Strategic Meetings Management

Need information about implementing a Strategic Meetings Management Program? Are you looking for tips on negotiating contracts? Or maybe you just need to check out the latest food & beverage trends for events? MeetingsNet is the perfect resource!

MeetingsNet’s websites and magazines are conducting their annual subscription drive and invite all professionals with meeting planning responsibility to sign up for free subscriptions to Corporate Meetings & Incentives (now including Financial & Insurance Meetings), Association Meetings, and Medical Meetings. Religious meeting planners can get more information about obtaining a subscription to Religious Conference Manager.

MeetingsNet also publishes the popular MeetingsNet Extra, delivered every Tuesday to your inbox with newsbreaking stories, and MeetingsNet Tech Extra, a monthly newsletter that takes the mystery out of meeting technologies. It just takes a few minutes, and planners have the option of signing up for digital or mail delivery.

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Slow and steady is the motto for business travel next year, according to a recent survey by the National Business Travel Association. According to its 2010 Business Travel Buyers' Cost Forecast of 180 direct corporate travel buyers, 69 percent of respondents expect to see business travel volume "grow slowly" throughout 2010.

For meetings, 58 percent of respondents said that reducing the number of meetings is one of their measures to cut costs in 2010. However, on the bright side, this percentage is much lower than last year, when 85 percent said they would be cutting meetings.

To save money, travel buyers also cited auditing travel and entertainment expenses (84 percent), enforcing travel policies (77 percent), mandating online booking (76 percent), and reducing nonessential travel (71 percent) as their cost-cutting measures. Just over half of respondents—more than twice as many as last year—also said they would start implementing Strategic Meetings Management programs for their meeting in 2010.

Lead times remain short for meeting and event planners looking to secure the best deals from hotels and event venues. According to a recent MeetingNews survey, 41 percent of planners said their lead times for meetings of less than 100 attendees are 30 to 90 days before the event date. These abbreviated time periods are holding steady, as 73 percent of planners said lead times are about the same in 2009 as they were last year, while 15 percent said they are even shorter this year.

Paul Salvatore, HRG North America president of events and meetings management, told MeetingNews of one client who booked a Pittsburgh meeting for 160 people on September 24 just three weeks prior. Meanwhile, another client is waiting to announce its Boston meeting for 300 guests until a week before, in case a better deal comes along or it needs to cancel.

"Even though we made them aware of the penalties—both on air, using nonrefundable tickets, and on the deposit at the hotel—they factored all that into their budgeting and are willing to forgo their deposit and take the penalties," Salvatore said.

Meeting planners are obviously looking for a deal, and hotels are certainly willing to provide them.

"In the past, we would have to bring up additional features and benefits, concessions on F&B, meeting room rental and other things, and they seem to be thrown on up front," Salvatore said.

It's all just another example of how this is one of the best meeting buyer's markets in years.

"Businesses know it's a soft marketplace. They don't need to negotiate rates this far out, so we can go inside of 90 days and still get good pricing," Jim Fausel, Jr., Global Conference Associates president, told MeetingNews. "Most of inventory is still there within 90 days, at least for 2009."

One year ago, Cvent Meetings & Events blog was born! We've certainly grown—we're now over 1,000 posts strong!

To celebrate, I decided to take a look back at some of the year's highlights with a recap of our 10 most popular posts. Enjoy!

• How to Add Attendees—Not Expenses—to Your Event You can roll out an expensive marketing campaign or turn to discounted event prices to encourage registration, but you don't always have to do so.

• 3 Benefits of Banquetology Usually you'd think that bigger is better when it comes to catering at meetings and events. But in fact banquetology's "less is more" concept can be quite beneficial to planners in a number of ways.

• What to Include in Your Invitation Reminder Emails What can you do to increase your invitation response rate? Reminder emails are the answer.

• 3 Centerpiece Ideas to Save the Environment and Your Budget One area of meeting spend that can definitely get out of hand quickly is that of decor. It's also one that can be very wasteful, especially when it comes to centerpieces. Can you really save on centerpieces and be eco-friendly?

• How to Create a Custom Meeting Request Form In your already busy world, handling multiple meeting requests can get overwhelming. That's why meeting forms can be an invaluable tool in your Strategic Meetings Management program.

• 3 Caterers Offering Gluten-Free Menu Options One growing dietary concern among event guests is the need for a gluten-free option. Luckily, event caterers are hearing the call from planners to offer gluten-free meals.

