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Bob Andelman Articles
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8 Tips for a Kinder, Gentler
And More Profitable Downtown Meeting
Profile By Bob Andelman
(Originally published in the Association Meetings,
1994)
America's downtowns are
a diverse lot. Some never sleep; some tuck in the sidewalks after
5 p.m. But whether it's the hustle and bustle of Chicago or the
southern gentility of Tampa, there's something about downtown
that keeps drawing associations back.
Okay, maybe it's just that most convention centers are built
downtown, or that if you're putting on a big meeting, the only
place with enough rooms to satisfy your attendees is downtown.
But still you plan, still you go.
No meeting location is goof-proof, but we've put together a 8-point
plan for getting more out of your next downtown association meeting.
Give your attendees
a chance to see the city
Planners pick downtown
properties when they're looking for the ambiance of an entire
city. That could be Toronto; it could be Norfolk. What's important
is that sense of place that a one-day, fly-in, fly-out airport
meeting doesn't offer.
"It's an overall feeling of having more to do in a downtown
facility than being 'stuck' someplace like an airport,"
explains Patricia Dwyer, director of meetings and trade show
for the International Dairy Foods Association in Washington,
D.C.
Dwyer, who plans for four affiliated associations, often uses
downtown Chicago for big meetings. But she also made San Antonio,
TX, work for her "because it's so convenient to all the
attractions."
She's the exception; over and over again, hotel sales managers
complained to Association Meetings about planners who
take a big meeting to their downtown location but don't allow
attendees enough time to catch a breath of carbon monoxide fumes
outside, let alone explore their surroundings.
"For a downtown, midtown Manhattan experience, I don't think
meeting planners give attendees enough time," says Dave
Keys, director of sales and marketing for the New York Hilton.
"The serious conferences pack so much in, 8 a.m.-6 p.m.,
that, other than a cocktail reception, they don't give people
enough time. They put so much emphasis on education, but they
need to build in time for people to enjoy the destination and
bond."
He's got a point; why go to the Big Apple if you're not going
to the top of the Empire State Building or take the ferry to
the Statute of Liberty?
That's been a problem for Melanie Myers, director of meetings
and conventions for the American Traffic Safety Services Association,
which is headquartered in Fredericksburg, VA. "Our program
is just so filled, we don't have a lot of free time," she
says. "I always receive a lot of information about local
culture and art, but we don't have a lot of time to do that."
Myers did arrange the schedule for her latest meeting in San
Antonio so attendees could enjoy an off-property bus tour. "It's
a fun place," she says.
Every annual meeting of the National Bar Association is held
at downtown locations, from Seattle to Baltimore and St. Louis
and Indianapolis in between. "My members are not
airport hotel people," says Stephanie Dudley, director of
conferences for the National Bar Association in Washington, DC.
"Our annual meeting is a week-long event. They like to step
out, go shopping, be in the thick of things."
Sometimes, members have a way of telling you they want more time-outs
without actually telling you.
"Sometimes our meal ticket sales will be down," Dudley
says. "When you have your planned functions in the hotel,
they don't want to eat all their meals there when they can walk
some place better and less expensive. Why would you stay in the
Hilton or Sheraton when you could go to a deli and get a real
flavor of the city? Some people will even buy the ticket and
still not come. They're going to go out."
What may surprise many planners is that your host hotel wants
your attendees out on the town.
"We need the meeting or convention to be successful,"
says John Fenton, director of communications for the Philadelphia
Marriott. "If the group is in town for five days, we could
convince the group to cater every meal on the premises. But the
reality is, Philadelphia has so much to offer, if the attendee
doesn't get out, they're not going to want to come back. If that's
the case, why not go to Louisville next year? There has to be
a balance. If they don't get the opportunity to get out, they
might as well be at the airport."
Ty Helms, director of sales and marketing for the 2,019-room
Hyatt Regency Chicago, has taken the approach that if you can't
keep 'em at the hotel, join 'em on the road. "With the dining
and nightlife options in Chicago, we can't expect to keep everybody
on the property," he says. "So we developed a subsidiary
company called Regency Caterers, which can do catering at a variety
of sites, from the museums to the airports to private homes."
