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Many factors – almost too many to mention – go into creating a successful reception for your event’s participants but there are some key ones to keep in mind. Let’s take a quick look at some of the main factors you need to address in order to set the stage for a successful reception.
Define your goals for the event
Consider this to be your “big picture” starting point – what do you want to accomplish with the reception? Your goals for the event will help create the framework around which everything else will be built. And, they will help you answer questions that will come up along the way. The timing of the event, menu choices, themes, and entertainment options, as well as many other details should all work together in support of the goals for your reception. Even a goal of “we just want to have fun” will help define the event and guide you through the planning process.
Estimate the number of guests
You need know how many people are expected to attend – for planning purposes if nothing else. Is every attendee invited, or only a select few? While this does not replace RSVPs for creating your BEO guarantees, it will give you an idea of the size of event you wish to hold. That information will be of great importance to you during the site selection phase of planning.
When and where will your reception be held – and for how long?
Yes, we all know that receptions are typically held in the evening, but will it take place before or after dinner? Or will it replace dinner? As I discussed in this post, the timing and duration of a reception will affect how much people will eat. Before dinner, people will eat more (if dinner is provided). If you intend for the reception to replace dinner, you had better be prepared with more substantial food options and plenty of it! As for the where, it is generally preferable to host a reception near to where dinner will be served so guests can easily flow from one right into the other. If dinner is not served, you have more options available to you. One more note here: a reception held immediately following a general session will draw more people than one held later in the evening with a break in between sessions and the reception. A late-night reception will typically draw even fewer as many may decide that sleep is more attractive than your event. Of course, there are exceptions to every rule and you need to keep the habits of your attendees in mind when planning when and where your event will be held.
Will there be entertainment or a program during the reception?
The presence or absence of an agenda for a reception can make a huge difference in where you hold the event and what kind of equipment you will need for it. A speaker of any kind, even if only for announcements, will need a microphone at minimum. A band or other performing group will have their own AV needs as well that you will need to take into account. Furthermore, including a program of events with a speaker requires people to stop mingling in order to hear the presentation. Similarly, an entertainer will also draw people away from other activities that may be happening at the reception. Not that these are bad things, mind you – they are just items of note to keep in mind as you are selecting the venue and planning the reception.
Choosing the menu!
Once you have the basics out of the way (who, what, where, when, and why), you can sit down to start planning your menus. This is the part that most people like the most and who can blame them? Food is very personal to people and the right choice of menu items can make a statement that is as important as any other aspect of your event. I won’t even attempt to tell you what you should serve, though, as those selections should be tailored as much as possible to the likes and wants of your group and, as I have said many times before, knowing your group is the key to a great event. One group may prefer sushi, while another wants mini corn dogs and sliders. The only right choice is the one your guests will enjoy.
Modifying reception service
OK – this one isn’t really a factor you need to nail down before building your reception. In fact, it is usually done late in the process as you try to get more bang out of your buck. However, knowing what service options exist before you start can be helpful to know as you make other decisions along the way. So, here are a few more posts with additional information for you (if you’re interested): Limiting Menu Options, Open Bars, Ordering Items on Consumption, and Food Distribution and Service Options.
There is one more “factor” that needs mentioning here: the guests. Unfortunately, you can’t really control whether or not they have a good time. Nor can you control whether or not they attend or if they go along with the program as you envisioned it. However, their participation is crucial to making your reception a success. So doing your best to present them with an event that they want to attend and will rave about for years afterwards will go a long way to making your receptions a success for you and for them.
As you can see, there is much that goes into building a successful reception – and this is just the tip of the iceberg! There are two final keys I’d like to leave you with: 1) think ahead – answer as many questions about your event as you can before you begin the actual “building of your reception – and 2) work closely with your partners, be they the hotel, outside caterers, AV companies, or your speakers and entertainers, to make sure that everyone’s issues are addressed as early as possible in the process. Using these keys should help you get off to a great start in producing a successful reception and will make dealing with any changes down the road easier to manage.
Good Luck!
~ Karl Baur, CMP • Project Director, RDL enterprises
Showing posts with label Reception. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Reception. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Food and Beverage Minimums in Contracts
Those of you who have been in the industry a while will most certainly come up against food and beverage (F&B) minimums at some pointing your career and how you have handled them will likely have been determined by your client’s needs and the particular event’s specifications. For those of you who are new to meeting planning, F&B minimums can be a bit daunting.
So what is a food and beverage minimum and why would I allow them into my contracts? Well, the term itself is pretty self-explanatory – it is the minimum amount of food and beverage your group is committing to in the contract – but does not go far enough to capture all that the clause entails.
F&B minimums in a contract will nearly always be spelled out in terms of dollars to be spent on catering for your event. You are spending at least that amount of money, regardless of what you order or how many people actually attend. If I have an F&B minimum of $15,000, then my final catering bill will be at least $15,000. It is important to note, too, that the minimum is the base price, exclusive of tax and service charges. (For more on these “hidden charges”, check out this post.)
