Recession busting ideas....

Claire Bowley, a director of Dynamic Events, was recently asked for her opinions on running events in a recession and a video was produced by Haymarket highlighting areas to look for in running events when budgets are being reduced, watch the video here for Claire's ideas:

As a well established agency we are able to draw on the relationships we have with our long term suppliers both in the UK and internationally to negotiate excellent rates and fees.

Experience is a useful tool in the art of negotiation and this is a key benefit that a well established conference agency can provide.

A good understanding and knowledge of which venues and suppliers are offering good rates is important as well as which locations or destinations are currently providing best value for money.

It is important to understand where savings can be made without compromising the quality of the delegate's experience.

For example: You are unlikely to benefit from negotiating food and beverage rates too hard as this can often result in the quantity being reduced or the quality being compromised.

Some areas to try:

Enhancing food and beverage breaks within the same price

Reducing Day Delegate Rates and bedroom costs

Negotiating complimentary upgrades for VIPs

Persuading the venue to include Audio-Visual equipment free of charge

Bringing a normally outsourced welcome reception or gala dinner into the conference venue means that you can sometimes negotiate cost reductions or added value elsewhere. Try upgrading wine to champagne for the welcome reception, for example

Negotiate free bedrooms for site visits and for event management staff

Negotiate cut-off dates and attrition to give maximum reduction of bedrooms and delegates without penalty

Negotiate bedroom rates for before and after the event at the group rate

Some areas to watch out for:

Unless your delegates are really going to drink a lot, drinks packages are generally not good value for money. It is better to be charged on consumption.

In-house AV companies can often be more expensive and less flexible than an outside contractor

City convention bureaus are often happy to add value or sponsor an element of the event

Make sure that the contract stipulates that the hotel will not undercut your group rates on the lead up to your event

Creativity:

The pressure on budgets means that it is important to be creative and to think laterally.

This is where your agency can bring important benefits. We will:

• Look objectively at your event objectives
• Ensure that the event is relevant to every person attending
• Aim to make the most of the budget that you have

If your events are becoming a bit formulaic, now is a great time to shake things up

Example: For a recent sales conference for one of our regular clients we worked with them to spend their budget normally allocated to giveaways and activities etc. Instead we created an awards dinner at the end of their conference. This change in priorities promoted networking, competition and achievement.

Contact us to see how we could benefit you: