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What Is It about Transportation That Drives Event Planners Nuts?

May 1, 2013 By Comments
transportation poster of planes trains and automobiles

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As we have talked about many times, event planners wear many hats. One of those hats usually includes transportation logistics. Most times event planners need to transfer their delegates from one location to another. And quite often the transportation involves many different types of vehicles, depending on the event itself. For example, airport transportation can utilize a coach, limousine service or an airport shuttle.

Transportation Can Be a Make or Break Component to Event Planning

As a full service Destination Management Company (DMC) we would often be tasked with booking transportation, in addition to other program components, for event planners. As the years went on, and event planners began to utilize the Internet much more frequently to secure suppliers, I found that they would still hire my company to do the transportation.

Transportation is very local. In other words the companies that an event planner would hire are expected to be experts in their fields. But so much can happen with transportation that is beyond anybody’s control. When it comes to airport transportation, event planners are dependent on the weather, both at the arrival destination as well as the many departure destinations. On top of that, there is local traffic that can throw a wrench into a well organized schedule.

Event planners, how many times have you heard that the coach you are waiting for is stuck in traffic and is just around the corner? I know that when we were organizing transportation for any of our clients, tardiness was a concern. When we would call into the transportation companies dispatch, more times than not, we were told that our vehicle was stuck in traffic and should be at their pickup location in a matter of minutes. Well, those minutes would often end up being 10 or 15. And when you’re standing on a street corner looking for a coach, with your client beside you, 10 or 15 min. can seem like an eternity.

There Are Many Types of Transportation That Event Planners Have To Consider

Quite often a meeting or event can have many transportation components. Some of the more common transportation elements are:

  • Airlines
  • Railway
  • Airport transportation (involving coach and limousine service)
  • Coach shuttles
  • Event transfers
  • Sightseeing tours
  • Valet service

refine search for transportationClick here to view our sister site’s, WTTC.com, transportation directory. Here you’ll get a sense as to what questions you need to think about when selecting transportation companies.

For an event planner the goal, when selecting a transportation company, is to work with a service provider that has a solid reputation. My recommendation is to always ask for references. And those references should be from similar groups. Most event planners know that with transportation there will always be situations that arise. But what sets great suppliers apart is how they react to those various situations. I might be a bit biased here but my advice to event planners, especially with regards to transportation, is to hire a local expert.

 

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Event Planning Companies Are Getting Creative for Transportation

May 22, 2012 By Comments
Event Planning Companies Are Getting Creative for Transportation

photo by jaunted.com

First there were the additional fees charged by airlines for; boarding early, watching tv, having a meal on board, and checking luggage. Now event planning companies are learning that airlines are looking at adding extra fees for their preferred seats. Billed as a way to combat the ever increasing fuel costs that airlines are faced with, additional fees are becoming commonplace with most airlines. As an airline spokesperson indicated, we got used to the menu add-ons in the food and beverage industry and now many customers are content with airline add-on fees. The reason, they contend, is that many travelers are happy to decide for themselves what they’re willing to pay for and what they’re not willing to pay for.

Transportation is a Large Component of an Event Planning Company’s Services

Transportation is one of those logistical components to an overall conference or event. You see, getting all of your delegates to the meeting’s location on time is the number one goal to launch a successful conference. And when you’re dealing with many different airlines and many different airports those planning logistics can sometimes become a nightmare. Add in weather and have a whole other can of worms.

The good news for event planning companies is that many of these airlines are setting aside more window and aisle seats for their frequent flyers at no extra cost. After all, it is the frequent flyers that tend to pay a higher per ticket price compared with many other passengers on the same flight.

Tips on How You Can Be Creative When It Comes to Booking Transportation

  • book as far out as possible to ensure that, in addition to availability, you’re able to pick a seat without an additional charge
  • consider your route. If you have to schedule a connection flight as part of your travel plans consider using a less traveled airport for your hub. Flight availability and cost can be drastically affected by flying through less traveled airports.
  • Flying days. Many event planning companies are now starting to look at the days of the week that they could schedule their conferences. It is a delicate balancing act as their goal is also to make sure the delegates don’t miss too much time in the office. However, by adjusting the days of your conference you can have dramatic impact on flight availability and costs.
  • Check with your gate agent regarding seat moves. Even if you have exhausted all their traditional means of selecting your ideal seat with no lock, still check with your gate agent regarding a move. Quite often they are trying to accommodate other passengers with seat changes and your request may assist them.
  • Dress appropriately. Yes a picture is worth a thousand words.  How you look can have an impact on where you can be moved.  An agent is not going to move someone that has pants hanging down to their knees beside a frequent business flyer. But if you dress in business casual you may be pleasantly surprised.

