Outsourcing meeting and event services

Over the last couple of years, more and more organizations are choosing to outsource, rather than add internal headcount, their meeting and event needs. The outsourcing of meeting services may be a new concept for an organization yet analogous to the corporate travel department (“CTD”) evolution.  Whereas travel agents of the 1970s and 1980s worked inside an organization, many of these agents were transitioned to a travel management company (“TMC”) when travel began shifting to an outsourced model after airline deregulation.   Sure, many organizations still use internal CTDs and some are very successful. Similarly, many organizations use internal meeting and event planning teams that provide superior services.  Yet, the trend is shifting toward an outsourced model for:

• Oversight of the meeting and event program
• Site selections, sourcing and contract management
• Logistics planning
• Onsite management and execution
• Small meeting management and execution
• Dispute management and reconciliation
• Meeting management technology

Consider the outsourcing benefits to the organization, the meeting requestor and to the meeting planner:

Outsourcing Driver		Objective	Method
Benefits to the ORGANIZATION
Improve Strategy	Improve management by focusing on core business activities		·   Reduce time spent on managing resources and performance. ·   Improve corporate appearance to shareholders ·   Move internal audit of meeting services function to an experienced meeting management or planning company
	Increase speed-to-market		·   Become more responsive to market shifts.  As an example, blend in new acquisitions or transition out business units without reorganizations, restructuring and reductions in meeting services workforce
	Share risks		·   Use meeting management company that has a strong focus on staying up-to-date on new laws and regulations (e.g. Personal Identifiable Information (PII) laws, other data security regulations, The Sunshine Act, HCP, HIPAA, etc.) ·   Take advantage of business continuity and backup plans supplied by meeting management company ·   Manage and control spend for SOX requirements ·   Ensure contracts include proper terms and conditions and are signed by authorized delegates ·   Ensure that meetings and events have the proper insurance riders required ·   Uphold document retention laws for all contracts and other documents
	Mitigate ethical concerns		·   Remove temptations to collect personal incentive points, tickets, credits, gifts or other awards that may be offered by suppliers. ·   Circumvent participation in familiarization trips (FAMS) and other services that appear unethical but are common in the industry
Increase Agility	Scale resources for variability		·   Staff can be added, or reduced, or moved to other clients quickly.
	Provide for up-to-date services with skilled resources		·   Skilled staff can be used to provide services on similar meetings, within similar industries so that skills can be increased and leveraged
Manage Costs	Gain visibility into cost of resources and services		·   Supply chain management principles can be used to monitor and manage costs for all resources and services with enforced key performance indicators and service level agreements ·   Ability to “pay for what you use”
Benefits to the CUSTOMER (e.g. internal meeting sponsor or budget holder)
Improve Service	Customer will get, and can demand, skilled resources, service consistency and specific meeting industry knowledge		·   Take advantage of skilled resource pool that may include "rebadged" sourcers and/or planners transitioned from organization when high-touch is necessary. From working on multiple accounts, tenured, highly experienced resources will have the most flexible industry intelligence
	Document and manage service issues		·   Ability to report service issues and feel "heard" so that improvements can be made.
	Seek help during crisis		·   Access to experienced crisis management experienced resources and a meeting management or planning company 24/7 for help and guidance.
	Focus on corporate social responsibility		·   Support corporate social responsibility (“CSR”) initiatives by using supplier that is a leader in meeting and hospitality CSR advancements
Increase productivity and efficiency	Access to additional, skilled resources and technology		·   Meeting management may be provided by global organizations that use consistent processes and technologies so that productivity is maximized ·   Access to the best of breed for resources and technology
Benefits to the sourcers and/or planners*
Career Development	Develop career and seek competitive salary; Increase career upward mobility		·   Expand client base and possibilities for upward mobility within meeting management company. ·   Participate in training and development focused on meeting and hospitality industry. ·   Access to industry thought leadership and best practices ·   Preserve or obtain competitive industry salaries
Improve Service	Focus on core competency		·   Focus on service delivery through meeting services company rather derailing attention on other types of projects within the organization
*If current staff are transitioned through rebadging process to the selected Meeting Services Company through the hiring process

If your organization is considering a move to an outsourced model, I recommend the following steps before creating a request for proposal:

1.  Conduct a current state spend analysis of all small and large meeting spend (group air, hotel, ground transportation, technology, and other services such as AV, production, entertainment, etc.). NOTE:  This is extremely important (to gain insight for future discounts, baselining, and current behaviors) and often overlooked. (Most consultants in the industry do not perform this service, but I do, so please let me know if you need assistance…I have horror stories of companies that skipped this step)

2.  Conduct a current state resource analysis of the internal and external staff that performs the meeting services.

3.  Conduct a current state scope of services performed from all stakeholders’ perspectives.

With an analysis of the spend, resources and services in hand, many organizations are realizing that an outsourced model makes more sense than using internal resources. 

With optics on supply chain management, a comprehensive request for proposal followed by an aggressive contract negotiation, key performance indicators, implementation guarantees, service level agreements and quarterly business reviews are required as part of supplier relationship management. 

If you need assistance with anything mentioned above, please contact me.

Thank you for visiting the T&E Plus Blog on expense management, travel management, business meetings, events, incentives, strategic meetings management, entertainment, virtual meetings, tickets, hotels, airlines, ground transportation, T&E policy, plus more...

Debi has the following designations:

· Wharton Aresty Executive Education/National Business Travel Association (NBTA) Global Leadership Professional (GLP)

· Meeting Professionals International Certificate in Meetings Management (CMM)

· Convention Industry Council Certified Meeting Professional (CMP)

· NBTA Corporate Travel Expert (CTE)

· Six Sigma Green Belt

· Chauncey Certified Technical Trainer (CTT)

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Comments

[Marnie Battistini]

Nice article, Debi. Thank you for sharing.