Can Knowing Hotel Secrets Really Lower Your Costs?

I recently read an article posted on a social media site that suggests there are secret ways to work with hotels to lower your event costs. I wondered how significant these secrets were and asked an industry expert for his analysis. Tom Berkman, President and CEO of Omnia Housing Services is our industry expert. Tom is a 36-year hospitality and housing company veteran that created and has overseen the operation of the THS Company, the nation’s premier sports housing service and Omnia's parent company.

Fill Need Dates was number one - This seemed obvious to the author and our industry expert but not me. They explained this applies to event space not guest rooms.  If a hotel is full due to a large city wide event, its event space (meeting rooms) are likely not being used. The hotel may be willing to negotiate better rates for this unused space which can come in handy as long as you don’t need guest rooms.

Check Cancellation Clauses – the author of the article says to be careful about this important item as it may result in steep penalties should you need to cancel less than six months from your arrival date.  Our industry expert says his firm never agrees to cancellation clauses more than 30 days from arrival.

Both the article’s author and our expert agreed the next several items were standard so we won’t devote much time to them but felt they should be noted here.  They are: Be Aware of Food and Beverage (F&B) minimum.  Seems reasonable but be aware F&B calculations do not include gratuity or tax; Understand audiovisual (AV) requirements. Some hotels have a preferred vendor and may charge you a fee if you use your own;  Contract internet upfront. Until recently, this has been a major cost to your event.  Hotels are better equipped today but be aware of these hidden charges.

Attrition-Lower it – The article’s author suggests a variety of tips and tricks for calculating attrition penalties should they occur. Our industry expert tells me they never agree to attrition penalties in their contracts and feels they could be avoided all together.

Ask for a Resell Clause – This refers to your attrition penalty but our industry expert reminds us they have no attrition so this clause is unnecessary.

Leverage Sales Manager – this was more of a tip on how to work with a sales manager to get the best deal. It sounded more like shopping for a car as it was suggested it’s better to call at certain times of the month or quarter when they have to report sales to quota.

While the article offers some things to consider when negotiating a hotel contract, it seems more complicated than that to me. A housing services vendor can be a great partner in working through the hotel selection process and execution of an agreement. If you want to remove the risk from your organization and increase your reward, that is my best suggestion.

Don Sciolaro

D ESolutions

Innovative solutions, strategic planning & management partner

Inspiration from Thomas Edison

December 9, 1914: Edison Sees His Vast Plant Burn

On December 9, 1914 a spectacular fire destroyed over half the buildings in Thomas Edison’s West Orange Laboratory after an explosion in the film inspection building. Damages reached seven million dollars, with only two million covered by insurance, according to The New York Times article.  Two hundred fifty workers were in the buildings at 5:20P.M. when the blaze erupted.  Edison and his wife rushed to the scene and stayed until midnight when firefighters were finally able to contain the blaze, saving the important Experimental Laboratory and Storage Battery buildings. 

Edison vowed, “Although I am over 67 years old, I‘ll start all over again tomorrow.”   

Indeed he did!

Cleanup work at the devastated site began the next day when all 7,000 employees  reported for duty. Reconstruction plans quickly followed. 

What struck me as amazing was  a footnote to the story that within two days, Edison had also finalized design of a portable searchlight whose three million candlepower beam would be visible for miles. In the midst of the catastrophe, Edison had noticed how the firefighters were hampered by the loss of power and light.  He puzzled over the problem and came up  with the battery driven light source idea and design. At age 67, Edison’s pace of work and inventions had slowed, but they could hardly be described as declining years. Within six months, Edison was demonstrating his latest invention in a nearby park,  attracting curious onlookers who wondered where the bright light was coming from!  The old adage that “every cloud has a silver lining” certainly applies here.

The newer West Orange Edison laboratory had replaced the initial site at Menlo Park , where Edison invented the phonograph in 1877 and the incandescent light bulb and electric system in 1878.   Edison, nicknamed the Wizard of Menlo Park, lived to age 84. The prolific inventor with 1093 patents, born in Milan Ohio, was homeschooled by his mother. He was deaf  from  age 12. In addition to the light bulb and the phonograph, he is most famous for the motion picture camera and improvements to the telephone and telegraph.

His home in West Orange, named Glenmont, is run by the National Park Service and is open to the public.  The West Orange Edison Works Laboratory is currently under renovation.  The Park Service has not yet posted a reopening date. Pictures from Edison Historic Site 

For more information about 

Thomas Edison: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/edhtml/edbio.html

Can Knowing Hotel Secrets Lower Event Costs?

I recently read an article posted on a social media site that suggests there are secret ways to work with hotels to lower your event costs. I wondered how significant these secrets were and asked an industry expert for his analysis. Tom Berkman, President and CEO of Omnia Housing Services is our industry expert. Tom is a 36-year hospitality and housing company veteran that created and has overseen the operation of the THS Company, the nation’s premier sports housing service and Omnia's parent company.

