Submitting RFPs through ConventionPlanit.com can now mean more business for independent meeting professionals.

That’s because ConventionPlanit.com is now offering free listings on its site to independent planners who submit at least three RFPs through ConventionPlanit.com.

“We recognize that association and corporate meeting planners with fewer internal staff resources than they used to have are increasingly turning to independent planners for help,” says ConventionPlanit.com Co-Founder Katherine Markham, CHME.

“So our site now helps these professionals connect.  We also know that independent meeting planners have tight budgets, so they are always looking for free exposure opportunities like this.”

Independent meeting planners who submit three RFPs through ConventionPlanit.com will receive a free one-year Ruby level listing.  Those who submit 10 RFPs will receive a Sapphire listing, and planners who submit 20 RFPs will get a Diamond listing.

Each higher listing level offers more features to display information on the site.

“Since we implemented our 24-Hour Response Guarantee for RFPs submitted through ConventionPlanit.com, we’ve seen a remarkable increase in the use of our three levels of RFP services,” Markham said.  “Using our site for RFPs is quick and easy and removes the burden of follow-up from busy meeting planners.  We make sure that connections are made and that planners receive the proposals they need on a timely basis.”

Planners can select meeting sites on ConventionPlanit.com and with a single click distribute an attached RFP to all them. Or they can fill out an RFP form on the site.

Those that want a higher level of service can choose the RFP Valet^® program, where ConventionPlanit.com executives will help them narrow their search and provide additional follow-up services.

“All these services are free to the meeting planner and they all feature the 24-Hour Response Guarantee,” Markham explains.  “There are no commissions or hidden fees – we simply connect planners and meeting sites and let them negotiate their own deals. Our compensation comes from the listing fees that hotels, resorts, convention centers, CVBs, and other suppliers pay to be part of the site.”

Meeting planners can click here to learn more about the ConventionPlanit.com RFP services.

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Please enjoy the following guest post from our friend and member Dave Gabri, President and CEO of Associated Luxury Hotels International!

Understandably it can be easy to get discouraged lately, if you watch the evening news or the Sunday morning news talk shows.

We were optimistic that the tiresome onslaught of negative economic news was behind us. After all, we have definitely seen positive signs in our meetings demand that business is back in the “business of business,” which includes an impressive growth in demand for face-to-face meetings.

But the recent stories about the latest challenges to the economy and markets could make you feel like everyone should hunker down and not spend a nickel.

Before reacting too quickly to change course, and cut meeting and incentive program expenditures which are needed for the developmental success of your organization or business, you should take a step back and analyze what we learned from the recent economic downturn of ’08 and ’09, even if we haven’t yet seen the “full” recovery. For one, we now realize the quantifiable value of in-person meetings, as it has been documented by intense research.

While business leaders have always intuitively understood and appreciated the value and benefits of face-to-face meetings and incentive/recognition travel programs for years, we now have the research to prove it. Studies like the “Return on Investment of U.S. Business Travel” by Oxford Economics show the indisputable value of meetings.

Quantifiable Value of Meetings

As you may recall, the authoritative study, conducted by a respected economic analysis firm, found that face-to-face meetings allow customers to convert 40 percent of prospective customers, versus just 16 percent without such a meeting. In addition, the average company generates 5 to 20 percent of new business through conference and trade show attendance.

The study also identified that each dollar invested in business travel (including meetings) drives approximately $12.50 in sales and $3.80 in profits. Furthermore, the average business would forfeit 15 percent of its profits in the first year of eliminating business travel, and it would take three years for profits to recover.

Additionally, the study found that 85 percent of the corporate executives surveyed perceive Web meetings and teleconferences to be less effective than in-person meetings with prospective customers, and virtually 63 percent believe virtual meetings are less effective than in-person meetings with current customers.

When it comes to incentivizing the achievers, companies now know they would need to increase an employee’s base compensation by 8.5 percent to achieve the same effect of incentive travel, but then would not capture the allegiance generated through incentive travel programs.

More Proof

A survey published by Harvard Business Review entitled “Managing Across Distance In Today’s Economic Climate: The Value of Face-To-Face Communication” provides additional verification. It found that 79 percent of the respondents said “face-to-face meetings are the most effective way to meet new clients to sell business,” while 89 percent said “in-person meetings are essential for sealing the deal.”

Also, a recent study by the Cornell Center for Hospitality Research found face-to-face meetings enhance attention, trust, empathy, social networks, and mirroring (such as responding to body language). The research also found that in-person meetings are better at inspiring a positive emotional climate, and for relationship-building.

