Corporate Event Planning

Good Luck! Debi Scholar

Monday, March 1, 2010 by Kevin Iwamoto

When I think of Debi Scholar, two things come to mind. One is waiting for her in an airport-bound overheated black sedan in Dallas. But another, more significant thought is about her long, distinguished career in the business travel and meetings industry, and how much she's helped corporate and meetings managers build best practices.

Debi, who for 13 years was PricewaterhouseCoopers' (PwC) Lead for Travel and Entertainment Expenses strategic management and cost reduction, late last week se

nt me and others in the industry a note to say she's decided to go solo and open her own consulting practice. Debi is someone that I have tremendous respect for and admiration. At PwC, Debi became a sought-after industry expert on both SMM and virtual meetings, and she emphasized the difference between SMM and meeting planning management (SMM takes an enterprise-wide approach to managing meetings). Many of you know her as an industry thought leader, and she was recently recognized by Corporate Meetings and Incentives magazine as one of the founding thought leaders for SMMP.

Now, Debi's embarking on a new phase of her career, launching her own independent consulting practice, and I want to wish her the best of luck, not that she will need it, as she is so well respected in this industry and is known for her in-depth knowledge of the travel industry and suppliers. She consults with Fortune 1000 companies on expense management categories such as airlines, hotels, meetings, ground transportation, corporate card programs, travel management companies, and entertainment assets such as country club memberships, venue suites, boxes and tickets. Debi is a pioneer in the face-to face and virtual meetings industry; she began using virtual tech a dozen years ago to connect distant participants. She was the first Meeting Director to have included virtual meetings under her direction back in 2002, and since, has become a leading expert in how to effectively drive virtual meeting adoption to reduce travel costs and complement or reduce face-to-face meetings.

There’s so many great things about Debi that I could share -- but I'm sure that many of you already know her well, as she's rarely out of the public spotlight. So what I will share is this: there’s no one with more passion about SMM than Debi. She’s a master educator and presenter, and her depth of knowledge is tremendous. I know she will do well in her new career endeavor because her name immediately comes to mind for people who seek the best consultation.

Oh, and by the way, I won't leave you hanging about the overheated limo story. Here it is: I first met Debi while impatiently waiting for her in a sedan waiting to embark for Dallas Fort Worth airport. We had both been on the speaker’s agenda for the annual Texas BTA Education Day, and I had presented earlier. The chapter organizers had efficiently booked Debi and I into a single sedan bound for the airport, and she was scheduled to leave directly after her panel. Of course her panel ran late, and my airport security clearance time was diminishing minute by minute. The sedan was hot, and I was getting cranky and impatient. The driver finally turned on the air conditioning because I threatened to start stripping to stay cool and dry. Finally, we both saw a petite blond woman with her roll-aboard baggage exiting the hotel looking like she was running late and looking for a ride, and sure enough, it was Debi. Long story short, she settled in the car; we introduced ourselves, became instant friends and managed to make our flights home.

Congratulations, Debi, and I look forward to seeing you in New York on March 15-16 at the upcoming NBTA Strategic Travel Symposium (I'll be moderating a session on Building a More Strategic Meetings Management Program, and Debi will participate, along with Tamara Gordon, formerly with Boston Scientific and United Healthcare, as well as Jami Stapelmann of Estee Lauder. You’ll get a chance to hear some SMMP wisdom firsthand; so see you all there!).

Outlook for Corporate Meetings Health

Wednesday, February 24, 2010 by Kevin Iwamoto

More signs that meetings are on the mend!

A MeetingNews story about their recent survey of 220 meetings managers has put it this way: "The findings represent the first time in more than a year that the majority of group budgets are growing or holding steady, and support a growing sense that things are improving in the meetings business shared by hoteliers, industry associations, corporate travel buyers and meetings planners."

The survey found that, while 40% of respondents decreased meetings spending in the past six months, only 19% plan to do so in the next six. More than half expect meetings spending to stay flat in the coming half-year period.

I wasn’t surprised to read, too, that 17% had actually spent more on m

eetings in the last six months -- as I've been seeing a lot of anecdotal evidence of more activity at companies I talk to. Our bookings growth in 2009 certainly testifies to that.

And a separate survey of 26 corporate travel buyers at the recent NBTA Masters Program
found that, in 2010, 35% planned to spend more on meetings than last year.

These and other encouraging statistics, such as some recent positive news by individual hotel companies, all point to an opportunity to get really focused on capturing all your meeting spend through a single solution for budgeting, sourcing, booking and other strategic tasks, such as attendee management.

Because if a turn-around is coming, there's no going back to unmanaged meetings. It's just not smart.

Strategic Meetings Management: Aim for the Whole Package

Wednesday, February 10, 2010 by Kevin Iwamoto

Because Technology sits in the middle of the NBTA's SMMP Model, I think some people in the business travel and meetings industry confuse it with the term "strategic meetings management." Often, in conversations with folks at conferences or even meeting with some prospective clients, I find myself explaining that SMM is way more than just the technology that allows companies to streamline meeting planning and budgeting, search competitively for suppliers, take care of attendees, enforce policy, analyze spend data and other important meeting management tasks.

To build a true, comprehensive end-to-end SMMP, you need to construct a meetings management strategy that reflects your company's values and ethics and lays out goals for areas as varied as cost-savings and preferred supplier relationships. And of course, you want to make sure that you have a policy in place that supports and enforces your meetings management program and is endorsed by senior executives.

