Strategic Meetings Management

Kevin is a recognized business travel industry leader with 20-plus years experience managing corporate travel and meetings programs. Kevin was president & CEO of the National Business Travel Association from 2001-2003, where he founded the global Paragon Partnership organization, and forged a relationship between NBTA and Meeting Planners International (MPI).  A true visionary, he foresaw that companies were increasingly converging transient travel management and the corporate meetings function, and so he created and launched the NBTA Groups and Meetings Committee to guide travel managers through this process.

In 2009, Kevin received the NBTA's "Industry Icon Award," the association's highest honor.  The award recognizes outstanding contributions to the managed travel industry.

Kevin speaks and listens to a lot of travel, meeting, purchasing and finance executives about how to boost control over meetings expenditures and improve relationships with suppliers.  In the process, he’s constantly learning about companies’ varied meetings management challenges and the creative, savvy solutions they apply.

American Express Business Travel has just published its 7th annual survey of professionals with oversight for travel in China -- a poll of 280 companies in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou ... and the findings are fascinating.

One factoid in the study, Business Travel Management in China: Barometer 2010, is that $76 of every $100 spent on travel by Chinese companies is dedicated to growing and sustaining their businesses. Compare that to Europe, where Amex figures show 63% of companies' travel budgets are dedicated to client acquisition/loyalty and partner visits (The rest is on intra-organization trips.)

The study found that formal travel management in China is becoming "more entrenched as policies and program measures are adopted." A big caveat, however, is that companies need to "continue to evolve in order to increase expenditure visibility, enhance compliance, and drive travel and managed travel program cost-efficiencies."

I was most interested in the section on the maturation of travel spend policies and procedures. Among Chinese companies, there's a 69% compliance rate to travel policies -- up from 28% in 2006. That's a startling improvement ... perhaps because 83% have management procedures in place for controlling travel expenditures (up from 47% in '06).

One finding I was very encouraged to see was that tracking employees has become a "major priority" for Chinese companies -- for business continuity and to comply with regulations and the legal environment regarding the safety and security of employees. The latest Amex data shows that 97% of Chinese companies consider it a priority to have the ability to "contact business travelers at any moment." That's versus 78% in 2008!  And 64% consider it important to repatriate business travelers immediately -- up from 27% in 2008.

These days, global duty of care is truly a global concern for both corporate travel and meetings travel ... and now we have more stats to prove it. I've made it my mission to spread the word about global duty of care -- everywhere! Several of our multinational customers are expanding their SMMP footprint in China, and, from our four offices in the country, we're right there to help them.

For more information on Global Duty of Care, read this Active Network|StarCite whitepaper: http://www2.starcite.com/starcite/resourcecenter/downloads/meetings-and-global-duty-care-what-you-need-know-now
 

I recently read a blog post by Bob Johnston of SponsorHub about working with vendors. To sum it all up, Bob’s point was that vendor management is super important, and you should take the time to learn the ins and outs of negotiating. He noted that “your bottom line and profit margin depend on it.”

Of course I agree with him completely.  I’m proud to say that all of us at Active Network|StarCite have been fully supporting this recognition of working effectively with vendors for years.  We’ve advocated full transparency in negotiations and planning so that budgetary surprises are minimal to non-existent.  That buyer-supplier negotiation transparency is the crux of Strategic Meetings & Events Management. By transacting business in writing online, you not only eliminate misunderstandings form the beginning before it can become a budgetary problem, you also have a built-in documentation trail of negotiations in case of an audit or satisfying a Sarbanes-Oxley requirement.

And it doesn’t hurt to know what suppliers are looking for in terms of contracting business with corporations and buyers, either.  In this part of the supply and demand cycle, the suppliers currently hold the upper hand in terms of pricing power – due to high demand and not enough supply.  Ironically, buyers are now competing with each other to get space and room inventory, so knowing what makes your business more attractive to suppliers can only help to ensure you get what you need.  