The hotel calculates the minimum based on the meal functions that you have planned and secured space for at the property. They also look at how many people are projected to attend those events. If the number seems unreasonable to you, do your own calculations based on your best information about the group and using the hotel’s own menus, then make a counter-offer to the hotel. Remember, like nearly any other clause in the contract, you can suggest changes and negotiate terms. When I see an F&B minimum in a draft contract, I will always do my own (realistic!) calculation of what I think my group will order – and try to get a lower number in the contract. This leaves me some “wiggle room” in case my numbers are not as high as I expect or if the client reduces the size of or cancels any particular function.
So why are those clauses even in the contract? Basically, this is a bit of self-protection for the hotels that arose out of the days when planners would book the sun and fail to deliver even the moon. Hotels needed to protect themselves from the unrealistic projections of planners. (OK, not all planners did this but enough did that the trend was very disturbing for hotels.) As a result, the F&B minimum was “born”. It allowed the hotel or caterer to make the planner be realistic in their projections of how much food they would actually order once the meeting occurred – and they enforced this by making the planner put their money where their mouth was. If you tell the hotel that you are doing a banquet for 100 people, then you need to be willing to commit close to that amount as the minimum. Planners quickly learned to look at their events a little more critically so that they could be more accurate in booking those events.
Don’t get upset when you see an F&B minimum in the contract, though do check the numbers carefully. Just as we as planners want certain protections in there, so, too, do the hotels and this is one protection I agree with. Though, as I mentioned earlier, I do work to ensure that the minimum requested is a realistic target for my group to hit. If I know my group is only likely to spend $5,000 in F&B, I will not sign a contract for any higher amount. Neither will I argue if the hotel wants to impose a $2,500 minimum, especially if I know my group can easily make that level.
~ Karl Baur, CMP • Project Director, RDL enterprises
So what is a food and beverage minimum and why would I allow them into my contracts? Well, the term itself is pretty self-explanatory – it is the minimum amount of food and beverage your group is committing to in the contract – but does not go far enough to capture all that the clause entails.
F&B minimums in a contract will nearly always be spelled out in terms of dollars to be spent on catering for your event. You are spending at least that amount of money, regardless of what you order or how many people actually attend. If I have an F&B minimum of $15,000, then my final catering bill will be at least $15,000. It is important to note, too, that the minimum is the base price, exclusive of tax and service charges. (For more on these “hidden charges”, check out this post.)
The hotel calculates the minimum based on the meal functions that you have planned and secured space for at the property. They also look at how many people are projected to attend those events. If the number seems unreasonable to you, do your own calculations based on your best information about the group and using the hotel’s own menus, then make a counter-offer to the hotel. Remember, like nearly any other clause in the contract, you can suggest changes and negotiate terms. When I see an F&B minimum in a draft contract, I will always do my own (realistic!) calculation of what I think my group will order – and try to get a lower number in the contract. This leaves me some “wiggle room” in case my numbers are not as high as I expect or if the client reduces the size of or cancels any particular function.
So why are those clauses even in the contract? Basically, this is a bit of self-protection for the hotels that arose out of the days when planners would book the sun and fail to deliver even the moon. Hotels needed to protect themselves from the unrealistic projections of planners. (OK, not all planners did this but enough did that the trend was very disturbing for hotels.) As a result, the F&B minimum was “born”. It allowed the hotel or caterer to make the planner be realistic in their projections of how much food they would actually order once the meeting occurred – and they enforced this by making the planner put their money where their mouth was. If you tell the hotel that you are doing a banquet for 100 people, then you need to be willing to commit close to that amount as the minimum. Planners quickly learned to look at their events a little more critically so that they could be more accurate in booking those events.
Don’t get upset when you see an F&B minimum in the contract, though do check the numbers carefully. Just as we as planners want certain protections in there, so, too, do the hotels and this is one protection I agree with. Though, as I mentioned earlier, I do work to ensure that the minimum requested is a realistic target for my group to hit. If I know my group is only likely to spend $5,000 in F&B, I will not sign a contract for any higher amount. Neither will I argue if the hotel wants to impose a $2,500 minimum, especially if I know my group can easily make that level.
~ Karl Baur, CMP • Project Director, RDL enterprises
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
How to Plan a Gala - Outsourcing for Vendors
I recently finished planning a 28th annual gala in San Diego for one of our clients. About a year ago, I wrote a blog about how to plan a gala, using the same client’s event as the example. I offered some basic tips, depending on the type of venue being used. This time around, I would like to highlight and discuss a few details I did not mention in my previous gala blog.
Outsourcing for vendors was one of the main tasks this time. San Diego has a huge market so competition was stiff and, in today’s economy, everyone wants a piece of the pie. In sending out the request for proposal (RFP), I noted important aspects of the event, i.e., date, time, location, food & beverage requests, audio-visual, and other considerations. Several venues in the downtown area of San Diego responded. After learning about each vendor’s policies and procedures, the type of space provided, and rates, we made our selection. However, the venue finally chosen did not provide many elements needed for the gala. First, I needed to hire a catering company. Typically, venues have a preferred vendor list for special events. It is helpful knowing these companies have created a great working relationship with the venue, understand the space really well, and can offer discounts. Second, the event needed a professional DJ for the entertainment portion. And third, we needed a beverage vendor to provide bar service. Now, this is working with three different companies, three different negotiations, and three different contracts – outside of the venue contract. Thankfully, the catering company provided tables, linens, chairs, flatware and glassware. That could have been yet another element.
