Recap from CalSAE Seasonal Spectacular 2018 Panel

December is the time of year when suppliers from all across the region descend upon Sacramento for the California Society of Association Executive (CalSAE)'s Seasonal Spectacular. The two day program is one of the largest tradeshow on the west coast, and is responsible for millions of dollars of business within the travel and hospitality industry.

I had the pleasure of sitting on a panel with Kristine Van Winkle of Marriott International and David Stone of Crescent Events with Megan Hemming of the California Special Districts Association as our moderator. Topic: Assembling Your Meetings Dream Team. The goal was to talk about how a hotel global sales contact, audiovisual representative, and destination marketing rep can provide a variety of services and resources to meeting planners that are often unknown or underutilized.

The highlights of our discussion are as follows:

Transparency is key

• Provide as much detail as possible to your partners to ensure bids from suppliers are accurate. Daily room block information (not just total room block numbers) help hotels quote the best rate up front.
• Historical food and beverage data is a hot topic for hotels these days, and is a key part of any good RFP.
• Provide your actual budget for things like audiovisual. This isn't the 'target price', but rather an opportunity for them to come up with creative solutions that meet your financial needs (and there may even be extras they can include).

There is room for everyone at the table!

• Working with your GSO (global sales organization) doesn't mean you can't include a DMO (destination marketing organization). We work together to find a solution for the customer, especially in segments like state associations where we work consistently with the same counterparts.
• Involve these parties early and often - don't wait until you are having tough negotiations or attrition problems to let them know you are coming to a hotel or destination. These partners are advocates of you and your business! Moreover, a hotel might only be looking at a single meeting when working with you, but a DMO or GSO can educate them on the value you bring to an entire city or hotel brand with other meetings or opportunities.

Don't rely on order takers

• A DMO can provide resources beyond just lead sourcing such as: site tours, vendor resources, introductions to local charities (as give-back components at meetings are on the rise), and marketing resources.

We could have gone on forever during the panel, but these were some of the key takeaways. Thank you to all whom attended and participated in the discussion!