Many companies are obviously dealing with decisions about future events like meetings, trips, conferences, and more. I’d like to share with you THREE main ways that we can save you time and money: virtual events, negotiating event cancellations, and booking future events.

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The planning timeline for a corporate group travel event is crucial. Booking a program element too late - or too early! - can create challenges later. Obviously the hotel has to be secured first, ideally at least a year in advance. Next steps are booking group air blocks, offsite venues (if needed), and a DMC.

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Take a minute to watch Three Questions with Brad Wright, COO of MFRG-ICON Construction on why he chooses to hire an outside company to plan their meetings and events, and what it has been like working with Kevin Dern Travel.

"It really starts with the professionalism. It creates a new level of experience for our team and it takes a lot of stress off us internally from having to worry about all the finite details that go into planning a huge trip."

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Hotel banquet guarantees are a little tricky.

For BUFFETS I always under-guarantee by 1-2%. Hotels typically prep enough food for 2-3% overage, and with big events there are always a few cancels or no-shows.

For PLATED meals banquet kitchens need accurate counts but I still usually under-guarantee by a few people, provided I can up the number a day prior. This covers me in case there are a couple last-minute cancels.

My goal is to look after the client's funds by avoiding paying for more food than we need.

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Choosing a destination and hotel for an incentive trip, company retreat, or national sales meeting is an important and often challenging decision. Many companies outsource just this task to a professional meeting planning company like ours.

Here's a list of just some of the factors that we consider, research, and weigh when choosing the perfect location for our clients' events:

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Why hire a meeting planner instead of planning your events internally? Soooo many reasons! If a company is asking an executive assistant, sales coordinator, or HR person to plan a meeting or large event, they are missing out on the experience, skills, and contacts that an experienced meeting planner brings to the table.

AZ Big Media listed five great reasons to hire a professional:

1. Events Can be Organized in a Time Crunch

2. You Are Bound By a Strict Budget

3. Event Planners Help to Unload Life Stress

4. You Need to Meet Strict Business Objectives

5. You’re Looking for the Best of the Best

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This is an example of what travelers see when they exit the airport in Cancun. Finding your transfer in Cancun, Cabo, or Puerto Vallarta can be challenging... dozens of drivers, greeters, salespeople, and more are standing both inside and outside the airport exit either looking for their guests or trying to sell transportation.

When I have a group going to one of these destinations I rely on a good DMC, good signage, and - most importantly - VERY clear directions to attendees in advance so they know exactly where to go and who to look for. Details matter.

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Here's a little behind-the-scenes look at what we do onsite. Some small and midsize companies try producing events like this on their own - but many find that using an company like ours with event planning expertise results in a more professional event, takes a huge workload off their team during the planning process, and allows them to focus on their attendees rather than operational details during the event itself.

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So you're responsible for planning your company's sales meetings or incentive trips... how do you know when it's time to get some outside help? If any of the items below feel familiar, this may be a good time.

• Planning your event is stressful and taking time away from your other work.

• Events are not going as smoothly as you'd like.

• Incentive trips are not having the "wow" impact you'd like.

• You're working nights or weekends to prepare for the event.

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I love negotiating with hotels because it's an opportunity to show a client what I do. It's not just about room rate - I typically make 30-100 changes in a hotel contract - ranging from deposit amounts to cancellation terms, from reduced room delivery charges to comp suite upgrades, and from AV discounts to construction clauses. If you don't have an expert negotiating your hotel contracts you're leaving money on the table.

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You're planning a small sales meeting - let's say for 50 people. Either you or someone on your team typically books the hotel and meeting space. Why would you want to hire a professional meeting planner? Here are five compelling reasons:

1. We buy and negotiate better to SAVE YOU MONEY.

2. You may have planned a few business meetings, we've planned hundreds. We know how to ensure that all goes smoothly. Guarantees, projector brightness, room setups, coffee break costs, setup times, bus spot times... there are 1000 mistakes we can help you avoid.

3. We work as an extension of your team to advocate for your best interests and ensure a polished, smooth event - but we do 99% of the work so you don't have to.

4. We can be onsite to manage your event so that everything runs smoothly. While you're in your meeting, we're checking on the next part of the day.

5. We double and triple check details to reduce the risk that the hotel will forget or overlook something.

In short - a good meeting planner will save you money, take work off your plate, and elevate the quality of your events. We're here for you - let's get it done! 💥

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Incentive trips are designed to let your employees know how much they are appreciated, motivate sales and performance, and create company loyalty and community... so you want to do your best to create an incredible trip for your team. Here's an overview of some of the most important factors to take your trip from good to great:

Destination

Choose a “wow” destination that people want to go to. Bonus points if it's a "bucket list" kind of place - almost everyone wants to go to Italy, Paris, Hawaii, Cabo, etc. Choosing the right destination at the right time of year is important too… Cancun in September may be affordable but when it rains all week you’ll regret it.

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