Read this informative article from Meetings and Conventions magazine; it will help you to improve your chances for sourcing success with your suppliers!  Also, check out this Active Network|StarCite webinar: Strategic Meetings Management: Best Practices for Strategic Sourcing.

As a world traveler, I've been watching the progression of the euro crisis with interest. But sometimes, as it relates to the meetings industry, it can seem like a far-away issue.

But a recent story in HotelNewsNow.com brought the problem home, and it raised some issues in my mind that all meeting managers should be aware of and thinking about.

The story presented one pretty scary statistic, direct from a recent report from the Global Business Travel Association: If the crisis of credit and confidence gets so bad that banks fail and the European Union dissolves, between 2012 and 2013, meeting spending from the U.S. would dive by 16%, about $88 billion worth. Trip volume would fall by over 76 million trips (down 9%).

Wow! That's the GBTA's worst-case scenario, and I certainly hope that doesn't come to pass. Still, over that same time period, a prolonged recession in the region could result in the leveling off of travel growth -- with a paring of spend by about 7% (equating to nearly $40 billion) and around 42 million trips (down 5%).

So here are the issues I'm thinking of:

• Long-term, are you prepared and have contingency plans to switch destinations should a severe crisis suddenly develop -- perhaps with some hotels closing and staff being laid off?
• Do you have system-wide policies and processes in place to quickly find new hotels and venues?  Do you currently do destination analysis and cost comparisons?  And, do your terms and conditions spell out clearly what refunds you expect?
• Conversely, with business contracting in southern Europe due to a drop-off in demand, occupancy rates and RevPAR, have you got an eye out for bargains at properties you may not have previously considered? HotelNewsNow says bargain hunting by leisure travelers from the more prosperous northern European countries is up sharply.   And, the article says the corporate segment there has noticeably cut back on expenditures -- including meetings, incentives, conferences and events bookings.  

If you have events booked in southern European locations like Portugal and Spain, now is the time to consider your risk. It's also time to hunt around for new bargains.
 

Kudos to ACTE for thinking outside the box and creating a  wonderfully interactive annual conference in San Francisco at the end of April. All of the education sessions and interactive networking were very well done.  I had a blast at one of the education sessions called:  "Is it time to eliminate the hotel RFP process?"  And instead of hearing acrimonious dialog between buyers and suppliers, a gamification exercise kept attendees positive and creative.  My table, being the "type A" personalities we are, won first place!  There were four power corporate buyers and friends, two suppliers (including yours truly) and we had the privilege of having my good friend Michael Baker of the BTN Media Group as part of our table.  If you’d like to see his comments about ACTE and our table here’s the URL link to his post:  
http://www.thebeat.travel/post/2012/05/02/Buyers-Approach-Hotel-Purchasing-Hotel-RFPs.aspx/?a=btn&cid=eltrDaily

What was extremely meaningful for me, was the announcement of our collaboration in tackling the long sought-after and elusive emotional engagement ROI for events and meetings.  ACTE Executive Director Ron DiLeo made the announcement during the first general session -- and in every general session after that.  I was privileged to get up and talk about the project during the last general session of the conference.  We also tried out multiple on-going surveys throughout the conference to kick off this study on “eROI” -- as we’re calling it informally.

Active Network hopes to provide project updates at future ACTE global conferences and to announce the results of this study at the Rome ACTE conference this fall.  The study is being conducted by Lynn Randall, managing partner of Randall Insights LLC.  From now until then, if you want to volunteer an event or meeting to participate in this study on how to capture and report eROI, please reach out to ACTE directly or Lynn Randall at lynn.randall@randallinsights.com.

Hopefully, the end results of this study will provide some quantifiable measurement of the emotional engagement and effectiveness of meetings and events. Meetings/event managers can use the data as part of their reporting metrics to their senior management to address not only any cost ROI issue, but whether or not the meeting/event captured and accomplished emotional goals laid out when organizing that event!

The latest in the on-going saga over the GSA meetings scandal is that Congress is sending legislation to President Obama to sign that would cap 80 percent of government agencies' 2010 meeting spend through to 2016. The bill would also set new restrictions on government agency participation in meetings and conferences. For example, it would require that no agency spend more than $500,000 to support a single event.