My point in mentioning this is that it disturbs me to see very well-intentioned corporate meetings and procurement executives -- especially those just getting started centralizing meetings procurement and planning -- place so much emphasis on putting automation in place that they forget about the very challenging strategic tasks involved in building an SMMP.

That's why when considering implementing a meetings technology platform, it makes sense to expand the breadth of your efforts and make sure that you have the knowledge and know-how to implement a true SMMP:

- Do you need help implementing best-practices, such as strategies for optimal sourcing?
- What are the best policies, processes, usage goals, communication plans to get the word out about the SMMP to employees and elicit participation?
- How do you track and monitor spending?

In my travels, I've met with many executives that have rolled out failed technology initiatives without doing due diligence on how to roll them out effectively. There is always some degree of regret, and often those companies have to go through more change management by changing suppliers mid-contract. A technology provider has an obligation to their customers to provide consultative expertise, best practices, and a range of services. If you are just buying technology focusing only on price, you’re missing the bigger picture and sacrificing enterprise adoption -- your proverbial penny-wise and pound foolish scenario. Your technology supplier needs to partner with you and understand your business objectives, challenges and work hand-in-hand with you to ensure that training, adoption, risk mitigation, data reporting and all of those other important functions and processes are properly in place and operating efficiently.

If you're considering strategic meetings management technology, the best advice I can give is be thorough and consider the back-end support and guidance you'll need as well as the front-end of how the online solution will work. It'll make all the difference in creating a comprehensive end-to-end program, or what I call a true SMMP.

Evangelizing About Strategic Meetings Management -- Anytime, Anywhere

Thursday, February 4, 2010 by Kevin Iwamoto

Some people are media s

hy. I guess they don't like the idea that whatever they say has the potential to be published. And so they go to great pains to set up interviews at ideal times of the day, with lots of quiet around them and a prepared script in front of them.

That's definitely not the case with me. Tuesday, I was quoted in The New York Times article "New Meetings Industry Emerges After a Boom and Bust," and I was most happy to talk about how important strategic meetings management is in today's environment. The story talks about the falloff in meetings demand, the change from lavish to toned-down entertainment and the move toward virtual meetings.

“We try to help companies understand that they have to be more strategic about their travel and meetings spending, and that there has to be a lot more transparency on that spending communicated to senior executives,” I told reporter Joe Sharkey.

I was happy to contribute my views about how the meetings business has changed from the pre-Great Recession heydays to today's more moderate events -- where the emphasis is on savvy meetings procurement processes, controlled spend and measuring return on investment.

But, let me tell you, you would have laughed had you seen the actual interview. Joe contacted me on my mobile phone as I was boarding a flight, carry-on in one hand, boarding pass in another, PA announcements blaring above me and a line of people ahead and behind me. It was definitely not a controlled setting. But, despite the sounds of crying babies and flight boarding instructions and the jostling of the crowd, I did my best to field his questions. Whoever said that multi-tasking is not a valuable skill would’ve changed their views watching me in action!

Thanks for calling, Joe! Read the entire article and catch more quotes on how strategic meetings management is changing corporate meetings for the better.

Even Hotel Execs Adopt Spartan Meetings

Monday, February 1, 2010 by Kevin Iwamoto

USA Today has provided a unique look at what went on at the recent annual Americas Lodging Investment Summit (ALIS), a very insider-type hotel industry meeting attended by hotel CEOs, developers, owners, investors, analysts and others. I found the story really interesting because, for one, it gave a glimpse of how lodging leaders really expect 2010 and 2011 to progress, and also, it provided a first-hand account of how these executives are still hurting from public criticism of meetings.

Reporter Barbara De Lollis interviewed Choice Hotels CEO Steve Joyce, who said that, given the dramatic falloff in rates and revenue last year, the mood of the conference was "guardedly optimistic" because stronger growth is expected this year -- but not as robust as what's hoped for in 2011.

But what really caught my attention in the interview was the pervasiveness of the sense of a new "appropriateness" at corporate meetings. Even among these folks, "there were parties but they were scaled back and a little less boisterous than years past," said Joyce. "I would say there was a sense of appropriateness - a kind of speed regulator on the fun part of it. It was very business-oriented. At a lot of dinner receptions, a lot of the discussion was on return on investment for their travel in going to this meeting."

Joyce said hotel executives are still very much aware of the "AIG effect," and he noted that he got healthy applause when he said the government was wrong in its criticism of TARP recipients holding meetings in luxury hotels.

Frankly, I think the new buttoned-down behavior at meetings -- all business, little or no play -- is what's needed for a while, if we're to get beyond this criticism. Incentive meetings are a different story; those are meant to reward top-performing employees and, naturally, some serious fun (a round of golf, special dinners, glamorous outings) is expected for the event to be successful.

But for most corporate events, like it or not, our industry is under a microscope, and the media, government, stockholders and the public are watching. This is not just me talking, either. Meetings industry polls confirm this trend! If your company is a TARP recipient (or just under C-level orders to cut meeting spend), here's a question you should be asking yourself: Does my current meetings policy reflect this new Spartan atmosphere? Do you need to do some fine-tuning to set spending limits and delineate the types of parties or events that should be allowed for various types of meetings? Don't forget, too, to communicate your changes to company planners and their supervisors. And if you're using meeting planning and budgeting automation, make sure you put those tools to work to automatically snag maverick spenders, rein in those with visions of grandeur and, via attendee management, communicate policy changes to attendees!

