Burning cash

I seem to be surrounded by all sorts of situations that are burning cash. I am actually here in lovely Paris, France right now and happened to exchange some U.S. dollars. As I am sure you can imagine, the dollar is weak. So that's why when you exchange about $200, you only get about $150 back. Ugh. I simply can't get enough of our lovely economy.

But that was actually a 'sidebar' and not the main topic of my posting. I am sitting here reviewing some banquet event orders or BEOs for an upcoming meeting and noticed a "special arrangements" clause that caught my attention. For those who may be novice planners or don't plan at all, the banquet event orders are the hotel's paperwork that outline the details of your meeting.

Anyway, this clause said "Any change(s) made on the day of your scheduled event after signed Banquet Event Order(s) have been submitted, will be subject to a service charge of up to $500.00 per occurrence." What on earth? How many of you who plan meetings and events never had a change on the day of your event?? This is a four day program I am working on, and while we pretty much stick to what's on our BEOs, I found this to be fascinating -- and merely another way to generate some revenue.

Things happen and you make adjustments for them. And then what happens when the hotel or your chosen venue decides to move your group to another meeting room because they double-booked you? This happens all the time. So if it does, will they owe us $500 per occurrence?

It's bad enough to have to pay for podiums when they used to be free. And perhaps the clause is because of groups who decide to change their entire program when they arrive onsite. I understand the additional work involved and I do appreciate the hustle and effort of banquet staff. They really can make or break your meeting and at The Event Planning Group we treat them with the utmost respect.

But having to pay potentially $500 because of a potential adjustment seems over the top for me. Am I being unreasonable here??

And the winner is....

If you are a planner, you are definitely used to people replying that they will attend, and then they either show up or don't. But the point being you expect to have a certain percentage of no-shows at your meetings or events. But what happens when the actual guest or guests of honor do not show up?
I was reminded of an event that happened not too long ago where everything was set and in place. It was an honor ceremony for law enforcement. The room was arranged, chairs were in place and media in attendance. As they were ready to begin, they noticed that the four law enforcement officers were not there.

It just so happens that no one told the four officers about the ceremony!

There are so many large -- and small -- details to planning meetings and events that things ultimately do slip through the cracks. A checks and balances system can help to ensure most everything is covered. Constant communication between the event organizer and the others involved in the planning is key as well.

As for the officers who were supposed to receive the medals, they apparently were going to get them at a later date. And I would bet at an undetermined time and undisclosed location...

Timing is everything

Some time ago, I remember working a meeting at a hotel and arriving in the meeting office early to begin the day. I was staying at the hotel so there was no commute time per se, just early mornings. I remember getting downstairs around 6:15am and couldn't seem to find anyone. I didn't see any techs from our audio visual company, my staff was not there and even the hotel banquet personnel were scattered, but not moving as quickly as I thought they should.

After a little while, and blood pressure beginning to rise (and still wondering where my staff was) I finally found our event manager who was preparing our breakfast room. However, the room was half set and the breakfast started in about 20 minutes. I mentioned to him that breakfast is scheduled to start soon and they were not ready.

He smiled and looked at me as if he wasn't understanding what I was saying. I pulled out my paperwork that listed the information and said our breakfast started at 7:30am and it was about 6:50am -- clearly not enough time to get the tables dressed and food displayed.

He then continued to look at me -- then at his watch -- and said, "Ah, Jennifer...it's only 5:50am." So needless to say, the joke was on me. I have no idea how I ended up an hour ahead. Soon thereafter, my staff began to arrive and all was well with the world.

I guess it could have been worse in being behind rather than ahead!

The shower curtain

I recently visited a fellow hospitality blog So you Want to be a Banquet Manager and had to equally chuckle at some of his postings. There was one about bedspreads that made me think of an incident experienced many, many years ago. I've been in business now for 12 years, so as you can imagine, a lot has occurred over time.

I remember that the program was based in a hotel out in the midwest and it brought together all sorts of people from various disciplines. There was one person in particular that I remember vividly. She had this 'thing' where every room she went into, she demanded the staff to change the shower curtain. The shower curtain could have just been changed and a new one, but it had to be done. And she wasn't pleasant about letting the staff know about it either.

So never mind that she found various things wrong with each hotel room -- outside of the shower curtain -- that just meant the next room would inevitably need to have a new shower curtain as well.

Such are the quirks and idiosyncrasies of hospitality...there's always something to give a good chuckle.

Space considerations

I was recently talking with someone about their future conference and was struck by the location they chose for the event. They mentioned wanting to have breakouts along with a small exhibit area and a general session room that would also have to be used for the meals. So the location is pretty tight. It was also used last year without the breakouts.

So I was wondering why they would consider returning given their overall needs. I believe some of it was cost, but even so, the details should drive the location. How many times have you attended an event that seemed to be too small or too large for the particular program? Or maybe the location did not offer the type of amenities needed to best host a meeting or event. This actually reminds me of an event I attended some years ago that ended up being too small for the number of guests attending. It also ended up conflicting with the fire codes. And outside of breaking the law, that's dangerous.

While I do believe costs are always an issue, it's equally important to ensure the hotel or other venue 'works for you' in terms of details.

The inevitability of weather

This picture is what many airports along the east coast look like today. I am here in Washington, D.C. and planes are still flying, although there have been some delays. And of course the weather is impacting a client's meeting -- the only major snow storm of the year just so happens to fall today! It always seems to be the case. Thankfully, the meeting does not start until tomorrow, but there is an opening reception later tonight that may feel the effects of delayed passengers.

Meetings and events will always be susceptible to some form of weather -- some more than others depending on the time of year, location, severity of weather etc. Today's snow is more so an inconvenience than anything else -- although it is lovely to look at.

But the meeting will go on especially since the storm did not shut down any of the major airports. So that means people can still fly in even if delayed. So if we did in fact cancel our reception or meeting overall, we would then be liable and obligated to pay the hotel a substantial financial penalty. So everyone will have to deal with the minor inconveniences of delays and potentially long lines at the airport.

But such is the life of meetings and events....