Successful Meetings - July 2009 - (Page 21)

PLANNER’S WORKSHOP gurus Hotel performance clauses help ensure a flawless event Command Performance By Nancy A. Norman President of The Norman Group LLC and author of Contract Addendums with Negotiation Techniques that Work! hen you are booking a hotel for one of your meetings, you’re expecting to have a “command performance,” aren’t you? Of course; without exception. Regardless of the market atmosphere, buyer or seller, you should still expect to have the very finest meeting possible when you have taken special care to select your meeting site. However, for whatever reason, we read in industry magazines, newspapers, and the like, every day, about conferences that were held at venues that simply did not measure up to their advertised service level or pictorial quality as expressed in their collateral. An important fact to remember, for hoteliers and planners alike, is that venues must live up to the services they profess to offer, or they can be held liable for any such false promotion of their product. Rather than getting involved in unpleasantness of any kind, accidental or not, it is more prudent to hold the hotels that you book for your meetings accountable for their services and their W property. This sense of accountability benefits both the hotel and the planner and should be viewed as a tool to enable the chosen hotel to operate at top efficiency and at its total potential. It is in this regard that I collaborated with a hotelier friend of mine many years ago to create a clause that addresses hotel performance. This clause has been accepted by all hotels in my experience, which is not surprising, as it is quite fair to all concerned. Why not put it into your addendum for your next meeting? Hotel Performance “(Name of Company) has full confidence that (Name of Hotel) will adhere to its promise of quality service pertaining to the (Name of Company) conference and its attendees’ stay at the Hotel. It is due to the very high standards of (Name of Hotel) that (Name of Company) elected to hold its event at this location. By this contract, the (Name of Company) is being held to very specific standards of performance and in all fairness, expects the Hotel to perform in like manner according to its advertised high standards. If (Name of Hotel) should fail to deliver services agreed upon in this contract or upon notification by an appropriate (Name of Company) representative, fail to cure in a timely manner a service related problem within their control having a negative impact on the conference attendees, however, the Hotel agrees to discuss with an appropriate (Name of Company) representative, a reduction in the (Name of Company) Master Bill. Any such reduction or credit would require mutual agreement by both parties. This paragraph is intended to hold (Name of Hotel) to the excellent customer service for which they have become known— nothing more, nothing less, in order to provide a successful conference for the (Name of Company) and its attendees.” The key words in the clause are in the next-to-last sentence of the clause, “Any such reduction or credit would require mutual agreement by both parties.” These are important as they represent fairness and equitability for all concerned. SM MORE ONLINE For more tips on contract addendums, visit the MiGurus page on SuccessfulMeetings.com SuccessfulMeetings.com I July 2009 I SM I 21 http://www.SuccessfulMeetings.com http://www.SuccessfulMeetings.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Successful Meetings - July 2009

Successful Meetings - July 2009
Contents
Editor's Letter
News Update
Education
Mouth for Sale
Incentive Insights
Meetings Law
Management Matters
Gurus
Path to Success
Cover Story: ROI Guide
Medical & Pharmaceutical Meetings
Safety & Security
Industry Roundtable
Places + Spaces
Alabama
Georgia & the Carolinas
Hong Kong
Melbourne
Golf Meetings
Planning a golf meeting, 101
Formats, games, prizes, and the awards ceremony
The how, what, why, and win of hole-in-one insurance
How the PGA professional can help your meeting plans
A woman’s view of golf
Opinion: The (new) perception of golf resorts
In closing: Boondoggle is not part of the golf vocabulary
Hawaii
Business Unusual
Q&A with Michael Murray
The Latest and Greatest

Successful Meetings - July 2009