Squeak, squeak, the distinct sound of whistling, and the whine of unoiled
wheels moving closer and closer and closer - the catering cart is being pushed through the
hundreds of attendees in the hotel meeting room, slightly smaller than
comfortable. The options: chicken and vegetarian lasagna.
"I'll take the vegetarian option, please. Something with no carbs?" the attendee
asks.
"We have vegetarian lasagna. Nothing
more." the server responds.
At the end of the meal, hundreds of meals went
uneaten as the novice meeting planner had not heard of underguarantees and some
attendees secretly skipped out to their favorite restaurants. Moreover, many
attendees who elected to join their colleagues in the hotel couldn't wait until
they could voice their opinion about the uncreative food choices. Common, the meeting planner gets reprimanded
for the lousy food.
Let's face it, sometimes hotel food is less than
desirable, food is wasted, and money is lost.
It is time to get serious about Food and Beverage practices. Can you answer these questions?
- Do you know how much you spend on food and
beverage each year?
- What percentage is your food and beverage
spend of your total meeting spend? Do you know what the industry averages are?
- Do you know, by SIC, MCC or UNSPSC, how much
is spent on food and beverage?
- What employees spend the most on food and
beverage?
- Per meal, how much should you
underguarantee?
- Per meal, how many attendees actually
attended?
- Do you track food and beverage spend on-site
vs. offsite per meeting?
- Who is responsible for managing and
selecting the food and beverage choices? Is there an escalation process for the
high food and beverage spend requests?
- What is the cost and quality difference of
food in the hotel vs. various restaurants?
- How do you identify your food choices on a
buffet?
- What sources do you use to select healthy
meal options?
- How much of a rebate can you expect on all
of your food and beverage spend?
- What is your food and beverage strategy and
how does it fit into your Strategic Meetings Management Program? What does a food and beverage strategy contain?
- Who can help you move toward a new food and
beverage strategy? What are the drivers for moving toward a comprehensive food
and beverage strategy?
For those of you who know me….boy oh boy…do I have
some GREAT templates for you to use in your quest to manage this meeting /
event category.
In two webinars, we will be answering some of the
questions above. And, those questions that
we don't answer in the webinars, we'll answer one-on-one or through this
blog! I'm pleased to partner with Dinova
to bring these webinars to you. Join us!
Here is a link to the first webinar, the second webinar link will be
forthcoming.
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/301175274024857344
If you cannot join the webinars but would like assistance
answering these questions for your organization, contact me, I'm here to help
you!
Debi Scholar
(908) 304-4954
[email protected]
www.smmbenchmark.com
www.BankWithDebi.com
A BIG THANK
YOU to all of the meetings and travel leaders who continue to support me
through the T&E blog, LinkedIn groups, client engagements and most
important, your friendship.
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 plus more...
Debi
Scholar, GLP, GTP, CMM, CMP, SSGB, CTE, CTT, CBST
• Author,
Strategic Meetings Management: The Strategy Quick Reference Guide (2011)
• Co-Author, Strategic Meetings Management Handbook (2011)
• Meetings Management Mover and Shaker as selected by Corporate and
Incentive Travel Magazine (2010)
• Top 20 Changemaker who influenced the meetings management industry by
Corporate Meetings and Incentives (2008)
• Best Meeting Practitioner as selected by Business Travel News (2007)
*Debi is proud to be a regular contributor to
Business Travel Executive Magazine.
*Debi is proud to be one of only seven 2011 Editorial Board members for Hotel
Business Review at
http://www.hotelexecutive.com/ for Conferences & Meetings.
*Debi created two LinkedIn groups (GBTA SMM and T&E Plus) that
now claim over 2,000 worldwide members combined.
