Editorial Features

An article on the development of the Computer Keyboard and Mouse by John Sage of the Keyboard Company

The Keyboard is the Computer/Human interface. Unlike other parts of the computer it has to fit the human user. We all come in different shapes and sizes, we work in different ways and places, and we have differing aesthetic values. Now we find there is more in common with selling shoes than selling computer equipment........

Ask the experts how to cut your company’s meetings spend

An article from research carried out through Grass Roots Client Survey 2010

Although Europe is slowly coming out of recession, there is still great pressure on corporates to cut meetings expenditure. Budget constraints are the biggest challenge facing meeting planners; 87% of respondees to Grass Roots’ 2010 client survey confirmed this would be their biggest challenge in 2011.......

How to perform at your performance appraisal

By Gemma Allen, Director of Professional Services, Robert Walters

Minute Taking – what PAs really want to know

By Heather Baker, Baker Thompson Associates Limited

The content of this article comes from “Successful Minute Taking : Meeting the Challenge” by Heather Baker.

As an inexperienced secretary, I hated taking notes and writing minutes – I’d rather have thrown myself downstairs! However, as I progressed to more senior roles, I eventually got the hang of it and have, since 2000, been helping other PAs and administrators to resolve their concerns.....

Planning an office move

Berin Riley, Move-it channel moving

Whatever the size of the business you work for, planning an office move is time consuming and you will be required to keep disruption to the day to day running of the business to a minimum......

Conferencing/Collaboration: Make the best use of the simplest business communications tool – the telephone

By Tim Duffy, CEO, MeetingZone – UK’s largest independent audio and web conferencing service provider

Some of the content of this article first appeared on www.telegraphbusinessclub.co.uk

As a result of the tough economic climate every PA, EA, secretary, administrator and office manager is struggling with the constant demands from their management team to cut costs, but at the same time, drive up productivity and efficiency levels. There is continuous pressure to retain competitive edge, keep existing customers, find new customers and to increase all important revenue. Every office professional has to think of ways to do ‘more with less'.....

Riding the Recession – the Insiders Guide to Keeping Venue Costs in Check

By Nigel Alden, Managing Director of Complete Event Solutions

Having worked for two hotel groups, a conference centre chain, two of Britain’s biggest hotel booking agencies and the country’s leading team-building company, Nigel Alden, Managing Director of Complete Event Solutions, pa-assist’s venue-finding and event services partner, gives an authoritative insight into how you can minimise your venue costs when you need to organise an event.....

Articles

If the shoe fits

by John Sage of The Keyboard Company

Things have moved along tremendously since 1989 when The Keyboard Company was founded. Back then there were few designs to chose from and keyboards looked the same.

Your removal firm will liaise with the necessary local authority about access and parking for vehicles in controlled areas.

The most dramatic development in the intervening years is the Windows Intel China influence which gave us good desktop PCs to run our business or play on at home for under £200. This has been a fantastic thing in many ways but as with all silver linings there is a cloud. Every single component has become cheaper, using modern manufacturing methods and cheap labour. This has been good for all except possibly the people who make them and those who use them.

We now have a situation where the wheel is turning and people are not looking to buy the cheapest option IT equipment, evidenced by the success of Apple. As we become more mature users we will naturally look to improve the quality of our computing experience.

Through the Eighties, Nineties and Noughties the factories making keyboards turned over to membrane switch technology, they found new ways to print on the keys and they managed to produce keyboards for as little as One Dollar. All very well, but the product became too light, had no feel to it, and tended to become unresponsive with time making the user hit the keys harder. So no coincidence I think, that the Eighties, Nineties and Noughties also brought a near epidemic of RSI and work related limb disorders. The factories reacted by offering us a plethora of new designs to help this, but still based them on low grade technology.

So the challenge of the current decade is to find the manufacturers who make the products with qualities that will help our users be more productive, more satisfied and above all suffer no pain from computer use whether they work in the Office, Home, School, Hospital or a field.

The Keyboard Company have been leading the way with the absolute best quality Keyboards and Mice and have a range that the computer industry appreciates as the best available and which covers virtually all needs and situations. Don't walk a mile in my shoes, get some that fit your feet, match your style and are comfortable when you do what you want to do.

Is your workstation doing you any favours?

With millions of workstations and a growing number of people suffering in front of the computer it is time to ask ourselves if our workstations are doing us any favours. The majority of problems are back pain and strain in hands, arms and shoulders.

As work loads and office hours have increased, it is important to look for new ways of increasing productivity and well being whilst reducing staff absence. Administration staff are especially in danger of developing Work Related Upper Limb Disorders or even RSI if they are not offered the best products for their workstations.

One product which can lead to problems is the computer mouse. We need a mouse of some kind to perform pointing and clicking but the standard mouse is placed next to the computer and requires the user to take their hands off keyboard and stretch for it hundreds of times a day so why is it placed almost out of reach?