Really?  Am I crazy or aren’t there already policies and guidelines around what the GSA can spend, do, etc.?   That being the case, why would new policies and guidelines be any different than what exists today?  While I don’t disagree that new and more relevant policies enhance what is currently on record for policy (i.e. only one pre-convention site inspection is allowable), the issue isn’t lack of policy or guidelines; the issue is that there appears to be a lack of better checks and balances around expense approval routings, having sourcing documentation trails and regular audits, tracking of budget versus actual spend, and other prudent processes that many corporations have implemented in their SMMPs.

I strongly believe that rather than cutting back or banning meetings, the smartest way to build a better event is to strategically manage meetings, for example, implement and automate approvals of purchases, and e-source for the best hotel options and other meetings services. How about mandated travel policies that restrict certain types of entertainment and require use of preferred suppliers? How many of them are in force in government agencies?  

It's bad economics to do away with or demonize meetings travel -- after all, the meetings industry contributes more to the nation's GDP ($106 billion annually) than the mighty auto industry ($78 billion), the socially powerful movie business ($60 billion) ... even the air transport industry ($62 billion)! And the tax and job implications of meetings are enormous.

No, rather than a ban ... the government needs a plan that spells out how to better manage meetings.  Forgive my pre-disposed bias, but our government needs a SMMP implemented -- not more rules, cut-backs and restrictions!

Congratulations to our business partner, Carlson Wagonlit Travel, which last week released CWT Meeting Optimizer, a new tool that Active Network|StarCite helped develop. We're really pleased to have worked with CWT to bring another money-saving resource to meeting planners.

The industry could certainly use a new tool to help companies save money -- especially now, with meetings under public scrutiny again! Get more details about the Meeting Optimizer via the link above.

 

GBTA Europe has announced the first in their series of speakers for the introductory session of its European conference in Budapest, September 19th - 21st.  GBTA Europe chose a 17 year-old Brit, Max Keegan, to present a case study of how “Digital Natives," often referred to as Generation Y, think about technology, the use of social networks, their approach to the workplace culture and sustainability.

Max, GBTA Europe reported, is in the debating society at his school and is a musician.

This was so brilliant and typical of Paul Tilstone, Managing Director of GBTA, to change things up and offer meaningful and engaging programming. In GBTA Europe's announcement, Keegan said: "It is going to be great to be able to give the audience insights into how my peers and I communicate and use social media. I think it’s great that this conference wants to hear our thoughts since we behave and think differently than your typical conference attendee.”

I'm sure Max is a great spokesperson for Gen Y, and it will be fascinating to hear “from the horse's mouth” (no pun intended) on his peers' attitudes and use of technology and social media in their daily lives and careers.

No doubt, there will be a creative aspect to the yet to be defined CEO Panel, and knowing Paul, it won’t be the traditional and often times boring CEO-speak.

I hope to see you all at GBTA Europe!

Once we pondered how Gen Y and Z would affect meetings. Now the question is, how will generation "C" change the industry?

Who is Generation C, you ask? Nielsenwire defines them as 18-34 year-olds "born sometime between the launch of the VCR and the commercialization of the Internet."  What characterizes this group, and what accounts for the "C" is that this generation is the most connected -- digitally, that is.  Even though they make up just 23% of the U.S. population ...

- 27% of them watch online videos
- 27% visit social networking/blog sites
- 33% own tablets
- 39% use smart phones

Meeting managers everywhere should take notice of Gen C's technology-loving ways. I meet and work with these folks on a daily basis, and they don't just want to attend events to sit in sessions and learn ... they want to use their tech toys to be active participants via electronic feedback; they want to shape content by contributing comments (and sometimes present content themselves), and they want to -- before an event even begins -- find out who'll be there so they can network with those who can give them the best ROI.

