the American Society of Association Executives, Meeting Professionals International and Professional Convention Management Association—have researched numerous providers and options and will serve as a great first step in determining which is best for you. So, take the time to make a well-informed decision.

We’ve all heard the term “meeting planner perks.” It can refer to the non-event industry’s view of a planner’s life: luxurious stays in posh settings, business class airline seats and hard-to-secure reservations at a celebrity cook’s restaurant. In reality we know that those perks, if ever received, are rarely used, turned over to VIPs or often wasted. After all, do event planners in a fast-paced industry with an expected 24-hour availability to their organizations’ needs really have time to take a vacation?

For those who do, complimentary hotel stays and airline upgrades seem to be a well-deserved reward for spending 12 hours on the trade-show floor, lifting heavy boxes and not having enough time to eat. While hotel loyalty programs were created more than 25 years ago for frequent travelers, the concept of tailoring a program to target meeting planners is at an all-time high. In a lumbering economy, hotels are looking to entice planners with complimentary hotel nights, discounts on group meals and credits to their meetings’ overall bills.

Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide customized its Starwood Preferred Guest program, the hotel group’s original rewards program for frequent travelers, and created a Starwood Preferred Planner program. Planners just don’t get points; they get “Starpoints,” implying a higher level of benefits for meeting planners over leisure or business travelers. The program is further expanded to offer “Instant Meeting Awards,” the ability to get up to a $1,500 credit on your group bill as long as you are a Starwood Preferred Planner with 15,000 Starpoints (and, of course, a signed hotel contract must be in place). But there’s a terms and conditions catch to get meeting planners to book with Starwood again. Starpoints earned for the group’s current meeting may not be redeemed toward that meeting. So if you haven’t reached 15,000 points, you’ll have to wait until your next meeting to earn the group bill credit.

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), the first company to introduce hotel points with its Priority Club Rewards for Holiday Inn in 1983, has also created a planner niche for its program. With the addition of one word to its title, the Priority Club Meeting Rewards becomes a program that awards planners for “qualified” meetings. Reading the fine print is also essential here. Planners must have a minimum of 10 rooms occupied in their block from a minimum of one night up to five consecutive nights depending on the brand in IHG’s portfolio of hotels. InterContinental and Crowne Plaza have an additional requirement that meeting-related food and beverage charges must be applied to the master bill.

IHG further adds the perk of giving planners different status levels depending on how many meetings they book. Similar to an airline’s status ranking, IHG bestows Gold Elite status to planners who host one qualified meeting in a calendar year and Platinum Elite status to those hosting two meetings per year. The benefits of status range from the gold level’s 10 percent bonus in points and priority check-in, ensuring your room and keys are ready upon arrival, to complimentary room upgrades and a 50 percent boost in bonus points at the platinum level.

Marriott’s “Rewarding Events” program also offers levels of elite status and allows planners to choose between hotel points and airline miles. For every $1 in total meeting charges, planners can earn three hotel points up to a maximum of 50,000 or one mile up to a maximum of 15,000.

Marriott’s limited-time “Meetings Matter” group promotion adds contract incentives and bonus points to its base rewards program. For each meeting with at least 50 cumulative room nights booked and held by Dec. 31, 2010, a group will receive: 35 percent allowable attrition; one complimentary room night for every 35 paid rooms; and a 2 percent rebate off the master bill for each qualified meeting exceeding 100 cumulative room nights. This promotion also adds triple points for master bills paid with any Visa credit card up to a maximum of 150,000 total points.

Marriott, IHG and Starwood have all received “Freddie Awards” honoring the best frequent traveler programs throughout the world for the last 20 years. Receiving an award by giving travelers rewards confirms the industry’s intense focus on points. But for meeting planners who are bound by industry guidelines and organizational policies, does redeeming points for personal gain step dangerously close to the edge of ethics?