• Creating Name Badges Doesn't Have to Be a Pain The task of creating name badges can be a time-consuming one. Event registration software such as Cvent makes it so much easier.

• 3 Ways Team Building Events Benefit Your Organization and Staff While professional networking, training and education are all key facets to your events, the benefits of team building to your employees and the organization as a whole should not be overlooked.

• 2009 Top 10 Meeting Trends Benchmark Hospitality International has released its Top 10 Meeting Trends for 2009, as observed at 30 award-winning properties.

• 3 Reasons Why Michael Scott Needs Cvent for The Office It's great that Michael can use Evite to quickly create an invitation and get some data on who is attending and who is not. But a 0.2 percent response rate? He could do better than that.

On the heels of Tuesday's news that more meetings are being booked already this year, a study from American Express Business Travel found that we will likely see an increased demand for meetings in 2010. As such, rates are likely to increase slightly in most travel categories.

"Considering airfare, hotel, and ground transportation, we expect the average domestic business trip to increase 1.2 percent, or $13, to a total of approximately $1,080," said Herve Sedky, vice president and general manager, American Express Business Travel. "An increase of 2.4 percent, or approximately $67, is expected for international business trips to bring the average cost to $2,818."

At the same time, the Global Business Travel Forecast predicts that companies will have more formal oversight of their meetings next year. Companies are expected to loosen purse-strings on events and conferences, with potential in-roads made by travel category managers adopting strategic meetings management programs.

What do you think? Is your organization preparing to host or attend more meetings next year?

The Gaylord National Hotel and Convention Center near Washington DC is the largest hotel and convention center on the Eastern Seaboard. It has over 470,000 square feet of flexible meeting room space including a 180,000 square foot exhibition hall. Located on the National Harbor, this DC luxury hotel has stunning views of the Potomac River and an incredible 18-story glass atrium.

One of the many luxuries that the Gaylord National Hotel and Convention Center offers is a “Hotel within a Hotel” program. The program is perfect for all your events in Washington DC because it provides exclusive meeting environments for executive meetings. Guests of executive meetings can stay in the National Bay, which is a collection of 300 upgraded guest rooms with direct elevator access from guestrooms to dedicated meeting space. There is also a dedicated Meeting Manager assigned to each executive meeting to cover all aspects of the planning process. 65,000 square feet of outdoor event space, including a full-service pier and marina.

View more information about the Gaylord National Hotel and Convention Center on the Cvent Supplier Network.

Given the beating our industry has taken of late, there is no better time for planners to demonstrate the value they bring to an organization. A number of experts are predicting the birth of a new corporate position: meetings architect, or meetings designer. The key is to think strategically, not just logistically.

Join Meetings & Conventions on October 20, 2009, at 2 PM EDT for the webcast "The ABC's of SMMP," sponsored by Cvent. Moderated by Senior Editor Michael Shapiro, the webcast will provide an introduction to Strategic Meetings Management Programs, or SMMP, the tenets of which the National Business Travel Association has been developing since 2004. With a new SMMP certification in the works and strategic planning more important than ever, this webcast will get you up to speed, so register today!

And don't forget, you can get involved in the discussion on Twitter using #mcwebcast. Follow Cvent for any updates!

In today’s economy, every penny counts, especially when it comes to planning your company meetings.  With so much scrutiny being placed on meeting planners to find the best deals, Cvent is happy to lend a helping hand by featuring current hotel promotions on the Cvent Supplier Network.  The Grand Hyatt Atlanta in Buckhead, GA, for instance, is offering a 6% rebate off your master bill if you hold a qualifying meeting there between now and March 31, 2010.

This Atlanta hotel promotion includes 6% off of the entire cost of your event, including meeting facilities, guestrooms, and catering. To qualify, your event must consist of at least 10 paid guestrooms on the peak night, and it must be booked and conducted by March 31, 2010.  The Grand Hyatt Atlanta meeting venue is both spacious and stylish, with a 9,709 square-foot Grand Ballroom capable of seating over 1,000 guests. And true to the Hyatt name, you will receive personalized service at your Atlanta event, including an on-site professional culinary team that can handle all of your food and beverage service and even create personalized menus. 