Can you see the day when meetings become truly interactive -- with Generation C types stepping up to an "open-mike" event to present their knowledge and opinions? I can, especially when I'm surrounded by them here at Active Network where the average employee age is 28!!!

To some extent, technology is rapidly making this happen. Mobile apps put up-to-the-minute information such as agendas and bios into the hands of attendees. And then these savvy attendees make their own choices about where to go spend their next 45 minutes. And it's by now a well-established best practice that many attendees are tweeting suggested questions for speakers -- as those presenters are talking.

But what meeting managers need to get ready for is the demand for more and more meetings that will be structured to enable attendees to use the tools they're carrying in their front pockets and backpacks. And the questions for managers then become ... what kind of goals to create for this brave new world of meetings ... how to make them pay off ... and how to make them support my companies' goals? More importantly, how do we protect our company's intellectual property and employee safety and security when everything is so open and on-line?  Don't proscratinate in putting in safeguards now, because before you know it, you may encounter a "should've, could've would've" type scenario that will be too late.

With public scrutiny over spending on conferences in the news again, there's no better time to remind lawmakers, the industry and local communities about both the business value and economic benefits of meetings.

Back in January, the U.S. Travel Association introduced a year-long "Vote Travel" campaign, and as part of that campaign, the organization offers a "Keep America Meeting" toolkit for meetings professionals and venues. It's aimed at creating a dialogue between lawmakers and the people who work in the meetings industry. U.S. Travel suggests:

- Inviting a member of Congress to your event or venue, and to speak with employees -- to share why the travel industry matters
- Visits to Congress, utilizing such tools as a one-page leave-behind document on the economic impact of meetings
- Writing to the media and government officials, including using suggestions for two sample Op-Ed articles.

These are all great suggestions and practical, useful tools that all of us in the industry can use to quell the often unjustified fuss over perceived conference and meeting spend wastefulness!

Personally, I'm taking a more active voice in talking with people outside the industry on the economic influence of meetings, for instance, how meetings create a web of jobs that go beyond hotels and restaurants. I'm thinking of meeting planners, managers, purchasers -- all of whom are employed in various industries. And I'm thinking of companies spawned to support meetings services, like technology firms that create and sell automation to help firms strategically manage meetings and engage with employees. This list goes on, for example, meeting and event production companies, travel agencies, consulting firms.

When you sit down and think about it, the conference, events & meetings industry is a veritable production machine of jobs and GDP. This is the message that we all need to be sharing with our elected officials on a regular basis -- so it's always front of mind and not an afterthought.

Thank you, MeetingsNet, for giving us a detailed view into the social media habits of meeting planners! The media company, which polled 800 readers of its magazines -- Association Meetings, Medical Meetings and Corporate Meetings & Incentives -- probed how respondents use LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and blogs as part of their jobs.

Let's cut to the chase and talk blogs.

According to the survey, 50% maintain a blog, and of those, 73%, the largest percentage, use the social media venue as a way to promote and build community around meetings and events. Blogs are a great resource for marketing, but better still is linking your blogs with your event marketing strategy and associated technology to create an ecosystem to connect event suppliers, organizations and attendees. It's technology that drives cost savings, efficiencies and deeper audience engagement. My point is, blogs are a great communication tool. But why not maximize your event effectiveness and add value with time-saving online attendee relationship management tools that allow you to see and measure your marketing efforts by engaging your audience before, during and after the event?

Another fascinating tidbit from the MeetingsNet social media survey is that, when asked how valuable respondents found different forms of social media for their career, 70% of meeting planners, again the largest proportion, said blogs were somewhat or extremely valuable -- versus 59% who said so for Facebook (which a lot of people see as a jobs marketplace), 55% for YouTube, and 50% for Twitter.

On a personal note, I'm happy that more than one-third of respondents (37%) follow industry blogs written by others. Ahem ... that would be by people like me.  :)

If the numbers in several different meetings forecasts that I wrote about in this blog weren't enough to convince you, a new survey conducted by Embassy Suites Hotels, says a significant number (one-third) of business travelers are traveling more than they did a year ago.