Airlines, like many industries today, are always looking for ways to add additional revenue to their bottom line. Like so, meeting planning companies today need to be creative when providing transportation for their clients. There are ways to keep additional costs to a minimum, you just need to be creative.

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3 Transportation Tips for Meeting Planners That Will Help Your Budget

September 30, 2011 By Comments

Transportation is often included in meetings. Meeting planners often have the task of making sure that attendees are transferred to their hotel in an efficient yet cost-effective manner. While many delegates consider transportation to be only a small component of the overall meeting, in many cases the transportation budget can be fairly large. Today meeting planners have to find savings while executing a successful meeting. Rather than eliminate transportation as part of your program why not consider a few unique ways to provide transportation yet help save on your budget.

Tip #1 – Consolidate Your Transportation within a Set Period of Time

Delegates arriving for meetings often come from various places throughout the country. That means that meeting planners are dealing with many individual flights arriving at various times to the destination city. If transportation is left open-ended the costs can escalate quickly. Especially if you allow delegates to make changes directly with the transportation company.

As a way to save money, while still effectively providing transportation for the meeting delegates, considering offering transportation on set dates and set times. For example, you might consider offering transportation only on the day prior to the meeting and over a 10 hour period. This tells your delegates that you are still offering the service. Then it’s up to them to decide whether or not they want to take advantage of your offer and book their transportation during that time. Otherwise they know that they’ll be responsible for their own transportation costs.

Tip #2 – Group Multiple Arrivals and Departures on Larger Vehicles

In the world of transportation, sedan vehicle costs can get rather expensive. In the past when I worked with meeting planners who were doing transportation for their group I would often recommend that they use larger equipment (i.e. 10 passenger mini coaches, etc.) to transfer arrivals and departures within a certain timeframe. For example if they had six guests arriving from different cities but they were arriving within a 30 to 45 minute period – rather than schedule 6 separate sedans for the delegates, I would recommend to schedule one minibus. It’s a lot easier to schedule coaches for departures and stagger them a few hours apart for transferring delegates back to the airport. For meeting planners the savings could soon add up into the thousands on transportation alone.

Tip #3 – Assign an Individual to Coordinate Transportation

Rather than thinking that an additional person will increase your budget, consider the savings that meeting planners can achieve if all of the transportation changes are coordinated by one person. This is especially true if you are trying to implement Tip #1 and Tip #2 from above. Meeting planners can direct the transportation coordinator to make changes according to the transportation blocks that they have set aside. They’ll also be able to inform the delegates if this falls within the period that the meeting will pay for or whether or not they’ll have to pay for it on their own. Consider hiring a local expert to assist you with transportation needs if you’re in a city that you’re not familiar with. Local experts understand how things work at the airport (as each airport has their own set of rules and regulations regarding group arrivals and departures) and they also keep abreast of any road construction and traffic issues which may affect your group’s transportation. The cost of this person will more than pay for themselves in the long run.

Meeting planners that are on a tight budget do not necessarily have to rule out transportation for their delegates. There are ways that you can provide transportation for your group without blowing the budget.

 

 

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Event Planning Supplies – The Components of a Successful Program

August 18, 2011 By Comments

Photo courtesy of AJC1 on flickr

It takes a lot to plan an event. Ideally, you need the creativity of an artist, the stamina of a marathon runner and the calm of a Buddhist monk. And don’t forget the multitasking abilities of a parent of six! Not too much to ask for. But no matter how well you plan it, without talented, reliable and amazing suppliers, everything that can go wrong…may.

Event Planning Supplies – Catering

Food bonds people. A romantic dinner for two or appetizers for two thousand, people have always enjoyed breaking bread. It offers the chance to savor, discuss and drink. And no matter what the event, the food will always be talk about.

Although delicious and well prepared is always at the top of the list, it’s important that the menu be appropriate for the event. A casual affair should not have high end, frou frou hors d’œuvres that no one will recognize. And on the flip side, attendees are expecting something beyond pigs in a blanket at a black tie affair!

After planning the event to the smallest detail, you have a pretty good idea of what you want. But if you’re not sure of your final choices, a good caterer will help you create a menu that will both dazzle and delight.

