By Doug Baarman In the past few months, I have experienced communication challenges with hotels regarding two of the groups we manage. My takeaway is: Communicate as soon as you uncover a challenge. It is important to get it out into the open immediately so everyone involved can begin to
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Handwritten Notes, Phone Conversations and Face-to-Face Discussions … Are They Still Being Utilized in the Hospitality Industry?
Meeting planners, independent event planners and their hospitality industry partners love to use email, texting, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Google+, YouTube, Instagram, Tumblr, blogs and virtual meetings – how did we ever conduct business before these tools were invented? All of these can be useful communication tools, but are they effective
Read moreEtiquette For Hospitality Professionals When Attending Industry Events
I attended three industry events in the past two weeks; a heavy reception, lunch and a sit-down dinner. At all three events, there was a featured speaker or a series of presenters. In each case, we knew prior to attending that there would be speakers and the topic they would
Read moreProfessional Meeting Planner Tips for Keeping Your Attendees in the Block
As independent meeting planners, our clients often ask us for help ensuring that their attendees book within their contracted room block. In addition to achieving the overall objectives of the meeting, the organization needs to fill the contracted room block to ensure financial success. We are able to help our
Read moreEvent Meeting Planning: Contract Negotiating Tips for Convention Centers
Many planners get uncomfortable negotiating with convention centers. This is usually because we don’t negotiation as often with centers and because the process can be more complex. First, we need to understand that there are some key differences when negotiating convention center contracts versus hotel contracts. It is important to
Read more7 Tips to Better Networking as a Professional Meeting Planner
After nearly 20 years working for brand name organizations, I realized that people interacted with me professionally because of these brand affiliations. As I have moved to the meeting planning side of the hospitality industry as an independent planner, I was challenged to refine my networking skills. Excellent advice…but how
Read moreContract Negotiating Tips from Professional Meeting Planners
For this post, I surveyed 15 fellow meeting planners asking for their top pet peeves and tips on how to overcome them when negotiating contracts with hotels. The results produced 8 challenges and suggestions (in no particular order): 1. Empowerment– the hotel salesperson has to review everything discussed with someone
Read moreContract Negotiating Tips for Professional Meeting Planners (From the Supplier Side)
For nearly 20 years of my hospitality career, I was on the hotel side of the industry. During several of these years I facilitated a contract negotiation class, training the entire sales force of a major hotel chain. A large portion of my career as a supplier, I had the
Read moreKeys to Successful Contract Negotiations for the Professional Meeting Organizer
Many meeting organizers claim they enjoy negotiating…but deep down it is not our favorite part of meeting planning. Why do we have a resistance to negotiating? I believe it is for one or all of the following reasons: Feeling that one party must win and the other must lose Feeling
Read moreSite Inspections for the Professional Meeting Planner
Reach Decisions More Quickly The site inspection trip is one of the enjoyable responsibilities we have…if done correctly. At this point, we have sent out the detailed RFP, received and reviewed the proposals and now we are narrowing our choices of destinations and properties we want to consider. It is
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