Successful Meetings - December 2007 - (Page 51)

become an annoyance; I surveyed 300 people, and 12 made a comment about Internet access charges. All-you-can-eat Internet should be free everywhere—they should just make it part of the rate while you’re in the hotel.” “Internet access is like electricity; no one wants to pay for it because you can’t touch it or see it,” says Jeff Fahie, director of convention services for the San Jose Fairmont, which charges for Internet access in meeting rooms and in guest rooms. But like many supposedly fixed prices, meeting planners have a workaround. “With our President’s Club, you can join for free, and get free Internet access in guest rooms,” says Fahie. “So meeting planners actually promote joining to delegates in their e-mails and brochures.” Speaking of prices, the meeting planner suggests a few strategies to limit potentially expensive visits to the business SUCCESSFUL MEETINGS DECEMBER 2007 center. “Negotiate your rates in advance, even copy or fax prices, so you and your delegates don’t get any unpleasant surprises.” She also urges planners to be sure to get a good, heavy-duty copier, printer, and fax machine for your “war room.” Ultimately, she says, “The business center needs to expand out of its walls. There need to be convenient computers for Internet access in lobbies.” meeting space is located. Now “we’re easily doing 40-percent more service,” says Fahie. As the property relocated the business center, it also invested in six brandnew computers, along with faxes, printers, and a high-end copier. The center is staffed from 7 AM to 6 PM, with key access afterward. “A business center needs to be accessible 24 hours a day; people expect to be able to get on a computer at three in the morning,” says Fahie. “And you’d be surprised at how many people still need the business center to get their e-mail. We deal with a lot of associations, like teachers and nurses groups, who don’t travel with laptops or BlackBerrys.” Although you’ll pay for them, the business center even offers services like word processing and table formatting, as well as binding, printing, and shipping. “It’s difficult to compete with the Kinko’s two blocks away,” says Fahie, “but the convenience of SOME OF THE BEST Most hotel business centers are reminiscent of the cubicle back home. But that’s not always the case. Here are some of the more noteworthy centers that offer more than just a PC and a printer. The Fairmont San Jose, an 800-room hotel with 65,000 square feet of meeting space, takes a very hands-on approach. Early in 2007, the Fairmont’s little-used lobby business center was moved up to the banquet level, where all the hotel’s mimegasite.com 51 http://mimegasite.com

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Successful Meetings - December 2007 Contents Editor's Note Special Report Research Industry Trends 2008 Meeting Events Planner Spotlight Websites of the Month Mouth for Sale Technology Talk Food & Beverage Pre-Event On Site Pre-Event Tools of the Trade Goodbye, Booth Babes Five Tips to Improve Your Golf Events When Crime Pays Office for Hire More Miles for Your Money Places & Spaces South Florida Biloxi / Mississippi Gulf Coast Fort Worth Monterey Beijing Gurus Special Supplement: Hawaii Island-by-Island Guide

Successful Meetings - December 2007

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