That's great news, and the better news is that they're hitting the road more often to have face-to-face meetings with clients.

What I found interesting about this survey -- that's entirely in line with what I'm seeing in the industry
-- is that, to keep in touch with clients, companies are altering the way they've traditionally traveled.
For instance, 19% are cutting back on meals and other incidentals, while 22% are looking for hotels that are a better value.

Many companies are making sacrifices in order to be able to continue building and strengthening relationships with their business clients. And the best way to do that, in my books, is to be there in person ... lunching with them or sitting across a conference room table.  As I've said before in this blog, telepresence, teleconferencing, web meetings and other remote conferencing methods are all extremely valuable tools that meeting managers can use to keep costs down and extend the reach of their meetings programs.  Yes, we'll see some companies increasingly rely on them to keep in touch with employees, salespeople and others. But they are no means a replacement for in-person events, especially with clients and prospective customers -- where the nuances of body language, facial expressions and good old-fashioned human-to-human contact can go miles toward solidifying bonds and business.

To read more about how the mix of virtual meetings and face-to-face will play out in the coming years,  check out Active Network|StarCite's book: "Strategic Meetings Management Handbook: From Theory to Practice."

Attention all procurement executives, the General Services Administration (GSA) has just learned a hard lesson about how sensitive the press, public and the government is to perceived lavish spending at conferences. The New York Times reported yesterday that Martha Johnson, the administrator of GSA fired her two top deputies and then resigned, herself, just before delivery of a report investigating a 2010 internal conference that was criticized as wasteful.

Apparently, the training conference -- which cost $822,000 for 300 people and took place at a resort/spa outside Las Vegas -- included a mind reader, clowns and comedians and a team-building exercise that alone cost taxpayers $75,000, all details that were first reported by The Washington Post.  On face value these costs may seem excessive, but one thing I’ve learned is there are always two sides to every story.  The tragedy is whatever cost justification there was for these expenses, no one was able to articulate and show documented sourcing enough to disprove any of the allegations of excessiveness.

The reality of meetings is that most events are filled with educational sessions as part of dawn-to-dusk agendas, followed by dinners and receptions where networking is done -- but which also may include entertainment or other team-building events that help break down barriers and build relationships.  Also, spending and locations that might appear lavish to some can actually be very smart bargains. But then again, the other side of this issue is that, as many meeting managers already know, we are living in very difficult times -- where every dime is being watched and where proof of return on investment in meetings is increasingly being demanded by senior executives.  Needless to say, one of the major benefits of establishing a SMMP is the ability to audit and monitor spending in real time versus post event -- when it’s too late.  Is there any wonder that CFOs everywhere are highly desirous of auditing meeting and event spend?

Now is a good time to ensure that your meeting policies are being established, communicated and adhered to and that spending limits and guidelines are being followed. And if you have not yet created a policy, it's time to implement one, get senior management backing and communicate it to all planners. Further, use business intelligence from your meetings management technology to measure ROI, and present those figures to senior executives -- the ones who are watching!  Oh and don’t be surprised if auditing is introduced by your CFO or Finance group – it’s just a matter of time.

Click here to view a free StarCite webinar on the value of business intelligence for your meeting.

 

I wanted  to write a post congratulating my friend, Cindy D’Aoust, on being appointed Meeting Professionals International's new Chief Operating Officer. Cindy, who was most recently Vice President of Shared Services with Maxvantage, the strategic alliance between Maritz Travel Company and American Express, brings 20-plus years of leadership skills to MPI. Cindy will report directly to MPI president and CEO, Bruce MacMillan, and will lead operational deployment of MPI 3.0, the organization's strategic business plan.
 
If you're a regular reader of Business Travel News, you'll recognize Cindy's name. She's often quoted there and in other industry publications, and she's a recognized expert on business solutions and trends in the meetings industry. She also frequently speaks publicly at industry conferences, serves on panels and conducts education sessions focused on strategic meetings management.
 
“Cindy’s leadership track record of creating value for customers and stakeholders is unparalleled,” said Bruce MacMillan, in a FTNNews.com article. “Her familiarity with key business and professional development trends in our industry will allow MPI to accelerate effective implementation of our education and certification program.”
 
Cindy's appointment couldn't come at a better, more appealing time for meeting planners. Perhaps
you saw, but US News & World Report, in its February 27th issue, named Meeting Convention & Event Planner the top business job of 2012 -- beating out such jobs as Sales Representative, Accountant, Receptionist, Financial Adviser, Customer Service Representative, HR Training Specialist, Insurance Agent, Financial Analyst and Executive Assistant.
 
Today's meeting planner also reaps the benefit of constantly emerging new technologies that make
the job easier and more efficient, like mobile apps to streamline attendee management. US News, citing Bureau of Labor Statistics data, found that the median annual wage for meeting, convention and event planners was $45,260 in 2010. The best-paid 10 percent in the field made approximately $76,840, it said, while the bottom 10 percent made about $27,090. Said one meeting planner in the story: "...You have to thrive under pressure and actually love the challenge."
 
Which brings me back to Cindy. I'm sure that she will thrive under the pressure of her new position, and knowing Cindy, she'll love the challenge, too. I'll make an industry prediction here in this blog: Watch MPI soar under Bruce & Cindy's leadership...

I've seen it in my own meetings with companies. I've seen it in growing traffic at trade shows. And I've seen evidence of it in rising levels of electronic RFPs flowing through StarCite's system.
 
Now, there's official confirmation that companies are investing more in meetings technology relative to recent years. Expo magazine's Technology Survey 2012 says: "Unlike 2011, when they still had considerations over the economy and the fast pace of technological change, this year, senior convention and exposition industry executives are beginning to embrace new technologies in a big way."
 
In the survey, which polled executives and managers with associations and for-profit exhibition producers, more than one-third, 35%, said they would increase their technology budget in 2012, while more than half, 59%, plan to stay the course, and only 6% will decrease budgets. Of those who plan to spike their budgets, 65% noted a range of 5-10%, while 18% said more than 10% and 17% foresaw a jump of below 5%.
 
What's more, 44%, the largest proportion, said that event management tech was the most important to their organization. Significant numbers also said website development and customer database infrastructure were the most important investments.
 
There were some open-ended questions in the survey, too, and they revealed important priorities for managers. For example, in one question, “What area of the industry do you feel requires more technological innovation or new services?” respondents pointed to end-to-end, seamless software running off of a single, robust database, citing a variety of needs:
 
• A single-entry total system
• Attendance tracking
• Attendee-Exhibitor connection
• Audience interaction
• Bridges or integrators between Finance-Marketing-Ops • Business Intelligence • CRM and AMS (audience management systems) • Digital marketing
 
As I said in this blog before, our mission at Active Network|StarCite is to bridge the gap between finance and marketing ... to provide a single suite of solutions to both areas to better manage and engage attendees. So, I was particularly pleased to read that this remains a growing priority for respondents.
 
It is also clear from the survey results that, across the industry, people recognize an innate need for event management technology but often times it is simply a lack of budget or perceived value that deters organizations from investing in the right technology infrastructure.  Meanwhile, 70% of survey respondents reported that it is senior-level management that determines the technology budget for their organization, with 38% specifying that it is the CEO of their organization who determines spend on technology.
 
What can we learn from this? If you're looking to increase your investment in event management or any other kind of meetings technology, it might be necessary for you to go straight to the head of the corporation to get financing. It's crucial that you go prepared with numbers backing you up on the ROI from implementing such technology. Don't be shy about asking your supplier for such data. Or ask your industry association(s) for generic benchmark data on tech investment ROI.

Here's some extra help in identifying the ROI of your meetings tech. Check out this free StarCite Webinar: Demonstrate the Value of Your Strategic Meetings Management Program!

The latest news from hotel analysts PKF Hospitality Research is that U.S. hotel occupancies and average daily rates will improve through 2016, according to a story in Business Travel News. That requires meeting managers to formulate equally longterm strategies to hold down costs.
 
