MICE Planner

Business travel, by definition, comprises the four branches of Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions. Incentives, plainly put, is the reward that an employee or dealer gets for performance. And the sole suggestion we have on this facet is for the recipient of the incentive to have a good time. Coming round to the other three heads – meetings, conventions and exhibitions – feBusiness Traveller provides you a comprehensive lowdown on planning meetings; the dos and don’ts of conferencing, and optimising exhibitions...

Planning Meetings
The starting point is to decide on your meeting objectives and destination. Once that is done, the focus must then shift to the details, viz. hotel selection, meeting facilities and contingency planning

Hotel Selection
A resort property may be best for groups that combine recreation with business, or when participants are likely to extend their stay. Airport hotels may be best for shorter meetings when transportation access is important. A downtown hotel may also be an attraction, depending on the city. Considerations include:

Cost: Although negotiable, it's a critical consideration. If your budget is luxury class, then the sky is the limit; otherwise you may have to broaden the selection range to match your budget.

Space Availability: Sleeping rooms, meeting rooms and function space must be adequate to house your group and handle all activities.

Size Of The Property: Can it accommodate your group and other groups scheduled for the same dates? If yours is one of the largest groups in house, you can probably count on good service during your stay. On the other hand, if you have a small room block in a hotel hosting several larger groups, watch out.

Check Out As Many Hotels As Possible: Meet with the sales staff to begin contract negotiations. Also meet with convention services, food and beverage department and other staff members to check the attitude and efficiency of the entire staff. Make sure there is no interior remodelling or external construction planned immediately before or during your chosen meeting dates. Check airport transportation costs and travel time, available restaurants and facilities.

Don't miss out on a chance to network or meet up with colleagues. It's not just the exhibitors who can give you ideas

Write a trip report as you go along the exhibition and summarise your notes every evening

You will need to consider room dimensions and characteristics - width, length, height, obstructions, lighting etc, to determine screen size, maximum audience capacity and seating (theatre, classroom or conference-style)

The way to a delegate’s heart really can be through his stomach, particularly in the case of longer events. Bad food is remembered long after an interesting speaker is forgotten

Wherever feasible, it is very important that the planner personally inspects a venue, taking careful note of meeting rooms, and where necessary, accommodation and food and beverage facilities

Meeting Logistics
There are thousands of details involved in planning a meeting. A long list of specialised suppliers can assist in handling these details, but someone has to give them overall direction and approve their recommendations. Whether you're working with outside consultants or planning the meeting internally, you must be able to devote sufficient time to successfully pull all these details together.

Name One Final Decision maker: When working with independent meeting planners, travel agencies, destination management companies, audio-visual producers or other suppliers, be sure that they, and your own corporate personnel, understand who has the authority to approve plans and costs, request changes etc.

Define Responsibilities Among Internal Departments: Delegate specific tasks to sales, marketing and advertising, then among individual staff members of each department involved.

Develop A General Scenario Of Events: Schedule everything from the time participants arrive until they depart. You'll need to know in advance who is actually attending in order to meet the hotel's room guarantees by the cut-off dates agreed to in your contract. 'No-shows' can be very costly, although they are largely unavoidable. You should know airline flight numbers and scheduled arrival times if you plan to transfer attendees from the airport. You'll also need to know how many attendees actually checked-in, so you can adjust your food and beverage guarantees. Finally, you'll need to know departure schedules, for airport transfers.

At The Airport: Will you need 'meet and greet' staff to help identify baggage; move attendees to buses, taxis or limos? Is there adequate public ground transportation for hotel transfers, or will you need private transport? Do arrival patterns make busing large groups practical, or will taxis, limos or vans be better? Remember airport signs, luggage tags and transfer vehicle identification.

At The Hotel: Your group may be able to pre-register, depending on whether they are paying individually or are on the master billing account. Ask the hotel to set up a group registration area away from the normal registration desk, especially if your group is large. Be sure to have signs identifying the registration area, as well as meeting and function rooms. Ask the hotel to put your group schedule on in-room TV monitors.

Depending on the size and duration of your meeting, you may want to set up a hospitality desk to help with changes in travel plans, restaurant and recreational reservations etc.

