Conference Centers Contribute to ROI Goals
Want to grab a planner's attention? Just mention ROI, a.k.a. "return on investment." In the meetings world, this much-bandied about phrase can send planners' heads spinning as they scramble to justify, in both dollars and sense, their site selection process to company managers, CEOs, association boards, and anyone else who might sign off on their budgets.
And with good reason. Meetings happen, and not necessarily in an inexpensive way. Beyond booking sleeping quarters and seminar rooms, planners need to lay out a budget for food and beverage, entertainment, and technology--from faxes and Internet access to lighting, phone lines, and cutting-edge audiovisual equipment--plus special amenities for those VIP attendees. The folks footing the bill for those items, and the overall meeting package, understandably want to know that their efforts are at least cost-efficient, if not returning a profit down the road.
With that in mind, the meeting facility can prove a critical factor in any group's return on investment. The most likely options: a hotel or conference center. And while both offer their own sets of built-in benefits, in the end what tends to most sway a planner's choice is getting the most bang for the buck via the least amount of aggravation.
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One meeting, one site. High on many planners' priority lists is the option to wrap all their needs--guestrooms, meeting space, meals, recreation, relaxation, and billing--into a single-facility package, for which conference centers are ideal. "They have one-stop shopping and they're geared for that type of thing," says Nancy Kemp, administrative assistant to the vice president of strategic development for Providence Health System in Seattle. Kemp uses local hotels for her smaller meetings, but cites Dolce Skamania Lodge in Stevenson, Washington, as a prime example of why a conference center works better when a meeting gets larger. "With Skamania, the pricing is more inclusive," she says. "They have this program for food, for example, where they charge a flat fee per person, and for that they'll provide me all the food--breaks, meals, etc.--plus they have a certain amount of A/V equipment thrown in. If you want to upgrade you then pay the difference." David Cimermancic, director, customer relations & training for Snap-On Tools in Illinois, is also a fan of conference centers for their all-in-one potential. "They're pretty much one-stop shopping," says Cimermancic, who books the American Airlines Training and Conference Center in Dallas for Snap-On training sessions much of the year. "There's no worry about trying to coordinate everything--sleeping rooms, meeting rooms, menu planning, A/V, lighting, etc.," he says. "All those things are challenges but there, everyone is on the same page." Certainly, hotels can draw up similar proposals where extras are provided in the overall cost. But conference centers, by their very design, come as all-inclusive entities. "One of the big disadvantages in a hotel is that the restaurants are not always affiliated with the property itself," says Cimermancic. For example, he cites a recent meeting where the hotel and restaurant, while physically connected, were two very distinct organizations. "For the leisure traveler that's not
a problem, but when you have 50 or 100 people that you're
trying coordinate breakfast, lunch, and multiple breaks
for, it becomes a challenge. For example, if I'm going to
move my meeting up an hour, can we have the meal moved back
an hour? I don't want to have to go to multiple people and
try to get an answer. And if something doesn't go smoothly
then I don't want to get a lot of finger-pointing. That's
just another thing that puts me at risk of getting aggravated." "Everything is right there," she says. "You don't have to hire an outside A/V, which we may do anyway for more complicated meetings, and you don't have to menu plan." And for the bottom line, a conference center's all-included pricing can prove more cost-efficient than other facilities. "I don't sign the check, but it's my recommendation that gets it signed, especially on the larger programs," says Snap-On's Cimermancic. "I have to be able to have all those things and do them on a budget. A conference center may not be the lowest deal up front, but it typically is on the back end. Hotels can have extra charges, like for additional tech equipment. With a conference center the things that happen during the week are already planned for." |
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Comfort, service, and a sense of flexibility.
While conference centers might be expected to offer an edge in terms of cost inclusiveness, many planners are surprised when they discover how much they get for their money. There's the need for space that's practical and comfortable, in a peaceful environment, free from distractions, and with amenities and post-meeting activities that help attendees feel relaxed and special no matter what job title they carry.
"Our requirements include a room that can house our people so that they don't feel squeezed in," says Providence's Nancy Kemp. "At a conference you have to be comfortable for quite a while. You can get ants in your pants no matter what age you are. You need good chairs, and you need to get up and stretch for a bit. You don't want to just be cramming everyone into the next available room."
David Cimermancic expresses a similar sentiment. "In a large sense they create an atmosphere that's conducive to learning," he says. "People are comfortable there, and they provide us the equipment and facilities and maintain them. There's less risk of aggravation. I'd rather not have to think about lighting, A/V, and menu planning, and those are things that I'm comfortable with at a conference center."
The serene setting--in the woods, on a lake or nestled in the mountains--remains a major draw as well. "Sometimes we have situations where people need to get out and be reflective, and Skamania gives people a chance to enjoy that," says Kemp. It's also nice when a group feels special and off on their own. "We might see people coming in and out, but it's not a distraction. We pretty much own the spot."
For Paula Hall, offering attendees the right mix of a productive workspace and a place to relax is critical. "Hamilton Park is a nice balance," she says. "It's a conference center, but has a warm atmosphere." And that's a huge deal for Hall's group as they spend several days together getting to know each other and their new company.
"There are ways that people can network together outside
the meeting room and that's significant. Hamilton has the pool
and fitness center, racquetball and tennis, and a lounge bar.
And it's not isolated--you can easily travel to the Short Hills
Mall and the town of Madison."
Another plus about conference centers is the ability to quickly
adapt to last-minute changes and challenges that might arise for
a client. "There's tremendous flexibility at Hamilton Park,"
says Hall. "On the day I do a trade show, they can set it
up for me. There are times when we go off site and they'll give
me meal credits for that day. They work with me however the program
changes."
Of course, even the best conference facility would be wasted without a caring, professional staff. It's good to know that should a microphone die or the lunch comes up a few meals short, there's someone on site to help. "I don't want to see the A/V man; I just want the sound to work without feedback and my Power Points to appear on the screen when I hit a button," says David Cimermancic. "These things are good when you don't notice them."
Nancy Kemp recalls one hotel meeting where the sales and catering managers were no where in sight. "I had some questions but no one was around to answer them," she says. "The buffet managers were there, but the people in charge, they were elsewhere. It was almost like, 'We got this business booked, and now we're off working on something else.' It's just kind of nice to have people check in, and that's the kind of thing that people at a conference center do a better job on even though it may be a one-time thing. It's a new relationship, and that's important."
This case study was conducted and authored by VNU Business Media exclusively
for Dolce International Holdings, Inc. All rights reserved.
