Sebrina Brown
Manager of Meeting Experiences
Cleinman Performance Partners
Oneonta, N.Y.
Do you find that your booking window is increasing or shrinking recently? Are you finding it harder to book rooms/meeting space in a short timeframe at hotels and other meeting facilities?
I find it is shrinking. It is becoming increasingly harder to book rooms/meeting space in the short timeframes at hotels.
Is the duration of your meetings either shrinking or expanding?
They are staying static--we are successful at what we do, and have our program agendas set and they work for us.
Is the attendance at your meetings shrinking or expanding?
Expanding. We are offering more educational programs that are relevant to our audiences.
Did you have a smaller or larger budget to work with last year? If so, how much do you estimate it was decreased or increased?
This has remained the same for my one day meetings, so with the increase in hotel fees and F&B, technically it will shrink. I find that AV is a bit higher also, less of a discount from, 20% to 10%.
Do you expect your budget to increase or decrease in 2012?
Remain the same or just decrease slightly
Do you expect your attendance to increase or decrease in 2012?
Increase
Are perception problems (meeting at luxurious properties, resort destinations, etc.) a great concern for your organization? Have they become less of a concern than they were in 2010, and do you expect them to present any perception problems in 2012?
More than likely a less of a concern. Our meetings that we hold over a weekend we do not book at high end properties as the members pay for their rooms. We need to be cognizant of the perception that we are spending too much on the meetings, as part of their fees go to the meetings. I look for properties that are stunning but are still a bargain for us.
Are there any destinations or facility types that are considered “off-limits” due to perception problems or the current economic climate?
Island destinations, out-of-country are off limits as the perception of high-cost meetings would come into play. Our members pay their own transportation, also, so I look at the total cost for the members when I look at a location.
Have you planned, or do you expect to plan, virtual/videoconference meetings? Do you expect to see more virtual meetings in the future?
We have not for 2012 yet, but there is discussion that we may add the component for a certain membership level.
Are you exploring the possibility, or have you already held, a “hybrid” meeting (meetings that combine live events with an Internet/digital component?
We have not done this, but again are in discussion about this.
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 have lengthened our weekend meeting schedule by a bit and it has taken away from the social aspect.
Are you incorporating more, or less, activities into your agenda? If so, what types of activities are being added or cut?
We are adding more activities to our weekend events to have the group get to know each other better and bond. It creates community and members develop a bond with each other and tend to stay as a member longer when this happens.
Have you offered, or do you think you will offer, a CSR (corporate social responsibility) component to your meetings?
Not yet but it is in the planning stages.
Are sustainable (green) meetings something your organization has moved toward? If not, do you expect to implement more-sustainable meetings in the future?
We are doing baby steps towards this.
Are you finding that attrition clauses are being enforced more, or less, strictly recently?
They are being more strictly enforced. This past session I had the opposite problem of needing about 30% more rooms than I contracted, and the hotel required me to sign an addendum, and it included its own attrition clause.
Do you feel the pendulum is swinging back to being a “seller’s” market?
Definitely, for our one-day meetings I am getting more turn-downs than I’ve had in the past. We are space intensive and book very few sleeping rooms for these meetings but need a lot of meeting space, so I find the hotels are reluctant to give up the space nine months out to us in favor of hoping to book a group with more sleeping rooms.
Do you find that you had much more leverage on room rates during the last year?
I just booked three-year deals with our hotels we use for our three-day programs. I was able to get them to hold the rates static for three years and only a 3% increase on F&B. I was able to do this by offering three years of contracts. It’s weekend business so it worked well for these properties. By offering to go year to year we were looking at almost a 10% increase.
Are you using social networking websites for business purposes? If so, which ones and why?
We have our own social networking website but we also use Facebook.
Have you planned more meetings closer to your organization’s headquarters (“drive-to” meetings) recently?
No, our members are all over the U.S. and Canada so this would not be necessary for us.
Are you more optimistic, or less, about the meetings industry and the economy than a year ago?
More optimistic, I see that hotels are filling up more than in the last two years so I feel meetings are going to grow.
How do you think 2012 will shape up for the meetings industry? Where do you see costs (hotel, restaurant, venue prices, etc.) going? Do you think your budget and/or attendance will increase or decrease?
I think it will become more busy. I also feel that costs will increase and we’ll see more of those pesky add on charges we’ve not seen in a while. My budget will probably stay the same, which means I will need to be more creative to purchase what I need for more attendees. My attendance will increase as it has been in the past three years.
