Once you've documented your meeting's history and upcoming requirements, contact convention/visitor bureaus in the areas you're considering. Request information on: hotels and convention centers, travel accessibility, bureau services, climate, shopping, tours, holidays, and the costs and advantages of off-season meetings.

SITE INSPECTION

A personal visit to the sites you're considering is vital. Most convention bureaus will be happy to help you set one up. Bring along at least one other knowledgeable person for a second viewpoint.

A typical site inspection committee might have these responsibilities: work directly with the convention bureaus, convention centers and hotels of the sites in question; collect essential data on the site and provide all information about your group to sites; narrow down the choices based on each site's responses; make site inspection visits; make recommendations on which site to select; make initial commitments to hotels and convention centers; and handle all arrangements for sleeping rooms and functions rooms.

One point to consider here, you may want to appoint a 'Chapter Meeting Planner' who will hold this position for more than one year. This person can be invaluable in creating a history of your chapter conventions and help in the negotiating process.

Allow at least one year, perhaps two, prior to the meeting date to conduct the site inspection. A hint: try to schedule your site inspections as close to the time of year you'll be holding your meeting, for an authentic feel of the place as your chapter members will actually find it.

HOTEL NEGOTIATIONS

Like site selection, negotiating with hotels begins with research. To begin with, you'll want to know the rack rates (official, posted rates) of the hotels you're considering. You may want to negotiate a single group rate, called a flat rate, for all rooms. For example, $100.00 per room, single or double. Also, ask the government room rate and determine whether it would be beneficial to use this rate.

Other terms you should be familiar with are: Full American Plan, in which the room rate includes three full meals; Modified American Plan, a room rate that includes breakfast and dinner; and European Plan, in which no meals are included in the room rate.

Hotel and convention bureaus can put you in touch with meeting planners who have recently brought in groups similar to yours to the hotels you're considering. These planners are invaluable resources. Most will be glad to share information on prevailing and unanticipated costs, the quality of sleeping and meeting rooms, the food, the staff, and room service - all valuable facts for your negotiations and planning.

Negotiate for the best possible group room rate. Also, don't forget to ask about the comp room policy, some hotels offer 1/50, others 1/100. Some may base their comp policy on your meeting's total "room nights" (for example: 50 rooms blocked for three nights equals 150 'room nights'.) Or, they may be given based on the greatest number of rooms occupied on a specific night of the meeting. You can see how important it is to understand exactly how a property figures its complimentary room policy. Also, it is quite common to be able to receive a complimentary suite for the duration of the meeting, over and above the 1/50 or 1/100 comp rooms.

Take plenty of notes, and don't be afraid to ask questionsÑnow, or anytime in the planning process. Negotiation should be viewed as a collaborative process among professionals; nothing more, nothing less.

Negotiable items

Like any other business, hotels must be permitted to make a fair profit on what they sell - rooms first and foremost, with food and beverage a substantial second source of income. Understand also that everythinh - services, equipment rentals, complimentary rooms, pre and post convention room rates - is negotiable.

As an alternative to price concessions, you may be able to negotiate extra services from the hotel, as well as extra meeting or exhibit space, that will more than make up for the price you pay. For example, you could ask for free meeting space or exhibit space in exchange for a certain number of room nights booked.

Also, keep in mind, on a national level at NAPUS we require that corkage fees in the hospitality suites be waived. Be sure if this is important to you that you ask for this up front and do not continue negotiations if you cannot live with the answer.

An item that could be useful, ask what incentives there might be if you negotiate with the same hotel chain, not necessarily in the same location, for several years in a row. For example, you may want to contact the National Sales Office of the Holiday Inn Corporation (or any national hotel chain) and let them know you will be willing to plan the next five chapter conventions at their properties an ask what they might offer for that piece of business. This same practice can work just as well with rental car companies and airlines.

SITE INFORMATION

Here's the kind of information you should expect your site to furnish for your planning:

- A detailed description of the number and type of accommodations you will have for your

meeting.

- Function area floor plans

- A list of technical equipment, audiovisual equipment, available and price list.

- A complete description of the property's restaurants, sports facilities, entertainment areas

and shops.

- Information about special rules or regulations regarding licenses, taxes, beverage

control, union contracts, automatic charges, gratuities, and anything else that might be

pertinent to your meeting.

CREATING A PARTNERSHIP

Once a hotel or convention center has been selected and contracts have been signed, give the site executive an authorization sheet listing the names, addresses, phone numbers and responsibilities of all the people in your chapter with whom he or she will be dealing.

Once initial contracts have been made and confirmed, you will want to plan in-person briefing sessions with the site executive to outline specific needs for each function.

PRE-CONVENTION BRIEFING

The purpose of a pre-convention briefing is to reconfirm - not to establish or communicate- meeting requirements. Us the pre-conventions briefing as a final and extremely important checkpoint for information already communicated.

You will usually plan the pre-con briefing one-two days prior to the start of your meeting. Review all function sheets; room and floor number for each event; the time each room should be set-up, the time each function begins and ends; expected attendance; and the person in charge.

MEETING AND FUNCTION ROOMS

Hotels consider a number of factors in negotiating function room fees, including the total number of sleeping rooms you've booked and the projected volume of food and beverage consumption through room service, hospitality suites and restaurants.

One formula that is sometimes used to set function room charges is the 'room pick-up' approach. A group's history may indicate, for example, that 200 units (sleeping rooms and suites) will be occupied during its convention. An agreement can be made, then that the actual number of occupied units falls below 200 (or another mutually agreed number), some charges for function rooms will be made. Be aware, if you are holding a food and beverage function in a function room, there should not be any charge for the room rental.

FURTHER CONVENTION PLANNING

Please feel free to call Gerri Swarm at the national office to discuss any of the information included in this handout or any of the items listed below. The phone number is (703) 683-9027. There are so many aspects to negotiating for and planning a chapter convention, and there is assistance available.

- Program Planning

- Promotion and Publicity

- Housing and Reservations

- Registration

- Food and Beverage

- Audio Visuals

- Exhibits

- Gratuities

- Accounting, Contracts, Insurance