The Grand Hyatt Atlanta also offers Hyatt Gold Passport Planner Rewards—an exclusive incentive program for meeting and event planners. Participants who book meetings at a Hyatt property receive one Hyatt Gold Passport bonus point for every U.S. dollar you spend on eligible meeting revenue. These points can then be redeemed for future meeting credits, travel reward opportunities, and more.  So, by booking your next Atlanta meeting at the Grand Hyatt Atlanta in Buckhead, you can be assured that you’re getting the best in both meeting quality and meeting value.

View more information about the Grand Hyatt Atlanta in Buckhead on the Cvent Supplier Network

Cvent will be attending HSMAI's Affordable Meetings National Exhibition and Conference, held Wednesday, September 9, to Thursday, September 10, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC. Held annually, the conference is expected to host 1,700 professionals representing all segments of the industry.

A major focus of HSMAI's Affordable Meetings National is the tradeshow featuring roughly 475 exhibitors, including hotels, top destinations, industry suppliers and in-demand products and services. Make sure to visit Cvent at booth 6010 during the show, which runs Wednesday from 12:30 PM to 3 PM and Thursday from 12:30 PM to 2:30 PM.

In addition to the expo, both Reggie Aggarwal, Cvent founder and CEO, and Brian Ludwig, Cvent vice president of sales, have been selected as featured speakers at this DC event. Reggie will present Wednesday from 9:30 AM to 10:45 AM on "Dispelling Common Misconceptions about Online RFPs—Uniting Planners and Suppliers to Increase Industry Efficiency." Brian will present Thursday from 8 AM to 9:15 AM on "SMM: Manage and Measure Your Meeting Spend."

Additionally, on Wednesday, September 9, from 6 PM to 9 PM, Cvent executives will be hosting a private cocktail reception at Acadiana restaurant in Washington, DC. If you would like to come to the reception, please click here to RSVP. Or, to set up a private meeting during this tradeshow, please email Reggie Aggarwal at raggarwal@cvent.com.

For more information about Cvent, please visit www.cvent.com.

We look forward to seeing you at HSMAI's Affordable Meetings National!

We’ve launched additional support and features for international meeting planning on the Cvent Supplier Network, the largest global database of meeting venues in the industry! Cvent has included meeting space profiles for over 35,000 meeting hotels, conference centers, convention centers, and special event venues across Europe, Asia, South America and Australia. Planners can sign up for a free account and send electronic Requests for Proposals (eRFPs) to any property to get information on pricing and availability.

All of Cvent’s event management customers now have the ability to send RFPs to international properties. Plus, Cvent has signed numerous meeting management companies that will be sending RFPs to properties internationally, including ConferenceDirect, Global Cynergies, EMC Venues, and Meetings & Incentives.

"Meetings & Incentives uses Cvent’s innovative technology to manage our clients meetings and events across the globe. The speed and consistency of supplier responses, even for venues outside of the United States, through the Cvent Supplier Network has allowed us to streamline our work," said David Sachs, director of sourcing services for Meetings & Incentives. "The global adoption of the Cvent Supplier Network with suppliers has made Cvent an application a necessity. Cvent is the end to end solution that every procurement and meetings manager should have access to every day."

Complementing the international profiles, the Cvent Supplier Network offers comprehensive functionality to support the global sourcing process. Planners can specify a search for meeting space by square feet or by square meters; use a meeting space calculator supporting the metric system to assist in requesting space; request pricing information from hotels in the monetary currency of their choice; and send RFPs in any language using RFP attachments.

And don't forget, Cvent features over 25 international destinations on the Cvent Destination Guide. Find information on event venues, meeting statistics, transportation data and more for locations across the globe, including London, Paris, Vienna, Amsterdam, Singapore, Seoul, Toronto, Jamaica and the Bahamas.

To learn more about the expansion of the Cvent Supplier Network, read the full press release.

Cvent, the leading provider of web-based software for the $350 billion meetings and events industry, has announced an agreement with ConferenceDirect, one of the largest meeting sourcing solutions in the country. ConferenceDirect’s 280 associates worldwide, who booked over two million group hotel room nights for its 900 customers in 2008, will now use the Cvent Supplier Network to search for meeting venues, send electronic RFPs to hotels for group business, compare venue bids and carefully track client budgets throughout the site selection process. 

Over the last year, ConferenceDirect conducted a rigorous analysis across sourcing platforms, followed by a six-month beta test period on the Cvent Supplier Network system.