According to PKF, U.S. hotel supply growth through 2016 annually will remain below 2% percent, which in turn will lead to higher occupancies. The average room rate, according to the analysts, will rise "in excess of 4 percent" annually over the next two years. For this year, PKF forecasts that U.S. hotels will see a 5.8% jump in revenue per available room -- all from the effects of a 1.6% rise in occupancy and a 4.1% increase in average daily rates.
 
In the face of this forecast, meeting managers should be formulating buying strategies that will work in the longterm as well as the shorterm. For example:
 
- Negotiate with preferred suppliers with the longterm in mind, that is, aim for discounts spread out over multiple years (Suppliers will likely want to see evidence of years of patronage in your spend data, so be prepared to give it.);
- Consider shifting meetings from upscale properties to mid-priced hotels to lower your costs;
- Shift market share to chains or hotels willing to keep your rates flat or slightly higher;
- Leverage existing supplier relationships to weather this current supply/demand cycle;
- Add more competition and hotels in your program; while hotels hate to see more properties included in any corporation's preferred hotel program, if rates increase and inventory is tight, you really don't have many other options.
 
There are plenty of factors to consider when formulating longterm buying strategies, but a protracted seller's market is looming, and it's time to adjust strategies to meet the realities of that market.  If anyone else has any other recommendations, please share!

Among the many gems of wisdom that came out of a recent MeetingsNet webinar, "Global Meetings, Risk Management A-Z," was from Kim Hester, Senior Account Executive, Sales, at JNR Inc., the meeting, incentive and conference planners.  Kim spoke about tracking your traveling employees worldwide -- a very important process or step in a good Duty of Care program.
 
In the event of an emergency, when you've got to locate attendees pronto, "don't count on the airlines to do it for you," said Kim. Instead she laid out some very practical tips to help enable the accounting process, God forbid you should need to do it:
 
1 - Get ample traveler information up front in the registration process, for example, name, phone numbers and multiple emergency contact information;
2 - Align with a good travel agency or online travel agency who can help you locate data, as they can generally keep itineraries up to date using software;
3 - Use an agency with 24-hour service for air bookings;
4- Stay up to date on the news about a particular destination your attendees are visiting, for example whether there's an airport strike somewhere or there's a blizzard on the way someplace else. Knowing that information, you can quickly adjust plans to either avoid trouble altogether or get people out of harm's way;
5 - Develop a contingency plan that assigns roles to planners and others in your organization to ensure your rescue efforts go smoothly. For example, assign someone the task of reaching out to hotels to work on changing reservations, while another can be responsible for blasting an instructional email to attendees.
 
This was all great information, and MeetingsNet gets congratulations for hosting their webinar.  StarCite has also created helpful materials that you can refer to when creating a Duty of Care program. Check out these resources:
 
- Whitepaper: Meetings and Global Duty of Care: What You Need to Know Now
-Webinar: Meetings and Global Duty of Care: What You Need to Know Now!
- Webinar: Meetings and Global Duty of Care Part II: Minimizing the Risks

Congratulations and thanks go out to Corbin Ball, meetings industry technology expert and head of consultancy Corbin Ball Associates! Corbin has compiled a 30-year time line that includes some very momentous meetings industry technology developments and innovations.
 
I'm happy to say that StarCite®, a part of Active Network, is on the list, and so is our parent Active Network!
 
First Corbin mentions StarCite's birth in 1999, when we introduced a "package of Web-based sourcing, attendee management and spend-tracking solutions." Fast forward to 2001, when Corbin characterizes StarCite as introducing the first Web-based, two-way, real-time RFP tool for meeting space and rooms.
 
At the time, that was an incredible advancement -- eliminating a lot of paperwork for both planners and hotel sales people and, due to time delays, wasted efforts. It hasn't lost its appeal these days, either, as hotels are increasingly receiving and answering RFPs electronically.
 
