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Industry Challenges and Solutions

By Kristi Casey Sanders This article previously appeared on Planyourmeetings.com; February 1, 2010

Despite talk of the recession being over, controlling event expenses remains a top concern for meeting professionals. At the 2010 PCMA Convening Leaders conference on January 12, Plan Your Meetings led a “Making Cents” roundtable between planners and suppliers designed to help them discover win-win solutions to current budgetary challenges. What follows is a summary of cost containment strategies:

  1. Write into the contract that the group will not be charged any fee that is not “spelled out” in the contract.
  2. Look at the total meeting spend or per-person inclusive rate rather than getting stuck on how much individual items are costing.
  3. Ask venues and properties about value-added perks that are available to the group at no additional cost.
  4. Go green and communicate the value of sustainability initiatives such as eliminating paper, using digital handouts (or reduced size programs) and getting rid of water bottles and shuttles. “But consider how that impacts your marketing efforts,” one attendee cautioned.
  5. Even if you have a multiyear rate locked in, slightly raise the cost of registration from year to year so that it doesn’t jump suddenly when the rates do.
  6. Some cities and convention and visitor bureaus have money to invest in association events because it generates a positive economic impact for the community and local hotels, etc. Ask convention centers and CVB contacts if their destination has access to funds to invest in your group.
  7. Avoid first-tier cities in favor of regional destinations and more centralized locations (also helps reduce transportation and shipping costs).
  8. Avoid labor union hotels and facilities.
  9. Ask CVBs about value-adds for your group, such as volunteer staffing and marketing assistance that may be available at no charge.
  10. Use online registration and evaluation sites. Go digital as much as you can. Make registration bags optional (ask registrants to tell you their preferences for digital vs. printed materials and whether they’ll need a bag when they sign up).
  11. Educate staff, exhibitors and speakers about what things cost, how facilities work and what they charge so they can help you stay within budget.
  12. Send out quarterly RFPs to keep suppliers honest in their quotes and help build relationships.
  13. Ask for per-person inclusive pricing.