Plan Your Meetings

If you couldn’t be at today’s PYM LIVE Event in Atlanta, no problem. Here’s Twitter stream of what people were talking about:

From @ChecklistQueen

• golden rule #1 from kevin johnston- advantage event group: price, quality, or speed…pick 2 #pym
• specific is always more profitable (and creates less risk) than general
• Be careful with hotel contracts – based on taxes and gratuities, a $100 item may be $130
• just had the BEST celery -yes, i said celery- soup from chef jeff mcgar at opera event center #pymlive
• david nour is on deck. Whoo hoo!!! #pymlive
• had a great time at pym live #pymlive

From @jdthompson:

• The hospitality industry swings between buyers and sellers market every 7-8 years. #PYMlive
• Looking forward to hearing David Nour’s preso #pymlive.
• @davidnour has some great insight on social networking. #pymlive

From @davidnour:

• @jdthompson Thanks for the kind note ; what a fun group and PYM folks are really nice as well! #pymlive

From @LisaKraus:

• Everyone should follow David Nour, a social network guru, and overall genius: http://twitter.com/davidnour

From @PYMLive:

• hotels make $ on rooms, food&beverage and alcohol #pymlive
• to have negotiations where both parties are treated fairly, need to know how hotel makes money #pymlive
• take more time with those contracts, amend them in your favor, protect group #pymlive
• from kevin johnston’s session: hotel buyer/seller markets swing every 7-8 yrs #pymlive
• warren buffet says the best time to buy is when blood is running in the streets #pymlive
• corp. bookings down 70% on avg across country #pymlive
• primerica had to pay a cancellation fee of $70,000 for one venue #pymlive
• simplified contracts are gone, more one sided, hotels are taking gray areas out #pymlive
• 75-85% of room rate is profit #pymlive 25-35% of F&B is profit; 80-85% profit on drinks
• tip from kevin: don’t focus on one item, build a package that will satisfy you and the venue. #pymlive Know what your meeting is worth.
• biz rules: Dates, rates & space. Pick 2. asking before u sign is negotiating; asking after is begging #pymlive
• tips for negotiating the deal: 1. Relationships are king. 2 Ask for more than u expect. 3 Keep perspective #pymlive
• tips for negotiating: 4. understand TOTAL cost/value/worth. 5 Don’t focus only on price; think value. #pymlive
• comissionable rate has cmmission blt in for third party, but that shouldn’t affect your rate. ask about all the xtras & room taxes #pymlive
• Put in contract that no other group in the hotel will pay less than you will. #pymlive
• key contract clauses: attrition; cancellation; construction; quiet enjoyment; change of ownership/management #pymlive
• word attrition clause to count cumulative, not daily cancellations; get credit for unused comp rooms; provide for rebooking credit #pymlive
• planners should rewrite cancellation clauses to be more specific to you group’s particular circumstances. swine flu, riots, etc. #pymlive
• planner should negotiate attrition clause to pay profit on rooms only, not 100% of cost #pymlive
• other attrition clauses to help planner: credit rooms bought by group members through other means; no tax paid on attririon. #pymlive
• put in cancellation clause right to move if construction, ownership, quiet will be disturbed #pymlive
• quiet enjoyment clause, put in peanltie: i get 25% discount off F&B, etc. #pymlive
• highlight any vague, one sided, questionable, no-way clauses #pymlive Cross out, make changes to doc
• look for what’s missing, and put that in to your contract #pymlive
• some of the freebies you can get include upgraded linens, free cocktail party for board members, free coffee break, cash cards #pymlive
• great session today on contract negotiations by Kevin Johnston. Now to the trade show & confessional booth. #pymlive
• at confessional booth, xperienced planners shared advice for new planners: patience, persistance is key. #pymlive
• atlanta taste is a team of caterers/event designers that do phenomenal work @ town I love Cathy Desroches #pymlive
• Jamie Vosmeier does group sales for the Fox Theatre ATL, can buy tix for groups a year in advance #pymlive
• Birmingham Bad Boys got a huge round of applause. Taking a FAM over in Oct. #pymlive
• Renaissance Concourse Hotel Atlanta Airport has 387 rooms; $5 million renov of mtg space; known for culinary team #pymlive
• Opera set out a great lunch, unexpected tastes like coconut milk soup, greek style green beans, custard beignets #pymlive
• David “Google Me” Nour is speaking on Relationship Economics & Social Networking #pymlive
• twitter has gained over 10 million users in the past year. #pymlive
• “Everyone has a story” what’s the story of the people you’re working with? #pymlive
• your most valueable asset is the diversity and reach of your portfolio of relationships. #pymlive
• if you always hang out with the same people, that’s as good as you are going to get. #pymlive
• http://www.wiwih.com is a network for who is who in hospitality. #pymlive
• http://www.slideshare.net is the youtube of presentations #pymlive
• social networking strategy: how to engage and influence, often without authority? #pymlive
• 1. use social networks to identify key relevant stakeholders (linkedin search, etc.) #pymlive
• 2. you can’t date everyone, so find & identify influentials w/in the organization #pymlive
• engage those people and offer them a unique value add #pymlive Read “experience economy”
• Deliver exceptional experiences, consistently. #pymlive
• use social networks to identify, capture and leverage best practices for future success. #pymlive
• if you’re a rock star, but your team can’t deliver, you’re going to have a hard time. don’t friend everybody. #pymlive
• what comes up when you google yourself? your name is your biggest brand. protect it. #pymlive
• if someone tells you the work you did was great, ask them to write a recommendation on linkedin. #pymlive
• people on the web are browsers, not readers, so use bullet points; specificity builds credibility in linkedin profiles #pymlive
• what’s everybody’s favorite topic? Themselves #pymlive
• http://www.uservoice.com can help you get insights from the community on what you’re doing. #pymlive
• social networking is there for connecting, engaging not selling #pymlive
• there are relationship givers, takers and relationship investors. which one are you? #pymlive
• find out how you can be an asset, what you can do to help before asking for a favor. #pymlive
• http://www.relationshipecon… is where you can get more information on David Nour great speaker
• @lisakraus @PYMConnect @davidnour @jdthompson @checklistqueen So great seeing you! Here’s event Twitterfountain: http://ow.ly/4i3k #pymlive
• @ChecklistQueen Thanks! We had a blast too!