Remember: you're in control, and control is what's needed to make today's meetings workable -- and acceptable. Here's more guidance on how to build strong meetings policies and other best practices for an SMMP.

Resorts 'Resorting' to Name Change

Friday, January 29, 2010 by Kevin Iwamoto

Has your company created an outright ban on holding events at hotels with the word "resort" in their name? If so, you might want to re-think such a sweeping gesture, especially if you're e-sourcing and resorts are responding with competitive rates and services.

I mention this because of a front page Wall Street Journal article I read this week that profiles the desperate fortunes of many resorts. Th

e piece says that some are (pardon the pun) resorting to dropping the word "Resort" from their names. For example, Charlotte, N.C.-based Ballantyne Hotel & Lodge last summer ditched "Resort" from its name, "after several corporate clients indicated it would have a better chance of landing their business if it weren't called a resort," said the Journal. Likewise, Loews Lake Las Vegas--with a white sand beach in the middle of the desert and a master sushi chef--dropped its "Resort" naming too.

This has all been prompted by the lingering "AIG effect," specifically, the public outcry that arose when the bailed out insurer canceled a 2008 sales retreat at the St. Regis Monarch Beach resort in Dana Point, CA. (By the way, that hotel is now in foreclosure.) The perception was that AIG and other TARP recipients were spending public tax money on so-called frivilous, lavish events. Even some non-TARP companies have been canceling corporate events over misperceptions about meetings.

Honestly, much of this is avoidable and unnecessary -- and a real shame. The problem is not in a resort's facilities (spas, gourmet restaurants and the like), but when companies book them in an unmanaged way -- that is, without efficiently soliciting bids from competing properties and negotiating meeting and room rates. In fact, it's been my experience that resorts, depending on their bookings demand and seasonal rates, will respond to an e-RFP with bids that are at par or lower than non-resorts. Resorts tend to have all-inclusive fees, too, which if broken down by value, can come out to be a better deal for each participant. And the icing on the cake at resorts is that your attendees can indulge themselves in amenities on their off hours and on their own dime. Bottom line is this, if you have a well documented sourcing process, you can easily push back and justify your venue choices whether or not they have the word “Resort” in their branding.

Canceling meetings at resorts to avoid criticism may not be the wisest decision, either. Unless you have created and use as standard practice, contract addendums that limit your exposure to cancellation and attrition fees, you'll wind up losing a lot of money by switching venues just to avoid the “negative perception.” Companies that cancel resort events would be better off negotiating with the resort to apply the cancellation fee toward a future event -- once the critical spotlight has dimmed.

Corporate events at resorts are not evil. In fact, they're good when they're strategically sourced, documented and managed as part of an overall SMMP. They're often great value for the purchasing dollar, and they reward hard-working employees or business partners.

It's not the name of a hotel that counts, it's the value, services and return on investment you get from holding a corporate meeting there. If you can’t justify your venue selections with solid sourcing data to your bosses much less the general public, then the negative perceptions of meetings will continue to be front page news.

A Tribute to 2009's Strategic Meetings Management Leaders

Monday, January 4, 2010 by Kevin Iwamoto

As we begin 2010, I want to take a moment to mention some of the tremendous accomplishments of some very exceptional meetings managers during 2009.

Last year was truly the 'Year of the Meeting!' as our own business travel industry, the major media and the government all put a huge focus on corporate events and strategic meetings management. Some of it was positive, like the launch of NBTA's Strategic Meetings Management Certification (SMMC) program. And some of the attention was negative, like the misguided focus by the press and in government circles on corporate events as extravagant investments in recessionary times (when in fact it's been proven that meetings contribute enormously to a company's bottom line.

But aside from these major trends last year, were stories of some very hard-working and talented people who created or improved upon innovative strategic meetings management programs (SMMPs) at their companies. While I don't have large enough space in this format to mention them all, I want to draw your attention to some highlights:

Many were featured in Corporate Meetings & Incentives magazine's "20 Changemakers,” including:

- Louann Cashill, Meeting Services Manager at Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A. (Louann significantly expanded centralized and automated hotel sourcing throughout her organization and worked pro-actively with hotels to re-book contracted space that planners had canceled for future meetings and re-negotiate credits.

- Lee Ann Adams Mikeman, VP, Conference Planning & Special Events, Science Applications International Corp. (Lee Ann and her team are streamlining the meetings payment process to track payments and reconciliations via their meetings technology system. She's also integrating her firm's online booking tool for air ticketing with the meetings technology platform.

- Other "Changemakers" who created outstanding meetings solutions for their firms included: Debbie Andersen, Senior Manager, Americas, Meetings & Conventions at Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics; Jeff Calmus, AVP, Conference & Event Planning at MetLife; Susan Lichtenstein, Director of Travel and Global Meeting Solutions at Cisco Systems Inc.; Donna Foppoli-Patrick, Manager, Group Meetings, Events, and Travel, Medtronic Inc.; Marybeth Roberts, Director of Global Meeting Management, Amgen; Tom Tolvé, Senior Manager, Meeting Operations, Novo Nordisk; Tracey Wilt, Manager, Global Travel & Meeting Management for Xerox; Alice Woychik, Director of Meeting Solutions at Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation.

