Here are some tips from the inside – advice shared by fellow meeting planners in the  “Stellar Tips” section of ConventionPlanit.com:

1.  Customize Menus

It’s no secret that food and beverage can be expensive.  Customizing menus can allow for greater variety, fresher ingredients, and cut costs.  Provide a total dollar amount to the chef or catering manager and request custom menus (keeping specific requirements in mind).

The chef is given flexibility to use seasonal or local specials, or piggyback other events being held that day, take advantage of specials offered by food suppliers – all while offering smaller and healthier portions and staying within budget.

2.  Alter the Food Presentation

Pass or butler more expensive items at a reception to make them last longer and save money.  Using napkins instead of plates, or asking the caterer to slice bakery items in half (bagels, muffins, croissants) allow for portion control.

3.  Eliminate Individual Beverages

Replace cans of soda with a self-service fountain soda station situated near the break area, and use water pitchers or coolers instead of bottles.   Attendees won’t be tempted to ‘take one for the road’.  These options are more cost effective (one planner saved $1000 by switching to water coolers!) and are good for the environment, too.

4.  Monitor a Beverage Manager

While doing the BEO, mention you would like to be present when the beverage manager tallies the bars and empties before they are finalized. (Liquor is counted by tenths of a bottle and then billed accordingly).

One count discrepancy resulting in a measurement change can equate to as many as 10-12 drinks!  This keeps the beverage manager on his toes and can result in hundreds of dollars in savings.

5.  Use a Voucher Program

Instead of preparing a traditional break time, ask the hotel to provide vouchers for the lobby snack shop.  Attendees are given vouchers, each worth $3, for example.  Each item in the snack shop is worth one voucher.  The vouchers are then counted and charged to the master account – which can be significantly less costly than a large break time.

1. Choosing a Green Location

Make a difference from every aspect of your conference by choosing a green city. Conduct research when selecting your location.  Look for cities with high percentages of renewable energy, green building guidelines, and a commitment to city-wide green programs (such as park construction).

Green-friendly destinations are eager to work with you to meet your green requirements and implement your ideas at the convention center. For the 2010 PCMA Annual Conference, Vice President of Meetings & Events Kelly Peacy said she worked closely with the Dallas Convention & Visitors Bureau to infuse green elements into all areas of the conference, including area, including the destination, accommodations, food and beverage, communications, and operations.

2. Implementation: Make a Difference

Support local organically grown food as much as possible and consider donating leftover food to a local food bank or

composting other unused food.

Providing green hotels for conference housing is important.  Look for LEED Certified properties,

and ask about special green efforts the hotel is involved with, such as donating leftover soap to a recycling effort to provide people in developing nations with soap.

3. Words of Encouragement:

“You don’t just go out and suddenly become a green organization,” Peacy said. “You have to build on it. You need to decide how high green ranks on your list of organizational strategic objectives. We asked that question and determined that it was very important, so we put significant resources toward it. At PCMA it is half of one person’s job. Every year we build new objectives. If PCMA can be recognized as an industry leader to educate our members about green that would be a success.”

Don’t stop with these ideas; strive to innovate for green efforts in all areas of your meeting!

Here are some creative marketing ideas to help build meeting attendance:

Go Viral – Forget the swine flu! We’re talking about viral exposure in the social media. Come up with unusual – even outrageous – ideas for your meeting that will start tongues wagging and tweeters tweeting. Get your executive director to volunteer to sing a song onstage at the Opening General Session if the meeting attendance sets a record (be sure to post a video of him/her singing a few lyrics on YouTube as a sneak preview). Then have your Board members, convention planning committee members, and other leaders start tweeting about this and posting links to the YouTube video and your meeting website.

Talent Search – Everyone has talent, right? (OK, maybe some people are more talented than others.) Have a “Talent and Great Ideas Show” at your next meeting. Use your e-newsletter, online convention promotions, and the social media to recruit members to participate. Each person needs to demonstrate their talent for a minute or so (do a card trick, play a musical instrument, sing, dance, juggle, do an impersonation, etc.) and then deliver one industry-related great idea that attendees can take home and use in their business. Record a couple short videos with willing members to show how it works and post these on YouTube as examples. The show will add fun and value to your next meeting, and create powerful social media marketing leading up to the meeting to promote attendance.

Jeopardy – Think of an important topic in your industry and imagine how that might play out in a Jeopardy-style game. (Remember, answers must be phrased in the form of a question!) Creativity is the bottom line, of course – think about how the game can be built into into a PowerPoint presentation, for example.

