Nancy Engel
Training coordinator
Western Regional Children’s Advocacy Center
Colorado Springs, Colo.
Is the duration of your meetings either shrinking or expanding? Why?
Remaining about the same. Meetings are planned within a federal grant. Money has remained the same and projects are the same.
Is the attendance at your meetings shrinking or expanding? Why?
Remaining about the same. We offer scholarships to those who attend our trainings, so funds are available to help them attend, even though their in-house funds are generally shrinking.
Did you have a smaller budget to work with last year? If so, how much do you estimate it was decreased?
No-about the same; federal funds.
Do you expect your budget to increase in 2011?
No-it will be about the same. Maybe shrink a little as other non-training areas will expand a little.
Do you expect your attendance to increase in 2011?
Attendance should remain the same, unless people feel they are so swamped with work that they cannot get away. Then it might shrink.
Are perception problems (meeting and luxurious properties, resort destinations, etc.?) a great concern for your organization? Have they become less of a concern in the past few months, and do you expect them to be a problem in 2011?
Yes. People want to go to a nice destination when they are away on business. I try to find nice resort-type destinations. I have just been told to try to lower costs on hotels, however. So I hope to continue to plan for cities that appeal to people, but use less resort-type hotels and more mainstream hotel venues in those nice cities.
Are there any destinations or facility types that are now considered “off-limits” due to perception problems or the current economic climate?
No, although we sometimes decide between two or more destinations based on the lower per diem in one of the cities.
Have you planned, or do you expect to plan, virtual/videoconference meetings? Do you expect to see more virtual meetings in the future?
We hope to use this more often, but sometimes face-to-face meetings are important. Yes, I expect to see more virtual meetings in the future.
Are you finding that you are scheduling more meeting sessions per day, and if so, is it at the expense of entertainment or events that are more social in nature?
We do not do social or entertainment events.
Are you scheduling more educational components for your meetings? If so, why?
Our trainings have always been educational. This has not changed.
Are you incorporating more, or less, activities into your agenda? If so, what types of activities are being added or cut?
No change.
Are you finding that attrition clauses are being enforced less strictly? Can you share any comments/observations about this?
I have found that if I express a desire to utilize a hotel again in the future, I have some leeway with things, including attrition clauses.
Do you find that you had much more leverage on room rates during the last year? If so, please give an idea how much discounting you are seeing.
No, we are required to get the federal per diem rate, so whatever it is is generally what we get. I do not get offered lower than that very often.
Are you using social networking websites for business purposes? If so which ones and why?
Yes, we have a Facebook page, and use our website a lot. Can’t find a use for Twitter.
Have you planned more meetings closer to your organization’s headquarters (“drive-to” meetings) recently? If so, why?
No, most of our attendees come from throughout the west, so we try to accommodate them and where they are likely to come from, but this has not changed from recent years.
Are you more optimistic, or less, about the meetings industry and the economy than a year ago? Why?
Probably less. I was new to this job a year ago but now I have been in it a year and anticipate it being more difficult to stay within my budgets to get facilities at federal per diems. Hotels are not wanting to give space at federal per diem rates, and when they do, they don’t have menu options at federal rates so the food becomes difficult to provide, or the meeting space gets prohibitively expensive.