Dedicating enough time to such coordination is important. I started planning 6-8 months prior to the event, due to its size and complexity. Each vendor was extremely helpful offering suggestions to create a smooth and easy event. Overall, I found working with many different vendors was easy and enjoyable. All of who did an exceptional job. The venue coordinator was among the best I have worked with. I am looking forward to planning the 29th annual gala in Atlanta, GA.
~ Tess Conrad • Meeting & Conference Planner, RDL enterprises
Outsourcing for vendors was one of the main tasks this time. San Diego has a huge market so competition was stiff and, in today’s economy, everyone wants a piece of the pie. In sending out the request for proposal (RFP), I noted important aspects of the event, i.e., date, time, location, food & beverage requests, audio-visual, and other considerations. Several venues in the downtown area of San Diego responded. After learning about each vendor’s policies and procedures, the type of space provided, and rates, we made our selection. However, the venue finally chosen did not provide many elements needed for the gala. First, I needed to hire a catering company. Typically, venues have a preferred vendor list for special events. It is helpful knowing these companies have created a great working relationship with the venue, understand the space really well, and can offer discounts. Second, the event needed a professional DJ for the entertainment portion. And third, we needed a beverage vendor to provide bar service. Now, this is working with three different companies, three different negotiations, and three different contracts – outside of the venue contract. Thankfully, the catering company provided tables, linens, chairs, flatware and glassware. That could have been yet another element.
Dedicating enough time to such coordination is important. I started planning 6-8 months prior to the event, due to its size and complexity. Each vendor was extremely helpful offering suggestions to create a smooth and easy event. Overall, I found working with many different vendors was easy and enjoyable. All of who did an exceptional job. The venue coordinator was among the best I have worked with. I am looking forward to planning the 29th annual gala in Atlanta, GA.
~ Tess Conrad • Meeting & Conference Planner, RDL enterprises
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Healthy Meeting Options – Meals & Snacks
When planning meals and snacks for meetings, it can be hard to provide healthy options to participants. Actually, the hardest part is getting people to choose healthy options but, as the saying goes, you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink. So what’s a meeting planner to do? Make sure the options exist. Here are some of the ways I strive to provide healthier meal and snack options for attendees at my meetings.
1. Make sure that fruit and/or vegetables are available as much as possible within the constraints of the menu. For me, this usually means whole fruit for breaks, particularly in the afternoon, since they last longer on display and can easily be taken by those who want a healthy snack later on. I typically include a vegetable-based item for receptions.
2. For any meal where fowl or red meat is a main component, be sure to include a vegetarian option. For lunch buffets, this could mean including entrées that are based on non-meat proteins such as beans or tofu, or alternate meats such as fish, depending on the needs of your diners. At receptions, including multiple dishes that do not contain meat gives participants additional choices.
3. Control meal portions. This is nearly impossible to do with buffets, but is quite easy to do with plated lunches (read this post for more info on plated vs. buffet meals). You can control portions at receptions through choices of items or by having servers walk around the room instead of simply putting all of the food out at once (which I discuss briefly here).
4. Talk to the chef about lean meat options so that those who choose meat dishes still get a healthier meal. The chef can often even work with limited budgets to still make this happen.
5. If possible, choose snacks that are low in fat and salt and that contain no added sugar.
Now, I don’t always use every one of these ideas but even choosing just one or two of them will help you provide healthy meals or snacks for your events. Use the ones that make sense for your budget and particular situation – and, above all else, that make sense for your group. If the attendees won't eat a particular item, then providing it is a waste of food and money. However, that does not mean I can't provide healthy options to that group…it just means I need to work a little more to find something they will like.
~ Karl Baur, CMP • Project Director, RDL enterprises
Ed. Note: A follow up post on beverages - the other half of F&B - can be found here.
1. Make sure that fruit and/or vegetables are available as much as possible within the constraints of the menu. For me, this usually means whole fruit for breaks, particularly in the afternoon, since they last longer on display and can easily be taken by those who want a healthy snack later on. I typically include a vegetable-based item for receptions.
2. For any meal where fowl or red meat is a main component, be sure to include a vegetarian option. For lunch buffets, this could mean including entrées that are based on non-meat proteins such as beans or tofu, or alternate meats such as fish, depending on the needs of your diners. At receptions, including multiple dishes that do not contain meat gives participants additional choices.
3. Control meal portions. This is nearly impossible to do with buffets, but is quite easy to do with plated lunches (read this post for more info on plated vs. buffet meals). You can control portions at receptions through choices of items or by having servers walk around the room instead of simply putting all of the food out at once (which I discuss briefly here).
4. Talk to the chef about lean meat options so that those who choose meat dishes still get a healthier meal. The chef can often even work with limited budgets to still make this happen.
5. If possible, choose snacks that are low in fat and salt and that contain no added sugar.
Now, I don’t always use every one of these ideas but even choosing just one or two of them will help you provide healthy meals or snacks for your events. Use the ones that make sense for your budget and particular situation – and, above all else, that make sense for your group. If the attendees won't eat a particular item, then providing it is a waste of food and money. However, that does not mean I can't provide healthy options to that group…it just means I need to work a little more to find something they will like.
~ Karl Baur, CMP • Project Director, RDL enterprises
Ed. Note: A follow up post on beverages - the other half of F&B - can be found here.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
How much dry snack mix do I need for my reception?
This question has come up for me a lot of late, both online and off, and is one of those areas where your budget can quickly get out of hand if you do not have at least a rough guideline for how much to serve. Dry snacks such as peanuts, pretzels, popcorn, or chips are a staple in bars, very common for house parties, and fairly common for receptions following meetings – especially those receptions with a bar. Why is that? For house parties, it is primarily because they are easy for the host to provide. There is little to no prep time and all you really need is a bowl (though that may be optional depending on the party). In bars, dry snacks are a good way to sell more alcohol. The salts in and on the dry snacks promote thirst, which in turn leads to more sales. Even if you serve “unsalted” dry snacks, people eating them tend to consume more beverages than they would with “wetter” foods.
So how much of the snack mix should you serve? A good rule of thumb is to have one pound of dry snacks for every fifteen people in attendance. You can adjust that figure up or down based on the specific preferences of your group and what you are trying to accomplish with your reception. If nothing else is being served to eat, then you will need more – I’ll usually go with an estimate of ten people per pound in such cases. If you are providing a lot of other food choices, you may be able to get away with twenty people or more per pound. Knowing your group’s preferences will help you gauge how much you need to adjust the figure, too.
For receptions following meetings, dry snack mixes are often chosen because they are usually cheaper than providing other fare. In fact, they can even be cheaper than basic cheese platters or plates of fruit or vegetables and dips – but be sure to double check the venue’s pricing. You may not save as much as you think. Another reason for providing dry snacks is the same as any bar – to drive up drink sales (of all beverages). This could help you meet a minimum sales requirement for a cash bar.
The main reason, though, that I have come across for serving dry snacks instead of other reception items is to discourage people from making the reception their dinner. I have talked before about how much food to serve at a reception and how many different items to provide. If you recall, one of the dangers with receptions is that attendees may try to make the reception their dinner. Many reception items can easily be made into a dinner for someone – not so with dry snacks. Yes, they can still make it dinner, but it is more of a stretch for them to do so. Serving dry snack mixes is a good way to encourage people to leave the reception to find dinner.
Regardless of your reasons for choosing dry snacks for your event, though, start with a ratio of one pound of snacks per 15 people and you should have a decent estimate of how many snacks you will need to provide.
~ Karl Baur, CMP • Project Director, RDL enterprises
For receptions following meetings, dry snack mixes are often chosen because they are usually cheaper than providing other fare. In fact, they can even be cheaper than basic cheese platters or plates of fruit or vegetables and dips – but be sure to double check the venue’s pricing. You may not save as much as you think. Another reason for providing dry snacks is the same as any bar – to drive up drink sales (of all beverages). This could help you meet a minimum sales requirement for a cash bar.
The main reason, though, that I have come across for serving dry snacks instead of other reception items is to discourage people from making the reception their dinner. I have talked before about how much food to serve at a reception and how many different items to provide. If you recall, one of the dangers with receptions is that attendees may try to make the reception their dinner. Many reception items can easily be made into a dinner for someone – not so with dry snacks. Yes, they can still make it dinner, but it is more of a stretch for them to do so. Serving dry snack mixes is a good way to encourage people to leave the reception to find dinner.
Regardless of your reasons for choosing dry snacks for your event, though, start with a ratio of one pound of snacks per 15 people and you should have a decent estimate of how many snacks you will need to provide.
~ Karl Baur, CMP • Project Director, RDL enterprises
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Planning a Gala Event
I recently finished planning an annual conference in Washington, DC. The last day of the conference my client held a gala dinner for 200 people. Being their conference planner, I coordinated the gala logistics including; venue location, contract negotiation, room arrangements, décor, transportation, audio-visual, food and beverage arrangements, tracked the budget, and hired a DJ, just to name of few responsibilities for this type of event.
During the planning stages, the venue required an itinerary so their staff can accommodate the flow of the banquet dinner. In this case, my client wanted to do an awards ceremony, announcements, fundraise, and a comedy show. The comedian was also our emcee. It takes time to coordinate the minute details for the agenda to maintain the quality and value of the event.
Here are some tips to create a program and schedule a flow for the event…
In creating the program handout, it’s important to thank all of your sponsors. For the content of the program, start with the title of the event and whom it is hosted by. Use a classic font like, Lucida Calligraphy or Monotype Corsiva. Then, start with the timing of the event. 7 pm is typical for gala dinners and would start with a welcome cocktail hour. Next is dinner, usually an hour after the welcome reception. At 8:00 pm, we moved them into the ballroom or main function area where the presentation begins and the first course has already been pre-served. Then, it’s on to the awards ceremony, a comedian skit, and a special guest presentation. At 8:00pm the entrée was being served. That can take up to an hour. Following the banquet dinner, we had our presenter’s finish off the awards and make a short fundraiser speech. Coffee and dessert were then served during the last presentation. Around 10:00 pm, we closed with a thank you and reminded everyone to stay and celebrate. This was the entertainment part and included a DJ for dancing. During the program schedule, when there were gaps, the DJ would play background music to comfort the silence.
