Stephan J Gerhardt, Senior Director, Global Accounts, HelmsBriscoe, Falls Church, Va.
Do you find that your booking window (the time between starting the process of researching and booking a meeting and the actual event) is increasing or shrinking? Are you finding it harder to book rooms/meeting space in a short timeframe at hotels and other meeting facilities?
Window is increasing slightly, but placing meetings is getting harder, so signature date to meeting start is shrinking, negotiations are taking longer, and clauses that worked before are being questioned more today.
Is the duration of your meetings either shrinking or expanding? Why?
Staying constant, most are 3-4 days and we are finding this is short enough to allow attendees to join without being too long to turn them off
Is the attendance at your meetings shrinking or expanding? Why?
Most are constant, but one program in particular has had good growth due to the organization finally putting marketing money toward promotion of the program.
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?
Costs are increasing, but client budgets are not, causing some issues. In the end a 4 percent to 5 percent increase is the reality.
Do you expect your budget to increase or decrease in 2017?
Continued with slight increases.
Do you expect your attendance to increase or decrease in 2017?
Moderate growth for most programs, others remaining steady. It varies by client and program purpose.
Are perception problems (meeting at luxurious properties, resort destinations, etc.) a great concern for your organization? Do you expect any perception problems in 2017?
This is actually turning around and more luxurious properties should do better in the future, i.e., Trump hotels are now “in.”
Are you exploring the possibility, or have you already held, a “hybrid” meeting (meetings that combine live events with an Internet/digital component)? If so, what are your observations?
A number of clients have done this to varied results. Depends on the audience, costs and program. Most are still missing a key component, networking with their peers and vendors.
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?
Content is king, but groups are trying to slim the number of tracks where possible to make their programs more desirable.
Are you incorporating more, or less, activities into your agenda? If so, what types of activities are being added or cut?
Most of my clients did not have a lot of non-meeting activities, either meals or sessions. Other programs that had an activity incorporated are amping them up. More elaborate activities, or making it a more significant part of the program content
Have you offered, or do you think you will offer, a CSR (corporate social responsibility) component to your meetings?
Varies by client, but yes, some have, and they have significant projects such as building a reef in Mobile Bay, Ala.
What are your thoughts on the use of drones at meetings? Have you considered this?
I have--not sure if clients have. More useful for tradeshow then sessions or outdoor activities such as the Reef building above. Restrictions on the use of drones is a concern, but they are a great tool to build up excitement of the building of the show floor, etc.
Are sustainable (green) meetings something your organization has moved toward? If not, do you expect to implement more-sustainable meetings in the future?
For some clients, absolutely. We are finding more hotels that check off a significant portion of their “Green” list than ever before; one hotel even hitting EVERY item on one client’s list--a first!
Are you finding that attrition clauses are being enforced more or less strictly recently? Can you share any comments/observations about this?
More strictly, in wording. Hyatt is moving to daily attrition, which is hurting negotiations and has led to a couple of clients about to walk before the hotel agreed to make it cumulative. Furthermore, hotels are pushing to make attrition based on REVENUE instead of lost profit, making attrition punitive.
How important is Internet bandwidth to your programs (i.e., Wi-Fi), and do you think hotels are being more or less flexible with their Internet bandwidth pricing? Any tips to share with your fellow planners to get free or discounted Wi-Fi for your meetings?
The biggest issue is in-house AV, having gotten reasonable or comp Wi-Fi with agreeing to use their in-house. Otherwise, I continue to see bids as high as $31,000 for a 400-person three-day program. AV providers, especially since consolidation, are really pushing this revenue stream. Causing clients to look elsewhere, including external hubs, looking at hotels that include Wi-Fi in meeting space (lower-end or independent hotels offer this, making them more attractive!).
We have gone into searches with comp Wi-Fi in meeting space as part of the bid. A number of hotels have offered this, especially if we agree to in-house, if we don’t we have gotten it comp or “reasonable” as a condition of the program. Being up front with Wi-Fi has been the best course thus far
Do you feel this is a buyer’s or seller’s market? Any observations on this to share?
Becoming a seller’s market, but salespeople still need to make goals, so sometimes you can end up with a fair deal for all.
Do you find that you had less leverage on room rates during the last year? What are hotels and facilities telling you when you negotiate?
Rates are increasing, but at a reasonable percentage. Hotels are getting harder to negotiate on other areas such as F&B and AV. Surprisingly, those costs are becoming similar regardless the location of the hotel, i.e., AV in Savannah vs, San Diego is the same cost! Mostly due to the fact one AV company has the lion share of the AV business in the hospitality industry, making outside AV more desirable.
Are you using social networking websites for business purposes? If so, which ones and why?
LinkedIn for contacts, but that is about it myself. I know clients use a lot more.
Are you more optimistic, or less, about the meetings industry and the economy than a year ago? Why?
Client programs have been solid lately. Therefore, about the same optimistically. The incoming President is a hotel guy, so hopefully he will understand how things affect our industry before he makes changes that could affect us.
How do you think 2017 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? Why?
Budgets and attendance should maintain a slight increase. Well, costs: Some clients are trying to keep budgets flat or reducing but those are not based in reality, as they do not want to reduce hotel quality, nor content, nor other cost items, but they don’t want to pay for it.
What other trends are you seeing in the meetings world, such as changing attendee demographics (i.e., Millennials), or any other trends that are impacting your programs?
Non-scientific observation: attendees are getting older; clients are struggling to attract more millennials to conventional meetings; how to get them involved in causes, industry groups, etc., has been a struggle when it goes offline. Even if it is a causes they support, such as education and the environment.