Fill Need Dates was number one - This seemed obvious to the author and our industry expert but not me. They explained this applies to event space not guest rooms.  If a hotel is full due to a large city wide event, its event space (meeting rooms) are likely not being used. The hotel may be willing to negotiate better rates for this unused space which can come in handy as long as you don’t need guest rooms.

Check Cancellation Clauses – the author of the article says to be careful about this important item as it may result in steep penalties should you need to cancel less than six months from your arrival date.  Our industry expert says his firm never agrees to cancellation clauses more than 30 days from arrival.

Both the article’s author and our expert agreed the next several items were standard so we won’t devote much time to them but felt they should be noted here.  They are: Be Aware of Food and Beverage (F&B) minimum.  Seems reasonable but be aware F&B calculations do not include gratuity or tax; Understand audiovisual (AV) requirements. Some hotels have a preferred vendor and may charge you a fee if you use your own;  Contract internet upfront. Until recently, this has been a major cost to your event.  Hotels are better equipped today but be aware of these hidden charges.

Attrition-Lower it – The article’s author suggests a variety of tips and tricks for calculating attrition penalties should they occur. Our industry expert tells me they never agree to attrition penalties in their contracts and feels they could be avoided all together.

Ask for a Resell Clause – This refers to your attrition penalty but our industry expert reminds us they have no attrition so this clause is unnecessary.

Leverage Sales Manager – this was more of a tip on how to work with a sales manager to get the best deal. It sounded more like shopping for a car as it was suggested it’s better to call at certain times of the month or quarter when they have to report sales to quota.

While the article offers some things to consider when negotiating a hotel contract, it seems more complicated than that to me. A housing services vendor can be a great partner in working through the hotel selection process and execution of an agreement. If you want to remove the risk from your organization and increase your reward, that is my best suggestion.

Don Sciolaro

D ESolutions

Innovative solutions, strategic planning & management partner

Redesigning Web Sites

It may be a coincidence but several organizations I’ve worked with are undertaking or recently completed a web site redesign.  So I started thinking about when and why do organizations decide it is time to address this time consuming and stressful undertaking. 

The first example is the consulting business of a friend.  He manages a consulting firm based in the Washington metro area.  Based on recent conversations and what I’ve seen on his new web site, the redesign project was driven by changes in his business.  He had taken on some new clients, created new partnerships and his business was going in a direction not represented by his old web site.  His site has a new look and seems to suggest a new energy. It is clear the objective of this new web site is to define the company brand and increase visibility with a focus on its mission. While I thought the former web site was fine as a communication vehicle that included an informative blog, this new site really does suggest a change has taken place in the business. I believe he really captured the image he was seeking in this new design.  www.potomaccore.com

The second example is a web site that is still a work in progress and it belongs to a non-profit organization for which I have been a board member for several years. The new web site is desperately needed as the current site is typical of a non-profit that put together a functional web site on the cheap. It probably seemed like a good site at the time it was created as there was nothing to compare it to.  This was the organizations first web site. Naturally, everyone thought it was great. Of course we look at it today and say “what were we thinking?” Even a non-profit has to uphold a certain image and the most visible representation today is an organization’s web site. Today, anyone can create an informative and professional web site that conveys the proper message based on the organizations purpose and mission.

Does it offer value to visitors and if you’re in the association world, does it portray the image you want your members to have of you? If you cannot objectively assess the message your web site delivers, ask your customers. People love it when you ask them what they think. Then you can determine if it’s time to invest in your web site.

Don Sciolaro

D ESolutions

Innovative solutions, strategic planning & management partner

Neighbors-helping-Neighbors - a job seekers networking and support group

Neighbors-helping-Neighbors USA, Inc. (NhN) is a job seekers networking and support group that celebrated its 2^nd Anniversary in January 2013. Today, NhN has over 2,000 members in 27 chapters in New Jersey, Boston and Washington, D.C., and more than 330 of its members have landed, or in other words, found a job. While many of these success stories are members that are now underemployed or working part time, for most it’s a welcome source of income.

Like many non-profit organizations, NhN is in need of support and funding. Additional funding could help the organization reach more unemployed that need assistance and to provide them with greater resources in their job search. The support that is needed varies from employers posting available positions on the NhN Linkedin group job board to providing speakers that have the expertise to help the job seeker in today’s competitive environment.

NhN was founded by John Fughazzie who received support from his community and network of friends when it was needed.  He started NhN to pay it forward and that is the core message today. To learn more about NhN and its founder, visit:http://www.nhnusa.org or the NhN LinkedIn group at:http://www.linkedin.com/groups/NeighborshelpingNeighbors-USA-3892534.

