Thinking Outside the Box for Small Meetings

It is amazing to see how the current economic situation is bringing out great new ideas in many industries. I recently read an article in Corporate Meetings & Incentives that described a process for meeting planners and administrative personnel to help their companies save two very important resources – time and money – with regard to the meetings they do on an ongoing basis.

It is becoming known in the business as “Meeting in a Box.” The article is a bit lengthy and may be somewhat confusing to someone not directly involved in the meetings industry. However, the concept is basically that the planner and hotel partner to create pre-negotiated packages for a client who does many small meetings. You can read the full article here.

We have done something similar in the past with a series of small trainings held throughout California which involved developing pre-negotiated packages with preferred hotels that included set menus, meeting space, basic audiovisual, and standardized contracts. “Admins can then choose a package that meets their needs and book the program without having to negotiate costs or review contract terms and conditions.”

This relationship is a benefit to everyone involved – the planner and hotel are able to provide their services to more companies and the client (admin person and their company) is able to more accurately track the expenses, save money, and increase efficiency. I’d say these benefits are always important, no matter the economic climate!

- Ginger Myrick • Meeting Planner, RDL enterprises