What are you waiting for? Step out of your comfort zone, toss ideas around with colleagues, and think about the wow factor!

The Renaissance Resort at World Golf Village recently underwent an extensive renovation.

The World Golf Hall of Fame, located at World Golf Village in St. Augustine, Florida, and the Renaissance Resort at World Golf Village, are becoming an increasingly popular meeting destination.

To learn more about it, we interviewed Scott Selvaggi, Director of Sales and Marketing for the Renaissance Resort at World Golf Village.

St. Augustine is a major golf destination with the World Golf Village and the World Gold Hall of Fame. How has this changed the city and what is it doing to enhance it as a meeting destination?

World Golf Village and the World Golf Hall of Fame give St. Johns County another enhancement for leisure travelers and groups. In addition to the World Golf Village, St. Johns County also offers travelers the Historic District in downtown St. Augustine, a variety of beaches, and beautiful Ponte Vedra. World Golf Village offer visitors an opportunity to enjoy the PGA Tour Academy, the PGA Tour Stop (Florida’s Largest Golf Store), and various activities for golfers and non-golfers. The World Golf Village offers exceptional lodging including the Renaissance Resort at World Golf Village.

Tell us about the $10 million property-wide renovation that the Renaissance Resort at World Golf Village completed last year.

This project captured the “Best Renovation of the Year Award” for a franchised property at the recent 2008 Marriott International National Association (MINA) conference. Located next to the impressive World Golf Hall of Fame, The Renaissance Resort at World Golf Village remodeled all 301 guest rooms and suites, dramatically changed the lobby atrium and entry area, remodeled all guest room corridors, expanded and enhanced its fitness center with state-of-the-art equipment, remodeled its billiard room, enhanced its meeting space with new carpet, and renovated its business center. In addition, the resort also remodeled its restaurant and bar, which opened in April 2008 as a new restaurant and bar called 500 South, An American Grill.

What type and size of meetings are best for your property?

We cater to all groups and sizes. In addition to meetings and conferences, we also cater to weddings, bar/bat mitzvahs, anniversary and birthday parties. We can cater up to a 1,500 person sit-down dinner and one group may occupy all 301 guest rooms. We have 14 meeting rooms and our St. Augustine Ballroom is very large at 26,880 square feet. It is the largest hotel/convention center combination between Orlando and Atlanta.

What type of golf experiences are near your resort and how can they enhance meetings?

Featuring a wealth of recreational offerings that appeal to golfers and non-golfers alike, the resort enables you to play golf on two of the country’s finest golf courses (King & Bear, and Slammer & Squire), experience the renowned PGA TOUR Golf Academy, and explore the wonders of America’s oldest city, St. Augustine. On-site offerings at The Renaissance Resort include a professional golf simulator, a sauna, pool, and hot tub. Guests also are an easy walk to The World Golf Hall of Fame’s 18-hole putting course, the 132-yard Island Challenge Hole, an IMAX® Theater, and the Walk of Champions. Onsite meetings may take advantage of team-building activities through tournament play on one of our golf courses. Additional team-building activities may be organized at our 18-hole putting course or the 132-yard Island Challenge Hole.

What other attractions does your resort and the surrounding area offer that most people don’t think of when they are considering your property for a meeting?

One will find that beautiful historic St. Augustine offers everything from upscale boutiques and historic antiques to fine art and Florida kitsch. If you have a passion for the old-fashioned – including blown glass and handmade chocolates – St. Augustine is the spot for you. In addition to perusing clothes, shoes, household goods, and unique gifts from around the world in St. Augustine, there are more than 160 outlet stores within minutes of the resort. You’ll find upwards of 85 stores at the Premium Outlets and 75+ stores at the nearby Prime Outlet Center, both within five miles of The Renaissance Resort at World Golf Village. Likewise, World Golf Village has the 30,000 square foot PGA TOUR Stop – the world’s largest golf merchandise store – perfect for gifts, equipment and apparel for the avid golfer. You’ll find more than 60 of the world’s top manufacturers of equipment and apparel featured in interactive “concept shops” and themed areas throughout the store.

Your hotel is part of the John Q. Hammons Hotels group. What is the defining feature of this group and how is it positioning itself in the meetings market?