Many of these points programs focus their advertising on the individual benefits rather than what the group receives. Marriott’s Rewarding Events section of its website sympathizes with planners that “times are tight, and budgets are tighter,” but it can be “business as usual for you,” urging planners to earn points toward free nights for “your ultimate getaway.” Starwood’s site tells planners that earning Starpoints will “bring you one step closer to your dream vacation.”

IHG ran a 2008 campaign for Holiday Inn Hotels and Resorts that masked the individual benefits by calling its promotion the “M.B.A.” (Masters in Business Accommodations), designed to engage the traveler and educate them “in the personality of the brand and our latest promotional offerings.”

So when do rewards points move from an acceptable gift to a breach of ethical guidelines? Joshua Grimes of Grimes Law Offices, a firm specializing in associations and the hospitality industry, says there is no industry standard on points; however, many companies have policies that employees and contractors must follow.

“Sometimes these policies require people earning points for business travel to credit them to the company account,” Grimes says. “Other times the [individual] may keep them.”

Sheila Evans, director of sales Southern region for Hilton Worldwide, has clients who create a “house account” for points. Similar to an escrow account at a bank, Hilton holds the rewards points for use as the group books meetings. This ensures that the points are going to the company and not the individual planner. “Some clients use their points in company giveaways or donate them to their favorite charity,” Evans says.

Grimes says that most hotels have a policy allowing the meeting sponsor to designate who gets the points, the only condition being that the points will be paid to only one person or entity. “This means that any recipient may be designated, Grimes says. “However, ethics considerations may dictate that the points should go to the meeting sponsor unless that sponsor designates another recipient.”

Evans says that it must be stated clearly, prior to the signing of the hotel contract, who will receive the points. “This is usually decided by the meeting planner or the person booking the program,” Evans says.

Ethical considerations can be stretched further when a planner bases a destination or venue decision on the rewarding of points. Kyle Greer, program manager for the Society of International Business Fellows (SIBF), books properties based on how they fit his organization’s needs, not by their points program.

“Our key concerns are location, meeting space and service level, Greer says. “It is critical [that] we pull off high-caliber meetings and events, and we’ve yet to find that a point system helps in any way.”

Paulette Hopkins, president of The Hopkins Alliance, puts a clause in her contracts listing the designated representative who will receive the points. “But it has never been the decision-breaker [over another property],” Hopkins says.

While Grimes says there is no legally correct answer, under the federal Sarbanes-Oxley law the points would have to go to the company or organization sponsoring the meeting. Otherwise, there could be an implication that the planner chose a particular hotel because he or she was personally earning points — a suspect incentive because it doesn’t benefit the meeting sponsor,” Grimes says. “The best policy is for the planner to give the company the points, or to disclose to the company that the hotel is offering the points and seek approval from company officials to keep them.”

Monica Compton is an event specialist with Pinnacle Productions Inc. based in Atlanta, Georgia. She has 18 years of experience as a global meeting planner, managing a variety of programs both domestically and internationally. She is presenting several seminars at Connect Marketplace.

A meeting planner in Washington, D.C., sees a loose bolt on her exhibit panel. She picks up a wrench to fix it and a union laborer standing nearby sees her and reports a grievance to his supervisor. A florist in San Francisco attempts to carry centerpieces up a hotel loading dock and a Teamster stops him. The meeting planner who hired the florist must pay union laborers to perform this service.

While these scenarios may seem far-fetched, they are based on actual experiences faced by planners holding events in cities with unionized labor. While union regulations vary from city to city, an understanding of the venue’s guidelines will allow you to budget and reduce your organization’s liability to union grievances.

Before contracting a hotel or convention center, ask if it utilizes a union labor force and specifically which departments are in the union. While banquet servers and bellmen may be under a union contact, conference services managers and administrators might be non-union. If the venue does employ union laborers, inquire as to whether the union contracts are expiring or up for negotiation. Labor disputes could cause a disruption in services, a strike and public demonstrations outside the venue, all of which can affect your meeting.