If you can believe it, this type of event has its share of anxiety. The part that has a certain level of stress isn’t selecting the venue, or arranging of the gala agenda and who goes where, what time is what, do we have awards, no… It’s when it all goes live. It’s crossing your fingers the schedule of event works and works with the venue staff. If the hors d’oeuvres are exactly the way you ordered them, if the food is going to taste good, and mostly, if people show up. Then, are people going to show up? Are we ready for them to show up? Will there be more people that show up? Will there be fewer? Did I order enough food? Did I order too much? Make sure to smile. Are we within budget? Does the DJ have the agenda? Do I need to feed him or her? All the while, making sure to greet everyone, including the VIP guests. Can you imagine the pressure?
Indeed it is a lot of anxiety and you barely get to enjoy the great meal but that’s the life of a planner. We wear many hats and put out fires when no one is looking. In the end, the Gala was a huge success and people had fun. That is the reward. Being organized is one of the key elements of planning a successful event. Although, you can’t expect it to go perfectly, you can manage whatever gets in the way of running a smooth event. When all is said and done and someone says thank you, you know you did a good job.
Tess Conrad • Meeting and Conference Planner, RDL enterprises
During the planning stages, the venue required an itinerary so their staff can accommodate the flow of the banquet dinner. In this case, my client wanted to do an awards ceremony, announcements, fundraise, and a comedy show. The comedian was also our emcee. It takes time to coordinate the minute details for the agenda to maintain the quality and value of the event.
Here are some tips to create a program and schedule a flow for the event…
In creating the program handout, it’s important to thank all of your sponsors. For the content of the program, start with the title of the event and whom it is hosted by. Use a classic font like, Lucida Calligraphy or Monotype Corsiva. Then, start with the timing of the event. 7 pm is typical for gala dinners and would start with a welcome cocktail hour. Next is dinner, usually an hour after the welcome reception. At 8:00 pm, we moved them into the ballroom or main function area where the presentation begins and the first course has already been pre-served. Then, it’s on to the awards ceremony, a comedian skit, and a special guest presentation. At 8:00pm the entrée was being served. That can take up to an hour. Following the banquet dinner, we had our presenter’s finish off the awards and make a short fundraiser speech. Coffee and dessert were then served during the last presentation. Around 10:00 pm, we closed with a thank you and reminded everyone to stay and celebrate. This was the entertainment part and included a DJ for dancing. During the program schedule, when there were gaps, the DJ would play background music to comfort the silence.
If you can believe it, this type of event has its share of anxiety. The part that has a certain level of stress isn’t selecting the venue, or arranging of the gala agenda and who goes where, what time is what, do we have awards, no… It’s when it all goes live. It’s crossing your fingers the schedule of event works and works with the venue staff. If the hors d’oeuvres are exactly the way you ordered them, if the food is going to taste good, and mostly, if people show up. Then, are people going to show up? Are we ready for them to show up? Will there be more people that show up? Will there be fewer? Did I order enough food? Did I order too much? Make sure to smile. Are we within budget? Does the DJ have the agenda? Do I need to feed him or her? All the while, making sure to greet everyone, including the VIP guests. Can you imagine the pressure?
Indeed it is a lot of anxiety and you barely get to enjoy the great meal but that’s the life of a planner. We wear many hats and put out fires when no one is looking. In the end, the Gala was a huge success and people had fun. That is the reward. Being organized is one of the key elements of planning a successful event. Although, you can’t expect it to go perfectly, you can manage whatever gets in the way of running a smooth event. When all is said and done and someone says thank you, you know you did a good job.
Tess Conrad • Meeting and Conference Planner, RDL enterprises
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
How do I make sure that people who come late to my reception still get something to eat?
This can certainly be a problem with some groups. I used to work with one group (no names!) where, if all of their food was put out at the beginning of a two-hour reception, it would all be gone in the first 15 minutes. When you do not have the budget to simply add more food, this can be a serious problem. Here are a couple of ideas for dealing with that…
My favorite tactic is to distribute the food service throughout the evening. Instead of having the hotel put all of my reception items out at the start of the reception, I will have them put out one half or even one third of the total out at the beginning. Then, at previously determined intervals, the banquet staff brings out more food. This gives the illusion that you have added more food and forces people to slow down a bit in their consumption, allowing the latecomers to have a chance to try all of the wonderful items the hotel has prepared. You, as the meeting planner, do have to monitor this process closely as you may need to adjust the timing and/or amounts of food that are brought out each time.
Another solution is to have servers circulate through the room with your hors d’oeuvres on platters. This approach also has its advantages over the “put everything out at once” method. You can control how often the servers make their rounds of the room and you can have them make sure that they get to everyone. Another benefit is that people tend to take less from a server’s tray than when they can simply walk up to a table and load up a plate. This is partially due to the fact that there is an “observer”, which makes people more conscious of how much they take, but is mostly due to the fact that the attendee typically does not have a plate, so they are forced to eat items as they pick them up. By the time they have eaten the items they have selected, the server has moved on to other guests. As an added bonus, your guests have the treat of having someone serve them, which always makes a good impression for your event.
Notice that, in both cases, we did not order more food. We can ensure that more people get to sample the food provided…without spending more money on the reception. And our clients’ guests still experience an enjoyable reception. However, these tactics do not work 100% of the time. There are times when we are still stuck with either purchasing more food for the reception or telling people there is no more food to be had. In spite of this, we have used both approaches successfully on many occasions and they remain strong tools in our toolbox. Do not leave them out of yours!
