Cutting Meeting Costs

Change of Mindset

Cutting meeting costs shouldn't be a component to save money. It should be an investment in your most valuable asset: Your people! 

Cutting meeting costs should also be about receiving the best value and investing wisely. That said, here goes...

Negotiation plays a key role:

• Everything is negotiable
• Negotiate hard internally to have the necessary budget and resources
• Know precisely what you want
• Plan to spend only 90% of your budget (a 10% buffer for contingency)
• The final contract must supply you what you want as a result
• Keep an eye on win-win (develop relationships and reputations)
• Be open to alternate solutions
• Counter-concessions and always ask for more
• Deposit and interest clauses
• Tax breaks
• Never reveal deadlines
• Use competitive bidding and let the other party know
• Remember 1% of a big number is still a great deal of money
• Ask for a cash discount for payment on-site and negotiate volume discounts
• Get it all in writing! Make sure the agreement is reciprocal.
• Everything in writing is part of the agreement!

To Meet or not to Meet

Can you accomplish what needs to be done without a meeting? Is video conferencing an option?

Consider Total Costs

Hotel, meeting room, food & beverage, and local transportation costs are part of the equation. Flight costs for attendees, travel time, telephone and internet access (downtime costs), time away from family, are all direct and indirect costs that should be considered.

Timing is Everything

Early-bird discounts, advanced registration, last minute booking (need to be aware of trends and inventory), can all contribute to the bottom-line.

Location

Resort destinations for high content, all-day meetings don't make sense. There is nothing worse than traveling to an international premiere resort location (international travel for the majority of the attendees) with no time to enjoy the location. A nice cold, rainy destination close to home for the majority of attendees with great meeting space that offers lots of incentives to book your meeting is a superior choice.

Use third-tier cities or local destinations

Book near holidays, over weekends, in the middle of the week to fill meeting room "holes".  

Convention and Visitor Bureaus (CVB's) are an invaluable resource saving time, helping with negotiations, helping clear up problems, and providing support.

Develop long-term relationships with hotel national sales offices.

Know the needs of the suppliers at the location: rack rates, group rates, occupancy, staff, growth plans, supply/demand cycles, shoulder periods.

Know the value of your group! 

Track everything: full time registrants, part-time, exhibitors, guests, pickup, no-shows, final occupancy, F&B, outlet usage, etc. Keep accurate records of no-shows and guests.

Pick a destination where there is still space after your group arrives. It creates options for you and suppliers.

Sponsorship Opportunities

Sponsors may be willing to support everything from mailers-to-meals and promotion-to-presenters.

Hotel RFP Considerations

• Ask for everything in your RFP
• 1:30 (a comp'd room for every 30 rooms booked: current industry standard 1:50)
• airport VIP pickup 
• airport transfers 
• arrival-departure times & flexibility options
• complimentary coffee breaks in the meeting rooms
• complimentary meeting and storage space 
• continental breakfast at the morning meeting
• detailed post-convention evaluation from the property
• discounted everything (meeting space, meals, etc.)
• early check-in times 
• electrical 
• exhibit space
• extended-stay rates
• final bill payment terms
• first right of refusal on available space (suites, meeting room, etc.)
• free everything (local calls, VIP parking, staff office, etc.) 
• health club access
• free high-speed internet access
• late block release options
• late checkout times
• late cutoff dates
• location affects attendance
• no package receiving charges
• reduced fees for everything (parking, room rates, etc.)
• repeat business discounts
• room addition options
• upgraded everything (parking, rooms, meals, etc.)  
• waive early departure fees
• welcome gifts and notes

