(FOCUS) ASKYOURCOLLEAGUES
COMPILED BY AMANDA FRETHEIM GATES
n EVERYONE IS PINCHING PENNIES THESE DAYS, whether trying to save money on food, gas or travel. The
meetings industry is no different. So, we wanted to know, in these tough economic times, what cost-saving
techniques do you embrace in your job?
Linen Effects has undertaken a review
of all its expenses to identify cost-saving ideas. We have recently moved
to a new facility that is closer to a
majority of our customers. This helps
reduce our vehicle fuel consumption as well as our customers’ fuel
consumption. The new facility has
more efficient air conditioners with
set-back thermostats.
We are paying close attention to what
deliveries we have to make and are try-
ing to batch them together in a more efficient way. We may ask our
Over the past year, we have seen a
trend of many local corporations
keeping their meetings and events in
their back yard. While the event may
still attract a national audience, keep-
ing it at home holds event organizers’
costs down and maintains a compa-
rable expense for attendees. It also
provides much needed budget relief
in many areas, including employee
travel expenses and shipping costs.
If you want to look outside of your
local area, keep communication and program objectives in mind
customers if we can deliver a day early if we have another delivery in
the immediate area. We are using our smaller trucks whenever possible, even if it means the driver has a harder time getting things in
and out of the truck.
We have also recently purchased a new high-efficiency washing
machine that will reduce our water and chemical consumption.
And of course, we have undertaken a staff review to determine if
there are ways to get more work done with fewer man-hours.
RUSS MOHR
LINEN EFFECTS, INC.
RMOHR@LINENEFFECTS.COM
to strike a deal without sticker shock. Being open and honest with
vendors and venues is crucial. Revisit your RFPs to ensure they
provide as much detail as possible and that the response timeline
allows for questions. Apply the accounting terms fixed and variable
to your planning objectives. If your budget is your fixed factor,
then another area of your planning—perhaps your dates or location—should be variable. The key to a successful event is to focus
on your event’s objectives to guide your spending (and savings).
JENNIFER BRAUN
TRIAD, INC.
JENNIFER.BRAUN@TRIADCONFERENCES.COM
At Ewald Consulting, we are focusing on even more pre-planning—like
booking flights sooner and ordering
items for conferences much earlier.
We have also partnered with our
vendors to help us stay within our
budgets and offer up innovative,
cost-effective options. We have been
mapping out our processes and determining how to eliminate steps to save
time and money.
In tough economic times, as with
any challenge, we see an opportunity to be proactive and think
strategically. We are creatively solving problems and engaging our
clients to work with us to enhance customer value. Then when
potential attendees, sponsors and exhibitors have to choose where
to spend their limited resources, they choose our meeting because
we’ve increased content and value. We are doing more research,
including focus groups, to determine what members want. We have
planned panel discussions for attendees on how to sustain in tough
times, giving them tools to take back and implement in their own
organizations. We want to solve problems for our audiences, so
they can see the true ROI in attending our meetings.
JULIE CYGAN
EWALD CONSULTING
JULIEC@EWALD.COM
*How does your company save money these days? What are some of the important things to think about when
trying to cut costs? We’d love to hear your thoughts. Visit our Web site at www.mn-meetings.com and click on
Blog. Scroll down to the Ask Your Colleagues post and tell us what you think in the comments section.