So look at the big picture, rather than just these sensational headlines, to see what is in your organization’s or company’s best interest. Certainly a leadership lesson learned from ’08 and ’09 is that in order to keep the boat steadily moving forward, meetings make a difference to advance our objectives. So rather than retreat, forge ahead!

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Last Tuesday’s sessions at PCMA Convening Leaders “The Good (yes there is some!), the Bad, and the Ugly of Global Economies” and “Cracking the Life Code”, had the over 3,000 attendees assimilating some radical new life concepts as they continued to kick-start their year by taking in the broad spectrum of education.

Later in the day, your ConventionPlanit.com roving Ambassador attended the annual Global Reception sponsored by the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Center. Suppliers in Kilts mingled with international planners involved with meeting and catching up with colleagues from Switzerland, Holland, Scotland, Ireland, England and Asia – among others.

The networking part of the conference ended Tuesday evening with attendees uniting for an Urban Convergence on the historic Gaslamp Quarter. Creative elements of dining, music, art and entertainment merged to create a private urban block party highlighted by Kool & the Gang’s unique sound.

Gerry Kingston, Mgr. Meeting, Association & Incentive Sales for CP.com member Delta air Lines, checks her schedule on PCMA’s Convening Leaders final day.

Wednesday morning saw quite a few attendees still interested in participating in the last few sessions before the closing luncheon – featuring Life is Good Founder Bert Jacobs sharing the power of optimism with the audience. The PCMA Convening Leaders event couldn’t help but end on a high note as Bert illustrated how good vibes are contagious!

Wishing you all “”good vibes” for 2012 from your ConventionPlanit.com blogger!!

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Eight members of the ConventionPlanit.com Meeting Planner Advisory Council met recently at The Donovan House in Washington, DC to discuss current issues facing the meetings industry and how online search directories such as ConventionPlanit.com can help address them.

ConventionPlanit.com Staff and Advisory Council Members at the November Meeting

Some of the issues included:

• Demonstrating the Value of Meeting History – Providing a hotel with historical data from previous meetings is essential in negotiating room blocks, rates, and food and beverage costs.  “Everybody complains about not having the history of hotel room pickups and meeting attendance, but nobody does anything about it,” one planner said.  “Just once I want a hotel to come to me with this information – I always have to hunt it down myself.”  Other planners shared similar experiences, and their common wish is for hotels to be more proactive about providing this information.  As electronic information-sharing in common formats becomes more common, this should improve in the future.

• Unauthorized Third-Party Housing Companies Selling Non-Refundable Rooms – This is a lightning-rod issue for many planners, who often see their room blocks erode and subsequent attrition fees assessed as association members book rooms outside the block. These unauthorized companies often launch aggressive marketing campaigns to association members, making it sound like they are the official housing provider.  Attendees that book the rooms find they are non-refundable and sometimes cannot reach the companies by phone.  Meeting planners agreed that strong communications to prospective attendees warning them of these tactics is necessary, plus legal action against these companies if appropriate.

• “Resort Fees” – Resort fees that typically cover Internet access, spa use, and other amenities are increasingly common.  The problem is that government employees cannot usually be reimbursed for these fees when they attend a meeting, and planners noted that the fees are often non-negotiable.  Their wish is for hotels to better understand the effects of these fees and be more willing to negotiate them if needed.

• E-Blasted RFPs – Some companies e-blast RFPs out to numerous properties with little regard for qualifying them in advance.  This wastes the time of hotel salespeople as they respond to RFPs that don’t match what their properties offer.  It leads to complacency that can cause them to not respond to viable RFPs that could bring them business.  ConventionPlanit.com pre-qualifies properties to ensure that only those that are a strong potential match receive the RFPs, dramatically increasing the success rate for hotel proposals.

• Hotel Proposals Lacking Necessary Information – When planners send out RFPs, they need all the information requested in order to do an apples-to-apples comparison of prospective properties.  The planners agreed that hotels are not doing themselves any favors by not providing complete information – it forces them to follow up and spend extra time getting information that should have been provided in the first place.  When RFPs are submitted through ConventionPlanit.com, incoming proposals are checked to make sure they are complete to save planners the hassle of chasing down information.

“This discussion was extremely valuable for both the planners and our staff,” said ConventionPlanit.com Principal and Co-Founder Katherine Markham, CHME.  “We found that much of what we are already doing helps to address many of these concerns, and it helps spark ideas for new solutions we can launch in the future.”

We are always looking for fresh faces to contribute to our council!  If you are an avid user of ConventionPlanit.com and would like information about joining the Meeting Planner Advisory Council, please contact Katherine Markham, CHME at katherinem@conventionplanit.com.