Learn the full details of how these meetings executives enhanced their management programs by reading the full article in Corporate Meetings & Incentives!

And then there were others, singled out elsewhere, such as in Business Travel News, both for their outstanding contributions to their own companies and the industry at large, including:

- Debbie Dayton, Global Head of Travel Related Services at Deutsche Bank, who was named BTN's 2009 International Travel Manager of the Year. Debbie, along with VP and meetings program project leader Shawn Radek, made great strides last year consolidating and automating business and meetings travel processes worldwide. The bank, automated budgeting, requests for proposals (RFPs), reporting, reconciliation and data modules. In just one improvement, Deutsche Bank's automated budgeting now projects the total cost of an event, including transportation spending -- before the meeting is approved. Further, the bank stays on top of things by pre-loading average negotiated hotel rates, airfares, F&B costs and other metrics biannually.

- Cynthia Shumate, Executive Director of Global Travel and Meeting Services, Estee Lauder, who was featured in BTN's 2009 Large Market Benchmarking Report for creating a new SMMP. Cynthia's program now covers U.S. meetings -- about 12 large, annual gatherings of up to 350 attendees, plus thousands of smaller meetings for employee training and product launches. Expanding internationally is on the horizon. Among accomplishments, Shumate has centralized registration and sourcing of meetings, deployed a single meetings technology platform, created a central policy and launched a meetings charge card.

There are so many other meeting, procurement and travel executives that brought strategic meetings management improvements to their firms in 2009. In doing so, they elevated our whole industry. It's unfortunate that I can't mention them all -- because you'd be reading this post all day. But my sincerest appreciation for being leaders in our industry goes out to you all, even if you're not singled out here. You know who you are!

Let's continue the progress we're making in creating new, higher standards in indirect expense management for corporate meetings and events, and let's make 2010 another 'Year of the Meeting!'

Govt. Inquiry into Meeting Spend at Healthcare Insurers a Positive

Wednesday, September 16, 2009 by Kevin Iwamoto

On Monday, when I wrote about Congress' current quest to find out how much healthcare insurance companies are spending on meetings, I voiced my concern that this could be the start of more misguided criticism over corporate meeting spend -- the kind that's been widely reported on in the press for TARP recipients.

But that's only one side of the coin. The flip side is that the government's current focus on healthcare companies' meetings costs is a positive because it'll prod even more firms to realize the wisdom of adopting strategic meetings management and automation. The rewards, of course, will be savings and more control, spend transparency and more efficiency. And isn't that what we all want -- the government as well as the private sector? Let’s also hope that the end result of all of the above efficiencies is lower health care costs for the consumer; HELLO?

How do I know this will turn out to be a healthy development? The Management.travel story about the government's request for meetings spend data from healthcare insurers described how one un-named firm had to jump through hoops to even locate the spend data that Congress requested. It collected information from "individual event managers and/or administrative assistants who had coordinated the meetings," according to the story. In addition, "third-party event planners, travel management companies, budgets and purchase orders were also reviewed to compile the response," said the piece. I see this all the time at companies without organized meetings management. It must have cost those healthcare insurers a lot of time and labor doing it that way -- never mind the frustration of putting it all together!

It shouldn't take an official request from Congressional committee for a company to go scrambling to find out what it spends on meetings and events. That's the beauty of strategic meetings management and technology. All that information is put at your fingertips.

Perhaps the best advice for healthcare insurance companies comes from a voice of wisdom in the story, and someone that I respect a lot in our industry -- Debi Scholar, PricewaterhouseCooper's Assurance Services Lead for Travel and Entertainment (T&E) strategic management and cost reduction. "Meeting management technology is the enabler of the SMMP components and has the ability to capture all of the meeting data requirements," she said.

Bravo Debi, very well put!

NBTA Convention: The Year of the Meeting

Monday, August 31, 2009 by Kevin Iwamoto

Just back from a session- and event-packed week at the National Business Travel Association (NBTA), and I have to say that it was one of the more enjoyable and effective NBTA conventions that I can remember attending (No need to tell you how many NBTA annual conferences I've got under my belt). It was enjoyable for me because I got to touch base with lots of friends and meet new contacts on both the buyer and supplier side representing the corporate meetings industry.

The location couldn't have been better, too -- San Diego. Come on now, who doesn't like San Diego? Sunny and perfect temperatures every day. Plus the logistics were ideal, with minimal bussing, and, depending on where you stayed, you could walk everywhere!

And I say the show was "effective" because I really felt like the association packed the three-day event with something for everyone -- a variety of sessions for entry-level travel and meeting managers, all the way to senior-level managers in charge of global corporate travel and entertainment and meetings budgets. For a convention that size (5,600 attendees, including 1,240 travel buyers from 30 nations), that's quite a feat to provide educational forums for all levels of our profession.

And this was the year of meetings at NBTA. When I say that, I mean that there were numerous classes dedicated to learning about and building Strategic Meetings Management Programs (SMMPs), designed to help companies centralize and automate budgeting, planning, sourcing, attendee management and data review and management for group events. At the conference, the NBTA's Groups & Meetings Committee also officially launched its Strategic Meetings Management Certification (SMMC) program, a formal multi-week education program, akin to NBTA's CCTE program for corporate travel managers. In fact, as a founder of the Groups & Meetings Committee, I was thrilled to make a few comments at a special reception unveiling the SMMC program last Tuesday night. It was a great evening, co-sponsored by StarCite and Starwood, and a wonderful opportunity to thank all the "superstars" of the committee who put in countless time and energy over the years developing the official certification.

