Marketing Venues: We've Got What You Want

By Rachel Wimberly -- Tradeshow Week, 1/8/2007

Associations and their annual meetings make up a significant percentage of business at a lot of venues, but with stiff competition from their peers, rolling out the red carpet — literally — can sometimes make the difference in snagging one of these pieces of business.

Last August, LA Inc., the Los Angeles Convention & Visitors Bureau, did just that when it invited 15 customers and their guests to the Emmy Awards, an experience that included walking down the red carpet with a number of the celebrities Hollywood has to offer. The customers were duly impressed and Michael Krouse, LA Inc.'s vice president of convention sales, said at least one of the association meeting planners in the group immediately booked dates at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

"It's an annual event, and our success from this project has been significant," he added.

Krouse conceded it's impossible for most cities to put on the same kind of show. After all, he said, "L.A. is where movies are made."

But given that most venues won't have the bells and whistles Hollywood has to offer, it's important to gear a venue's marketing strategy toward the specific needs of an association which, more often than not, come down to the almighty dollar.

Unlike most corporate meeting planners and for-profit tradeshow organizers, most associations are non-profits and typically have budget limitations. If a venue is interested in booking an association's annual meeting, one of the first steps should be to sit down with the group's convention manager, find out what he or she can afford, and determine whether there's a deal to be made.

Mike Mason, senior vice president of sales at Gaylord Hotels, said 50 percent of all of his properties' business comes from association meetings. "They are very consistent and not as risky as corporate meetings that are more tied to economic success or failure," he said. "Associations always have to have a meeting."

Instead of naming all the cost-cutting measures Gaylord can offer associations, he suggested that associations consider pointing out just how valuable their business can be to the venues they want to book, which in turn could lead to more flexibility.

For example, if an association doesn't have sponsors for some or all meals, it usually doesn't have the deep pockets to host the meals itself.

"But they could have 1,000 people at their meeting spending the money in restaurants on the property," Mason pointed out. If an association planner itemized the per-person restaurant spend at a typical meeting and presented that number to a venue under consideration, it could make a major difference in the overall cost.

This type of presentation demonstrates that the association has a "valuable piece of business for the hotel," Mason added. "The hotel will be more willing to concede on other requests."

He also said associations could improve their success in cutting costs by working with venues on date patterns and availability. "They could ask the hotel, 'Is there a pattern you need us in?'" he suggested. "Again, it creates greater value."

Kathleen Rossell, director of conferences and meetings for the Assn. of Legal Administrators, said she's always looking for venues that will help her whittle away costs.

The association's annual meeting, which typically draws 1,600 to 1,800 legal administrators, also usually has a 130,000 square foot tradeshow with 350 booths. The meeting doesn't necessarily have to be in a first-tier city, Rossell added, so she often looks for places where there are not only strong membership bases, but venues that fit the association's budget.

"We have a shopping list, and we look for concessions," Rossell said. Negotiable items include discounted rooms for staff and speakers, labor rates, and food and beverage options. There is a wide range of potential venues for her event so, if things don't work out, she moves on.

Rossell conceded, however, that associations increasingly are competing with more lucrative corporate meetings for space. "It's not like it used to be, especially in first-tier cities," she said. "They have the good fortune of making you play by their rules. It's about money, but you can't fault them for that."

Jeff Gloeb, vice president of hotel sales at Wynn Las Vegas, said he worked in the association world for a number of years and understands how to market to them. Wynn Las Vegas books 13 percent of its business with associations and, with 200,000 sq. ft. of available meeting space, Gloeb said it's the ideal venue. Even so, booking a lucrative meeting has a lot to do with knowing what the client needs — and can afford.

"Sometimes they want to drive a Cadillac, but they can only afford a VW," Gloeb said. "We try and negotiate so it properly fits their needs. It's a give and take."

Wynn Las Vegas usually requires clients to book 1,200 rooms for three nights in order to qualify for complimentary meeting space. But, if the number of room nights falls short, Gloeb said he will work backwards. If the group can only book 600 rooms, he may give them half the meeting space, or 100,000 sq. ft. "It's about being flexible," he added.

Association meetings are also big business for the Indiana Convention Center & RCA Dome. In fact, it accounts for at least 40 percent of total sales. "We have a really good mix of business here," said Todd Greenwood, manager of national sales and group marketing at the Indianapolis Convention & Visitors Assn. "Associations are very member-driven, so (marketing to them) is a completely different experience. It's more about the complete approach, instead of dollar-driven."

Greenwood said one goal of the ICVA sales staff is to demystify feature benefits, such as the number of hotel rooms and amount of space available, and translate it into real value for the associations. "Instead of just saying, 'There are 4,000 hotel rooms attached to the convention center,' say instead, 'How would you like to cross the cost of shuttle service off your list?'" he suggested.

According to Greenwood, a lot of marketing messages intended for convention managers aren't tailored tightly enough. The ICVA worked with a customer advisory panel to come up with appropriate marketing campaigns geared towards associations. "We looked at what other places were doing, and it all looked the same," Greenwood said.

As a result, capitalizing on the fact that there are already 3,000 hotel rooms (with 1,000 more on the way) connected to the convention center, the team came up with a tagline to attract groups in the colder months: "Meet in Indianapolis, and you don't even need a coat."

Greenwood said, "You can't just say, 'What's your dates and space?' We tell them what they will save on transportation, labor and food and beverage."

Back in Los Angeles, Krouse and his team aren't shy about taking advantage of whatever razzle-dazzle they have on hand to lure association convention managers their way. Besides red carpets, movie screenings and catered receptions by acclaimed chef Wolfgang Puck, LA Inc. also enlisted the city's charismatic mayor, Antonio Villaraigosa, to successfully woo the American Association of Retired Persons' annual meeting to town in 2011.

In other words: whatever it takes.

"He walked into that room and sold them on L.A. in 10 minutes," Krouse said. "When you're in sales, you have to grasp onto that."