Managing Meetings At: Black & Decker Corp.--Corp. Formalizing Mtgs. Policies

New policies governing meeting approval, procedures for contract negotiation and post-event billing reconciliation should create savings for Black & Decker Corp.'s meeting and travel operations, as well as allow the company to better capture meeting and group travel expenditure data.

The policies, which have been established but are awaiting formal approval before full rollout, stipulate that contracts must be approved by an executive in authority of the meeting and a Black & Decker meeting planner must examine post-event bills with the internal meeting sponsor to ensure all charges are correct, said director of travel and meeting services Pete Buchheit.

"On a direct bill from a property, we plan to go through it with a fine-tooth comb for discrepancies, and sit down with the meeting sponsor and have them do the same," Buchheit said. "If there are issues, we'll go to the vendors through the meeting planning group. You can leave a lot of money on the table if there's not proper reconciliation."

The policies on contracts prevent administrative assistants from signing documents that expose the company to too muck risk—a common theme of late among corporate meeting buyers. "We have had a little bit of that, and then we have to fix it," Buchheit said.

The decision to formalize meeting policy emerged from a desire to further compliance and offer Black & Decker meeting sponsors clear guidelines to clarify exactly what is considered compliant. "These policies are already generally followed, but when they're not, we must have a firm structure to communicate to people. We have T&E policies for transient, and now we need them for group," Buchheit said. "This came from an understanding on my part and especially from financial executives from our operating groups who understand the total cost."

Black & Decker has no specific cost-reduction target as a result of the new policy implementation, Buchheit said, though cost-avoidance through better contractual terms and reconciliation should generate savings.

Several operating groups comprise Black & Decker, and each is responsible for its own meeting budget. When contacting the meeting department with meeting proposals, the budget already must be authorized. The department, which includes two dedicated full-time planners as part of a Carlson Wagonlit Travel onsite, can offer recommendations and alternative site or property options to meeting sponsors, but there is no mandate that the sponsor must accept proposed alternatives.

Unlike some corporations that have jettisoned onsites and outsourced meetings management activities, Buchheit has no plans to do so. "We've looked several times at outsourcing, but when we do the full analysis, it makes the most sense for us to have full-time dedicated planners," he said. "If the volume is too much, then we look for outside help."

One alternative gaining traction within Black & Decker is remote conferencing, as both videoconferencing and Webconferencing consistently have grown over the past year, Buchheit said. The company has no mandates requiring the use of conferencing technology in place of meetings, but interest is on the rise.

"Videoconferencing hadn't really gone anywhere for a while but in the past couple of years, the technology has become better and less expensive," Buchheit said. "People have become more receptive to it since Sept. 11."

Black & Decker operations have grown increasingly global during the past few years, with growing facilities in several countries, including China and the Czech Republic. Trips there are expensive and difficult, Buchheit said, leading to further growth of the technologies.

What is unclear is how much the company saves through use of videoconferencing or its Webconferencing supplier WebEx Communications Inc. of San Jose, Calif. "We track WebEx utilization, but we don't know if that use is to offset face-to-face meetings or whether it's replacing not having a meeting at all," Buchheit said. "The utilization has grown monthly, but I don't want to overstate its cost-saving ability."

As well, Buchheit is planning to further develop the technological aspects of the meetings program in other ways. Black & Decker currently employs Oakland, N.J.-based Isis Corp.'s Gold System to register meetings internally, track reservations and generate rooming lists, and Buchheit would like to incorporate an online registration product into that suite. "We want to integrate what we have with the booking process and online registration and tie it in to Isis," he said. Black & Decker uses GetThere for online self-booking for transient travel, and Buchheit is examining their meetings offerings, but no final decisions have been made.

Buchheit heads both transient and meeting services, and the two sides of travel operations have a close relationship. The transient travel department handles all air and hotel fulfillment for meetings, and some transient air contracts have meeting components, he said.