NYPCMA turned the tables, allowing planners and
suppliers to 'have their voices heard and to hear their colleagues,' at the
chapter's June Roundtable Workshop.
This "sharing" of information is a valuable resource we don't often get
to tap into with our busy schedules.
Networking sessions are great but most of the time we end up talking
about our positions, who's who and what's new instead of picking each others
brains for best practices, valuable learning experiences and tried and true
techniques. I had the wonderful
opportunity of being the "fly-on-the-wall" for this fantastic session that was
held June 9th at The New Yorker Hotel. Our moderators and topics were as follows:
-
Rallying
The Troops - Kenneth Letavish, International Baccalaureate
- Top
10 Must Have Contract Addendums - Margaret Schwab, International Council of
Shopping Centers
- Making
The Most of Budgets - Elisabeth Maisonet, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts /
Raffles Hotels & Resorts / Swiss�tel Hotels & Resorts
- Working
With and Finding Value in CVB's - Dawn Rockas and Amber Levy, San Diego Convention & Visitors
Bureau
- Supplier/Client
Relationships - Diana Voto, Disney Destinations
- How
To Increase Attendance - Anita O'Boyle, Institute for International Research
Some key take-aways
from the June program are highlighted below, but what I thought was most poignant
was that each and every table, regardless of the topic, had a common thread and
that was: work together, partner, foster your relationships and the outcome
will be a success. Hopefully many
of you have put some of these ideas to work already. For those of you that were unable to make our June program,
we hope these ideas will fit right in for you.
June
Roundtable Program Take-aways:
- Planners
are and need to continue to work closely with their marketing teams.
- The
Planner's strength in negotiation is back!
- Provide
your attendees with early registration incentives/ booking packages
(air/hotel/ground), din-around coupons or drink coupons for your host
hotel bar; all of these or any of these will bring more bang for their
buck.
- Make
Community service part of your event.
- Use
all the social networking tools - see which ones work and which ones
don't. Many of them are
no-fee or minimal-fee based and they can provide valuable information
regarding your audience/ habits/ patterns, etc.
- Communicate,
communicate and OVER-communicate with your partners and suppliers - always
be professional but never let any information be assumed.
- Right-size
your meetings - think about your venue, your audience, your objectives -
just because you like Vegas doesn't mean it will work for your group!
- A
well planned and executed contract (including addendums) represents a
professional partnership.
- Be
upfront about your expectations and needs be it contract negotiating,
marketing techniques, new suppliers and/or partners.
-
Document, Document,
Document - keep that paper trail (or e-paper trail)!
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