Your salesperson might downplay any union negotiations to make a sale or not know the full extent of disputes, especially if the salesperson is located in another state. It is best to perform further research outside the venue’s report. The official hotel guide of the Hotel Workers Union, Unite Here, provides a list of hotels that are at risk of dispute or on strike. You should also perform an Internet search on the property. Search with the venue’s name followed by the words “labor dispute boycott strike” or “picket lines protests union” to learn of any existing or pending labor disputes. You can also call the local branch of the Hotel Workers Union and ask if they are currently engaged in any labor disputes in hotels in your chosen city. Unite Here provides a list of branches per city at unitehere.org/about/locals.php.

Include a union clause in your contract to further protect your organization, even if you find that union contracts are not up for negotiation and no disputes are pending. Most force majeure clauses include strikes and labor disputes. However, it is wise to add language that allows you to cancel the agreement and receive a refund of all deposits should a dispute or strike occur within two weeks prior to the start of your event or at any time during your event.

Consider also adding a clause that requires the hotel to notify your group within 10 days after it becomes aware of any labor disputes involving the hotel and its employees. The clause should include notification of the expiration of a negotiated labor contact or the filing of an unfair labor practice charge by a union, which often leads to a dispute.

Once your contract is in place, it’s time to research the union’s regulations and uncover any additional fees that may be imposed. If you are using the venue’s exclusive service providers, they are fully aware of the regulations and will work with the local unions to ensure compliance. If you are using an outside production company, for example, make sure it has worked in the city previously and has an understanding of the guidelines.

Increased fees often come into play when your event requires union labor for longer than an eight-hour period, on holidays or weekends. Check with the venue to see what staffing guidelines are in place and how you might alter your schedule to reduce fees. For example, union servers might be restricted to three hours for a breakfast or lunch shift and four hours for a dinner shift, including setup and teardown time. If you request that the linens are placed on the tables 1.5 hours before your dinner begins so your florist can bring the centerpieces, you’ll have only 2.5 hours to set up, serve and tear down your dinner and chances are you will go into overtime. In this case, see if the florist can deliver the centerpieces at the same time the venue is setting up the overall tables.

If your program requires dedicated staff, taking them away from their regular schedule, you may incur additional fees as well. For example, if you require dedicated room service staff for your VIP executives, which means the servers would not garner gratuities from other guests, a hotel might then require a flat “attendant” fee to compensate for the lost income.

Always ask hotels if the unions will agree to negotiate fees for certain services. For example, hotels charge a certain amount per item for room deliveries, an amount that goes to the bellman as a gratuity. If you place an envelope on top of a box, that can count as two items. Try to negotiate a bundled fee based on the overall amount of deliveries. If you have a multi-year contract with the hotel or your program is generating a significant amount of revenue for the property, the hotel might be more willing to waive the fees for your group and pay the union staff out of its own budget.

By carefully researching the property’s union guidelines and strengthening the contractual language against disputes, you can successfully manage an event at any union facility.

Monica Compton, CMP, is an event specialist with Pinnacle Productions Inc., based in Atlanta, Ga. She has 18 years experience as a global meeting planner, managing a variety of programs.

By Don Sadler

There used to be a time when planners didn’t have to think much about proving the value of their meetings and events. However, the economic climate of the past couple of years has changed this perception drastically, and perhaps forever. Measuring a return on investment (ROI) has moved to the forefront.

“In the past, most people believed that meetings and events had value, but there was a lack of data to prove it,” says Brooke Dillier, the director of knowledge for Meeting Planners International (MPI). “Now, planners and CEOs want to make sure they have the information and research necessary to support their events.”

Applying ROI methodologies

Several companies promote ROI methodologies and systems to measure results. MPI has begun an initiative geared toward helping planners demonstrate the value of their meetings.

“The same ROI methodology that has been used in many other industries can be applied to the meetings industry,” says Terri Breining, CMP, CMM, the president of the Breining Group, LLC and co-author (along with Jack Philips, chairman of the ROI Institute, Inc.) of “Return on Investment in Meetings and Events.”

Two things are essential to determining meeting ROI, she stresses. First, there must be clear, measurable objectives for the meeting or event. And second, planners need to make sure they’re measuring the right things.