Meeting Facilities
When a property is selected, learn the names of all staff members with whom you'll work in various departments, as well as those of any outside suppliers. Set a date for a pre-meeting site visit to meet with hotel and supplier personnel to finalise meeting and function room assignments, menus and billing arrangements.

Financial Arrangements: Before signing a contract, be sure everything you want is covered in writing: room rates, taxes, gratuities for maids and porters; meeting/function rooms to be used and costs, if any; recreational costs, such as golf, tennis court time, health club; VIP upgrades and/or number of free rooms per number of paid rooms; services to be provided; timing and amount of deposits; cut-off dates for room guarantees and penalties; guarantee requirements for food and beverage functions; master billing versus individual billing, especially which items are to be charged to which account, and who is authorised to charge services to the master billing.

Select The Proper Size Rooms For Your Audience And Presentation: A high comfort level promotes greater audience reception and maximum effectiveness of your presentation. No matter what size your presentation, you will need to consider room dimensions and characteristics - width, length, height, obstructions, lighting etc, to determine screen size, maximum audience capacity and seating (theatre, classroom or conference-style). Most facilities will have scale drawings of the meeting rooms to aid in determining the set-up. Reserve meeting rooms on a 24-hour basis to ensure availability for set-ups and rehearsals.

Select The Proper Size Rooms For Food And Beverage Functions: Whenever possible don't serve meals in the meeting room, unless it's an informal breakout meeting or a working breakfast/lunch. Review the hotel's policy on accommodating guests' special meal requests for dietary or religious reasons. Choose food and beverage menus, remembering that it's more cost effective to buy by-the-bottle or control-measured drink than by the hour. The same guideline applies to hors d'ouvres. Set definite start and finish times, especially for bar service, and give only one person the authority to extend. (At the actual function, be sure the captain or head bartender knows who this is, by sight).

Entertainment: Whether at your opening cocktail reception, closing banquet or other functions in between, theme parties, music and both 'name' and lesser-known entertainers can give your meetings an added air of excitement. For theme parties, find out if the hotel has in-house capabilities, or check with local special event companies. Be sure that the facility has the capability to deal with the special needs of any physically or otherwise challenged individuals within your group.

Meeting Programme
Based on your objectives, develop a meeting concept and theme to be used in everything from announcement mailings to the closing module. Once you've settled on a concept and theme, design a theme logo. Begin development and scripting of thematic audio-visual and live components, design of the announcements/ invitations, stage-set and other graphics.

Establish a timetable for creation, approvals, revisions, production and shipping of all elements of the meeting programme and related collateral materials. Allow plenty of time for artwork, photography and other materials needed for slides and videos.

Announcements or invitations and promotional follow-up mailings should go out well in advance of hotel cut-off dates for room and F&B guarantees, and should state a specific deadline for reservations, at least a week before the hotel's cut-off date.

Decide on topics to be covered by speakers and who the presenters will be. Estimate the amount of time each speaker will need.

Contingency Planning
Finally, and most important, always have a back-up plan. If an event is scheduled outdoors, assume it will rain and have an alternative room available inside. If a quick room turnaround can't be avoided, be sure there are more than enough people available to do the job, even if it costs more. If, despite your planning, you find that you have more attendees than guestrooms or meeting/ banquet space, act fast. Get rooms at the hotel next door if need be. If possible, get a larger meeting room, or cut down on the numbers by quickly putting together a separate spouses programme.

Remain flexible. There will always be last minute changes that can't be avoided: A photographer's services, a mice in a banquet room, or almost anything else. Usually the hotel's convention services staff can help you find any product or service you can imagine.

Conferences – Dos and Don’ts

Following are a comprehensive list of Dos and Don’ts which will ensure that your conference passes smoothly without any glitch

DOs

Have an understanding of the conference's aims and objectives
While this may seem to be stating the obvious, it is surprising how often this most fundamental of planning is not fully considered. Every aspect of your event - from venue to the speakers, programme and entertainment, will be in some way determined by the aims of the conference. For instance, you need to fully understand whether the events's prime purpose is to educate, entertain, sell a product or service, or motivate.

