Why Meeting Planners Need Housing Partners

By Alicia Perez-Arrieta, CMP, Director, Client Management, Connections Housing

Before joining Connections Housing, I was a meeting planner for more than 25 years. Throughout my career I worked with groups of all sizes and never once used a housing company for my events. Knowing what I know now I can’t believe it. My life could have been so much easier!

Meeting planners have so much to worry about – from planning a program to making sure the buses are waiting outside. When you partner with a housing provider, you’re adding yet another level of service to your client offerings. Consider:

It’s Complicated.

From contracts to those ever-present room poachers and pirates, housing is a multi-faceted part of any event. Your housing partner’s expertise in this channel allows them to really drill down to cover every part of the housing equation so you can focus on other things. We monitor your room blocks and booking patterns. We make sure concessions are built into your contract. We have insights into the city and hotels and know which ones should be part of your block. We’re paying attention to the smallest detail - daily reservations, inventory, etc. – to make sure you’re completely buttoned up on the housing front.

It’s a Partnership.

Your housing partner is exactly that – a partner, an extension of your team. Here at Connections, we can customize our service offerings to represent you to the extent you want to be represented. As a full service sourcing, housing and event management firm, we can help with everything from contract negotiation to site selection.

It’s all About Collaboration.

Under your direction, guidance and parameters, we also work with convention and visitors bureaus and the national sales offices of hotels. We are not in competition with each other – or you. Rather, we represent you and can pool all our knowledge and areas of expertise to help you create a fabulous experience for your attendees.

It’s the Big Picture View.

Throughout the event cycle, we are gathering data and analyzing booking patterns to make sure everything is on track. After the event we provide comprehensive wrap-up reports with historical information that can be very valuable to you in planning your next event.

At the end of the day it’s all about providing top level service to your customer. So much more than a supplier, a housing company can help you deliver a memorable event and a positive client experience. You’ll sleep better, too!

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