“For example, planners might say that one of their objectives is for everyone to ‘feel more connected,’” Breining explains. “But what does that really mean, and how do you measure it? A better objective would be ‘that 50 percent of attendees say they feel more connected to their coworkers.’ You can measure this by asking attendees afterward whether or not they feel more connected and then see if you achieved your goal.”

Casey Cote, the president of Meeting Consultants, Inc., says that there are two components to any ROI calculation: revenue and cost. “Costs are relatively easy to identify and measure, so we mostly help clients track the revenue they generate from an event so they can come up with a true ROI number.” This primarily involves capturing leads, putting them into a customer relationship management (CRM) module, and then tracking them through to an eventual close and sale.

“We focus on quantifiable, hard-dollar returns as opposed to softer, subjective returns, like brand awareness or education,” Cote adds. This isn’t to say that subjective returns aren’t important; however, they are harder to plug into an ROI calculation.

Tracking event revenue requires more than just an application or tool, Cote stresses. “It requires ongoing executive support, consistent processes and procedures, and a common platform for collecting, reporting and analyzing the data. And this data is more than just leads and surveys. For example, we’ve created an event brief that requires planners to set their objectives for the event beforehand. Then they can come back afterward and compare actual results to their goals.”

Levels of ROI management

In their workshops and presentations, Breining and Philips present a pyramid that describes five different levels of ROI measurement for meetings and events. These range from what they call inputs and indicators — such as assessing needs and setting objectives, which should be done for all meetings and events — at the base of the pyramid up to full financial ROI measurement (Level 5) at the top.

“Gathering, analyzing and monetizing all of this data is a lot of work,” Breining explains, “and requires more resources than most planners have available.” Therefore, Level 5 measurement is usually conducted only for the most expensive and important meetings. Measuring to the other levels is much easier and more accessible — and in most cases, is all that’s needed to make a compelling case about the value of a meeting.

“Smart meeting planners will review their portfolio of meetings and make decisions about which ones will be measured to what level of the ROI methodology,” he adds.

While there is now an emphasis on ROI measurement, MPI’s Dillier says there is a wide knowledge gap in the meeting planning profession. “This isn’t a natural skill set for most meeting planners, which is why MPI is putting a lot of effort into it this year,” she says.

Upcoming MPI programs in Sophia Antipolis, France (June 22-July 2), and Dallas, Texas (October 2-8), will include an ROI presentation, “Measurement & Metrics.” A two-day, pre-conference ROI workshop, led by Jack and Patti Phillips, is scheduled prior to the 2010 World Education Conference, July 24-27, in Vancouver. To learn more about these events, visit mpiweb.org.

Survey highlights planners’ concerns

The measurements most often requested of meeting planners:

• Event evaluations/satisfaction surveys
• Net revenues
• Sponsorships
• Attendance size
• Rate of repeat attendance
• Room night count
• Ability to stay within budgets
• Level of responsiveness to client needs
• Increased service per attendee per dollars spent

Source: Pre-show survey of planners attending the 10th Annual Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International’s (HSMAI) Affordable Meetings Mid-America Conference & Exposition April 14-15.

By Marty Bear

As industry professionals, we should always strive to work smart and cut costs. In the current economic downturn, saving money without sacrificing quality is a major challenge for all of us. Promotional products — those bags, backpacks, folders, pens, journals, lanyards and speaker gifts — are often neglected when considering bottom line expenses, especially as staff is reduced or responsibilities changed. It is important to understand how to communicate with your supplier in order to save time and money. The more details and specifics you provide to your vendor, the more satisfied you will be with your options and the outcome.

There are simple steps to saving money on your next promotional products program. It all begins with having gathered all the details before making contact.