- Karl Baur, CMP • Project Director
My favorite tactic is to distribute the food service throughout the evening. Instead of having the hotel put all of my reception items out at the start of the reception, I will have them put out one half or even one third of the total out at the beginning. Then, at previously determined intervals, the banquet staff brings out more food. This gives the illusion that you have added more food and forces people to slow down a bit in their consumption, allowing the latecomers to have a chance to try all of the wonderful items the hotel has prepared. You, as the meeting planner, do have to monitor this process closely as you may need to adjust the timing and/or amounts of food that are brought out each time.
Another solution is to have servers circulate through the room with your hors d’oeuvres on platters. This approach also has its advantages over the “put everything out at once” method. You can control how often the servers make their rounds of the room and you can have them make sure that they get to everyone. Another benefit is that people tend to take less from a server’s tray than when they can simply walk up to a table and load up a plate. This is partially due to the fact that there is an “observer”, which makes people more conscious of how much they take, but is mostly due to the fact that the attendee typically does not have a plate, so they are forced to eat items as they pick them up. By the time they have eaten the items they have selected, the server has moved on to other guests. As an added bonus, your guests have the treat of having someone serve them, which always makes a good impression for your event.
Notice that, in both cases, we did not order more food. We can ensure that more people get to sample the food provided…without spending more money on the reception. And our clients’ guests still experience an enjoyable reception. However, these tactics do not work 100% of the time. There are times when we are still stuck with either purchasing more food for the reception or telling people there is no more food to be had. In spite of this, we have used both approaches successfully on many occasions and they remain strong tools in our toolbox. Do not leave them out of yours!
- Karl Baur, CMP • Project Director
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Ordering Items "On Consumption"
In previous posts, I’ve mentioned a few ways to gain a measure of control over your F&B budget at your meetings, conferences, and events. Ordering some of your items “on consumption” is another easy way to manage your costs.
“On consumption” is a term that essentially means that you only pay for what your attendees actually take or consume, instead of paying for everything that the hotel puts out for them to choose from. When you order sodas “on consumption” for your group of 40 people, for example, the hotel might put out 40 cans but, if only 15 sodas are taken by your participants, then you only pay the hotel for those 15 instead of the 40 they put out on the table. When you scale this up to a large event, the potential savings can be huge. But, before you get too excited about the possibilities, please bear in mind that there are a few limits as to what this can be applied to.
This approach really only works with pre-packaged items that do not spoil or otherwise become unsafe to serve again at a later date. For example: bottles or cans of soda, water, or other beverages; candy or snack bars; ice cream bars; or bags of chips or nuts – these are all good candidates for being ordered “on consumption”. The hotel can take any "left over" items and sell them to another group. Whole fruit is also often a viable possibility as well (they come pre-packaged by nature) as there are many uses for fruit that the hotel can take advantage of before they spoil.
It cannot be done with items such as pastries, breads, carving stations, coffee or tea, fresh-baked cookies, etc. These items, once made for you, are yours. The hotel cannot repackage them to sell (or give!) to another group – in fact, in many cases, they legally are forbidden from doing so.
So what about the other end of the spectrum? What if the group decides to take a lot more that what we can pay for? Let’s use our group of 40 people as the example again. To prevent our example group from taking way more than what we are prepared (or able) to pay for, we set an upper limit with the hotel. By instructing them to put out no more than 45 sodas, we have effectively capped the total amount that we would have to pay for these drinks – which means we can know with certainty how much of our budget is committed to this item.
As a meeting planner, wise use of “on consumption” can really help you to manage your F&B budget – but you have to ask for it. Few catering departments will offer it to you. As always, though, the hotel is your partner in this. Work with them to determine which of their F&B items are best suited to order “on consumption” and which items are best suited for your group and their needs.
- Karl Baur, CMP, Project Director
“On consumption” is a term that essentially means that you only pay for what your attendees actually take or consume, instead of paying for everything that the hotel puts out for them to choose from. When you order sodas “on consumption” for your group of 40 people, for example, the hotel might put out 40 cans but, if only 15 sodas are taken by your participants, then you only pay the hotel for those 15 instead of the 40 they put out on the table. When you scale this up to a large event, the potential savings can be huge. But, before you get too excited about the possibilities, please bear in mind that there are a few limits as to what this can be applied to.
This approach really only works with pre-packaged items that do not spoil or otherwise become unsafe to serve again at a later date. For example: bottles or cans of soda, water, or other beverages; candy or snack bars; ice cream bars; or bags of chips or nuts – these are all good candidates for being ordered “on consumption”. The hotel can take any "left over" items and sell them to another group. Whole fruit is also often a viable possibility as well (they come pre-packaged by nature) as there are many uses for fruit that the hotel can take advantage of before they spoil.
It cannot be done with items such as pastries, breads, carving stations, coffee or tea, fresh-baked cookies, etc. These items, once made for you, are yours. The hotel cannot repackage them to sell (or give!) to another group – in fact, in many cases, they legally are forbidden from doing so.