Event Planning Supplies – Transportation

Not all programs require transportation. Perhaps the venue is all encompassing, or everything is planned within walking distance. Sometimes they’re responsible for their own transportation. But usually some transportation is required; shuttles, airport, dine-arounds or tours. And when transportation is your responsibility, you want to ensure your delegates are receiving a certain level of service.

First and foremost, ensure any vehicles being used for your program are clean, modern and in good repair. It may seem basic but a few years ago there was an extremely high-end, VIP group in town. The event coordinator and client were to be picked up in a luxury coach and taken to meet the delegates at the airport. The luxury coach, exclusively booked for the five day program, was running late. The dispatcher sent a standard passenger van with bench seating as a replacement. The issue? The van was old, dirty and had a cracked windshield! And although the lux coach met them at the airport, the client was furious with the “crap-mobile” sent in its place.

The meeting planner was informed immediately and called the dispatcher. When the response was denials and a condescending brush off, she knew she was not receiving the service she expected. After a few calls, she found another luxury coach (from one of her other suppliers) and pulled the contract immediately. Although the delegates were unaware of the situation, the client appreciated her quick response to the less than stellar supplier.

Event Planning Supplies – Welcome Gifts

Although more common in the past, a welcome gift awaiting delegates in their room is a great touch. Usually something local, it doesn’t have to be extravagant to be effective. A small gift bag filled with some local goodies is a welcome sight after spending several hours traveling. A couple of bottles of water and some tasty treats are appreciated by your tired and hungry delegates.

Welcome gifts are a small detail, but one that gets people’s attention and sets a nice tone for the rest of the meeting.

They say we are only as strong as our weakest link. By utilizing strong, reliable suppliers, you can ensure the strength of the individual components of your event.

 

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Convention Planning Services – Why Use a Service Company for Your Transportation Needs

June 10, 2011 By Comments

Convention Planning Services … Why Successful Transportation is Important

Photo courtesy of brizzlebornandbred on flickr

Often a conference is marked as successful (or not successful) by the first and last things that touch a delegate.  More often than not, that’s convention planning services, and in particular transportation. Generally the conference tone is set by that first impression.

If delegates are offered convention planning services, like an airport meet and greet and transportation, then they are entitled to an expectation of a certain standard of service.  And, if right out of the gate something goes awry, then as meeting  planners we are already back pedaling to ensure a positive experience for our delegates. There is nothing worse for a meeting planner, and delegates too, then waiting for convention planning services and having them not show up!!

Convention Planning Services – The Right Fit for Pain Free Transportation

Decisions, decisions, decisions. With conference planning and  convention planning services and especially transportation, the first decision to make is always “do I coordinate it on my own or hire a service company?” With transportation, a service company can mean working with the transportation company directly or working with an intermediary company that you can hire to worry for you.  I have been on both sides of the equation. I find that when I’m working in my home city, I always (always) work directly with the transportation company. As I have all of my tried and true connections at home, I can enhance the transportation with any other convention event planning services I may require including staffing and signage, etc.

When working outside of my home city, I far prefer working with a service company and letting them worry about all the local details I may not be familiar with.  Destination Management Companies (DMC) and Convention Planning Companies provide one stop shopping along with a sense of security and knowledge. They know their city, traffic patterns and construction situations and can easily map out the best logistics required.

Convention Planning Services – The Decision has Been Made…Now….

Photo courtesy of Chris Campbell on flickr

Once you have decided what type and which convention planning services company you will be working with, the next step will be to outline exactly what your expectations are. In fairness, how can a service company provide the level of service you anticipate and deserve if you aren’t willing to share your expectations with them?  Be sure you inform them of all the details for the actual transportation. No detail is too small or insignificant if they are going to be able to set up the transportation services to your liking. I can’t say it enough, it is imperative to share your expectations regarding the level of service you expect for your delegates. I know from experience not to make any assumptions, again be sure to share your transportation requirements and expectations. Everyone will then be on the same page and you will hopefully have one less thing to fret about.

In addition, be absolutely certain that the transportation company has contact numbers and information where they can reach you 24/7. And inform them that they are to call if there are any problems, no matter the time. If you don’t tell them, they won’t know. And when we are aware of a situation as it is happening, it’s always a lot easier to come up with a solution that will save the day!

Transportation can be a crucial part of your convention and meeting planning services. Be sure you know what you want and that you have communicated that information to your convention planning services companies and you’ll be off to a great start.

 

 

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