Meeting News - March 24, 2008 - (Page 54)

Cover Story Schwarzenegger continued from cover ings to be held at locations at or near headquarters offices. Sally Sbisa-Daugherty, treasurer for the Society of Government Meeting Professionals’ Sacramento chapter, said government planners are concerned by the order. If it only extends to June 30, it shouldn’t have too much of an impact, she said. But if the cuts extend into the fall and winter, or even into 2009, “then we would most likely feel a significant impact,” said Sbisa-Daugherty, who is also regional director of sales for the Pacifica Hotel Company. Schwarzenegger said he expected the order to be a substantial step in rectifying the budget crisis. “I think that we can get another $100 million of cuts out of it when we go in that direction,” he said. “So everyone is working together to make this happen. We want to make sure that come July 1 we are on good financial footing, that we have the money, and that we don’t run out of cash and all of those kinds of things.” Jeroen Gerrese, president of Regent Hospitality Services in Sacramento, said he wasn’t surprised by the governor’s action, considering the entire country’s current economic state. “Any directive that businesses or government agencies give to cut back on meetings is not good news, clearly, but it is understandable because “Any directive that businesses or government agencies give to cut back on meetings is not good news, clearly, but it is understandable because everybody is taking strategic action because of the downturn. —Jeroen Gerrese, president, Regent Hospitality Services ” everybody is taking strategic action because of the downturn,” Gerrese said.“I would be joining a long list of hoteliers and restaurateurs that would be disappointed.” Gerrese said he is worried about the possibility that this cutback will impact contracts signed by the government for events at his property later in the year. He said that although he wouldn’t normally A Sharp Wake-Up Call For Gift-Card Holders New York—When Sharper Image filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last month, it left owners of the high-end retailer’s gift cards worried that the monies they had tied up in the plastic had become worthless. Then, two weeks after suspending the cards, the company began accepting them. But there were caveats: The cards could only be used in full, and to buy items costing double the card’s value—making them more like coupons. And, as more retailers may face similar financial woes in the face of a sputtering economy, Sharper Image cardholders will likely not be the last gift-card recipients left holding the short end of the plastic. Financial services research and advisory firm TowerGroup, based in Needham, MA, reported that shoppers could lose more than $75 million this year from store and restaurant closings. But planners have other gift-card options, such as those from institutions like American Express or Visa—instead of those tied to just one retailer— called open-loop or network-branded cards. Such cards are beneficial because they “have three areas of oversight: the issuing bank; the brands of Visa, Amex, etc.; and government regulators,” said Paul Tomasofsky, CEO of the Network Branded Prepaid Card Association. But George Delta, counsel to the Naples, FL-based Incentive Federation, said: “The cautionary tale here is ‘with whom do you partner?’Make sure you understand your partners’financial footing.” —Alex Palmer want too much government business in good times because of the lower amount of revenue it generates, he counts on government events in bad economic times. “When a mandate comes out, that’s almost a double whammy,” Gerrese said. Robin Torre, director of sales for Humphrey’s Half Moon Inn & Suites in San Diego, said she also doesn’t rely too much on government meetings because the rates are lower. But according to her, many hotels will be greatly impacted by the order. “Meetings and government is a big percentage of the business for a certain market of hotels,” she said. Torre stressed the importance of meetings and training for government officials in learning their job tasks properly and suggested some other area of the state’s budget be cut instead. “If they want to continue to stay current and up to date, people need to get the information across to each other,” Torre said. Emily Schroeder, president of the Society of Government Meeting Professionals’ Sacramento chapter, said she saw a trend toward meeting budget cuts even before Schwarzenegger’s order. “I was recently at the Department of Aging,” said Schroeder, who is currently a planner for the California State Sheriffs’ Association. “Before I left [the department], we were going through the ‘will we, won’t we have training?’ question. If it comes out of the general fund, the first thing that gets cut is training.” Schroeder said the state had been sending people in shifts to her meetings in order to save money on mandatory training. She has tried to keep meetings costs as low as possible by having registration fees pay for food and hotel accommodations, she said. “Like anything, meeting planners have to be fiscally smart,” Schroeder said. Schroeder said at least 10 planners she has spoken to are feeling the pinch. “It’s a very precarious position to put the meeting planners in because they’re putting themselves and their reputations on the line,” she said. Overall, many government meeting planners have been lost in the past three or four years, Schroeder said. She said she wonders how this next year will progress. r Preview the entirely new Williamsburg Lodge at 54 MeetingNews March 24, 2008 www.meetingnews.com http://www.colonialwilliamsburgmeetings.com http://www.meetingnews.com

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