So what about the other end of the spectrum? What if the group decides to take a lot more that what we can pay for? Let’s use our group of 40 people as the example again. To prevent our example group from taking way more than what we are prepared (or able) to pay for, we set an upper limit with the hotel. By instructing them to put out no more than 45 sodas, we have effectively capped the total amount that we would have to pay for these drinks – which means we can know with certainty how much of our budget is committed to this item.
As a meeting planner, wise use of “on consumption” can really help you to manage your F&B budget – but you have to ask for it. Few catering departments will offer it to you. As always, though, the hotel is your partner in this. Work with them to determine which of their F&B items are best suited to order “on consumption” and which items are best suited for your group and their needs.
- Karl Baur, CMP, Project Director
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Budget Busters 101: Open Bars
Those are two words that can make your meeting planner cringe – especially if you have a limited budget for your event. Legal issues aside, having an open bar means that you have relinquished control of your budget and placed it the hands of your guests. They will decide how much money you are going to spend, not you, and they (typically) care the least about the final bill.
But, you say, my folks won’t order many drinks, so I can easily cover them. Perhaps, but many people will get more of something when it is free (to them) than if they have to pay for it. I have seen a lot of people who would normally buy just one drink have four or five drinks when someone else is picking up the tab. Get a large enough group of those people together and say good-bye to your budget…
The easiest way to control this is to simply have a “no-host” or “cash” bar instead of an open bar. With this method, your attendees pay for their own drinks. At most, you may have to pay a bartender fee (if your group orders very few drinks). And, if they do drink more than you expect, that may even result in the bartender fee being waived.
Now, I know what some of you are going to say, that you want to make your reception guests feel particularly welcome and that you do not want them to have to pay for their drinks. There is a way to accomplish this, too, without giving up control of the purse strings: tickets. This is a hybrid approach in some respects. What you do is give each attendee one or two tickets. They then use those tickets to “purchase” drinks at your event. Sometimes, the price of a soda or bottled water is one ticket, while alcoholic drinks are two tickets. Other times, one ticket buys you any drink of your choice. If an attendee wants to have more drinks, they can either purchase them from the bar or go to a ticket station to purchase more tickets. Exactly how this is set this up is not the key – that you set it up is the key.
We typically recommend to clients who want to have alcohol at a reception that they go with a cash bar as this has the least financial impact on their budget. But when we have clients who do want to have an open bar, we encourage them to use tickets instead. It allows them to still be a “good host”, providing a drink or two to each of their guests, while still keeping the event budget under control. They go into their event knowing the maximum number of drinks they will be paying for and, since we negotiate for it ahead of time, how much each drink will cost them.
- Karl Baur, CMP, Project Director
But, you say, my folks won’t order many drinks, so I can easily cover them. Perhaps, but many people will get more of something when it is free (to them) than if they have to pay for it. I have seen a lot of people who would normally buy just one drink have four or five drinks when someone else is picking up the tab. Get a large enough group of those people together and say good-bye to your budget…
The easiest way to control this is to simply have a “no-host” or “cash” bar instead of an open bar. With this method, your attendees pay for their own drinks. At most, you may have to pay a bartender fee (if your group orders very few drinks). And, if they do drink more than you expect, that may even result in the bartender fee being waived.
Now, I know what some of you are going to say, that you want to make your reception guests feel particularly welcome and that you do not want them to have to pay for their drinks. There is a way to accomplish this, too, without giving up control of the purse strings: tickets. This is a hybrid approach in some respects. What you do is give each attendee one or two tickets. They then use those tickets to “purchase” drinks at your event. Sometimes, the price of a soda or bottled water is one ticket, while alcoholic drinks are two tickets. Other times, one ticket buys you any drink of your choice. If an attendee wants to have more drinks, they can either purchase them from the bar or go to a ticket station to purchase more tickets. Exactly how this is set this up is not the key – that you set it up is the key.
We typically recommend to clients who want to have alcohol at a reception that they go with a cash bar as this has the least financial impact on their budget. But when we have clients who do want to have an open bar, we encourage them to use tickets instead. It allows them to still be a “good host”, providing a drink or two to each of their guests, while still keeping the event budget under control. They go into their event knowing the maximum number of drinks they will be paying for and, since we negotiate for it ahead of time, how much each drink will cost them.
- Karl Baur, CMP, Project Director
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Reception Tip
Limit the number of different items that are served at your reception.
In an earlier post, I gave a brief response to the question of how much food to serve at a reception. Once you have determined how many “pieces” you need to have at your reception, you can start deciding what to serve at your reception. Most hotels and caterers have an extensive selection of reception items available to choose from and it is easy to go overboard and serve a little bit of everything. Resist that temptation!
One of the interesting things about receptions is that when you give your attendees a lot of choices of what to eat, they tend to choose everything. If you have ten different items to choose from, people will walk away from the food table with at least one of each item served on their plate. After they have nibbled on those items, they will go back for more of the items they particularly liked. Sometimes, they even do this without having finished what they took the first time! As the organizer, that can be very frustrating to see. To minimize this, we recommend that our clients limit the number of different items served at their receptions, usually to no more than four or five. That allows for a nice variety of items to be served, while reducing the “take one of everything” mentality to manageable levels.