Here is the basic list:

• When and where is the event? Where will you need the goods shipped? Sometimes, you have several options, e.g., ship to your offices or ship directly to the hotel, convention center or holding company.
• Do you have your artwork ready in the correct format so the supplier can have a visual of what you are planning to print? Many times people don’t show the art until the end of the process and problems can arise like higher prices due to additional imprint colors not originally quoted.
• Do you know the approximate quantity of the items needed for the program? In the current economy, attendance numbers will vary. Let the supplier know how many you ordered last year as well as your guestimate for this time around.
• Do you know your budget per item? Be open and honest with your supplier in order to get the best quality product. If you spent $4 per backpack last year for your youth retreat, but this year you might have to spend less, then have the vendor show you options between $2.75 and $4. This way, as budgets are finalized and registration numbers come in, you will not have to start the process over if you need to lower your numbers. You will already have all the samples and pricing on hand.
• Additional product input is also vital. If the product must be orange, or recycled only, or must have an outside pocket for a water bottle, the supplier needs to understand your requirements before they do their research.
• Let your supplier know what item was used last year and what type of feedback you received from the attendees. Many times, the attendees will complain about some element of the item. They may feel the size, quality, material or color did not work well for them. This helps your supplier narrow down options.Once your item selection has been narrowed down, it is very important to get some approximate freight estimates to your final destination. Many times, new people in charge of ordering promotional items do not realize how heavy ceramic mugs, pads of paper, padfolios and computer bags are. They learn the hard way when the final invoice arrives. New buyers also sometimes forget that shipping to their company address and then resending the shipment out to the destination wastes dollars. (I have seen many programs ship products from a factory in California to their offices in Virginia and then back out to California without realizing that the supplier factory was actually 20 miles from the final destination.) There are times, though, when the bags need to be stuffed with the program collateral material. It does pay to do some research into fulfillment options at the event site and compare costs.

Marty Bear is president of PMSI-Professional Marketing Services, Inc., based in Stratford, Ct. He has been a leader and innovator in the promotional products industry for more than 25 years. callpmsi.com

By Christine Born

Many convention and visitor bureaus are dealing with tighter budgets and more oversight. Hotels are feeling the crunch from years of ambitious expansions and a buyer’s market that now assumes bargain rates. Meeting planners are trimming their events, cutting corners where possible and even meetings when necessary.

There is movement among top establishment players that might result in some much-anticipated trickle down effect. Bold initiatives inspire confidence — whether it’s Rupert Murdoch’s plan to convert his Web sites to a pay model by the summer or another new device from Apple, which introduced new iPhones in 2009 and profited despite the downturn.

Buoyed by the knowledge that the best leaders know how to turn crisis into opportunity and that pessimism doesn’t stand the test of time, we turned to leaders in the hospitality industry and some association planners to discover what they see ahead.

Fabian De Rozario, President, National Association of Asian American Professionals

Brave New Move: De Rozario says we have to be constantly reinventing or challenging ourselves to do new things. “Play outside your sandbox,” he says. “Explore things outside your realm of business only to discover how inside your business it is.”

Advice: Get creative and extend beyond your core business to build relationships and resources. That doesn’t necessarily mean huge, expensive solutions. As an example, De Rozario suggests that hotels can use slow times to drum up business within the local market by inviting civic groups to a complimentary event introducing their facility and services, thereby creating momentum and a relationship that will generate future business.  “A bunch of small wins will often return more than the big wins we look for,” he says. “As a consumer, I would love to engage with hotel reps that are knowledgeable about services and solutions that are available in the local area. The better resourced the hotel rep is, the more likely I am to choose your hotel over another.”

Relationships mean business. “If you don’t keep good records about what’s important to the relations you make, if you don’t have a clear system to manage all that information, you’re going to lose this race,” De Rozario says. “We’re so good at executing our meetings, but often do a poor job of managing the data and records that are necessary to manage our relationships.”

————

Stephen Hahn, Director Western Region Market Sales, Marriott International

A New Reality: Hahn’s message to hotel customers and managers is that both sides need to be partners in adversity. “From a contract standpoint, what might have been agreed upon a few years ago is no longer a reality,” he says. “It’s not a one-way street, or an ‘us and them.’ [In better times] it’s important for us not to say no to customers who were with us in the downtown.”

