The Pompous Customer

A French Medicine professor contacts us, being referenced by a fellow-researcher in an associated field with whom we had briefly been in contact regarding a future bid. Let’s call him Paul. Paul enthusiastically expresses his interest to present a Parisian bid for the upcoming open date of a congress we had never been in contact with.

The requirements were of supposingly 3000 persons plenary, 3500 sqm of exhibition and 15 breakouts of various sizes, 2 set up days – and luckily in a period when the demand is not very high. He was persuaded that the Palais de Congrès de Paris was the one and only ideal space for the congress, as he had seen it on different previous occasions. Paul insisted that he needed a quotation before the end of week, and committed himself to taking care of all the necessary elements of the bid. For once, what a great student, I said to myself. God-sent request for a beautiful project, with a motivated professor. The Law of Attraction really works. Good Karma.

Once we have sent the offer, impossible to reach him over the phone, and all my e-mails also remained unanswered. Oh well, he is a medical care professional before anything else, so of course he must be having more important matters to attend. I eventually contact the association’s manager, who confirms that he had well received the Parisian professor’s application, and they would keep him informed on the following steps, but at that moment they had no particular questions.

Two months later, Paul calls again, happily announcing that our bid was selected among the finalists, and that he will have to present the bid in front of the board in a couple of weeks. He agrees on me accompanying him during the presentation in case there were any logistical questions, but he is very certain of his success either way, and prefers being the only one to deliver the presentation.

On the day of the congress when Paul was supposed to perform in front of the board, when reaching the venue of a certain Eastern-European Capital, I am unsure if I have the good address. The congress could not have been the one mentioned in his requirements, but hardly one of half its dimensions. The presentation went on reasonably fine, and no questions were asked. Paul was still certain of his/our success, and promised to inform me as soon as he knows the voting result.

Meanwhile, one of my colleagues starts working on the bid of the fellow-researcher mentioned by Paul at the time when he had contacted us in a first place. She heard that Paul was having a terrible reputation at that moment due to a certain work-related incident, and the reason for which he was so keen on hosting the congress is somehow amending it. He had however lost the bid, presenting a ridiculously expensive venue being just one of the reasons. Paris could have been a good destination, but an untrusted chair and an overpriced offer were definitely not the recipe for success.  

What did I learn out of this? First of all, making sure that the technical RFP comes from a trusted source and reflects reality. Compare and ask other venues that have hosted the event before making an offer. And making sure who your partners are – shared success comes from working together in transparency and respect. And last but not least, there is no such thing as good or bad karma, life is cyclical and nothing worth having comes easy. 

Join us into this coronation of failure as generator of improvement, and come celebrate in March in Rennes during the ICCA France-Benelux Chapter Summit ! Only one week left to share your story with us!