The standard mouse was introduced over 20 years ago and most people still think this is the only type of mouse available and use it for 8-10 hours a day. Workloads and lack of proactive thinking keep this mouse on the desk despite it being designed for the computer rather than the person using it. With a standard mouse, one is made to constantly stretch for it forcing your arms and hands outside the Optimal Work Zone (Square created by top corners of monitor and shoulders).

The standard computer mouse is cheap and seen to do the job but - it comes at a price. Could the cheapest mouse actually end up ruining an employee’s career and be the most expensive mouse the company has ever purchased?

Staff absenteeism costs UK companies an estimated £1,000 a year per employee (Source: CIPD), where as for much less, an investment in modern equipment / business tools can improve wellbeing significantly and reduce the stress created by poor working environments and workstations.

If we look to Denmark, Sweden and Norway we find the standard mouse as most of us know it, is perceived as culprit rather than a “friend”.

Other ways of operating a computer are widely available. One new group of computer mice is called Central Pointing Devices which, as the name suggests, places all mouse functions in front of the user and just below the keyboard.

The more popular range is the Contour RollerMouse which are equipped with a roller bar that operates by finger tips to control the cursor and main buttons. These are pre-programmed with left click, right click and even double click. This eliminates the constant reaching for a mouse next to the keyboard as well as enabling the user to use both hands simultaneously. Secondly it ensures the user sit up straight and use the chair in the way it was designed to be used. No gripping is involved and no friction experienced.

These types of mice in Scandinavia are already regarded as a professional business tool rather than just a “mouse”. Some UK companies are realizing that prevention is easier and cheaper than cure.

The Keyboard Company offers a wide range of computer mice and keyboards as well as the award winning RollerMouse by Contour Design. This unique and very intuitive new mouse is available on a 30-days Sale or Return Basis. Prepare to be Amazed!

For further details about the latest keyboards and mice available from the Keyboard Company, click here or call 0845 295 5555

Ask the experts how to cut your company’s meetings spend.

An article from research carried out through Grass Roots Client Survey 2010

In the same survey, 78% of buyers reported that they were now expected to deliver more for less, confirming the overall picture of austerity. However, where do you start when it comes to reducing meetings and events spend? Who needs to be involved and what technology is required? Is it worth the effort and what are the potential savings?

We spoke to Gemma King, UK Travel Manager at KPMG, and to Des Mclaughlin, Managing Director, Venue Procurement at Grass Roots, for the buyer and agency views on how to reduce meetings spend. KPMG will implement a preferred venue programme through a single agency – Grass Roots – for the first time in 2011. Previously processes for booking external meetings across the firm were fragmented. Some booked venues through different venue finding agencies some through KPMG’s procurement team, and others went direct to hotels. .

The Buyer - Gemma King KPMG

Q: Where do I start?

The first thing any buyer has to do is to understand what is going on. At KPMG, when we brought in a venue finding agency, we discovered that we had different departments all doing events of a similar type.

Once you know, what activity is taking place you can consolidate your suppliers into a preferred programme so you can drive volumes into the venues that provide the best fit at the best price. However, without data it is an impossible task because you don’t know if you are making any progress.

Using an agency will help us to consolidate meeting & event spend, and bring greater visibility to our requirements & booking patterns. This will give us the information we need to develop a preferred programme. It’s working too. The proportion of meeting planners using the agency has increased steadily since it was introduced.

Q: How can senior management help?

Any meetings programme requires a big message to be communicated by senior management to all those involved pre-launch. That message then needs to be repeated to those who do not go through the specified channels.

Q: Can I commoditise meetings?

Personally, I don’t think that you can commoditise meetings because there are so many variables involved and the intended objectives of those meetings are so varied.

Q: What is KPMG’s policy on compliance?

It is part of the firm’s culture that KPMG does not mandate but the communication programme is critical to drive high adoption. If mandation is achieved, leakage will be immediately reduced. Any additional savings would be hard to quantify, but it would reduce non-ideal contracts.

Q: How do I ensure engagement in the programme and delivering on its objectives?

The best way to do this is to give the venue finding agency the opportunity to engage with the bookers through a managed programme and to do what they are best at. Secondly, you need to build realistic KPI’s into the agency’s service level agreement so you can measure their effectiveness.

Q: What technology do I need?

One of the advantages of working with a venue finding agency is access to technology that streamlines the booking process. For example, we use Grass Roots’ Mentor Live enquiry management system to monitor each stage of a significantly simplified process, saving the booking community a great deal of time.

On-line tools not only get people to use the service, but also helps reduce spend through greater adoption. Transient accommodation and travel are already booked on-line in KPMG so to maximise savings on meetings spend a self-booking tool would be necessary – if the perfect meetings SBT had been created yet.