Kari Knoll Kesler, who just ended her term as NBTA Board Director, former co-chair of the Groups & Meetings Committee and lead thought developer of the SMMC, who I often refer to as the "Mother of SMMP," was of course there (Kari always jokes that if she's the Mother of SMMC, then I’m the Father! Nothing scandalous I promise!). From the beaming smile on her face, I could tell it was a glorious moment for her. Joni Miyashiro was there, too. Joni, former Global Travel Category Manager at Amgen, Inc., is not only my cousin, but she was also very instrumental in laying the groundwork for SMMC. Both Kari and Joni now run their own consulting outfits. And it was great to see Tracey Wilt, manager of Global Travel, Meetings & Conference Solutions at Xerox, also a strong voice for meetings management, an original co-chair of the committee and an SMMC task force member. Notably absent, however, was Madlyn Caliri, Global Procurement Director at Reed Elsevier, and that was a shame, because Maddi was also one of the original co-chairs of the committee that I appointed, along with Tracey, and she put a good
amount of blood, sweat and tears into making the committee and its educational resources what they are today. To read the story of the evolution of the NBTA Groups and Meetings Committee, read a recent article in Corporate Meetings & Incentives magazine that chronicles the evolution of the committee and development of SMMP & SMMC.

It may seem like I'm name-dropping here, but I think it's so important to acknowledge some of the incredibly instrumental hard-working Groups & Meetings Committee volunteers. Believe me, I'd like to list more if I had the space. For me, it was important that people got to see the talent behind the work. At the reception, I looked around the room and thought about the early days of the committee and how what started out as a concept about the convergence of the business travel and meetings management worlds has now crystallized into concrete, innovative programs to benefit travel and meeting managers who want to save their companies money and implement better control over meetings expenditures.

Looking around the audience at the SMMP reception was a pretty powerful moment for me. It was equally as meaningful as the Industry Icon award I received during the conference. It is a perfect example of what I said in my acceptance speech, that we accomplish things in life not as individuals, but as a grand group effort. But more on that in my next post.

What were your impressions of NBTA this year? I'd love to hear your thoughts and feedback.

Terry Breining -- Down Temporarily But Definitely Not Out!

Wednesday, August 5, 2009 by Kevin Iwamoto

Shock…shock.

That’s my overriding reaction to news I’ve just learned that meetings industry veteran and legend Terri Breining, CMP, CMM, who started her company Concepts Worldwide Inc,. 21 years ago in the San Diego area, has shut down her firm. I can’t believe that a woman who’s achieved so much in this industry has become a victim of these tough economic times?

What does this say about the state of our industry? To me, this illustrates the devastating effects of continued public scrutiny (often unjustified) over corporate meetings and incentives, as well as blacklisting of so-called vacation or luxury destinations as places to hold government events. It’s amazing how much uninformed people and their agendas can devastate a multi-billion dollar industry that supports those who depend on it for a livelihood, e.g. waiters, waitresses, flower shop owners, pastry chefs, car valets, hotel bell hops. The list goes on.

Terri has had a truly remarkable career. Look at the evidence: she’s served on the Convention Industry Council's Accepted Practices Exchange Commission since 2000, most recently as chairwoman, working to establish industry best practices and voluntary standards. She was named International Planner of the year by Meeting Professionals International in 2000 and chairwoman of the organization in 2003-2004. EIBTM honored her as International Personality of the Year in 2008, and she is co-author of the book "Return on Investment in Meetings & Events." Concepts Worldwide was awarded the Professional Convention Management Association’s 2009 Spirit Award for community service.

And most deservedly, Breining will be inducted into CIC’s Hall of Leaders in January 2010. She will be one of five new inductees recognized for their significant contributions to the meetings and conventions industry.

I had the privilege and honor of being on a Strategic Meetings panel with Terri at a recent ICCA Conference in Victoria, Canada. She’s one of the brightest and nicest people you could ever meet. The new generation of meetings professionals entering our industry today can learn a lot from her. So while Concepts Worldwide may be history, don’t count Terri Breining out, she is far from done. Terri, in a story in Corporate Meetings & Incentives, said: “There is a bit of sadness [in closing the business], but I know that I'm not done in the meeting industry, and I know that I'll continue to cross paths with the people I value. I believe I'll be able to continue to contribute to the next generation of planners.”

I’m happy to hear she’s starting a new company, and when she opens up shop, you’ll read about it here. This industry needs the Terri Breinings of the world.

Small Meetings Tools Advancing More Than You Think

Monday, July 13, 2009 by Kevin Iwamoto

There was an interesting article discussing small meetings technology in Procurement.Travel recently, "Real-Time Meeting Booking Tools: Is Technology, Wherewithal There Yet?" The article noted several hotel brand online and other booking offerings, and I was glad to see StarCite's Small Meetings Solution mentioned as one of the enterprise solutions showing promise.