Since developing his first hotel in 1958, John Q. Hammons has carried out his vision of creating a hotel experience that exceeds every expectation. Over the past 50 years, he has become a true innovator within the hospitality industry, from his ambitious style of property development to setting the standard for excellence in property management. Today, John Q. Hammons Hotels Management, LLC, maintains Hammons’ long tradition of quality with a renewed passion. We’re building upon his legacy of success and focusing on the future of the company – developing new properties that are sure to excel while continuing to outperform our competitors at the properties we manage. John Q. Hammons Hotels are consistently awarded the highest honors in guest satisfaction and overall excellence. Our new atrium-style developments continue to lead the industry in both meeting space and guest experience. With extraordinary associates and an experienced management team, we remain the nation’s premier independent builder, developer, owner and manager of upscale, full-service hotels.

The good news is, provided the meeting planner isn’t pouring the drinks, they normally would not be at much risk of being held personally liable. When an employee is acting in the scope of their employment, liability usually rests with the employer, not the individual. That good news, however, does not typically extend to independent meeting planners or third-party meeting planners who are independent contractors and not employees. In these instances, the meeting planner could be held liable along with the company, depending on the circumstances.

“The only way to eliminate liquor liability is to eliminate alcohol from your event,” says Marilyn Hauck, founder and president of The Complete Conference and a 20-year veteran in the meetings industry who plans, markets, and manages meetings and events of all sizes. “A non-alcohol event is often not an option, so the next best way to reduce your liability is to create an environment that discourages overdrinking.”

Hauck suggests these steps to take to keep your attendees from overindulging and to reduce liquor liability:

• Give written instructions to bartenders not to serve persons who are either underage or noticeably intoxicated.

• Establish a monitoring system to ensure that minors and intoxicated persons are not served alcohol.

• Designate someone from the planning team to refrain from drinking during the function to monitor the bartenders.

• Avoid self-service bars and kegs of beer.

• Control the length of the cocktail reception and don’t announce last call.

• Always provide food and non-alcoholic beverages where alcohol is served.

• Arrange transportation – or a place to stay – in advance.

• Buy liquor liability insurance if your organization is the server or seller.

• Make sure the group has a standard operating procedure for handling attendees who have had too much to drink.

Since its inception in 1979, the mission of The Complete Conference, Inc., has been to develop and implement high quality cost-effective meetings with professionalism, integrity, customer satisfaction and dependability. The company can be reached at 916-922-7032 or info@completeconference.com.

1. Know your audience’s social media habits, so you can communicate most effectively. Use tools such as Twitter Search or Technorati to do research, or simply conduct a member survey.
2. Use Facebook or Eventbrite to promote and register people at your event. These tools allow people to easily spread the word to their friends and let people see who else is attending the event.
3. Promote your social media activities through traditional channels to encourage participation, including websites, signage, welcome remarks, hotel room drop offs and programs.
4. Set up an event-specific Wiki or social network. This will help break down barriers between people and facilitate the exchange of ideas during the conference.
5. Start and promote an event blog with news and updates. If an entire blog is intimidating, simply start with Facebook updates.
6. Create an “upload atmosphere” at your event to encourage blogging and Tweeting. Provide powerstrips and make sure Wifi is available to your attendees.
7. Create and promote one consistent Twitter hashtag for your event. Twitter hashtags help aggregate individual Tweets into one area. By using a hashtag (or Twitter search term) into their posts, attendees can easily find all the posts relevant to your event.
8. Live blog and Tweet from the event to provide “official” messaging and generate excitement.
9. Interview speakers using a flip cam and post the content to your event site. This provides visibility for the speakers and also gives bloggers something to share.
10. Create a group on Slideshare so that all presentations can be shared electronically with attendees. Reducing the number of presentation handouts also is a nice “green” element that can be promoted to attendees.

The above tips are adapted from a seminar sponsored by the Hilton Washington,  for meeting and event planners on how to leverage the vast world of social media specifically for their needs – helping them attract, engage and respond to their attendees.  To develop and conduct the complimentary seminar, Hilton Washington engaged its communications partner Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide and Ogilvy Washington Digital Influence Specialist Sarah Marchetti. The full presentation can be accessed on Slideshare.

Every hotel tries to capitalize on its location to  create experiences for its guests and meeting  attendees.

For the Hilton Cocoa Beach Oceanfront, a  unique blend of nearby attractions and  exceptional creativity has created some  learning, teambuilding, and recreational options  that have been a hit withmeeting professionals.

For starters, the hotel is located just a few  miles from Cape Canaveral and the Kennedy  Space Center, launch site for the Space Shuttle  and many other space missions. Just south of  the hotel is one of largest nesting grounds for sea turtles. And of course the hotel is adjacent to miles of pristine Atlantic seaboard beachfront.