Advice: “You have to reset your expectation down without causing harm to those organizations you’ll want to do business with in the future. From a customer standpoint, you have to understand that the hotel industry has suffered significantly. We need good communication and flexibility and creativity on the customer’s part to help us maximize our business given what little there is out there.”

————

Bonnie Wallsh, CMP, CMM, Meeting Management Consultant and Trainer

Recession-defying Moves: Continuing education, networking and, above all, outstanding customer service are the keys to survival in 2010, Wallsh says. “2010 has the potential of being the most challenging year since I started my business 31 years ago. During the last several months, I have reviewed my business plan, strengthened
existing relationships, reached out to help those around me, sought to become a
Renaissance person and became acutely aware of potential opportunities.”

Advice: Customize your service and become a resource. “Identify needs and figure out how to fulfill them,” suggests Wallsh. “Work your network aggressively, sharing leads and opportunities regardless of whether they will benefit you personally. Maintain a positive attitude. Know about sports, the latest movies, books on the bestseller list, geography (try to learn the capital of every country) and current events. You never know when you can engage a prospective client.”

————

Judy Randall, President and CEO, Randall Travel Marketing Inc.

Trends to Watch: Randall says the biggest trends she’s seeing are shortened meetings to cut hotel and other costs; mid-day meetings for drive-in attendees; and planners cutting out extracurricular activities so meetings start purposefully and stay focused
on purpose.

Advice: Content is king. “Everyone wants to know what is going on,” she says. “They want educational content that helps them sort through the volumes of information in their field. Where are the frontiers?” Randall also agrees it’s important to keep your network alive and strong.

————

Lisa DeGolyer, Chief Executive, Conferences and Education, Construction Owners Association of America

A New Model: After experiencing a drop in attendance at her 2009 spring conference followed by a fall conference that exceeded all expectations, DeGolyer and her team developed a new model. “We used to move our conferences around the country to draw in new people, but now we are going to cities where we were successful, mainly because we have strong chapters there,” she explains. “We’re supplementing in between conferences with online learning opportunities and taking our course 101 on the road, doing in-house educational conferences for smaller groups.” Smart forecasting tools helped her track all the components of planning. One key element: education. “Change never stops and technology is coming at them so fast we need to educate them on the newest technology that is out there,” she says of the association members, mainly building owners. “Last year, the down economy was new, and people had to stop traveling. They didn’t have the money to spend on education, so we did other things to make up for it that made some money in between conferences. You have to spread energy centers to other things that are profit centers. Our meetings bring in the most ROI but they are labor intensive.”

Advice: “When you see something that works, you keep going,” DeGolyer says of her new approach. Her group also renegotiated all existing contracts to drop room rates and attrition. “We asked them to work with us to help us. You can’t do that with every one, but most worked with us. This is a good time to buy and negotiating is more viable now than it has been in the past.”

————

Fran Bolson, President, Woodfiled Chicago Northwest Convention Bureau

Brave New Move: “Whenever we see a major shift in markets (as we see now), we step up prospecting and reevaluate our markets,” Bolson says. “Any ‘brave new moves’ may include dropping out of a market that is not showing ROI and increasing investment in the markets showing activity. We are very aggressive in the use of technology in tracking and communications within our direct sales efforts; however, we still feel strongly about the need for face-to-face meetings and business travel. We are going to use our media campaign to convey that message, using the findings from the Oxford Economics business travel ROI study.”

Advice: Bolson also stresses the importance of education in today’s world. “Be the best in whatever you are doing and if that role is changing, spend some time to see where your position or market is going and be at the cutting edge. Take advantage of any and every development and learning opportunity that is available.” Her final word of advice? “Always answer phone calls.”