Food & Beverage (F&B) Considerations

• Avoid shrimp, lobster, oysters, and other expensive fish items
• Beverage break and snack versus a full meal
• Bottled water taste test is cheaper than a wine tasting (not by much though)
• Box meals
• Breakfast breads are cheaper than muffins or danish
• Breakfast is cheaper than lunch
• Butler served hors d' oeuvres: elegant and cuts consumption
• Buy the keg not the bottle
• Buy beverages by the gallon vs. individually
• Carbs (bread) and coffee fit the bill
• Care for and re-use uneaten food from breaks and meals
• Cheese and Veggie trays are cheaper than other hors d'oeuvres
• Coffee and Tea Bar versus more drinks
• Combine all F&B expenditures for discounts
• Continental versus plated meals
• Create special menus with chef
• Create meals around meeting concepts
• Cut portions in half for health and cost cutting
• Daily reconciliation and sign-off
• Eliminate alcohol
• Eliminate meals from the registration fees (BYOM)
• Entertain and they will eat less
• Go domestic versus imported
• Go virgin - non-alcoholic drink night
• Guarantees for no show factor, often as high as 10%
• Last call for drinks equals more drinking
• Less is better (6 oz. versus 8 oz. meat)
• Local winery or microbrewery to sponsor liquor costs
• Lock in current menu prices for future dates
• Lock in fixed percentage increases per year
• Loud music means less talking and more drinking
• Lunch is cheaper than dinner
• Order food and drink by "consumption" - uneaten and unused are returnable (even perishables)
• Negotiate bottle prices
• Negotiate high overset 
• Never use the unlimited consumption plan
• Pasta and Nacho's are cheaper than hors d'oeuvres
• Pay only cost of no shows
• Pick the same breakfast, lunch or dinner as another group
• Posi-pour spouts prevent over-pouring
• Pot luck banquet (you're kidding right? not a chance)
• Provide your meal budget and let catering build your menus
• Salty snacks lead to higher beverage costs
• Shorten reception times: 1.5 hours max
• Skip dessert at the meal: Make it part of the break
• Staffed food stations cut consumption and provide visual interest
• Supply $5 lunch coupons
• Supply less plates and glasses: cuts consumption
• Tickets for accurate counts
• Track history of beverage and meal consumption
• Track no-shows
• Use cash bars
• Use drink tickets (provide 2/person)
• Use house brands versus premium brands
• Use lower cost in-season items
• Use sleeping room rates for food concessions
• Watch your liquor inventory
• Wine and cheese versus hors d'oeuvres and cocktails

Meeting Space

• Avoid as many pre-meeting and post-meeting days as possible
• Breakouts and meetings at night (Midnight Madness)
• Breakup a large room for two purposes (used at different times).
• Bring in off-site A/V
• Cell phone, radio, and pager use
• Classroom sets take more time, labor, and space than theater style sets
• Comp'd rooms
• Discounts at 20-50% off the group rate
• Establish formula's for rate increases
• First right of refusal on available space
• Free registration area
• Group presenters by A/V requests
• Have extra pre- and post-meeting days comp'd based on availability 30 days out
• Hospitality suites for breakouts
• Include double occupancy of spouses as a negotiation point of value
• Limit authorizing personnel
• Master account room tracking
• Negotiate F&B Caps
• Plan meetings to reduce late checkout necessity
• Reduce number of breakout rooms needed
• Registration as part of exhibit space
• Sliding-scale rates
• Staff retreats at another time including room and meeting space
• Standardize room sets to eliminate the need for room resets
• Swapping space clauses (suites for unused rooms, extra nights for unused rooms)
• Use existing inventory (a/v, tables, chairs, easels, etc) 
• Use simple room setups
• Use sleeping room rates for meeting room concessions 
• VIP amenities  

Services and Staffing Considerations

• Bid out everything and let them know you are doing it
• Hire your own temporary staff
• Keep all functions, events, and meals within the hotel to reduce costs
• Limit paper reproduction
• Maximize use of contracted suppliers and negotiate volume discounts
• Schedule security guards carefully
• Shuttle buses versus large buses
• Track busy registration and staff times
• Use hotel props and supplies
• Use CVB resources (maps, flyers, restaurant services, etc.)
• USE CVB staff 
• Use hotel chairs/tables instead of decorators for any non-exhibitor set.

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