Budget-Saving Tips from a Planner Professional
As a constantly budget-conscious planner, I’ve honed in on a few tried-and-true ways to save costs in any convention or meeting event that are guaranteed to go un-noticed to all those in attendance, leaving you with a longer stretch of the dollar and completely happy and unfazed guests.
1.) Use second-tier cities. Instead of New York or Los Angeles this year, try Charlotte or Austin. Moving your meeting to a smaller city usually results in more availability and better room rates, as well as more room to negotiate other amenities.
2.) Use universities or other public facilities such as libraries, parks, botanical gardens, and museums. If there are no sleeping rooms involved, these can be an inexpensive alternative for meeting space. Please note, most public facilities require use of your own caterer and vendors, which can be cost-effective if you have relationships with reliable companies in the area.
3.) Use an outdoor venue to minimize décor needs.
4.) Use local speakers to cut down on transportation costs. For out-of-town speakers, negotiate a flat rate for travel and/or book the travel for them to control spending.
5.) Have date flexibility. Deals can always be found in top-tier cities by simply being flexible on dates and patterns. By filling holes in a facility’s calendar, planners get more negotiating leverage. Always try to book the meeting during the weekday, as opposed to the weekends when rates are typically higher.
6.) Negotiate multi-year deals. When coordinating an annual meeting, planners can negotiate better deals on hotel rooms if they book multiple meetings at a hotel over a period of years. Signing long-term agreements with contractors and vendors is another way to save money over time.
7.) Have speakers sign in for equipment at the beginning of the meeting. Usually, when a meeting is planned far in advance, speakers request more equipment than is ultimately necessary. If, at registration, the speaker checks off the equipment or supplies he or she needs, the planner has time to cancel anything that was ordered but isn't required.
8.) Look at tear-down costs. Some audio visual companies will try to charge the same labor fees for teardown as they do for setup. Teardown typically takes about half the time as set-up, so teardown fees should be about half or no more than three-quarters of what setup charges are.
9.) Work with departing organizations. Find out what groups are meeting in the venue before you, and see if you can piggyback off of any of their set-ups or services. For example, if they are using the same AV provider or decorator, you might be able to work out a situation where they leave certain room sets, staging, and pipe-and-drape for your event and you foot the bill for tear-down.
10.) Bring your own. Utilize any equipment available for use from the office. From flip-charts, easels, markets, etc. – all the little items add up if they are re-purchased for every event.
11.) Do-it-Yourself. For printed materials, create your own reusable template designs that can be updated as necessary.
12.) Theme events using ethnic foods that are less costly. For example, hold a Mexican Fiesta with a make-your-own taco bar, or go Italian with pizzas and pastas. Make the food buffets “create-your-own” to add in a fun element for guests and take the focus off the budget foods, and more on the fun.
13.) Pass the hors d'oeuvres. Order tray-passed appetizers instead of offering them buffet-style. People tend to eat less when the food is passed .
14.) Order as much as possible “on consumption.” Don’t pay for what is not used. Uneaten food and drink can be returned and not charged. This works especially well with soda and packaged foods.
15.) Contact local colleges for entertainment in exchange for a donation toward their organization
Stephanie Hansen is managing partner at Starfish Creative Events, Southern California’s premier full-service event management agency. Through our thoughtfully designed events, unique marketing ideas and effective publicity & product promotion we dynamically build corporate and entertainment brands. For more information, please visit our website at www.starfish-events.com
1.) Use second-tier cities. Instead of New York or Los Angeles this year, try Charlotte or Austin. Moving your meeting to a smaller city usually results in more availability and better room rates, as well as more room to negotiate other amenities.
2.) Use universities or other public facilities such as libraries, parks, botanical gardens, and museums. If there are no sleeping rooms involved, these can be an inexpensive alternative for meeting space. Please note, most public facilities require use of your own caterer and vendors, which can be cost-effective if you have relationships with reliable companies in the area.
3.) Use an outdoor venue to minimize décor needs.
4.) Use local speakers to cut down on transportation costs. For out-of-town speakers, negotiate a flat rate for travel and/or book the travel for them to control spending.
5.) Have date flexibility. Deals can always be found in top-tier cities by simply being flexible on dates and patterns. By filling holes in a facility’s calendar, planners get more negotiating leverage. Always try to book the meeting during the weekday, as opposed to the weekends when rates are typically higher.
6.) Negotiate multi-year deals. When coordinating an annual meeting, planners can negotiate better deals on hotel rooms if they book multiple meetings at a hotel over a period of years. Signing long-term agreements with contractors and vendors is another way to save money over time.
7.) Have speakers sign in for equipment at the beginning of the meeting. Usually, when a meeting is planned far in advance, speakers request more equipment than is ultimately necessary. If, at registration, the speaker checks off the equipment or supplies he or she needs, the planner has time to cancel anything that was ordered but isn't required.
8.) Look at tear-down costs. Some audio visual companies will try to charge the same labor fees for teardown as they do for setup. Teardown typically takes about half the time as set-up, so teardown fees should be about half or no more than three-quarters of what setup charges are.
9.) Work with departing organizations. Find out what groups are meeting in the venue before you, and see if you can piggyback off of any of their set-ups or services. For example, if they are using the same AV provider or decorator, you might be able to work out a situation where they leave certain room sets, staging, and pipe-and-drape for your event and you foot the bill for tear-down.
10.) Bring your own. Utilize any equipment available for use from the office. From flip-charts, easels, markets, etc. – all the little items add up if they are re-purchased for every event.
11.) Do-it-Yourself. For printed materials, create your own reusable template designs that can be updated as necessary.
12.) Theme events using ethnic foods that are less costly. For example, hold a Mexican Fiesta with a make-your-own taco bar, or go Italian with pizzas and pastas. Make the food buffets “create-your-own” to add in a fun element for guests and take the focus off the budget foods, and more on the fun.
13.) Pass the hors d'oeuvres. Order tray-passed appetizers instead of offering them buffet-style. People tend to eat less when the food is passed .
14.) Order as much as possible “on consumption.” Don’t pay for what is not used. Uneaten food and drink can be returned and not charged. This works especially well with soda and packaged foods.
15.) Contact local colleges for entertainment in exchange for a donation toward their organization
Stephanie Hansen is managing partner at Starfish Creative Events, Southern California’s premier full-service event management agency. Through our thoughtfully designed events, unique marketing ideas and effective publicity & product promotion we dynamically build corporate and entertainment brands. For more information, please visit our website at www.starfish-events.com
Labels: budget ideas, Meetings, Venues
posted by Stephanie @ Starfish @ 1:34 PM
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