"The Cvent Supplier Network is currently the best tool on the market for site selection and event sourcing," said Brian D. Stevens, CEO of ConferenceDirect. "Over the past six months, we had ten ConferenceDirect Associates send out over 5,000 real RFPs to test the Cvent Supplier Network and we were very satisfied with the results. Our ten beta testers unanimously agreed that we should move to Cvent from our current RFP provider."

ConferenceDirect Associates will use a co-developed version of the Cvent Supplier Network that will empower them to search and source meetings to over 75,000 suppliers in a matter of minutes. The Cvent Supplier Network will streamline the site selection and decision-making process so that ConferenceDirect Associates are able to focus on leveraging their negotiating power and securing the best possible contract for their meeting planner customers.

"This partnership is between two companies that are dedicated to delivering the greatest value to their customers for meeting management. Cvent is committed to providing ConferenceDirect with world-class software and unmatched service," said Chuck Ghoorah, Cvent executive vice president of sales and marketing.  "We are proud to count ConferenceDirect as our newest strategic partner and look forward to providing ConferenceDirect’s Associates the booking platform for hundreds of millions of dollars in group business."

Read more about Cvent's partnership with ConferenceDirect.

At the Cvent Meetings & Events blog, we often discuss best practices for event management. Now, at the CventVideo Channel on YouTube, you can actually watch them!

You'll find Cvent client testimonials, virtual "tours" of the Cvent Supplier Network, live presentations on best practices for Strategic Meetings Management, event sourcing and eRFPs, plus much more! Visit the Cvent YouTube Channel today!

I subscribe to Meetings & Convention's Hot Idea of the Day, and sometimes I come across some pretty interesting tips. The other week, I read one regarding event transportation.

Marci Bracco, a Monterey, California-based event planner, contacted local Mercedes dealerships to provide vehicles for attendees at a VIP sales event for a high-end real estate development firm. The dealers made arrangements for attendees to be driven in new Mercedes convertibles for free. Why? Because it was an opportune way to showcase the cars to qualified buyers.

This seems like such a simple, yet inspired way, to cut meeting costs. When it comes to venues, caterers, transportation providers and so on, it's all about partnerships.

Organizing a conference of IT professionals? Sounds like an ideal time to work with an audio-visual supplier that will provide services at a reduced cost in order to show off their new products. If you happen to be planning a reception for regional meeting and event planners, look for caterers or venues that want to partner with you so they can showcase themselves to planner attendees.

The strategy of forming win-win partnerships will certainly vary based on your event. Still, it's worth asking every time, What value is your event bringing to a supplier? How much is that worth?

Read other Daily Hot Ideas

Cvent was recently profiled in MeetingsNet!

Check out an excerpt from the article: "Meetings technology provider Cvent has made a flurry of announcements recently that include major partnerships that enhance its Supplier Network of more than 75,000 hotels and venues, budget-friendly tools for organizations building a strategic meetings management program, and an integration with Cisco’s WebEx webinar technology. Long known for its expertise in online registration for meetings and events, Cvent has upped the ante with more than 100 feature upgrades."

Read the full article online! And don't forget to sign up for our May 20 webinar with MeetingsNet, "Deal or No Deal: Best Practices for Booking Meetings in a Tough Economy."

According to a recent survey by Meetings & Conventions, 76 percent of meeting planners have said they had to defend upcoming meetings and events. The majority of these planners (38 percent) have only had to defend meetings and events for 2009, though 33 percent have had to defend those planned for both 2009 and 2010.

The type of event being planned seems to affect a planner's need to defend it. Over half of the respondents said it was a conference or tradeshow they had to defend. About 36 percent said they had to justify training sessions and 27 percent said they had to justify sales meetings.

So what types of tools are planners using to show the value of their meetings? An impressive 70 percent of planners said attendee surveys are their tool of choice for measuring meeting value. This was followed by commonsense appraisal of usefulness (62 percent); in-house ROI studies (36 percent); outsourced ROI evaluation service (7 percent); and dedicated software (3 percent).

Attendee satisfaction surveys are also important tools when it comes to sharing meeting value with management. The survey found that 67 percent of planners report satisfaction surveys to management, while 56 percent report savings surveys, and 44 percent report client satisfaction.

Whether you are a third-party planner or you work for a large organization, it's not uncommon to receive requests from multiple people asking you to plan their meetings. In your already busy world, handling multiple meeting requests can get overwhelming. That's why meeting forms can be an invaluable tool in your Strategic Meetings Management program.