StarCite has worked for a number of years with our corporate clients and with the supplier community to bring these "rogue" meetings under management. On both sides, the perceived low value of each individual meeting has kept any processes from being put into place. There’s also confusion around the definition of “small meetings.” However you define it, our own research of our Global Marketplace data and customer benchmarking surveys show that 70% of corporate meetings are small. Both buyers and suppliers are realizing the great opportunity to be gained by streamlining this process online.

Small meetings was one of the "hottest" topics on the agenda at our recent Supplier Global Advisory Board Meeting. All of the major hotel brands are committed to moving to technology to deliver an automated solution for handling small meetings. For instance, StarCite has developed an integrated solution with Hilton's e-Events which gives our enterprise meeting planners direct access to Hilton's rates and availability. We have also worked with both sides to establish standardized terms and conditions to make the program work.

When I talk to companies about their small meetings needs, the major theme I hear consistently is that they need to get a handle on just how many events of 50 or less attendees are occuring at their organizations. That's where most are at right now -- just trying to figure out how much small meetings bookings is slipping through the cracks of their overall strategic meetings management program (SMMP). Our work with our clients has led to us expand our consulting services that help firms analyze meeting patterns to determine usage trends, define small meetings, establish preferred hotel programs for small groups, negotiate rates, and standardize contracts. If you really want to know what’s happening in this area along with your meeting spend in general, I encourage you to contact us and have our experts analyze your data and give you the best estimate of your meeting spend, small or otherwise.

Of course, our clients also want to streamline planning and sourcing and analyze the spend data that's needed to improve buying leverage with hotels. A best practice is to utilize technology that provides a way for planners to centralize meeting planning and budgeting, as well as to drive all sourcing through a central RFP process that taps real-time inventory at hotels that compete for small meetings. The tool should also let a company build in preferred properties and even search for cancelled space that is available for re-use at hotels.

We're committed to our customers to bring these self-service tools to the marketplace. All this may sound like fantasy for companies just beginning to size up their small meetings volume, but the technology is real and is already driving savings and control for companies worldwide. We have the clientele to prove it!

Top companies weigh in at our Global Leadership Symposium

Wednesday, July 8, 2009 by Kevin Iwamoto

Last month I posted a few items about StarCite's Global Leadership Symposium held in Phoenix, Arizona, which attracted a great deal of execs from our client base and partners. With clients large and small coming together from a broad base of industries, we thought it’d be a perfect opportunity to issue a survey and really gain perspective as to what today’s leading companies are seeing in the meetings industry.

The survey, which 28 of our top clients weighed in on, had some interesting findings about the way companies are approaching meetings management amidst the current economic climate. Take a look:

75% of respondents indicated they will plan/spend on equal or more meetings in second half ’09 compared to first half ’09
Over 70% of respondents said that meeting closer to home office locations (thereby reducing travel costs) was one of the top three tactics they’ve employed most in order to reduce meeting costs amidst the recession
43% of respondents indicated that public/government backlash regarding corporate meetings has had some effect on planning upcoming meetings, making them somewhat sensitive to the possible public perception of their events, while only 11% claim it has no effect at all on their planning
75% of respondents have made their meetings policy more strict over the past 12 months

It doesn’t come as a surprise that companies are finding it necessary to take precautions in the current environment, such as moving meetings closer to headquarters and employing stricter policies. Other top tactics identified by respondents to reduce meeting costs were conducting smaller meetings with fewer attendees and moving meetings to second tier or less expensive destinations.

It is encouraging, however, to see that a great majority of companies plan to spend the same or even more on meetings during the second half of the year. While public/government backlash is still very much on the minds of planners, and, as I have said before, many of the meetings reforms are here to stay -- it’s good to see that we may be close to turning the corner and getting back to business through meetings. And if the “green shoots” of today’s economy start to bloom, we might see this turnaround happening even faster in the meetings business than many predict.

Firms Transforming Meetings Management to Outlast Recession

Wednesday, May 27, 2009 by Kevin Iwamoto

Seems like it's just about every day now that I read a new survey that measures the health of the business travel and meetings industry. Much of the time, the results are negative. But sometimes bits of good news make it to the surface and give me fresh hope that -- when business and meetings travel eventually gain steam -- companies will be better equipped in the long term to control those expenditures.

Here's a case in point: Egencia, an Expedia company, recently put out its 2009 Global Benchmarking Study, reporting bad news for suppliers: falling average ticket prices for airlines and average daily rates for hotels in destinations across North America, Europe
and Asia.

Yet, the survey also polled about 100 travel buyers at corporations and found they were making significant changes to save and control costs. For example, 53% are enforcing travel policies more rigorously, and nearly one in five are renegotiating supplier contracts.

From day-to-day conversations with corporate meeting managers, I can confirm that more and more firms are putting in place controls, such as creating stronger policies on using preferred hotels or expanding the footprint of their strategic meetings management programs (SMMPs) to include other divisions or global regions. Many are approaching hotels to renegotiate event contracts, and often with great success. Others are negotiating ways to re-use canceled meeting space (see March 20th post).

Even in these challenging times, there’s good news to be found. I encourage companies to continue to look at ways of strengthening management of business travel and meeting spend. It's a good and necessary strategy that will produce savings and tighten spending in recessionary as well as boom times.

What are some of the ways you’re building stronger meetings management at your firm?

NBTA Launches Strategic Meetings Management Certification

Wednesday, May 20, 2009 by Kevin Iwamoto

In this blog, I use the term "strategic meetings management” a lot. In fact, I'm also seeing the term used more and more these days, especially as companies increasingly try to take control of spending on events.