What improvements would you like to see on the site?

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A quick tip of the day for you regarding onsite conference registration:

Consider allowing attendees the option to register in their hotel!  Instead of sending attendees on a wild goose chase through a large convention center to track down a badge or program, set up a small registration stand in all partnering hotels.  The attendees (and their feet!) will be most grateful for the convenience.

Our very own Maureen Pickell, who has just returned from PCMA’s Convening Leaders in San Diego, shared this very smart tip with us.  Registering at the hotel saved her an extra trip to the convention center!  (Stay tuned for more great information from PCMA later this month).

Do you have a conference tip you’d like to share?  Consider entering your tip in the ConventionPlanit.com Stellar Tips Contest!

Each month, planners can submit and vote for their favorite advice.  The winner receives a $100 American Express Gift Card!

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Ready to put on your thinking caps?  Here are some quick quotes from yesterday’s PCMA Conventing Leaders education sessions.  Match them to the corresponding session topics:

Don’t scroll down until you have made your choices…

Did you make your guesses?

This is a fast way to show you the range of discussions covered in sessions attended by your CP.com blogger.  The sessions were all excellent and it was hard to narrow down my choices!

The answers are: A-2; B-6; C-5; D-3; E-1; F-4

How did you do? I certainly learned a lot.  Stay tuned for future issues of our e-Alert Newsletter for more information on these topics!

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With this year’s theme of “Capturing Innovation” guiding the program, the PCMA Convening Leaders eduction organizers  more than managed to compete with the lure of the San Diego “great outdoors” by presenting a new kind of Opening General Session.

“Rules for Epic Wins that Fascinate” was a tri- part program featuring a developmental molecular biologist, a game designer and a brand innovation consultant – three top thinkers who explain what naps, games and nine-second attention spans have to do with meetings.

In the process, they managed to keep the large audience riveted in a way that the customary solitary “talking heads” of previous conferences could never do.  This was followed by a large list of choices providing world class education to the audience of knowledgeable and experienced meeting professionals.  From tips on developing your authenticity and charisma  to how to prepare hospitality students for the realities of the meetings industry, the most difficult job was choosing the best option from a myriad of relevant topics.

Also back was last year’s successful innovation, the Learning Lounge – where attendees can partake in “bite-sized” sessions of 15 to 30 minutes that include virtual demonstrations based on their particular interest areas.

All this contributes to PCMA’s idea of mixing things up in order to present a different style of conference – demanding an increased level of commitment by the attendees as participants rather than observers.

The popular evening foundation event “Party with a Purpose” was held aboard the USS Midway Museum, an aircraft carrier docked in the San Diego Bay.  Anchors Aweigh and more tomorrow….

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I am off again…this time to cover the 2012 Convening Leaders event in San Diego this week. 

As luck would have it, my plane touched down early enough on one of those glorious mornings where the fog has just lifted and the sun is still muted enough to present  the downtown skyline as an impressionist painting.

Palm trees and Bird of Paradise lining the avenue from the airport to the harbor set the stage for what should be an energetic and progressive meeting at the San Diego Convention Center.

ConventionPlanit.com supplier partner, the San Diego Convention & Visitors Bureau, is opening its arms and welcoming everyone as attendees reconnect with PCMA BFF’s or find new ones.

The Welcome Reception at the Manchester Grand Hyatt was truly an “Emergence of the Senses.”  From the sumptuous cuisine to the sights and sounds of the innovative Mass Ensemble’s exotic blend of art, sculpture and music – everyone’s senses had no choice but to emerge energized for the days ahead.

More tomorrow….

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We’re reposting this valuable information from our archives…’tis the season!

Lawyers will tell you whether you’re giving alcohol away or selling it at an event, anyone who has control over the facility or the event is typically liable if an intoxicated person causes bodily injury or property damage as a result of the liquor served at that event.

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.

What are some of your steadfast rules for such events? Maybe we will add your tips to the list!

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Last week I was on the road again, this time to sunny California for the Meetings Quest Anaheim Show!

Here are some photos I wanted to share with you all…

Our booth at the show – I gave lots of site tours!

Dawn Venters, Convention Sales Manager for the Anchorage CVB, talks to planner customers at Meetings Quest Anaheim. They also won the prize for the Best Booth based on both the design and friendliness of the sales team. We’re proud that they are loyal supplier partners of ConventionPlanit.com!

I hope you enjoyed my photo tour of Meetings Quest Anaheim.  It was a very intimate show and I had the opportunity to speak to many meeting planners one-on-one!

If you attended the show, leave a comment and share your thoughts.

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