So what does this mean for meeting professionals? Jason McKee, Director of Sales and Marketing for the Hilton Cocoa Beach Oceanfront, explains that the hotel has developed a rocket launch team-building program, a remote-control dune buggy racing program, and partnerships with the nearby Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge to offer meeting experiences unique to the hotel.

He reports that many engineering organizations meet at the hotel, which was part of inspiration for creating the rocket launch program, where teams of 4-5 meeting attendees work together to build and launch model rockets.

“It is very competitive as far as designs go,” McKee says. “Engineers with multiple advanced degrees get so enthusiastic about building these kids’ toys and launching them. It really is a team-building exercise and has been a tremendous success for us. But it’s not just for engineers – we have had every type of organization do it. They take a real sense of pride in building the rockets, recovering them, and relaunching them. It builds a real sense of camaraderie, increases the competition level, and it is fun to watch adults turn into kids again.” The experience is often enhanced by a session with an astronaut who talks about the team-building required to make a Shuttle space launch happen.

“We always ask what the mission of the group is to help tailor the presentation,” McKee explains. “In a space launch there is always a mission. We convey the organization mission to the astronaut who comes to speak.”

Several teams around the world work together to make a space launch happen, so the astronauts always have many perspectives and lessons to talk about. Besides the team at the Kennedy Space Center, there is a support team in Houston, teams in Spain, France, and Australia for potential emergency landings, and a team in California in case weather in Florida or other factors require an alternate landing site.

“Tens of thousands of people work together to get six people in space and back again,” McKee says. When he joined the hotel a few years ago, he knew nothing about the space program, but is now well-versed in many aspects of it after listening to astronauts speak and visiting Cape Canaveral.

Another exciting option is for meeting attendees to witness a Space Shuttle launch. McKee has his own personal experience with this, watching a launch from a spot two miles away (the closest you can get to witness a launch) with his four-year-old son.

“He talks nonstop all the time,” McKee says, “but after we watched the launch and had our clothes blown back by the noise, all he could say for the next 15 minutes was ‘whoa.’”

Only a few more Shuttle launches are scheduled before the National Aeronautic and Space Administration moves into its new Constellation program, but he notes that 24-26 unmanned launches are planned in 2010-11, and the hotel can arrange VIP tours of the Kennedy Space Center if a launch is not happening.

When meeting professionals, inspired by the rocket launch program, began asking for more activities, McKee and his team partnered with a local hobby shop and created the remote-controlled dune buggy racing competition, where attendees race dune buggies through an obstacle course on the beach.

“Each team has to complete at least one lap,” he says. “They get points based on speed, traversing all the obstacles, and having the fewest crashes.”

“Our hotel is also a phenomenal place for ecology tourism and ecological groups,” McKee says, since one of largest nesting grounds for sea turtles is only a few miles south of the property.

Tours include many nature preserves with wildlife and walking trails. Turtles, bald eagles, and osprey are just a few of the wildlife that can be seen. The hotel partners with the Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge to conduct private tours during the turtle nesting season. The Caribbean Conservation Corporation, which works to protect the turtles, explains the life cycle of sea turtles and how humans affect them and how the seacoast community has helped them.

Airboat rides and kayaking are also available near the hotel.

The Hilton Cocoa Beach Oceanfront also offers guests a chance to earn a deluxe breakfast by volunteering to go out and do early-morning beach cleanup, offering meeting attendees a chance to support green initiatives.

The hotel is located 45 miles from Orlando International Airport. “It’s a one-hour trip from baggage claim at the airport to our front desk,” McKee says. The hotel also provide hurricane insurance in case an event is affected by a named storm – groups can rebook within 12 months with no penalties.

Jonathan Tisch, CEO of Loews Hotels, offers industry advice

Jonathan Tisch is well-known as a top meetings industry leader and CEO of Loews Hotels, which owns and/or operates 17 hotels and resorts in the U.S. and Canada.

Now his name is worth even more to meeting professionals who simply say, “Jon sent me” when calling any Loews Hotel and booking business by December 31, 2009. Through the Loews “Flexible Meetings” program, planners can negotiate competitive rates and get an additional 10 percent of the total room revenue in value-added savings from a range of services. These include food and beverage, audio-visual, health spas, business centers, meetings internet packages, airport transportation, VIP amenities, and more.

