Feb 10 2009
Growing Your Business in Today’s Market
Guess What I Heard at RCMA!
These days, everyone is talking about the economy and for good reason. At RCMA, I asked the Unique Venues membership, nearly 20 strong, how the business climate is for their venues. I was not surprised to hear that business is either holding nice and steady or on the rise! The same as post 9/11.
So why is it that our venues are doing well in spite of the worst economy in decades? It comes down to affordable, no-frills meeting and event options for planners! Purdue University mentioned that they are having a major upswing in corporate business in the past few months. The University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown talked about the number of calls they are getting from planners who traditionally meet at resorts, spas and upscale hotels. In fact, they just booked a major piece of business from one of these calls.
It comes down to meeting responsibly. In times like these, planners and the groups they represent need to remember that membership and boards have become economic watchdogs. Frivolous spending and unnecessary expenses are viewed as cause for dismissal. Everyone is taking spending seriously. Because of this, Unique Venues members have a distinct advantage over their more costly hospitality counterparts.
Take advantage of this. Seek out the business that you used to tell yourself your venue was not well-suited for. There is plenty of opportunity to grow, even in times like these.
Remember…remind the planners you talk to that it’s time to MEET RESPONSIBLY and you can help!
Stay UNIQUE!
Chuck Salem, President
The more I read, the more I realize that unique meeting and event sites have MUCH to gain in this current situation. The luxury, high end facilities are going to take a beating because it just doesn’t look good. A meeting at the University of Pennsylvania, AMA (a day only conference center) or the Museum of Science & Industry just looks and sounds better to companies and their customers. Just received this email this morning…
Eight associations serving the hospitality, business travel and meetings industries jointly have developed guidelines that define accepted meetings practices for companies that have received emergency funds from the U.S. government. The guidelines come in response to last week’s announcement by the U.S. Treasury Department that companies receiving emergency aid will have to develop and publish policies governing, among other things, business travel and meeting and events, and have CEOs sign off on any expenditure that could be construed as a luxury purchase. Also last week a bill was introduced in the Senate that similarly would require companies to draft policies regarding meetings. The new travel industry association guidelines suggest how companies could write their policies to ensure that meetings “serve legitimate business purposes and are cost justified.” Among the proposed guidelines: written justifications must be provided for meetings or events that cost more than $75,000; the total annual meeting, event and incentive budget should not exceed 15 percent of the company’s total sales and marketing spend; at least 90 percent of incentive program attendees must not be senior executives, and the amount spent on incentive programs should not exceed 2 percent of the total compensation for all eligible participants or 10 percent of all participants’ compensation. The full guidelines are available at ustravel.org. The sponsoring associations include: the American Hotel and Lodging Association, Destination Marketing Association International, the International Association of Exhibitions and Events, Meeting Professionals International, the National Business Travel Association, Professional Convention Management Association, the Society of Incentive Travel Executives and the U.S. Travel Association.
Times are tough for all of us, however, we need to strive in working smart to stay competitive. As Chucks states, Unique Venues are truley in a “unique” position in the industry. We need to continually search for the VALUE of our product and push that value to the planner that may have changed their idea of the successful event. For some planners, it may continue to be about the bottom line, but for me, getting value is money well spent. Thanks to Unique Venues for the continued support. Paul……