Unfortunately, the term is often mis-used or mis-understood. I sense it’s getting trivialized. Some people seem to think it's all about technology, others about planning meetings better. So, I think it's worth it to define here in black and white what strategic meetings management (SMM) means. For those of you who may not know, I helped in constructing a global SMMP at Hewlett-Packard and founded the NBTA’s Groups & Meetings Committee, which has now researched, documented and defined Strategic Meetings Management in a series of white papers.

Strategic meetings management is not just about meeting planning and logistics. SMM is the strategic management of enterprise wide meeting related processes, spend, volumes, standards, and suppliers to achieve quantitative cost-savings, risk mitigation, and superior service. It’s about creating a strategy, policy and using technology to enable your process/program; specifically in the 6 areas of:

Registration
Approval
Sourcing/Procurement
Planning/Execution
Payment/Expense Reconciliation
Data Analysis/Reporting

The scope of developing and overseeing strategic meetings management involves lots of thought leadership and hard work – including getting senior executive buy-in.

We live in a time when companies are being criticized for spending money on meetings to take care of essential business. But firms that are meeting want to reap the most ROI possible on every dollar spent. The bottom line: now, more than ever, developing enterprise-wide strategic meetings management is more important than ever.

Thank goodness for organizations like NBTA, whose Groups & Meetings Committee aims to help travel, procurement, and meetings professionals learn skills to develop best-in-class SMMPs. NBTA's committee will unveil its first strategic meetings management certification (SMMC) program at NBTA's annual convention this August in San Diego.

Kari Kesler, current NBTA board member, former co-chair of the Groups & Meetings Committee and lead thought developer of the SMMC said it best in a recent article in Corporate Meetings & Incentives magazine: "Because of the economic state we’re in, it’s the perfect time to have an SMMP in place. All the questions senior execs are now asking about meeting spend and tracking spend cannot be answered without an SMMP,” said Kesler, who now heads up her own consulting firm, KK Strategic Solutions. “It’s very energizing to be at the forefront of this!"

So if you hear or notice anyone referencing SMM, SMMP, SMMC, etc., remind them that there’s a definitive purpose and branding associated with those acronyms, and challenge them to validate their programs accordingly.

For more information about SMMP, SMMC, please check out our Resource Center at www.starcite.com or the NBTA website at www.nbta.org.

Business Meetings Produce Good ROI; Spread the Word This Week!

Tuesday, May 12, 2009 by Kevin Iwamoto

It's the 26th anniversary of National Travel & Tourism Week (May 9-17), and it's the perfect time for all of us in the meetings industry -- whether supplier or buyer -- to remind our elected reps just how many jobs (1 million) we create. You might point out, too, that we provide $16 billion annually in tax revenue.

The U.S. Travel Association is the source of all these statistics and, through its "Meetings Mean Business" campaign , it is doing a great job combating negative public rhetoric around companies and organizations spending money to meet during these lean times.

Corporate meetings help generate revenue, nurture new customers and reduce HR costs by providing means to train employees and promote collaboration. You can still make your voice heard in support of meetings. One easy way is signing the "Keep America Meeting" petition . So far, more than 21,000 have signed; the goal is 100,000, and all the names will be delivered to members of Congress, the White House and top business leaders.

Let's celebrate National Travel & Tourism week by raising awareness of the value of business meetings.

Small Meetings Add Up

Monday, May 4, 2009 by Kevin Iwamoto

It is estimated that approximately 70 percent or more of corporate meetings are small meetings. Unfortunately, small meetings – under 50 attendees or less -- often get lost in the shuffle when it comes to strategic meetings management. Even companies with centralized meeting planning have typically left smaller meetings up to the individual departments to organize. They're put together on short notice – often by administrative assistants, marketing managers or other staff who do not have meeting planning experience, contract negotiation skills or even authority to sign such contracts.

Companies miss out on opportunities to centralize buying power, leverage spend with hotels and collect data in order to analyze and tighten oversight. What company can afford to keep wasting money like that in this economy?

But even scarier, is the risk that companies face by not managing all of their meetings. In addition to significant cancellation fees and attrition penalties, there are also potential regulatory fines, liability for meeting activities, plus potential negative exposure as meetings continue to face public scrutiny. For example, a few years ago, there was a financial services corporation that paid huge fines -- in the millions -- for investment advice that was provided by unscrupulous employees at meetings that were not officially sanctioned by the company. The company was liable however, because it did not have a process in place to prevent these meetings from taking place under its logo.

StarCite launched its small meetings solution more than a year ago and has worked with industry leaders, including Hilton and Pegasus Solutions to bring the first solution to the market that allows companies to manage all of their meetings in our strategic meetings management platform. StarCite's Small Meetings Solution allows companies to deploy a self-service tool for the occasional “meeting planner” that incorporates standard terms and conditions, automatic approval routing and much-needed visibility into this significant area of spend. StarCite recently launched a new consulting package to help companies jump start their programs, organize their preferred suppliers and communicate the service to gain company-wide adoption.

Together with our customers we’re charting new territory to help companies gain control or this big expense.

American Business Values Corporate Meetings

Friday, April 24, 2009 by Kevin Iwamoto

Here's some interesting information I came across on corporate meetings. To me, it's hopeful stuff, because it shows how American business really feels about meetings.