Don Sciolaro

D ESolutions

Innovative solutions, strategic planning & management partner 

Member Communications and Social Media

Remember when the fax machine was the next best thing to add to your member communications toolbox instead of slow and expensive snail mail? My guess is many of you are saying “What’s a fax machine?”  It was not long before it was replaced by e-mail. Many organizations abused this low cost communication method until members started unsubscribing or worse, ignoring everything you sent to them.  Some members set their spam monitors to block our communications. We all devoted time and resources to managing this overused communication tool in an effort to get our members to open our electronic communications. In many cases the result was quite the opposite.

Some organizations developed electronic newsletters while others developed the weekly bulletin.  In any case, it was another form of e-mail. Many organizations continued to send e-mail to their members every day, or worse, more than once a day. I view this as a ‘more is better’ mentality and places greater focus on quantity over quality.  That is our dilemma isn't it? We have an obligation to provide our members with programs and services so it makes sense that we want to tell them about everything we offer.  So we resort to sending something to our members every day.

If you don’t already have one, it may be time to sit down and develop a member communications strategy. Associations are good at developing strategies. We organize member retention and new member outreach strategies. Those involved in advocacy generally have very good lobbying strategies. So why not develop a member communication strategy?  It’s not that complicated. Perform an assessment of all member communications both print and digital. Once you understand what it is you have been sending to your members, you need to decide what information is the most impactful in helping you achieve your mission and what you really want to communicate to your members.

For most organizations a multi-platform effort would serve you well. Create a user friendly web site where you can host all the information you wish to share with your members, potential members or consumers. Through a combination of e-mail, LinkedIn and Twitter you can drive those interested in what you have to offer back to your web site for more information. There is no single communication tool that will convey your message to all members.  Some will prefer e-mail, some LinkedIn networks and others Twitter.  There are many other social media outlets so you’ll need to decide how your members prefer to get their information. Here is the good part.  Unlike traditional mail and faxes, all digital communications can be tracked.  If you send out an e-mail you can track how many received your communications from your intended target audience.  Of those that received it, how many opened it.  Of those that opened it what links did they click? Analyzing this data can help you improve future communications. Is there a day of the week that receives a higher open rate?  What topics realize higher click through rates? In addition to sending out e-mail to your member list, you can share links to your communication through LinkedIn and twitter.

Create a LinkedIn group or several groups depending on your organization.  By inviting your members to join your group, you are expanding your network and giving members another avenue to receive information.

There is no one right solution and there be some investment of time to get the right mix of web site, e-mail and social media that best meets the needs of your members. It would be impossible to cover this complex issue in detail here so keep in mind you need to do a little research starting with the demographics of your target audience. Most importantly, keep in mind the successful strategy today needs to be monitored as technology keeps us guessing about what comes next.  This includes our hardware as much as new trends in social media.  At one time most people received information through a desk top computer. We saw an increase in the use of lap tops as we took our work with us everywhere we went. Today, we need to communicate with tablets and smart phones as well as desktops and laptops. As one of my favorite financial advisers was fond of warning throughout the recession, “be nimble”.

Don Sciolaro

D ESolutions

Innovative solutions, strategic planning & management partner

Impressions of an ASAE Annual Meeting First Time Attendee

Despite having worked in associations for more than 20 years I finally attended my first ASAE Annual Meeting that took place in Atlanta in August 2013. I’ve attended many ASAE conferences and classes but never this major event. I admit I found myself comparing it to my former association’s annual show and conference that took place in Atlanta in 2009.

The opening ceremony was well attended with informative speakers and served as a very good kick-off to the opening of the show floor. Over the next two days I would walk the floor and meet with exhibitors and attended several of the many learning labs.  Some conferences would call these classes or workshops but ASAE calls them learning labs. I met some very nice attendees in each session and heard some very informative presentations.

On the first day I managed to attend two sessions including a presentation by the co-authors of Road to Relevance, Harrison Coerver and Mary Byers, CAE. Following the session I went to the book store and purchased their book.

On the second day I again attended two sessions. One was called “Hotel Contracts Boot Camp for the Experienced Meeting Planner.”  The speaker was well qualified, an attorney with extensive hotel experience.  I thought he provided the group with many good suggestions on key items in your hotel contract to avoid or to include. Again, all were very good recommendations. He was very knowledgeable and I thought if I ever found myself in litigation over a hotel contract I would want him on my side. However, if you use a professional and competent housing services vendor you will not need to know what loopholes to look for or what omissions may be troublesome down the road.

Like you, I always had an attorney, such as this session’s speaker; review my hotel contracts during my 20 plus years organizing events for my associations.  That is until I found there is a better way to plan my meetings. If you want to learn more send me a note and I’ll share this best practice with you.  I can be reached at desciolaro@gmail.com.

By the end of the second day I was ready to head home with blisters on my feet and a lot of good information to digest from the many speakers, exhibitors and new friends I made in Atlanta. If you work in an association and have never attended an ASAE annual meeting, I strongly suggest you remedy that in 2014.