For a small group, we’ll usually go with one meat item, one vegetarian item, and one cheese and crackers “item”. As the group increases in size, we’ll expand our choices from there to include one or two more items. No matter how large the group gets, though, we typically do not have more than five different items available. We would rather have more pieces of fewer items (so everyone can get some) than fewer pieces of many items (that the early birds are going to pick clean before everyone can get some). And, of course, what we choose to serve a particular group depends heavily on the preferences of that group. After all, you want the group to enjoy the food you’ve chosen for them, so don’t serve a meat item to an all-vegetarian group – no matter how much you may like meat dishes!
- Karl Baur, CMP
In an earlier post, I gave a brief response to the question of how much food to serve at a reception. Once you have determined how many “pieces” you need to have at your reception, you can start deciding what to serve at your reception. Most hotels and caterers have an extensive selection of reception items available to choose from and it is easy to go overboard and serve a little bit of everything. Resist that temptation!
One of the interesting things about receptions is that when you give your attendees a lot of choices of what to eat, they tend to choose everything. If you have ten different items to choose from, people will walk away from the food table with at least one of each item served on their plate. After they have nibbled on those items, they will go back for more of the items they particularly liked. Sometimes, they even do this without having finished what they took the first time! As the organizer, that can be very frustrating to see. To minimize this, we recommend that our clients limit the number of different items served at their receptions, usually to no more than four or five. That allows for a nice variety of items to be served, while reducing the “take one of everything” mentality to manageable levels.
For a small group, we’ll usually go with one meat item, one vegetarian item, and one cheese and crackers “item”. As the group increases in size, we’ll expand our choices from there to include one or two more items. No matter how large the group gets, though, we typically do not have more than five different items available. We would rather have more pieces of fewer items (so everyone can get some) than fewer pieces of many items (that the early birds are going to pick clean before everyone can get some). And, of course, what we choose to serve a particular group depends heavily on the preferences of that group. After all, you want the group to enjoy the food you’ve chosen for them, so don’t serve a meat item to an all-vegetarian group – no matter how much you may like meat dishes!
- Karl Baur, CMP
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Receptions Q&A: “I want to have a reception during my conference. How much food do I need to serve?”
This is a tough one to answer concretely since much of the answer depends on knowing the group of people who will be attending. Fortunately, there are some guidelines that we use to give us a ballpark estimate of how many hors d’oeuvres need to be served at a reception.
Let’s assume that your reception will be going on for one hour and that you are serving dinner afterwards. A range of five to seven pieces* per person is considered moderate consumption, so a reception for 100 people would need 500-700 pieces. Write that range down! 5-7 pieces/person. This is where you begin.
If you are doing a reception/dinner combination, then you could simply stop there. However, many receptions do not fit that model completely, so let’s look at two other factors that we need to also take into account.
Length of reception: For any reception under two hours, we do not need to make any adjustment based on this factor. So what about receptions longer than two hours? My rule of thumb is to increase the amount of food served by 50% for each additional hour, to a maximum of +100%. So, if our reception for 100 people was scheduled to be three hours long, I would need to order 750-1,050 pieces.
Dinner not provided: If you are not providing dinner following a reception, many attendees will make it their dinner! This means that you need to plan for more food. I usually increase my order by 50% when dinner is not provided, which means 7-11 pieces per person.
Once you have taken these two factors into account, you still are left with a range and not a single number. This is where you adjust for the specifics of your group. A group that wants a heavier reception would be at the top end of the range (if not beyond it!), while a group of light eaters would be at the lower end of the range.
This is just a quick overview of food ordering for receptions. In future installments, we’ll look at tips and tricks for getting the most out of your reception budget.
- Karl Baur, CMP, Project Director
* A “piece” is usually defined as a single item, often bite-sized, that a guest would take to eat. So, if you order five dozen eggrolls, each eggroll is considered to be a piece and you would have sixty “pieces” in your order.
Let’s assume that your reception will be going on for one hour and that you are serving dinner afterwards. A range of five to seven pieces* per person is considered moderate consumption, so a reception for 100 people would need 500-700 pieces. Write that range down! 5-7 pieces/person. This is where you begin.
If you are doing a reception/dinner combination, then you could simply stop there. However, many receptions do not fit that model completely, so let’s look at two other factors that we need to also take into account.
Length of reception: For any reception under two hours, we do not need to make any adjustment based on this factor. So what about receptions longer than two hours? My rule of thumb is to increase the amount of food served by 50% for each additional hour, to a maximum of +100%. So, if our reception for 100 people was scheduled to be three hours long, I would need to order 750-1,050 pieces.
Dinner not provided: If you are not providing dinner following a reception, many attendees will make it their dinner! This means that you need to plan for more food. I usually increase my order by 50% when dinner is not provided, which means 7-11 pieces per person.
Once you have taken these two factors into account, you still are left with a range and not a single number. This is where you adjust for the specifics of your group. A group that wants a heavier reception would be at the top end of the range (if not beyond it!), while a group of light eaters would be at the lower end of the range.
This is just a quick overview of food ordering for receptions. In future installments, we’ll look at tips and tricks for getting the most out of your reception budget.
- Karl Baur, CMP, Project Director
* A “piece” is usually defined as a single item, often bite-sized, that a guest would take to eat. So, if you order five dozen eggrolls, each eggroll is considered to be a piece and you would have sixty “pieces” in your order.
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