Successful Meetings - January 2008 - (Page 14)

News & Analysis > Research Compared to three years ago, how would you rate your organization’s current effort to track meeting/event spending? Corporate Planners Much better 34.7 % Somewhat better 35.6% Same 28.3% Somewhat better 29.6% Much Same better 29.6% 39.1 % Wynne, who also attended the NBTA conference, notes some planners “might fear that bringing this issue forward will result in losing control of their meetings, or perhaps even looking expendable to the company.” But at one NBTA session, Cindi Ghormley, group manager of travel services for Frito Lay in Dallas, says, “We don’t want to take over meeting planning—we want to help negotiate contracts and present those [who are] planning the meetings with the tools to best do their jobs.” NBTA’s efforts to promote comprehensive travel purchasing did not end with those sessions. The group’s latest white paper, “Evaluating Strategic Meetings Management Programs,” provides sample methodologies as well as case studies from Cisco, ConocoPhilips, and PricewaterhouseCoopers. NBTA will Association Planners Somewhat worse 1.4% Somewhat worse 1.7% soon release another white paper that addresses the issues of smaller companies trying to create an SMMP. Check out www.nbta.org/research/whitepapers. For planners who want to develop a small-scale leveraged-purchasing strategy that might lead to bigger things, Wynne suggests starting an informal dialogue with the travel services or procurement depart- ment. “You can simply try to build internal partnerships one by one, and see where some of your meetings can fit into properties where the company does a lot of transient business,” she says. “My guess is that any company would applaud an employee who is acting strategically to maximize the value of its dollars.” —Robert Carey Union Campaign Sweeps Major Cities Aramark service employees affiliated with unions Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and Unite Here kicked off a campaign to increase wages and guarantee healthcare. Following the launch in Houston on Nov. 10, the campaign will target 10 cities, including Chicago, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia. According to a representative for the unions, about 500 people rallied in Houston, but the Houston Chronicle reported that 250 Aramark workers who serve at the George R. Brown Convention Center, the University of Houston, the University of St. Thomas, and Reliant Park marched. The George R. Brown Convention Center, a 1.2 million-sf facility, where 250 Aramark employees work, referred questions to an Aramark representative. The Philadelphia-based food, hospitality, and facility management services with 240,000 employees worldwide downplayed the rally. “The SEIU and Unite Here have said that they are looking to organize service workers across the country, regardless of who they work for,” says Kristine Grow, director of corporate communications for Aramark. “That is a tactic to increase their membership. They have named Aramark because we are a leader in the country and it really has absolutely nothing to do with the quality of the service that we provide or the treatment of our employees.” The Houston Chronicle reported that workers who marched in Houston claimed that at $6.30 an hour their wages are among the country’s lowest and that their healthcare is not covered. “Aramark pays very competitive wages for its industries and geographies; most of our employees, both salaried and hourly, have access to health care,” says Grow. She added that the salary figures provided by the SEIU were incorrect, but was unable to provide the actual figures. Augusto Serna, a Colombia-native who has been working with Aramark for the past three years serving banquets, says he is paid $11 an hour. He does not have health insurance or vacation and in low seasons he hardly works more than 100 hours a month. “What we want is to have a dialogue with the company,” he says. —Heidi Waldrop Bay mimegasite.com JANUARY 2008 SUCCESSFUL MEETINGS > Suppliers 14 http://www.nbta.org/research/whitepapers http://mimegasite.com

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Successful Meetings - January 2008 Contents Editor's Note Associations Research Events Suppliers Associations On the Record Associations Suppliers Planner Spotlight Websites of the Month Management Matters Meeting the Law Personal Success Mouth for Sale Food & Beverage Professional Development On Site Pre-Event Tools of the Trade Veggie Power Tennis, Anyone? Seeing is Believing The Wild Green Yonder Game On Places & Spaces Galveston & Texas Beaches Greater Seattle Singapore Gurus

Successful Meetings - January 2008

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