His motto: "The city is our ballroom." If associations
go off-premises, the hotel can still be the benefactor.
Fenton and Helms take this attitude because they're selling their
cities as destinations, not the hotels by themselves. "It's
us against another major city," Helms explains.
Don't underestimate
the eagerness of the local CVB to give your people an unforgettable
night on the town.
"San Francisco is such a strong destination," says
Tom Pucci, director of sales and marketing for the Sir Francis
Drake Hotel in the Union Square district. "I think the bureaus
give them sufficient information; I just don't know that they
look at it. But meeting planners miss what's happening
locally that's indigenous to us.
They don't know there's
a street festival going on this week. That's something that sets
us apart; it's something you'll never do again and it's very
San Francisco."
Don't roll up at 5
p.m. just because the sidewalks do!
If you're going into
a downtown that turns into a ghost town after business hours,
don't expect your attendees will turn in early to suit local
sensibilities. There are many alternatives a city has to offer
that just may not be obvious to out-of-town guests.
"San Jose was like that," Myers says. "It's a
nice town, but there's not a lot to do. Our people drove up to
San Francisco for fun."
Pick the right downtown for your group. Denver is an artsy city.
Minneapolis is cosmopolitan. St. Louis rolls up the sidewalks
after 5 p.m.
"I put a Growing Churches Conference in downtown Denver
once," says Lynne Neuman, manager of travel and meeting
planning for the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod in St. Louis.
"Not that it was a bad experience, but Denver is an avant-garde
area and we're the Lutheran Church not that way." Attendee
events for the church must also be free of controversy. For instance,
while her members might arrange Anheuser-Busch brewery tours
on their own while in St. Louis, Neuman wouldn't dare take them
there as a group.
Sunday nights, when even the mightiest cities slow down, can
be a challenge in San Jose or San Francisco.
"Sunday is a night we don't do a lot of programming,"
says Paul Graller, director of conference services for the Chicago-based
American Library Association. "And most cities close down.
But most convention bureaus if you ask them will tell
merchants, 'We're going to have 10,000 people on the streets,
you better stay open.' "
If it's a smaller meeting, or a smaller downtown, the CVB might
provide you and your attendees with a list of what will and won't
be open. Whether you plan after-hours activities as a group or
individually, advance reservations always help in the big city.
"In Kansas City or Indianapolis," Dwyer says, "cities
that might not have the amount of people that live in a downtown
and keep it vibrant, we tend to keep everybody indoors at night."
But "indoors" doesn't mean locked in their room. You
can offer entertainment and activities at the hotel or take buses
to someplace nearby. An association meeting in somewhat sleepy
downtown Tampa might make arrangements to rent the Busch Gardens
theme park for a few hours after dark.
The National Bar Association lets its 80 affiliated chapters
tussle over where the annual convention goes each year. "We
go where they want us. They have to bid for the conference,"
Dudley says. Then, when it comes to entertainment, the sponsoring
chapter takes responsibility.
"Indianapolis was a perfect example," she says. "There's
not much to do there at all. There's a small mall not far from
the hotel and they close at 6. In that case, it's up to my local
committee to plan things so people don't leave the city saying
how boring it is."
Be honest with attendees
about safety concerns
At times, some cities
appear more risky than others for travelers. These things run
in cycles, because one negative incident puts a city under the
microscope. It's a problem and an image that has dogged Miami
in recent years.
"Safety was an issue for us in Miami because of all the
publicity about tourists getting shot," Graller says. "Miami
did a great job, but they were under the gun . . . Well, I shouldn't
have said it that way. We were a major convention and if it hadn't
gone well, that would have been the end of their reputation."
Fortunately, the Miami convention went smoothly for Graller and
his attendees. "We had no incidents," he says. "And
we've averaged one incident everywhere else we've gone."
Margie Lewis, convention services manager for the American Welding
Society in Miami, had a similar experience approaching a meeting
in the Motor City. "I was a little apprehensive when we
went to Detroit," she says, "because you hear so much
about crime, but we did very well."
That's because she took precautions. Among the simplest tips:
Do your homework. Be aware of the environment you're bringing
your people into.
Consider subscribing to the local paper from the time you book
your meeting until the time it's over.
