In this rollicking seller’s market, is there anyone to whom a meetings buyer can turn to for value and support? While the sentiment is not universal, many planners are finding their best allies are CVBs.
From first- to third-tier cities, bureaus are responding with newly focused staffing and technology resources to serve planners better than ever. Whether the need is for bread-and-butter basics or over-the-top assistance, bureaus urge planners to tap their resources for an array of substantive and often complimentary services.
Attendance-Boosters
Among organizations that give high praise to bureau assistance is the National Business Travel Association (NBTA), whose convention in Boston last August broke attendance records with 6,200 attendees and 435 exhibitors. According to Hank Roeder, NBTA’s senior director of operations, the services provided by the Greater Boston CVB and the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center (BCEC) were instrumental to the convention’s success.
“The logistics support from Beth Stehley and the rest of the Boston bureau staff was invaluable,” Roeder says. “The convention was really great, and we are certainly considering returning.”
For her part, Stehley, who is the Greater Boston CVB’s vice president for convention services and sales, says the NBTA convention was a wonderful opportunity for the bureau to show a very important audience what it can do.
“There’s nobody who knows the city better than we do,” Stehley says. “We know, for instance, which restaurants have hosted successful corporate receptions. We have the knowledge, and we offer it for free.”
Similarly, Paige Carwell, a principal with National Trade Productions, organizer of a major tile industry trade show, says the Chicago Convention and Tourism Bureau (CCTB) was instrumental in helping that show achieve record-breaking attendance and overall success last April.
“Chicago definitely seems to be among the most proactive in promoting client interests,” Cardwell says. “They take a win-win attitude with the client. They know if the client has a successful event in their city, they are likely to return. So they are committed to your success. Some bureaus promise you the moon, but don’t deliver on that level. Chicago does.”
One secret of the Chicago bureau’s effectiveness with meetings is its newly tailored and customized approach to client servicing, says Mark Theis, the CCTB’s executive vice president.
“We have deployed our sales teams to be more defined, so we are now a deeper marketing arm of the city than any other city I know,” he says. “Instead of doing a broad brush on the destination, we are doing marketing intelligence to find out what people want when they come here. We’ve hired an outside agency to survey and assess what attendees like so we can put together a marketing plan that links our assets with their preferences, and we build a whole campaign around it.”
Planners who don’t consult with the bureau are shortchanging themselves, Theis adds, because doing so can help build attendance and a memorable experience, which benefits both the visitor and the destination.
Chicago is one of only a handful of cities that are equipped to handle the largest meetings and events. Another is Las Vegas, which is also renowned for its ability to draw high attendance.
With a hotel occupancy that is about 30 percent higher than the national average, the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority (LVCVA) knows there are some planners who become frustrated in trying to find space for their programs, whatever the size.
Michael Goldsmith, director of convention sales for the LVCVA, says planners who partner with the bureau stand a better chance of getting the space they want among the city’s 137,000 guest units.
“We tell planners to call us first, because unlike many bureaus, we are not a membership-based organization,” he says. “We are funded by taxes. So it’s our job to help book the entire city and fill rooms. We have a wealth of knowledge about the entire hotel community, and we are the central hub on the wheel that is Vegas–the ‘Google’ of the city, if you will. That’s because if we don’t know the answers, we know where and how to find them.”
Thinking Small
With many bureaus noting an uptick in small meetings business, an increasing number of CVBs are introducing new services, staffing and tech tools geared for small groups.
Chicago is one bureau with new technology assistance for groups with less than 150 rooms on peak nights. The CCTB’s new ez-Meetings online tool enables users to tailor their RFP inquiries to their requirements and manage hotel transactions.
The new tool also provides a reporting mechanism that can be used by both hotels and clients. This expands Chicago’s tech kit available to planners. Other tools in the box include resources for building custom websites for an event, images and stock ads about Chicago, podcasts, and videos.
“We’ve already seen a 40 percent booking ratio from those using this tool in the past several months it’s been available,” Theis says of ez-Meetings. “That has allowed us to use our human capital to focus on the more complicated medium to larger meetings.”
He adds that the CTTB’s objective is to be much more than a Web portal, but a real assistant to those planning meetings of all sizes.
In Denver and Orlando, the CVBs are pumping up their site inspection services for small and large meetings alilke.
Vikki Kelly, director of convention services for the Denver Metro CVB, says her bureau now has a staff member who is dedicated to arranging site visits for meetings buyers.
“We probably do 300 site visits a year,” she says, “and a large percentage of these are concerned with small meetings, because that sector is on the increase. We see ourselves as liaison and advocate for our customers, and this means we follow up on all requests to make sure they receive responses.”
Tammy Runzler, the Orlando CVB’s vice president for convention sales and services, says the bureau’s site inspection manager focuses on a quality experience for buyers who arrive in the city to fine-tune their group’s arrangements.
“We realized we needed someone to create a positive experience for visiting planners and maximize their time, and we treat small and large buyers the same,” Runzler says.
The San Diego CVB, which has also increased its meetings services staff, offers a new lead system—iLead—which provides an improved site search process.
According to Steve Schell, vice president sales and services for the CVB, the lead system is concise and simple, whether users are looking for 10 or 1,000 rooms.
“This is a Web-based tool that produces a Web page for each meeting,” he says. “Say someone is looking for 15 rooms. They search 20 hotels in the city based on size, rate and where in San Diego they want to be, and we send hotels the RFPs through the dedicated Web page.
“Hotels respond through the Web page, which shows all or selected contact information for the inquiry. The bureau sees responses at the same time the planner sees them, so if the hotel hasn’t responded, we can follow up and make sure the planner gets an answer within 48 hours.”
San Diego also has dedicated sales people who field requests for 50 rooms or less. Another nod to buyers is the bureau’s training initiative. It has hired consultants to train hoteliers about working with potential buyers during site inspections, particularly in the service area.
“This training was attended by about 100 of our properties, and it has made a huge difference in our bookings success,” Schell says.
Cold Shoulder?
Despite bureau efforts to improve services, some planners say they get ignored or don’t receive satisfying responses in the prevailing market. Elizabeth Warner, senior event planner for Freddie Mac in McLean, Va., says she has become discouraged with bureaus, so she relies on her own contacts among national hotel sales people and others to fulfill requests.
“When I’ve turned to bureaus in the past, they’ve treated me as if they were comparing me to a large association with a huge number of peak nights,” Warner says. “Many of my events are smaller and exclusive, and I’d like to connect with people who want the business. But when I’ve sent RFPs to bureaus, they’ve sent it to every member instead of qualifying it for those who would be a good fit for us.”
Charles Chan Massey, president of Synaxis Meetings & Events in West Hollywood, Calif., says bureaus differ greatly in the care and feeding they give planners. He says he has received “over the top” help from some, while others have ignored inquiries.
“I have known what it’s like to feel that my RFP has slipped into some black hole,” Massey says, “so I just went to my industry contacts connected with the bureau. If I go up the chain of command and don’t get a response, I think they don’t deserve my business.”
