Each meeting, and the circumstances under which it is created, is different. There is no one-size-fits-all site selection checklist.
The checklist I use for clients, excluding demographic and day-by-day meeting details, is easily 15 pages long. The responses to the questions asked in the RFPs (requests for proposal) are used to develop site inspection checklists and to determine what will be included in the contract.
Site selection (of a hotel, convention center, conference center or other venue) and the information gleaned form the basis for our recommendations and contract contents.
1. Safety and security of people and property: No matter how great the meeting content is or how stunning the venue, if people and property are not safe, nothing else will matter. Start with these questions and expand to include guest room and other safety concerns related to the specifics of your particular group.
- How many AEDs are on property and in what location?
- How many staff members per shift are trained in CPR?
- Are there landlines in guest and meeting rooms to notify security of emergencies? How quickly can they respond?
- What are evacuation procedures from each area of the hotel?
- When was the hotel last fully inspected for building safety? What were the results? What new efforts has the hotel put in place?
2. Owners, brand and management company: It is possible your organization or company cannot meet in a hotel with non-U.S. owners, or in one with owners who are competitors of your company. It is the one area I consistently see unchecked by planners. Even if there isn’t a dispute that results in legal action, the name of the owner, the management company and the brand (flag) are critical to learn. (Follow the news so you know who may merge with whom, as this can greatly affect hotel procedure.)
- Who owns the hotel and where are the owners incorporated?
- What is the management company name?
- Under what flag (brand) does the hotel fly?
- What is known about an anticipated change of ownership, management company or brand?
3. Competition for space and attention: Other groups or events in the hotel, or the city, can interfere with your group’s ability to operate smoothly, to secure additional space or the availability of off-site venues or services—think a city-wide event while your 100-person meeting seeks ground transportation—or to have the full attention of the CSM. It’s easier to adjust your planning needs if you calculate this information ahead of time before selecting the site.
- What groups are already contracted over the dates desired or proposed for your meeting in the venue and destination?
- What other events are going on in the city or the venue immediately before, during or immediately after your dates?
- When will a convention services manager (CSM) be assigned? How many other groups will that person manage at the same time?
4. Staff and staffing: Long ago, we could be sure that those who worked in a hotel (or other venue) were employees of that entity. No more. Many positions are outsourced and the reporting structure, though you will be told it’s seamless (and it may be), may not be appropriate for your group.
Understanding that the hotel hires people reflective of your group’s participants will help you meet potential diversity guidelines of the meeting sponsor.
- Are all staff employed by the owner, brand or management company, or are some services outsourced, and if so, which ones?
- For how long have line and management staff worked in this property?
- What percentage of the staff—and in what roles—are members of minority groups? Does the company provide fair wages?
- How are staff (“internal guests”) treated?
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5. Meeting space and meeting sets: We select sites based on what we know will work for our meetings. After providing our program and design needs, we expect the venue, in return, to explain to us how they will meet those needs and what, if any, charges there will be for doing so.
Moreover, we want a hotel that knows how to be as creative and smart in the use of space as we are!
- What meeting rooms will be confirmed in the contract for our use?
- If any, what are the charges for furniture use and/or regular and unconventional set ups of rooms and other spaces?
- If additional furniture is needed, is it secured by the hotel at no charge to the group?
- Do you use Dr. Paul Radde’s book Seating Matters to maximize room sets and content delivery?
6. Labor: Everyone has an opinion about union labor. Even if workers are not organized for collective bargaining, they will work under agreements. To plan based on possible contingencies, know history and deadlines up front.
- Which staff are organized for collective bargaining? When are their contract renewal deadlines?
- What is the history of labor (organized or other) contract negotiations? Are any contracts up for renewal or adjustment?
- In the destination, what workers have contract deadlines within six months on either side of your meeting dates?
7. Policies: The word “policy” is often mentioned in contracts without the policies themselves included. Planning and execution can be severely disrupted if a group violates, because they didn’t ask up front about, policies. Ask now or suffer the consequences!
- Ask the hotel to provide, during the selection process, a full list of all policies that impact meeting operations and charges.
- Request policies for use of outside vendors, BEO language, food donations, charges for meeting rooms and public space, use of electricity and contract language.
8. Food and beverage: See above and remember: BEOs (banquet event orders) are a separate contract, the language of which is not often in the body of the meeting contract.
- How far out will food and beverage prices be guaranteed?
- What additional charges—and at what percentage—are added to menu or negotiated prices: tax and service charge (“++”) or tax, service charge and administrative fees (“+++”)?
- If there is a food and beverage minimum, what can be included or what is excluded from what is considered in the minimum?
- How are banquet and kitchen staff trained in cross-contamination and other safety procedures?
9. Stoppage of meeting and dispute resolution: We hope nothing will interfere with a meeting going forward. It can, and disputes that we can’t resolve by conversations among the parties happen. Factor in the conditions during the selection process.
- Under what conditions and could the meeting not be held?
- What is the hotel’s force majeure and/or “impossibility” language?
- Does the hotel automatically include a dual cancellation clause, and what is the language used? If it does not, under what conditions might the hotel cancel the meeting and what will they do for the group?
- What is the hotel’s preferred method of dispute resolution?
10. Renovation: You want a hotel that looks and is as nice for your meeting as it was during the selection process. New owners, new brand or new management company; fire or flood; simple wear-and-tear: anything can happen between selection and execution.
- What is the hotel’s history of renovation of hard and soft goods?
- Are there any anticipated or planned renovations? What is the extent and timing of those renovations?
- In what way will the group be notified of any renovations and what examples can be provided of conditions of those renovations?
11. Lagniappe: A little something more, as they say in New Orleans.
- What have I not asked you that you think I should know so I have all the information I need to make or help guide the making of a fully informed site selection decision?
JOAN'S UPCOMING WEBINAR
Site Selection: Finding the Right Fit
April 27, 2016 | 1:00 PM ET