————

Deb Archer, President & CEO, Greater Madison, Wis., CVB

The Message is the Medium: Archer sees a need for everyone in the industry to collaborate and get the message out that “Meetings Mean Business.” The initiative, launched by the U.S. Travel Association, uses industry research to drive home the value of conferences and events to our economy. “Conferences and conventions are integral components to maintain and grow healthy companies and provide the foundation for generating discussions, ideas and creating solutions,” says Archer. “The GMCVB, the Wisconsin Association of Convention & Visitors Bureaus (WACVB) and the Wisconsin Department of Tourism (WDOT) are so committed to these principles that we will be forming a Wisconsin specific collaboration geared toward local political leaders, business owners and area meeting planners.”

Advice: “The best way to work through this industry-wide recession is to stay true to core competencies,” says Archer. She emphasizes the importance of service, embodied in the bureau’s trademarked brand strategy and statement, “Going Beyond Visit,” defined as the philosophy of going beyond the expected to enrich its partners, community and visitors. Or, as Archer says, “We don’t stop our services with the signed contract.”

————

Bruce Turkel, CEO, Brand Management, TURKEL

Changing Perspectives: Turkel’s firm specializes in travel and tourism marketing, branding and advertising. He is an author and frequent speaker for the travel and meetings industry. His message? “Authenticity, affordability, activities, accessibility.” He’s talking about travel. “We look at what we’re good at and we find different ways to express that,” says Turkel.
“A lot of what you come up with after evaluating your efforts is in plain sight.”

Advice: “Stop focusing on what you do and start focusing on what your clients want. Unbundle what you have and deliver it in a different way.”

————

[Marketing Moves]

Partnerships with Benefits

Partnerships can bring big returns for both planners and suppliers. Take a lesson from the George Clooney film “Up in the Air,” which is generating buzz for American Airlines and Hilton Hotels. Both are prominently and positively featured throughout the film, though neither company paid for its starring role. Instead, they provided locations and branding that helped defray what would have been huge production costs for Paramount Pictures — a grand example of a mutually beneficial partnership.

“If we were to go and rent an airplane for a movie, it would be very expensive. But if you can get somebody to loan you one as opposed to the production having to buy or rent it out of their pocket because they’d like their product seen in the film, it’s a fair trade for that exposure,” said LeeAnne Stables, Paramount’s executive VP-worldwide marketing partnerships.

Stables also pointed out that in this day and age of reality shows, fake brands would not work as well in a movie depicting the lives of real people, who are involved with brands every day of their lives.

Both American Airlines and Hilton are promoting the movie on their Web sites, where, besides viewing a trailer, visitors can enter “Up in the Air” sweepstakes. Hilton also is promoting the film on more than a million key cards internationally, a first for the chain, whose cards have never featured anything besides its own logos and amenities.

(Spoiler alert: There are also some interesting convention moments in the movie that will be all too familiar to meeting planners.)

Sources: Hotelchatter.com, nytimes.com

Many planners do not fully realize, nor adequately utilize, the services a CVB offers, many of which are free of charge. For planners who do not have adequate internal staff to assist with their meeting, or for non-profit or volunteer events that do not have full-time planning support, CVBs can become an extension of your team, saving you time and money. Their message is clear and you’ll hear it repeated over and over: “Tell us what success means from your perspective and your bosses and we’ll help you meet it.”

Request for Proposals

A CVB’s membership includes local businesses that generally supply services to the hospitality industry such as hotels, convention centers, restaurants, attractions and transportation companies. If your event has a need for a large number of suppliers or you are not familiar enough with the city to select providers, CVBs can create a request for proposal (RFP) for you and submit it to prospective companies. They will also take your own RFP document and disseminate it to a pre-approved list. It is important to qualify the companies you want to receive the RFP, especially if you or your client has a preferred brand for hotels. By being as specific as possible in the RFP document, you reduce an influx of e-mails and telephone calls from companies you have no interest in buying from.

Promoting Your Event

CVBs can assist in bolstering your meeting’s attendance through several promotional tools. When building your event’s Web site, you may need high-resolution photos of the location. CVBs can provide targeted images as well as video of accommodations and attractions.

