Recent research confirms value is the number one thing on the mind of most business travelers and planners. The use of telecommunications is on the rise, but face-to-face, in-person meetings are not going the way of the 8-track player any time soon. So don’t see this as a damning indictment of the meetings and events industry, because with a little foresight and planning there is increasing potential for great returns.

The significant takeaway here is you must distinguish between planners seeking value vs. being cheap. Travelers still want luxury, convenience, and generally pleasant experiences; they just demand to see a decent ROI so people from the finance department don’t jump out of their chairs wielding slide rules like sabers. Continue reading →

Do you ever feel left out? Getting down on yourself because it seems like people don’t need you anymore? Some nefarious practices seem to be swirling about the destination and events industry as people are trying to bypass DMCs to save a few pennies. It’s beginning to feel like someone asked you for Cheryl’s number to invite her to the party, but your Evite to the party got lost on the way to your inbox.

More and more planners are trying to go direct these days, but some are still trying to dupe DMCs into giving up the names and contact information of their trusted suppliers and vendors. There is one elementary and fundamental way to stop this from happening: stop giving out the names of your vendors. If it means you have to work harder creating explanations of venues and services to sell clients on an experience, so be it. Don’t feel bad about it either; when someone asks for your recommendations and goes around you, it amounts to a theft of services. Continue reading →

Remember your first job? It may just have been a miserable summer gig cutting grass or painting fences, but you probably did your best to show people you were more than just a slacker teenager, and at the very least you would be helping them do something they didn’t have the expertise — or, let’s be completely honest, the time and motivation — to do themselves. If you just sat there waiting for people to come to you, you’d never have made the money to buy that rust bucket you called a car. Hanging a flyer on a telephone pole reminding people why they wanted YOU to cut their grass wasn’t high tech or overly flattering, but it worked.

Now that you’re a big shot at a big time (or small time) DMC you may think those days are behind you, but it’s all the same game. You have a skill that can help people, but you can’t expect them to know that. Many of the people who could use your services aren’t full-time event planners, meaning they either haven’t heard of DMCs, or aren’t quite sure what DMCs do. Continue reading →