In some instances, an event may have more than one aim. In such cases, you need to determine the importance of these aims in relation to one another, and devise a programme which reflects this. An event which is basically designed as an incentive for top performing sales staff should not generally be held in a city hotel or university campus, any more than a serious scientific congress would take place on a remote tropical island resort.

Conduct personal inspections of venues wherever possible
Hotel brochures are first and foremost marketing tools designed to place a property in the best light. Wherever feasible, it is very important that the planner personally inspects a venue, taking careful note of meeting rooms, and where necessary, accommodation and food and beverage facilities.

A venue serious about winning your business should be more than happy to provide you with a full tour of the premises. Ideally, the planner should try to stay overnight in the hotel. This enables you to test the quality of food outlets and the efficiency of in-house services such as room services, concierge, laundry and so forth.

Make full use of buying power when negotiating with hotels
The strength of your buying power is determined not only by the size of your group and the length of its stay, but by your skills as a negotiator. Location, seasonality and economic conditions are other factors which influence a property's willingness to discount. A good negotiator is also aware that some costs are more flexible than others. Generally, a hotel will compromise on costs such as accommodation rates and room hire, but will be less accommodating in areas such as food and beverage.

Put everything in writing
While major agreements such as hotel and airline bookings will always be formalised with a written contract, more minor arrangements are often left as verbal agreements. For instance, a last minute change to the number of people attending a cocktail function might simply be done with a phone call to the food and beverage manager. Should the requested changes not be carried out by the hotel, the planner would then have no recourse without documentation.

Be an effective communicator
Lack of clear communication causes far more problems than simple incompetence. Meeting planners must ensure their needs are clearly expressed and fully understood at all times. Again, having everything in writing is one way of reducing the chances of miscommunication. Make sure all your briefing to airlines, venues and other support services are clearly written and concise. Avoid giving providers 'guesstimate' of delegate numbers or dates.

Ensure your marketing strategies are well-targeted
Letting people know about your event can be one of the most costly aspects of conference organisation. Direct mail and advertising are both extremely expensive, so it is vital that your marketing campaign is aimed at the correct people. Avoid a 'scattering' approach, where you simply send lots of information to a broad range of people and hope that some of them will be interested in attending.

Have insurance
Things can go horribly wrong even in the most thoughtfully planned event. A keynote speaker might break a leg an hour before the opening address is scheduled; an outdoor team-building exercise might become a total washout because of inclement weather.

While these sorts of disasters are unavoidable, the planner can indemnify the event organisers against any resulting financial loss. Specialist insurance companies now offer a range of insurance services for conference organisers.

DON’TS

Choose a venue on price alone
When budgets are tight, it can be tempting to select the cheapest venue on offer. Remember, neither the event organisers nor the delegates will thank you for saving a few dollars on accommodation if that accommodation and related services are inadequate or sub-standard.

Assume an expert is always a good speaker
Professor Bloggs might be a genius in his field, but he may also be an incredibly dull speaker. While expertise in a subject is obviously necessary, good communication skills are also required if delegates are to derive any benefit.

Overload your programme with too many work sessions
A good conference programme has balance, regardless of the subject matter. Even the most serious scientists need a break, and a programme that tries to jam too many intensive lectures and work sessions into one day will exhaust, rather then educate your delegates. Ensure adequate breaks between sessions, and allow time for little recreation or relaxation each day.

Be distrustful of hotel contracts
A formal contract with a hotel can look a little daunting, particularly to the inexperienced planner. Remember, the contract is not designed to trick you, but simply ensures that both parties are legally required to uphold their end of the agreement.

A typical contract will contain all the information about your event (dates, delegate numbers, facilities required etc) as well as details about the hotel's deposit requirements and billing arrangements. If unsure about anything in the contract, discuss it with the hotels before signing.

Overlook the importance of food and beverage
The way to a delegates heart really can be through his stomach, particularly in the case of longer events. Bad food is remembered long after an interesting speaker is forgotten. Good planners will try a venue's food for themselves before booking an event. Any problem with food or beverage during the event should be pointed out to the food and beverage manager immediately.

