Planning a Perfect Meeting Presented to the ACA Institute for Leadership Training July 30, 2009 Robin Hayes, Director, Conference & Meeting Services (ACA) Chris Roseman, President, South Dakota Counseling Association

This presentation will cover: An overview of the key components for planning a meeting An “association friendly” hotel contract Attempt to answer your questions at the conclusion of our contract overview

The key to success begins with: Budget (Before you do anything else, determine your budget. Revenue over Expense) Choosing a Date (Have a least two dates in mind) Location, Location, Location (Determine the type of venue that will work for your group) Timeline & Marketing Plan )

Know your meeting…. History, including attendance, etc. Meeting room layout and capacities Sleeping room patterns Food and beverage expenditure Revenue hotel will realize from your meeting and previous Branch Meetings YOU ARE NOW READY FOR CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS

Let’s start with Meeting History (example below) CONFERENCE TRENDS

Meeting Room Layout (types) Roundtable Set-up - Great to facilitate networking Schoolroom/Classroom Set-up – Ideal for taking notes or refer to handouts Conference or Meeting Set-up – Limited to groups of no more than 25 people. Boardroom Set-up – This style is designed to encourage dialogue between participants Theater (auditorium) Set-up – Use for listening to a speaker or reviewing a slide presentation. Allow audience to be close in distance to the speaker.

Sleeping Room Pattern (Example) # Of Hotels: Peak Night: 1,365 1,380 1,429 Total Room Nights: 5,7195,538 6,609 Average Stay: 4 Nights 4 Nights 5 Nights

Food & Beverage Expenditures Know your history from previous meetings Plan your meal functions Guarantees – Most hotels require a guarantee hours before event starts. Set Over Guarantee – The set over guarantee is the percentage of guests that the hotel/caterer will prepare for beyond the guarantee. The average overset is 5%. Determining Cost – Always include tax and service charge. These charges are mandatory.

Food & Beverage Expenditures (continued) Cost Saving Ideas – Ask the hotel if they can work with you to customize a menu that fits within your budget. Ganging Menus – Ask what other groups in the hotel are being served during the same mealtime. If the same menu is used by both groups you’ll receive a better price. Package Plans – Inquire if the hotel or venue offers a per person package plan. The package plan can include your meals, breaks and meeting space.

The key to a Successful Meeting: Negotiating a hotel contract that limits your liabilities and expenses!

Let’s look at the key building block, the hotel contract The basics: – Don’t just sign without careful review – Be proactive by telling them what you want and expect – It may be a “seller’s market”but they still need your business

Four corner rule…. If it does not fall within the “four corners”of a contract page, it will not hold up in court. Make sure your contract has everything you want. Nothing is implied, it must be written clearly. State any concessions or complimentary items you want to include in the contract and get it in writing!!

Basics to keep in mind: If you ask for something before a contract is signed, it's called “negotiating.” If you ask for something after a contract is signed, it's called “begging.” It's better to be a good negotiator than an expert beggar. You don't get what you deserve, you get what you “negotiate.” “You can get anything in life, if you help enough other people get what they want.” Most items are negotiable, but everything has a price.

Hotel Contract Lock the hotel into this contract so you know if you need to look elsewhere. First option---hotel cannot release any of your contracted space without your prior knowledge and written consent. Second option---your group has second priority to rights on the hotel meeting space and sleeping rooms.

First option Allows your organization to have “first dibs”in the event you need additional sleeping rooms. If you increase rooms, you’ll need a contract addendum, so BE CAREFUL as this could result in renegotiating ATTRITION penalties. It is often better to err on the conservative side in estimating number of rooms needed.

Rooms sold over your nights May not be your attendees, but the hotel is still making money on these rooms, so there is no need for them to charge you for attrition if they have sold the room! This is double-dipping! Credit for unused comp rooms is not frequently accepted by hotels in a contract, but it doesn’t hurt to ask!

Comp and staff-rated rooms 1 to 50 is an industry standard. While you may get a lower ratio, DO NOT accept anything higher. The 1 to 50 simply means 1 comp room night for every 50 rooms nights you accumulate. Staff-rated doesn’t mean they have to be used by staff---it’s just a term

Function Space Meeting space goes into determining how many sleeping rooms they will give you. Hotels make the majority of their money off of sleeping rooms. If the hotel thinks that your sleeping rooms do not justify “free”meeting space, they will charge you either through room rental or attrition in the form of a sliding scale. The hotel should not charge you for the room you are holding your meal function in.

Example of attrition Sleeping room pick-upRoom rental 80% to 100%No charge 70% to 80%$5,000 65% to 70%$7,500 Less than 65%$12,000

Cancellation VERY IMPORTANT!!!! It must always be included if either your group or the hotel cancels the event. Be sure to spell out any penalty fees! Do not leave it open to debate. Make it simple and clear. It will cost “x number of dollars”.

Insurance Coverage Another MUST for hotel contracts. Each party covers themselves with insurance. There are many types of insurance: -General liability -Medical liability -Host and liquor liability

Americans with Disabilities Act This is an industry standard paragraph and is here to protect your organization and insure that the hotel will follow the law. Do not sign a hotel contract if this is not stated. All hotels should follow the guides and have accommodations for persons with disabilities.

Entire Agreement and Waiver The person(s) signing this agreement must have the authority to bind their organization and agree to the terms as listed. This is a must because you don’t want a contract signed by an unauthorized individual who does not have the authority to read, understand and commit their organization to the responsibilities listed in the “four corners”of each page of the contract.

Need info? Robin Hayes, ACA Director of Conference & Meeting Services , ext