Keeping it SiMMPle logo
                 Betsy Bondurant, CTE, CMM                                                                      Volume 21, Nov. 9, 2012
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In This Issue
U is for Understanding Unique Needs
SiMMPle Tips
Did you know...
 

Bondurant Consulting provides the following services:  

 

Assessment of SMMP potential for your organization   

 

Development and implementation of SMMP for meeting & travel managers  

 

Training programs for hotel companies and 3rd party meeting planning agencies which increase their understanding of Strategic Meetings Management, resulting in more successful engagements with clients who are involved with SMM 


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phone: 619.701.7709

 

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Welcome to Year Two of "Keeping it SiMMPle", a bi-monthly newsletter aimed at making and keeping your Strategic Meetings Management Program Practical, Light, and Effective!

Each issue of Keeping it SiMMPle addresses a component of the A to Z of SMM from a Practical, Light & Effective perspective. In this issue Understanding Unique Needs!         

The focus for this issue is to understanding the unique needs of the business requirement for each of your stakeholders. Because each one of the stakeholders that you have identified has unique needs, and it is incumbent upon the SMM lead to address those needs when designing the SMM program. Below are some of the unique needs of various stakeholders.

 

Let's start someplace we don't usually begin when speaking about stakeholders, let's start with the meeting participants! A unique need for them is to know that you have done your due diligence in order to provide the proper duty of care for their safety and security while they are in transit and in attendance at the meeting. Additionally, the learning environments need to be designed in order to facilitate the exchange of ideas and networking during the live events that appeal to several generations at once.

 

Meeting sponsors have their own unique needs. In fact, you need to understand that they must feel extremely confident that the meeting location being recommended is being put forth because it is the best fit for their meeting, not because it is simply $4.00 less per night per sleeping room than the alternative hotel.

 

The travel department has the unique need of understanding how the meeting and event expenditures can help to leverage the transient hotel program. Similar there is a need to understand how the group air spend impacts the preferred airline agreements

 

If you are in the process of assessing and deploying technology, you need to have a keen understanding of the unique needs of the information technology (IT) department. They will have concerns regarding the capability, privacy, compatibility and standards of the technology you intend to deploy.

 

Suppliers should also be considered as stakeholders, and thus their needs should be taken into consideration as well. They need to know your process and policy and they should be alerted in advance to upcoming changes in policy or process.

 

If your organization has a compliance and/or regulatory department, it is critical to understand their very unique approval and data reporting needs. As you design your SMM program, it is essential that their requirements be built into the process.

 

Certainly, there are many more key stakeholders to include in your process, but this should give you an idea of the variety of unique issues you will need to understand if your SMM is to be inclusive and successful..
SiMMPle Tips!    
TIP #1: 

Ensure that the IT department is part of the team that evaluates and implements the SMM technology tool.

   

TIP #2:  When working with your legal department, don't assume they know the nuances of our industry, take some time to educate them on terminology so they become familiar with standard clauses & terms 

 

TIP #3: Be the first to reach out to "seek to understand" the perspective of your various stakeholders.


Did you know...

Betsy will be attending the Chief Procurement Officer (CPO) Summit next week in Boston

 

The Financial and Insurance Conference Planners (FICP) annual conference will also take place next week in Los Angeles at L.A. Live

 

The PhoCusWright annual conference also takes place next week in Scottsdale