Corbin mentions StarCite again when his chronology comes to 2012. In January, that's when Active Network, Inc., the largest network of activities, organizations and people linked by world-class technology, acquired StarCite. He says: "Previous mergers of these two companies include some of the major pioneers of meetings technology: RegWeb, b-there, seeUthere, PlanSoft, OnVantage, RegOnline and WingateWeb ..."
 
Rightly so, Corbin calls the move "another step in the consolidation of major meetings technology companies." And, as I've said in this blog, through technology and the expertise within our new Business Solutions division we’ll be able to better link the management of meetings to the experience of meetings, creating value and expanding the scope and evolution of SMM to a new ecosystem. Since the acquisition, we've been working hard to bridge the gap between SMMPs and Marketing/Sales organizations within companies.
 
Stay tuned for more innovations from StarCite and Active Network!  To read up on the Active Network Business Solutions development, click here.

We want to make sure you're up to date on the latest issues surrounding recording and reporting requirements for meeting spend on health care professionals (HCPs) -- as spelled out in the Physician Payment Sunshine Provisions of U.S. healthcare reform. So, if you haven't already heard, the required start date of Jan. 1 2012 for collecting data on payments and gifts to HCPs has been pushed back.
 
It seems the government got a late start in issuing its reporting guidelines, as required under the Sunshine Act, and, after a comment period that ended on Feb. 17th, a new start-date for collecting spend data will be set for later this year (we'll keep you in the loop on that new date).
 
One other development that pushed back the start date is a draft proposal by Health & Human Services that would make continuing medical education (CME) providers responsible for payment reporting to drug companies and other commercial supporters. Originally, the Sunshine Act had excluded these third parties from having to disclose indirect payments to HCPs, and payments to faculty of CME supported by industry fell under this exclusion.
 
This deadline setback is no reprieve from the law, however.
 
If you haven't already done so, it's time to get your house in order to be ready to comply with tracking and reporting requirements -- and that includes tasks such as auditing for sources of spend data across your organization and working with colleagues in compliance and legal departments in order to learn their best practices and get up to speed on details of the Sunshine Act.  
 
We've got your back, too. StarCite, part of Active Network, has done a lot to help companies of all sizes get ready for this legislation -- via webinars, whitepapers ... even creating a Life Sciences industry-specific solution for tracking and reporting HCP spend. So there are plenty of resources available to learn about the new requirements and to start implementing changes.

Stay tuned for more updates!

Back in October, I wrote that hotel fees for services that used to be free were here to stay. Well, they still are. Last year, hotels collected an estimated $1.8 billion, according to a study by Dr. Bjorn Hanson, divisional dean at the Preston Robert Tisch Center for Hospitality, Tourism, and Sports at New York University.
 
But a recent story in Meetings & Convention magazine, notes that "a significant portion" of that total comes from resort fees, daily fees that luxury hotels charge for amenities such as gym access, Internet use and newspapers. Other properties charge fees for:
 
- parking
- phone calls
- bottled water
- beach chair service
- shuttles
- guided hikes
- driving range access
 
Increasingly, these fees are becoming more prevalent, reports an M&C study (More than half of 144 polled say such fees have become more common in the past year.).
 
But beware resorts! Meeting planners may have come to expect the fees, but many of them are also ready and willing to take their business elsewhere if they feel the fee is too excessive or unjust. In the M&C article, one such objectionable fee (especially at five-star properties) was for nightly turndown service. M&C's poll showed 44% are less likely to book a hotel or resort that will not reduce or cut resort fees.
 
Meeting managers need to stay up to date on what resorts, and in some cases non-resorts, are charging guests. Don't assume that because a property is five-star or has "resort" in its name, that the little luxuries that used to be free are still complimentary. Your RFPs need to specifically ask what surcharges hotels levy per day -- and what those charges include. This is not only an imperative for good sourcing, but it's also necessary in order to stay on budget. 

And while you are at it, also ask them what other little surcharges, taxes, etc., their attendees should expect to find at check-out. In some cases those extra taxes and surcharges add up to a LOT!