A meeting form is basically an easy way to streamline your meeting requests and keep things organized. When someone wants you to plan a meeting, they access the form; enter the key event information, such as contact information, event dates, attendees, or room requirements; and submit it for your approval. It only takes a few minutes of their time, and it gives you an organized overview into the meetings throughout your company.

The types of events requested at your organization may vary greatly, which is why Cvent offers highly customizable meeting form options. You can select fields to appear on the form, which may relate to the Requestor (such as email address); the Event itself (such as start date); or the RFP for the event (such as sleeping room requirements.)



You can even ask custom questions such as "Is this your first event?" Thanks to Cvent's extensive question type feature, you can set up questions and answers of virtually any type.



Aside from the content of the meeting form, you can change the look of your form as well. Choose from one of Cvent's various professional form templates. Then, customize it to match your organization and/or department by uploading images for the header and footer.

Best of all, we give you customized controls over the administration of your meeting forms. Create custom statuses for your request forms to let the requestor know where his or her request is in the process. Additionally, you can set up user access rights within your account.

Just a few days ago I blogged about the swine flu and what may await meetings and events because of it. Now that the World Health Organization has raise the alert level to a Phase 5 and the first death in the United States has been reported, the picture is becoming clearer as reports roll in from travel and meeting managers around the country.

Reuters has reported that a number of companies, including General Electric, Google, LG Electronics and Nokia, have taken steps to restrict business travel to Mexico or have shut down local offices. Chemicals maker DuPont's spokesman Anthony Farina told Reuters, "Travel within Mexico is business critical only, and only if the employee is willing to travel."

Meetings and events scheduled in Mexico are being shut down as well. The Latin American Medical Tourism and Health Congress, set to take place April 27-29 in Monterrey, Mexico, was canceled due to swine flu warnings. The DIA 2nd Latin American Regulatory Conference, set for May 13-15 in Mexico City, has also been postponed.

Hotels and venues are bracing for the impact of cancellations by both groups and individuals. Starwood Hotels and Resorts, which owns 22 properties in Mexico, released a statement Monday: "We are implementing all preventive measures recommended by the authorities for our guests and associates in our Mexico hotels." Hilton Hotels issued a similar statement.

Though Starwood went on to say they had not seen any "material cancellations," USA TODAY reported that InterContinental and Wyndham Hotels have seen a slight increase in cancellations. Meanwhile, online travel agency Travelocity has received few calls, indicating that few people are panicking about their travel plans.

Indeed, a CNN article published Monday quoted a number of travelers who seemed far from worried about contracting the swine flu from their travels.

"It's out there, but what can you do?" Eric Meyer of Lafayette, Colorado, told CNN. "Wash your hands maybe and call it good. Put a mask on? [I'm] not gonna go that far and be that guy yet."

Still, a lot can change over the course of a few days as the number of swine flu cases—and the media coverage—ramps up. Are your meeting attendees asking about the swine flu? Is it affecting your upcoming events?

Did you miss our webinar on "Making Meetings Management More Efficient"? No problem—now you can watch it online!

In the Cvent-sponsored webinar, you'll hear from industry experts Christopher Davis, executive editor of Business Travel News; Kari Kesler, partner, Strategic Management Solutions, LLC; and Anil Punyapu, vice president, enterprise sales of Cvent. They'll discuss how to optimize your meetings process, giving advice on tracking, reporting, and incorporating cost-saving strategies such as the use of meeting cards and strategic meetings technology.

If you have questions about starting a Strategic Meetings Management program, or are looking for a way to maximize a return on investment for your meetings, this webinar is sure to help! Watch it now at the Cvent's news room.

We recently received a note from Samantha Bowerman, a Cvent client at the Strategic Meetings Group. Check out what she thinks is Cvent's greatest strength:

"What I consider to be one of Cvent’s greatest strengths is their customer care. There are always little things that come up when you’re planning an event, but you don’t have to stress about them when using Cvent because help is just a phone call or email away. When you call, you rarely have to wait to talk to a representative and they are always very courteous and helpful. 

I was in the process of launching an email campaign while I was in London and the staff there were just as helpful and responsive. My company prides itself on customer service and responding to all inquiries in a timely manner.  Having a technology partner with the same philosophy helps my company provide the highest level of service to our clients."

Samantha Bowerman, CMP
President
Strategic Meetings Group

What do you think is Cvent's greatest strength? Feel free to contact us with your thoughts anytime!