Managing Meetings At Corenet Global: Pushing Large-Event Service, Sourcing

Hotel chains may be reluctant to offer many meetings discounts in the current demand cycle, but an Atlanta-based real estate group has successfully secured discounts on food & beverage and other meeting services for its large events by negotiating multi-year and multi-meeting contracts with national chains. However, service quality, not price, is the key focus in the company's negotiations.

"The price that you've gotten really doesn't help you if the quality that's delivered is less than what you need," said Kevin Johnston, director of strategic events for Atlanta-based CoreNet Global, the company that runs the corporate real estate association of the same name. CoreNet is a global organization with 7,000 members and eight regional offices across five continents.

There are a number of overarching goals to the CoreNet meetings program in addition to controlling costs, Johnston said. Service quality is quantified "to the dollar," he said, and service levels are written into contracts. Participation is the biggest goal of the department, as it drives both financial success and the content objectives of the program, he said.

"The expectation level is very high, not only with the events themselves and the various components, but also how the education is structured, the level of professionalism and service levels of the venue. It's one of those very pressured but fulfilling situations that we tend to thrive on," he said.

Four full-time meeting managers make up Johnston's department, and temporary help is hired as needed. Johnston's department is considered a revenue-generating group. Events bring in as much as half of the operating revenue of the company.

"We do two North American summits, with between 2,500 and 3,500 people. We do them every six months, so it's almost like you want to blow your brains out," Johnston said. The summits also include a trade show component, he said. "In addition, we do a smaller versions of that without an expo once a year in Europe, Asia and Australia. We do all of the procurement from the States."

Other training events happen frequently throughout the year, he said.

Johnston negotiates directly with air and hotel providers for CoreNet meetings. Before joining the company more than three years ago, Johnston said CoreNet used a travel management company to handle making those arrangements.

"We used to go with an agency, one here in Atlanta. It seems like we're able to get more done on a more expeditious basis just by contacting the vendors directly than by going through an intermediary," he said.

Negotiating directly with vendors has saved CoreNet money and helped bring in softer discounts such as upgrades and earned tickets, he said.

"The airline business is so fickle. Depending on where we are going, the greatest discount might not be worth anything tomorrow because someone has a fire sale between here and Denver," Johnston said.

Though hotel discounts are drying up, CoreNet is able to secure savings and discounts by using strategic procurement techniques, he said.

"It's amazing what you can get if you just ask for it," Johnston said. "What we've really looked at doing is leveraging the relationships we have with the major chains. We also look at multi-year agreements—that might be within one property or it might be within a chain. The national sales organizations are all very eager to lock in long-term revenue, room nights and food and beverage components. It's not just rates, dates and space. By focusing on the entire program, and really looking at what the food cost is and what the profit potential is for everyone involved it changes the perspective to a very lucrative and profitable partnership."

Each chain is different in their rewards and upgrades, he said, but quantifying everything from the cost of coffee to electrical rates can help to provide a more complete view of meeting costs.

"There is a discovery process you have to go through before you sit down and start the deal. Once you start the deal you can't go back," he said.

CoreNet uses online group reservation system Passkey to manage its housing needs, Johnston said, to avoid attrition dangers.

"I came to realize the value of real-time information as opposed to waiting to input everything," he said.

CoreNet aggressively negotiates clauses into its contracts that allow more flexibility in its room blocks to avoid attrition charges, he said, so it's necessary to adjust to any changes in the room block immediately.

"As part of the request-for-proposal process, we are able to give a week-by-week pickup for three months prior to the start of the meeting," he said.

With large events and a limited full-time staff, CoreNet relies on convention and visitors bureaus to find local, temporary staff to handle onsite logistics.

"It's not just focused on rate. It's about the quality of folks you can get and the experience level. The bureaus will work with us pretty closely in recommending people that they've had good experiences with and in some venues the bureau has their own agency or staff they would provide at a discounted rate so they represent the city well," he said.

Convention and visitors bureaus also are useful when taking a large event to a new city, he said. CVBs have begun to act not only as promoters and service providers, but also strategic partners, he said, helping CoreNet to reach attendance goals and other meeting objectives.

"I can't tell you how much the CVBs have come into their own," Johnston said. "There are many meeting planners out there that probably still don't take advantage of all the services that a great convention bureau can offer when you go into any size city. The focus is so much greater on providing quality service than it was even 10 years ago."