Have 'clashing' sponsors
Gaining sponsorship for conferences can also be difficult, and planners, may be tempted to accept all offers. At all costs, avoid accepting sponsorships from companies that are competitors. Sponsors will simply not accept spending money on an event where their main rival is also being promoted.

Let transport become a nightmare
Moving large groups of people from one place to another within a tight timeframe can be both difficult and expensive. Ensure your ground transport arrangements are precise, and avoid costly mistakes such as hiring a 60-seat bus and then discovering only 20 people require transport. Having people share taxis wherever possible is another good way of reducing costs. For large events, ensure all delegates have clear, written information about transport arrangements and that pick-up and drop-off points are clearly signposted.

Try to do everything yourself
Very often events contain components such as exhibitions, team-building or audio-visual displays that really require a specialist. It really pays to bring in experts to ensure a professional result.

Overlook convention and visitors bureaus
These profit-free organisations can be invaluable when organising an event in an unfamiliar destination. They can provide everything from advice on venues and entertainment, through to organising ground transport and helping with hotel negotiation.

Act unprofessionally
Avoid discourteous acts such as block-booking rooms in several hotels and then cancelling them at the last minute, misleading airlines about the number of delegates you are expecting when requesting fare quotations; being overly forceful in negotiation with service providers; and making verbal promises that you simply have no intention of keeping.

Optimising Exhibitions
Exhibitions, besides being a useful opportunity to update your knowledge-base, is also the perfect venue to network. We present some tips to make the most out of exhibitions

• Prepare well in advance. Starting at least three months before the show date is a good idea. Prospective visitors must study the catalogue thoroughly and plan their trip accordingly to avoid time wastage during the exhibition.
• Register well in time. Also, book accommodation and flight beforehand. Some of the trade shows offer special package rates for visitors. To avail of this facility, registration must be made well in advance. The services of specialised travel agencies offering packages for the trade show should be utilised. It is very difficult to get better rates than them.
• You must evince immense interest at the show to ensure that you get a good response from the exhibitor. International exhibitors try to avoid visitors who have a casual approach.
• You must be well dressed and behave professionally. It would be a good idea to learn a few phrases of the local language. This shows the willingness of the visitor to understand the exhibitors better.
• Focus on your show. Many Indian visitors, especially ones who visit trade shows on travel agents packages, are more bothered about their breakfast than reaching the fair grounds. They must not be fussy and should keep in mind their main objective of visiting the event, even if it comes at the cost of a little discomfort.

Visitor Tips

• Pre-register for the event and arrive at the venue 30 minutes before the opening to avoid standing in long queues.
• When you arrive at an exhibition, you are normally given a free comprehensive show guide. Do take 10 minutes to sit down with a complimentary cup of tea or coffee (and free Danish pastry!) to check out who you want to see, exactly what's where - and work out your plan of action.
• Do get rid of heavy coats, umbrellas, bags etc in the cloakroom. You don't want to be laden down before you start and you'll need your hands free to carry all those bags.
• Don't forget to wear comfortable shoes. Half the time exhibition visitors give up because their feet are throbbing or they've got chronic backache.
• Do look out for on-stand demonstrations and activities to give you some hands-on experience of the latest tools and techniques.
• Don't avoid the gaze of stand staff. Take the opportunity to talk to exhibitors that are of interest to you. It's not often that you get the chance to find all the leading people management and development providers together in one place, so find out what they can offer you and how their services compare.
• Do look out for special deals. If you don't manage to win a foreign holiday or a free team building course, you might still pick up a bargain. Exhibitors often have special offers such as book discounts or cut-price training packages.
• Do check out the fringe programme. It's free and a good opportunity to pick up on new developments.
• Do put details of useful contacts in a safe place - or mark up the show guide. By the end of the day, you'll have forgotten all the names you've spoken to and by the time you go through your papers you'll wish you'd made a note.
• Don't miss out on a chance to network or meet up with colleagues. It's not just the exhibitors who can give you ideas.
• Write a trip report as you go along and summarise your notes every evening.
• Leave the show 30 minutes before closing to avoid long queues for buses and cabs.