NBTA's just-released survey of 119 corporate travel managers said the recession and bad press criticizing corporate meetings and events are major factors behind reduced spend (85% cut travel spend since 2008) for meetings, conferences, incentives and client events. No surprise there, but, funny, the same proportion consider offsite strategy meetings and leadership conferences important to business planning and talent development.

Now this from the U.S. Travel Association, data I saw presented during NBTA's recent Financial Forum in NYC: 81% of executives polled believe client contact is important in a downturn, and about the same number think travel is important for business results. More than half say cutting trips gives their competitors an advantage.

So let me ask you...what do you think are the most important benefits of meetings and business travel? And have meeting owners and attendees at your organizations told you how they feel about canceled business events? I invite your thoughts. Who knows, maybe I might get creative and do a chart or graph highlighting the most popular answers!

Planners, Attendees 'Tweet" and Embrace Social Media Tools

Tuesday, April 7, 2009 by Kevin Iwamoto

Twitter and tweets, twitter tags. If you're not familiar with the world of Web social networks, these terms might sound like script notes from a Sylvester and Tweety Bird cartoon. But actually, Twitter, is a free micro-blogging service that lets people keep in touch through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: "What are you doing?"

What does this have to do with strategic meetings management or corporate event planning? At meetings, people are doing some pretty interesting things with social media technology -- and it's having an immediate, dramatic effect on content. For example, planners are not only using Twitter to update attendees on last-minute agenda changes, but some are also encouraging attendees to use the social media tool to interact real-time during sessions and panels. An article I ran across on the Web, "Six Ways to Utilize Twitter at Your Next Conference," discussed how attendees at a high-tech industry conference were given a Twitter tag number to exchange live comments (limited to 140 characters) about the session they were attending. Between themselves, attendees formed the best, most pertinent questions for the panel on stage.

Attendees are also blogging about their experiences--some not all positive--at trade shows and association conferences. And organizers are paying attention in order to fine-tune meetings and keep up with changing tastes.

Seems to me that the meetings industry is embracing the Web like never before -- from using StarCite tech to create registration sites and post meeting content, to exchanging "tweet" messages about panels in real-time. Have you used any new social media tools to get better feedback from attendees? I’d love to hear about your experiences here!

If You Must Cancel Your Meeting, Sell It!

Friday, March 6, 2009 by Kevin Iwamoto

I've been blogging a lot about companies canceling events because they don't want to appear as if they're being frivolous with their firms' indirect spending. And I've stressed that exercising strategic meetings management -- rather than canceling meetings outright -- is the best way to ensure smart spending on corporate event planning.

But if an organization must cancel, let's say for lackluster attendee registration, it can even strategically manage that! More and more, I'm speaking with meeting managers who are turning to online meeting software to source and sell existing cancelled space at sale prices. And the supply is there waiting. According to Meeting Professionals International’s FutureWatch 2009 study, organizations have already cancelled an average of 3.4 meetings for 2009, representing 7% of all scheduled activity.

If you're buying, online marketplaces for cancelled space could particularly benefit you if you're guarding your meeting budget a bit closer these days and booking events shorter term to find bargains. And, if you're selling, you can market your hotel space and rooms to companies all over the world – increasing your chance of finding a buyer. StarCite's own Resale Center lets customers do both, and is even accessed by major meeting planning companies themselves searching for good deals. With everybody’s budgets under the microscope, it’s good to know that, if you absolutely have to cancel a meeting, it doesn’t have to be a total loss.

NBTA Petition Urges Better Solution for Managed Travel and Meetings

Friday, February 27, 2009 by Kevin Iwamoto

Remember Peter Finch in the movie "Network," shouting and encouraging his viewers to repeat his outrage, “I’m mad as ... and I’m not going to take it anymore!” OK so fast forward to now and envision me doing the same thing because I’m mad and you should be too! Specifically why I am mad is because there's a new bill in the Senate to ban TARP-recipient banks from “hosting, sponsoring, or paying for conferences, holiday parties and entertainment events.” It’s called the TARP Taxpayer Protection and Corporate Responsibility Act.

I fully agree that companies should have controls in place to prevent frivolous, "boondoggle" events. But don't throw the baby out with the bathwater by banning all meetings, many of which are critical for business growth-- something our economy terribly needs right now. How does Congress expect TARP companies to get back on their feet, pay back loans and re-employ people by banning face-to-face meetings? It’s a no-brainer that meetings are incredibly valuable for solidifying existing business relationships and establishing new ones. As I’ve said in this blog before, the problem is not that companies spend money on meetings. Rather, it’s when they don’t practice strategic meetings management, which brings visibility, savings and control to corporate meetings programs.

This new bill aims to put the government in charge of deciding when a meeting is necessary. It says that TARP-recipients would have to seek a waiver from the Treasury for any event they believe is directly related to the “operation of the business.” Sounds pretty murky and extremely bureaucratic to me. Who is going to be the all wise oracle who is going to make this decision on behalf of the taxpayers?

I’m concerned, and so is the NBTA Government Relations Committee. They’re urging members to petition President Obama and members of Congress to defeat the bill. Instead, the NBTA wants Treasury to work with our industry to set guidelines for managed travel and meetings. There's more at stake than the future of the TARP-funded companies. The entire hospitality industry is threatened. If you would like to see a better solution, join in signing the NBTAs petition!