But there’s much more to Jonathan Tisch than just a ticket to excellent discounts. Besides his leadership of Loews Hotels and his role as Co-Chairman of the Board and a member of the Office of the President of Loews Corporation, the hotel chain’s parent company and one of the largest diversified financial holding companies in the United States, he is Chairman Emeritus of the United States Travel Association, a Trustee of Tufts University, Treasurer of the New York Giants Football Team, and a Board Member of the Tribeca Film Institute.

He’s also a prolific author, having written the Wall Street Journal besteller The Power of We: Succeeding through Partnerships and Chocolates on the Pillow Aren’t Enough: Reinventing the Customer Service Experience.

ConventionPlanit.com sat down with Tisch at the 2009 ASAE Annual Meeting to talk about some of his many ventures and his views on the meetings industry.

What’s new with Loews? Tell us about the new Loews Atlanta Hotel scheduled to open next year.

The Loews Atlanta will be our 19th hotel, scheduled to open April 10, 2009 in the midtown section of Atlanta called 12th and Peachtree. It is a great opportunity in this current environment because it provides real value, and at Loews we think value is the new luxury. This new property and other Loews Hotels can help meeting professionals get to destinations they may not have thought about or thought possible. It is important for us to help planners understand their opportunities and instead of cancelling meetings to have meetings that are affordable.

You were part of a group of top travel and meeting executives who met with President Obama in March about how the industry can help the economy. What are your impressions of the President and his commitment to supporting the industry?

We were quite surprised as the President spent as much time as he did with us – 30 minutes. We discussed what our industry means in terms of jobs, revenue, and tax dollars to so many destinations. This meeting took place at a time when meetings were being demonized. But when the President took the initiative to meet with us it showed that this administration has as open ear.

How do you see the recovery of the meetings and travel industry unfolding during the coming months?

CEOs and executive directors are taking their cues from the consumer, and the consumer is still under tremendous pressure so there is a lag to the recovery. It may take another six months or more – if you look at other recessions it generally takes six months for a recovery to take hold.

Tell us about your “Beyond the Boardroom” program that you host on Plum TV.

It is the only show on television where CEOs are interviewed by another CEO. We learn how these captains of industry started their careers and achieved success. I’ve dealt with the same issues, so that it a unique aspect of the show – peer to peer discussions. The program currently airs in eight markets on the Fox Business Channel and can be viewed online at http://www.plumtv.com/topics/beyond_the_boardroom.

You are becoming a prolific author, and are working on your third book, Citizen You: Doing Your Part to Change the World. Tell us what that is about and when you expect it to be published.

This book is coming out in May 2010 and will be a discussion on civic engagement and roles and responsibilities in society. It will talk about how people can get involved in their community and demonstrate caring. This started with my role as chair of the American Hotel & Lodging Association.

How will the New York Giants do this year?

We are very optimistic that we can put together a lot of wins to get back to the Super Bowl, which will be in Miami Beach. It’s very hard to get to the big game, but we think we can do it.

If you don’t ask the right questions, you don’t get the right answers. For meeting planners that means getting all the information you need to select the optimal meeting site for your group.

Meeting planners are not typically shrinking violets when it comes to asking questions of the sales manager on site selection inspections. However, according to Reggie Sears, CMP, a 25-year veteran independent meeting planner and principal of Sears Enterprises, less experienced planners especially don’t always know or remember what questions to ask.

“That’s why it’s best to use a printed site inspection checklist on every hotel tour so you can compare apples and apples,” says Sears.

Here are some generic questions that Sears says should be included on every list of questions for site sales managers.

• How often does the airport shuttle run?
• Is parking free or can the cost be reduced?
• What is the number of doubles, suites, and rooms with king size beds?
• What’s the square footage of the meeting space, exhibit space, registration and prefunction area and the number of breakouts?
• What other group(s) will be meeting at the property at the same time as your group?
• When was the hotel last renovated and are renovations or construction scheduled for the time your group will meet?
• Is the hotel ownership corporate or franchise, and is any change of ownership or management in the works?
• Is it a union hotel and are there any labor issues?
• Does the property meet the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act and how many rooms are handicapped accessible?
• What is the hotel’s record on diversity and equal opportunity hiring?
• What is the employee turnover rate?
• What are the rack rates for the last three years?
• What are the names of other groups or meeting planners who have held meetings at the facility (to check references)?

Sears says you can easily use Internet search engines to download templates for site inspection checklists, but it’s important to modify the checklists with questions specific and pertinent to your group.

Sears Enterprises specializes in planning association, fraternal, reunion and religious conferences and training seminars. Sears can be reached at RJSCMP@aol.com or (916) 484-5645.