Don't explore the city alone.
Keep your hotel door locked, not just closed.
Don't hire a taxicab without some concept of where you're going,
how long it takes to get there and approximately what it should
cost.
Take your badge off while wandering the city. In some places,
it's like wearing a bullseye for muggers and con artists.
"If they're people coming out of a small town environment,"
Dwyer says, "they're not aware of how to stand on a city
street corner and not be vulnerable. We try to explain there's
places to go and not to go." Sometimes it's as simple as
knowing which door to exit the hotel. Pick the wrong exit in
some cities and you're in a bad neighborhood.
On the other hand, Dwyer adds, her goal is not to scare members
"because it can happen anywhere."
"We have a flyer that we send out with badges," Graller
says. "It's full of safety tips for travelers. Common sense
tips, but it doesn't hurt to repeat them."
Provide transportation
options
There's nothing worse
than getting off an airplane in a strange city and not having
the first clue where to go. The most convenient mode for most
airport-to-hotel transportation is the shuttle buses found in
most cities.
"I really enjoy doing meetings in downtown hotels, except
we don't have a lot of money and the ground transfers are very
expensive," Neuman says. Of the 200 meetings she plans annually
for the Lutheran Church, more than a third are held in downtown
locations. "My first priority is to get my people from the
airport to the hotel without problems and in a cost-effective
way."
Some planners get a service provider's name, pass it on to attendees
and end their participation there. But you can go further.
"I work with the destination company in the hotel,"
Neuman says. "I give them an arrivals and departures list
so they're properly staffed. When people get there, they're expected,
which gives them a warm, fuzzy feeling. A lot of our people travel
frequently, but many do not. You have to make them feel they're
important and they have value, that you care enough to make arrangements
for them."
Negotiate group discounts. Ask for discount coupons you can mail
attendees with their badges. Encourage the company to staff a
desk at your primary downtown hotel to sell tickets and week-long
passes.
"We run a heavy meeting schedule," Graller says. "We
spend $150,000 on a shuttle system. It runs for five days, with
handicapped services."
Stand ready with alternative
lodging details
When your meeting is
held at a resort or airport location, the answer to lodging is
easy: everyone stays at the resort or airport. But one of the
plusses in meeting downtown is the diversity of accommodations,
usually one for every price range and taste.
"San Francisco and Chicago are a little higher than some
cities," Graller says, "but the range we find usually
satisfies our needs. We need to go from $70 to $150, and usually
we can get that. There are very few suburban options I can think
of that would meet our needs."
Most of your attendees will prefer staying at the same hotel,
but a few will want something more elegant, others choosing budget-oriented
lodgings. Downtowns should satisfy everyone's needs.
"Our members, librarians, are not paid very well,"
Graller says. "So anything we can do to help with costs,
we do."
Neuman understands that challenge. Before joining the Lutheran
Church as a meeting planner, she did similar work for the McDonnell-Douglas
Corp. "I used to spend $250,000 on 16 people," she
recalls. "Here, $1-million is my entire convention budget
everything from name tags to hall rentals. It's amazing the difference.
McDonnell-Douglas would pay $250 per night for sleeping rooms.
At the church, the highest we've ever paid was $80 in Toronto.
It's a whole different life. I tell my boss it really rounds
out your resume."
Practice your haggling
techniques
Everything's negotiable,
Lynne Neuman says.
"There are various things a downtown hotel will do if you
ask the right questions and present your group in the right light,"
she says. "Your cut-off date is negotiable. Your attendance
rate is negotiable. Your cancellation rate is negotiable."
"In some ways," Dwyer agrees, "I think downtown
hotels have to try harder on service because people think it's
easier to stay at the airport. There's loads of opportunities
to negotiate. They have dead time, they have empty ballrooms
to fill."
She says that airport hotels do a steadier year-round business
than their downtown counterparts, so it pays to know when a city
is in-season or out-of-season. You can save money by choosing
Houston in July, whereas the same month is peak season in Seattle.
"It's a different selling environment," Dwyer says.
"I think the downtowns are very negotiable, especially if
you're hitting a pattern when they're not wall-to-wall with conventions
in town."
