Attorney Jonathan Howe and ConferenceDirect Senior Vice President David Scypinski suggest ways to achieve flexible future program contracts:
- Ask for a 65 percent to 70 percent attrition threshold; accept no less than 80 percent, and it should be cumulative for the entire event, not “night by night” or “use it or lose it.”
- Add a room block review clause with specific review dates to your contracts (allows flexibility in case of year-over-year drops in attendance).
- Make sure the hotel mitigates (resells) any unused room commitment.
- Insist the hotel crosschecks for rooms booked outside the “official” block.
- Add a “best rate” clause to your contract (a rate that might be extended online or elsewhere to transient guests).
- Consider renegotiating group room rate based on the hotel’s competitive set pricing.
- Have the hotel constantly update the customer on pick-up pace.
- Add a change in management, ownership and brand affiliation clause.
- Insure the contract is predicated on the condition of the hotel being the same or better than time of booking. Use Mobil or AAA ratings if needed.
- To achieve best terms, approach sellers with more than one piece of business, such as three years of annual conference programs.
