The Convention Industry Council recently released guidelines for meeting contracts, one of the most anticipated products of its Accepted Practices Exchange initiative. CIC president and CEO Mary Power and Apex Commission chair Theresa Breining recently spoke with BTN managing editor Chris Davis about the guidelines and technology's role in Apex's future.Meetings Today: Please describe the Apex contracts panel's guidelines.
Theresa Breining: One of the fears that people had with this is that it was going to remove the ability to negotiate, and it doesn't do any of that. It doesn't tell anybody what rates should be. It just says that if you're going to have an attrition clause, this is what it covers, and here are some items to consider if and when you negotiate that. It does not say this is what it ought to be. It did not deal with what people were most afraid of: that we were going to put out a standard contract that would be inappropriate and would remove their ability to negotiate. It will provide everyone with a more consistent way to read contracts, and that's the essence of it: how to read it and how to create a contract that people can read and understand in a more consistent way.
Mary Power: It was just approved. Some of the major chains have said in writing that they will redo contracts in line with the contract panel model. That will be huge. That's almost our tipping point—a lot of people said, "Sure, Apex is a great idea, but it isn't going to work." A lot of people said it would come undone at the contract panel, because lawyers never agree, and you'll never get all sides together, and this is where it is going to die. The fact is it took two and a half years is proof that it isn't easy, but we did it. We came up with a document that I think helps everyone, and the last piece of the document is the key part, that orders everything. Planners for the first time can look at contracts and compare them.
MT: It's not a standard contract.
Power: No, and it was never intended to be. Plus, when procurement looks at this, it shows a meeting is a viable, multitiered experience, not a commodity. We get out of toilet paper and into technical services, which is where it should be in procurement, not in the commodities section. A lot of procurement departments were lumping the hotel meetings in with air travel, but there is a difference between buying bulk seats and a meeting experience.
MT: How can you deliver the document to procurement?
Breining: They're going to read your publication. Procurement is more accustomed to dealing with travel. We're also forming a marketing advisory council to get the word out.
Power: We also have an educational advisory committee and we're also working through our member organizations. Apex is never totally over. We are putting in a structure for an annual review of all seven panels' work, maybe twice per year. Today, we're totally current, but tomorrow, what's happening? This will keep Apex current.
Breining: There are several strategies this year. One is to make sure we continue to generate revenue to support all these initiatives and keep them alive. One is to create a structure for ongoing review. Another is to drive education through educational institutions and industry organizations. The work of the Apex Commission for the past six years has been about developing this and getting the word out. People have an idea that Apex exists, and they think it is probably a good thing, but they have no clarity on what it actually is or how it will help them. Our mission today is entirely different than it was six months ago.
MT: How will you define success of the initiative?
Breining: One measurement will be how many presentations are we doing; how many more people are getting this that didn't before? We do have some quantifiable measures in there. The commission is meeting for the first time this year; we will take these measurements and strategies, but the measurements will be defined then. We have to take this out of the realm of "this is a really good idea" to something that we have a stronger business case for, and we have to do that on several levels. This changes the industry profoundly. We can't just say that this is a feel-good thing and you should do it for the good of the industry. We need something much more specific and much more quantifiable, so we're working on that.
Power: The other big piece is that while the panels were working on the content, the technology advisory committee was working on what I think is the biggest piece to guarantee our success. It's beyond the Apex Toolbox
(Meetings Today, Aug. 14, 2006). The Toolbox is templates. Eighty percent of planners we polled said the most advanced technology they use is a Word document or an Excel spreadsheet, so that's perfect for them and it fits their needs. In the second quarter, though, we will beta test Powershop, an online product that can be linked and is written to XML, and the goal is seamless transfer of information. Terri could take her event specification guide, send it electronically to Hyatt, Hilton and Marriott, for example, and they can receive it under their banquet event orders. It has a double-check mechanism. We realize not everyone is going to be at that point at the same time with this, so one of the neat features of Powershop is, you can say, here's my event specification guide, I want to send it to three hotels. One has XML, so I want to send it to them XML. Another has to be Word, and I want to fax it. Another, I want to e-mail. It will configure all that in one document and send it in one shot, and whatever point they can receive it, it will adjust. All you do is direct it.
Breining: Larger organizations will find this a much more practical tool. It's a different tool entirely. Now, CIC is not in the software business, so these are probably the only projects we're likely to develop. The future of Apex really lives with software developers implementing the data map, which is still in the process of being developed. Apex will live inside of the software products developed for planners and suppliers. We envision this as ubiquitous as Intel. We don't want Apex to be the point. We want it to be the standard that drives everything else.
MT: How do you get there from here?
Breining: Software developers have been on board with this for several years. Every software developer in the industry has been at the table. There has been remarkable collaboration, and part of is it because they want to be first out. The data map is going to be available to everybody, for free, but the people who have been in the middle of the process for three years have been developing products for this. It will be the basis for software. It's already happening. It's not something we have to drive. We're very close to the next generation of Apex-enabled software.
Power: We went for the big guys—the key one or two players in each of the markets, and they're making this happen. Then, we're going to have a free tool on our Web site for the third parties. Because a lot of their stuff is proprietary, they can test their stuff online with our tool, and not have to share any of their information, and the tool will do a gap analysis for them, so they can see whether they are compliant.
MT: Will you, and your member organizations, approach this as does the International Association of Conference Centers, in the sense that all IACC members must adhere to specific IACC standards?
Power: We're in a kinder, gentler mode, but we still think it's effective: We will post the people who are compliant on our Web site. If you are compliant, it will be easier to do business with you. We're not saying that you have to, but we'll help you promote the fact that you are.
Breining: However, it's all voluntary. One of the great things about the Apex process is that it's not about standards that are monitored, partially because we don't have the mechanism to monitor, but those that use them will, we believe, have a competitive advantage.
MT: How much of a challenge is reaching nonprofessional planners or procurement executives?
Breining: It's a challenge. Most people who do planning don't belong to an industry organization and don't even know they qualify to be called "meeting planners." We have to find them, because they're Toolbox people.
Power: One vehicle is point of sale. A smart hotelier will give nonprofessional planners the Toolbox and tell them, this is an easy guide, fill it out, then we'll book the meeting. That saves them hours and ensures they get accurate information. They'll probably be our major point of contact.
MT: The Toolbox is $99.95. How will Powershop be priced?
Breining: The price point hasn't been set, but it will be a one-time charge.