Nancy Engel
Training Coordinator
Western Regional Children’s Advocacy Center
Colorado Springs, Colo.
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?
Shorter. We are required to get rooms at federal per diem rates, which hotels don’t like to do. They offer a limited number of these rooms, so if another organization makes reservations before us, we are unable to get the rooms we need at that rate.
Is the duration of your meetings either shrinking or expanding?
Neither
Is the attendance at your meetings shrinking or expanding?
Neither. We offer training events, and organizations always need to train their employees. There is a great deal of turnover, so there are always new employees that need to be trained.
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?
Same. So far it’s mandated by government so it can change at any time.
Do you expect your budget to increase or decrease in 2012?
Stay the same or decrease, depending on the outcomes of government budgeting. Won’t increase, most likely.
Do you expect your attendance to increase or decrease in 2012?
Attendance will likely stay the same or increase slightly as we generally train at capacity.
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?
This is a very great concern. We have been mandated to not give any perceptions of opulence and therefore cannot train at resorts at all anymore. We are very budget-conscience and hope to train at hotels that include breakfast in the rooming rate.
Are there any destinations or facility types that are considered “off-limits” due to perception problems or the current economic climate?
Any resort or facility that does not offer federal per diem rates are off-limits. There are no destinations particularly off-limits, but we try to choose cities with lower federal per diems rather than higher. Hawaii is difficult to explain, but if we need to train people there, we can sometimes plan a training there.
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 discussed this at length and may try it for small trainings this coming year, but nothing has been decided yet. We will probably try virtual meetings at some point in the future, if not in the next year.
Are you exploring the possibility, or have you already held, a “hybrid” meeting (meetings that combine live events with an Internet/digital component?
We do have a few trainings that involve follow-up conference calls for a few months after the training, but that choice is not due to economic conditions--just the best, and most cost-effective way to do the follow-up.
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 not ever included entertainment or social events with our trainings, and the trainings are of the same duration as in the past.
Are you incorporating more, or less, activities into your agenda? If so, what types of activities are being added or cut?
Trainings are always evaluated with an eye toward improvement, but not changed significantly.
Have you offered, or do you think you will offer, a CSR (corporate social responsibility) component to your meetings?
Not necessarily at this time.
Are sustainable (green) meetings something your organization has moved toward? If not, do you expect to implement more-sustainable meetings in the future?
Not necessarily. This is not a primary focus of our meetings. We do try to plan meetings that involve the least amount of travel for the greatest number of attendees, when possible.
Are you finding that attrition clauses are being enforced more, or less, strictly recently?
We have not had to utilize attrition clauses, so do not know.
Do you feel the pendulum is swinging back to being a seller’s market?
Yes, hotels seem less willing to accept federal per diem rates for rooms.
Do you find that you had much more leverage on room rates during the last year?
We are either able to get rooms at federal per diem rates or we are not. If not, I keep looking. I do feel it is getting a little more difficult.
Are you using social networking websites for business purposes? If so, which ones and why?
We have a website and Facebook page, but the Facebook page doesn’t have very high traffic and we don’t keep up with it much. We don’t find it necessary as we have a listserve so we can get information out to those who need it easily.
Have you planned more meetings closer to your organization’s headquarters (“drive-to” meetings) recently?
Yes. We are getting more conscientious about travel costs and trying to locate trainings close to where the people will come from as opposed to trying to pick an inviting location. Our attendees have very busy work lives, so they seem to appreciate less travel as training causes them to fall behind in their office.
Are you more optimistic, or less, about the meetings industry and the economy than a year ago?
Less. Our budget will likely get cut by federal spending cuts and we will be expected to do the same amount of work with less funding, right as the economy is improving and it is getting more difficult to get good rates and negotiate with hotels.
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 costs will go up and it will get more and more difficult for me to get federal per diem rates and get a nice facility for a limited budget. We have already been mandated to stop providing breakfast and lunch for all meetings, so we have to provide more time in the daily agenda for attendees to go out for lunch on their own, extending the training day to account for the same number of hours of training. The addition of breakfast and lunch expenses has become a financial burden for some attendees, which may impact attendance, but hopefully not significantly. We can no longer provide any refreshments so I will need to start looking for hotels that will either throw in coffee urns with the meeting space or look for hotels that have a coffee shop in the lobby and soda machines conveniently located near the meeting space.
