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!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Something To Cheer About

Image
10,000 participants...just under 800 competing  teams ...limited spectators… 72+ hotels....health and safety  protocols.....It all came together for the successful run of the 2021 CHEERSPORT National Cheerleading Championship  at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta.    From pre-event reservations to onsite hotel support to giveaways creating a fun, welcoming environment for the athletes, the Connections team was proud to work with the CHEERSPORT team as we continue to return to live events.  CHEERSPORT is a Varsity All Star event producer, part of the Varsity Spirit family out of Memphis, TN. We had the chance to talk to Kelley Thorp, National Director of Stay Smart for Varsity All Star, about the incredible undertaking and the extensive planning, communication and behind-the-scenes organizing that she and the CHEERSPORT team put into hosting this successful event. What was the biggest challenge in hosting the live Cheersport Nationals in Atlanta?  Athlete safety continues
Read more

The Mountains Were Calling. Clarion Events Answered With Successful Live Event

Image
 Q & A with Lisa Berry, Vice President, Clarion Events Gift & Souvenir Portfolio The Clarion Events Gift & Souvenir Portfolio successfully returned to face-to-face events last month w ith the 55th annual Smoky Mountain Gift Show – known as the nation’s oldest and most respected event for the resort, gift and souvenir industry.    We had the chance to talk with Lisa Berry, vice president for the Clarion Events Gift & Souvenir Portfolio, about the team’s commitment to creating a safe environment for the show’s buyers and exhibitors, as well as key takeaways and advice for planners looking ahead to their first live events.  (Pictured:  Lisa Berry (center right) and Christina Bell (center left), Smoky Mountain Gift Show Director, flanked by JK2 Apparel exhibitors.)  Many 2020 trade shows cancelled or pivoted to virtual formats for 2020. What led to Clarion’s decision to move forward with the live edition of the Smoky Mountain Gift Show? We were really driven by cust
Read more

That's A Wrap! FDIC 2022

Image
  That’s a wrap!  Proud to partner with our client Clarion Events North America to provide housing services for the amazing fire & rescue professionals from around the world who attended the world’s largest firefighter convention last week – the  terrific FDIC International trade show at the Indianapolis Convention Center ! FDIC offers thousands of Fire & Rescue professionals from around the world, quality world-class instructors, classrooms, workshops, H.O.T. evolutions and the most innovative products and services available to the industry displayed by over 800 exhibiting companies. The FDIC Experience is more than a traditional trade show, it’s about the learning and sharing with  peers formally and informally through hallway conversations, developing life-long friendships and recharging your passion for the industry.
Read more