Neuman follows that suggestion whenever possible.
"I try to schedule in off-peak times," she says. "Our
meetings encompass a weekend and downtowns are usually dead on
weekends. We'll come in on a Thursday and leave on a Tuesday."
Don't believe the planners? Take it from the hotels.
"If an organization has the ability to be flexible, there
are huge discounts that can be available," Marriott's Fenton
says. "Take Sunday night arrivals. They're a huge plus for
the hotel because Sunday is slow and we're willing to pass that
on to the consumers."
"This isn't rocket science," the Hyatt Regency's Helms
says. "To have an association meet in the first quarter
in Chicago is a time you can do better not only in price but
in value-added service. It's a down time for us. By contrast,
there are more associations looking to do business in Chicago
in October than there are available dates for five years. It's
an incredible situation of supply and demand."
"Planners assume San Francisco is expensive," the Sir
Francis Drake Hotel's Pucci says. "It isn't anymore."
Read contracts for
hidden city costs
One of the things planners
don't do a good job of planning for are city taxes for food,
beverages and rooms. When you've been a planner a while, you
may have a tendency to skim your contracts, missing the hidden
costs of doing business downtown.
"But these are things you really need to ask about,"
Neuman says. "Some cities have an occupancy tax per person,
per room, per night. They're really something."
Let your hotel help
you
A few final tips from
all over:
"Be as open and honest with your sales contact as you can
be," Dwyer suggests. "What's the environment around
and in the hotel? How can I sell the hotel so people aren't walking
out the door? They know the area, they know what's changed since
the last time you were there: 'Use the 8th Street door, not the
12th Street door.' "
"I think a lot of meeting planners may not realize that
destination management companies exist and can take worries off
their hands, from travel to in-room gifts and spouse trips,"
Marriott's Fenton says.
Send your people to the showers. "People are very health-conscious
now and most downtown hotels have health clubs," the Hilton's
Keys says. "So many meetings start at 7 a.m. with continental
breakfast and meetings at 8 perhaps the meeting planners could
schedule some health club time."
Keys says most hotels would agree to open their health clubs
earlier for association members, or offer a special group rate,
or lengthen continental breakfast hours so attendees don't have
to choose between eating and exercise.
Another good idea from Keys: Investigate the hotel's technological
resources and how they can be applied to your needs. His facility,
the New York Hilton, has a voice mail system for all guests which
can "broadcast" a welcome message, schedule change
or announcement to all attendees. Maybe the president of the
association wants to transmit a voice message to all members:
"Please join me in the ballroom for dinner this evening."
"Planners don't rely on the concierge as much as they should,"
the Hyatt Regency's Helms offers. "It's incredible what
resources these people have to move not just one or two people
but hundreds of attendees. Our concierges are more than willing
to help."
The Philadelphia Story
Sometimes you'll get
lucky, as the American Library Association did in choosing the
new Philadelphia Marriott for its February 1995 convention.
"We were the first group in the new Marriott," says
Paul Graller, director of conference services for the Chicago-based
American Library Association. "Philadelphia is going through
a rejuvenation and the convention bureau did an outstanding job
for us."
The new 1,200-room hotel opened Jan. 27. It offers a 33,000-square-foot
ballroom, 38,000 square feet of exhibition space, 27 conference
rooms and three boardrooms. It is also the only hotel physically
connected via skybridge to the city's convention center, which
opened in July 1993.
"The real benefit of this downtown is transportation,"
says John Fenton, director of communications for the hotel. "It's
not like Denver, where the airport is an hour from downtown.
Philadelphia is just eight miles from Philadelphia International
Airport. There's a high-speed train from the airport to Market
East Station almost at the entrance of the hotel. The fare is
$5. We're the second stop from the airport. Or it's less than
a $20 cab drive."
Like many of its big city cousins, Philadelphia isn't lacking
in fun and cultural diversions for convention-goers. The Gallery
Mall is across the street from the Marriott. Six blocks away
is the city's historic district, including the Liberty Bell and
Independence Hall.
"The lifeblood of this hotel is going to be national associations
holding meetings here," Fenton says.
©2000, All rights reserved. No portion
may be reproduced without the express written permission of the
author.
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