Since destination information can be overwhelming and highlight attractions your attendees may not be visiting, simply listing the destination’s Web site link on your event information page can lead to confusion. Some CVBs will create a specific URL for your event which links to a welcome splash page with your group’s name. The custom page allows you to pick the information you want highlighted for your group. By listing only the attractions that appear on your event agenda, you reduce miscommunication with your delegates.

Media Contacts

If you are organizing an event that is open to the public, CVBs can assist in providing local media contacts and information for press releases. Most CVBs have a section of their Web site dedicated to public relations and media inquiries. Here you can find information to incorporate into your press materials, including stock story copy and quotes highlighting the destination’s offerings. CVBs will provide a list of e-mail addresses and telephone numbers for local and regional newspapers, television and radio stations.

Housing and Travel Assistance

If your meeting or event is large enough to require three or more hotels, CVBs can provide an online housing reservations system which can also include airline and ground transportation bookings. Many events have one online system to register attendees and gather housing and travel information. However, not all registration sites have the capacity to pass these reservations directly to the hotel or airline’s system. Similar to a third-party registration company, the CVB’s housing bureau can communicate with the hotel and disseminate rooming lists and travel itineraries. Note that CVBs in smaller market cities many not offer this service and there is usually a fee involved.

Tour and Attraction Booking

A CVB provides information and contacts for booking tours and attractions and can also refer their member destination management companies if your needs are more extensive. Similar to a hotel’s structure, a CVB will assign your group a convention services manager (CSM) who will work with you on all the pre-planning details. The CSM can act as your liaison in contacting their member suppliers. Since each member company is paying dues to fund the CVB, your CSM cannot suggest one company over another. They can, however, narrow your choices by telling you which companies provide the specific service you are requesting.

Additional Supplier Listings

CVBs can provide suggestions for services well beyond hotels and attractions. These include: program speakers and entertainers; exhibit freight services; equipment rental for your onsite planner office; floral designers; car rental companies; foreign language translation services; and even babysitting services.

On-site Staffing

Many planners have the capacity to organize a large event with a small staff, but then require supplemental support once onsite. CVBs can provide different levels of temporary staffing from attendee material collation to registration services. It’s important to qualify your needs and give the CVB a detailed job description of what is required. Do you have a registration desk that requires no more than a greeter to hand out delegate badges? Or is your registration more complex, requiring computer skills and knowledge of online software systems? Communicating your specific needs to the CVB will ensure the right match for each task.

By partnering with a CVB, you can reduce time in researching what a destination has to offer and quickly define which local suppliers meet your requirements. Rather than having to become an expert in a destination, you can save time and costs by utilizing the CVB’s expertise. With streamlined destination knowledge and preferred supplier information, you can now spend your time on more strategic planning elements. All it takes is delegation to your newly extended team — the CVB.

Defining Destinations

A convention and visitors bureau (CVB) is the dominant form of a destination marketing organization (DMO) in the U.S. While each state has a department of travel and tourism, most counties and/or cities also have their own CVB to promote a more geographically narrow area.

Although there are many government and chamber of commerce bodies with responsibility for marketing a destination to visitors, most convention and visitors bureaus (CVBs) are non-profit organizations, working independently under the direction of a board of elected directors. They are usually membership organizations bringing together businesses that rely on tourism and meetings for revenue and are funded primarily through the collection of “bed taxes” on visitors.

Destination Marketing Association International (DMAI) is the world’s largest resource for official destination marketing organizations. The organization provides members with educational resources, networking opportunities and marketing benefits worldwide. It also maintains an online bookstore and resource center, an e-mail discussion list for members, professional certificates and designations (PDM, CDME), an accreditation program and an official online travel portal: OfficialTravelGuide.com.

DMAI was founded in 1914 as the International Association of Convention Bureaus to promote sound professional practices in the solicitation and servicing of meetings, conventions and tourism. In 1957, the association changed its name to the International Association of Convention and Visitors Bureau (IACVB), to reflect the growing importance of consumer travel. In 2005, it changed its name again to become Destination Marketing Association International.

Sources: destinationmarketing.org, Wikipedia.com