Most on-line booking tools for meetings are more of a document sharing mechanism, and the agency’s venue team conducts a search based on the brief supplied. Existing booking tools give more visibility to transient hotels; the next phase of technology will do the same for venues so bookers can pre-select from a short list, and will do the same for third party suppliers too. Grass Roots’ system now allows us to track and manage secondary meetings & events spend for AV equipment and other specialist suppliers.

The Agent – Des Mclaughlin, Grass Roots

There are ten key steps that organisations needs to take, regardless of their size, culture or markets, to save money on meetings.

1. Know your booker

Many businesses have no real understanding of who within the company books their meetings and events. To control spend you have to identify and engage with the booking community first. Increasingly, booking meetings has become a part of someone’s job rather than a dedicated role, so it can be difficult to seek the appropriate person out. We often start the hunt by using historical data which can be found in finance and then look at each department’s meetings individually.

2. Define the booking process

Often, a company will have no real policy around which venues they use, how much they can spend and who has authority to sign off the budget. Similarly, who signs the contract and determines what terms and conditions are acceptable, what is the payment process etc? We dealt with a telecommunications company who booked hundreds of external courses at 3-star venues to train their engineers around the country. However as there was no formal accommodation policy around these meetings many of the engineers were booking themselves at 5-star hotels when attending the courses. A clear set of meetings guidelines is therefore essential to move forward.

3. Outsource internal meeting space

Internal meeting space is often used inefficiently by companies. Better then to hand over the meeting space to a specialist property company to manage, who can secure additional income by letting it to others. Not only will this bring about savings but it will also improve the balance sheet. We have brokered a number of these deals for clients in the last 12 months and in every instance they have been a genuine win – win for both parties.

4. Set up a preferred meetings programme

Decide on the most suitable venues or hotel groups for your meetings & events and channel business through this select group in return for better rates and terms & conditions. This will deliver better financial terms and improved hotel account management. We look to save companies in excess of 30% against rack rates when setting up these types of programmes.

5. Mandate where possible

Bookers need to use the venues in the preferred meetings programme to make it work. Bookers will have their own personal favourites, which they will continue to book unless the programme is mandated. Requesting compliance is nice but mandating the booking policy stretches your spend. Having said this, the vast majority of companies do not like to mandate although I suspect this trend may change in the near future.

6. Use rates as a benchmark

Many companies agree their rates for a 12-month period, which might seem prudent at the time but often locks them into high rates in hindsight. It’s far better to agree a ceiling rate that the company will pay and then negotiate this down with each booking. Companies shouldn’t expect to pay the same rate in off-peak months as peak conference months for example. This is why it is essential to use an agent whose staff are trained to negotiate and is the area where many TMCs (Travel Management Companies) fall down in the meetings market.

7. Use technology

If companies want to truly manage their spend, it needs to be tracked on a central database. This does not mean having to invest in IT, as the larger agents will provide client portals as part of their offering. The meetings software being employed is becoming increasingly sophisticated. For example we can now track all event-related supplier spend which is often as high as the venue spend. Many companies now have a grasp of how much they are spending at hotels and venues, but are still very vague around their ancillary costs.

8. Knowledge is power

Do your venue bookers communicate with one other? Are good and bad experiences shared? Does your booker know what rate your company paid last time they used the venue? Has anyone visited the venue? It’s important that this information is shared and the best way to do this is to create an active booker community. Again, larger agents’ portals will have this built in to their offering. We also set up an event organisers network for larger clients and encourage their bookers to network at educational events.

9. Go global

More and more companies are looking to adopt global meetings programmes and leverage their spend across the group. It makes sense, although implementing this type of programme is not easy and presents an increased number of challenges. Companies will also ideally have to use one booking platform. We now have venue procurement offices in London, New York and Singapore which ensures we can service our financial clients in their key hubs, using local knowledge. We will continue to add to these locations in line with client demand.

10. Use a specialist

Venue procurement / meetings management is becoming an increasingly complex exercise. It’s highly unlikely that a company will maximise their spending power without using an agent. My advice would be to look for an agent that specialises in meetings management, has significant spending power and a long working history with their clients. If in doubt ask hotels which agents they would recommend. They deal with agents every day and know the good and the bad ones.

For further information please call Grass Roots – telephone +44 (0) 20 7924 3663 or visit www.grassrootseventcom.uk.com

How to perform at your performance appraisal

By Gemma Allen, Director of Professional Services at Robert Walters

Appraisals can be a stressful experience for many people, while others embrace them as an opportunity to discuss their performance and highlight the value they have added to the business over the previous year. They are also a great opportunity to discuss your future plans and potential opportunities for personal growth and development in the coming year. Appraisals are generally undertaken by companies in January and Gemma Allen, Director of Professional Services at leading global recruitment consultancy Robert Walters discusses how to perform at your performance appraisal..

Prepare for your appraisal

If you are well prepared for your appraisal you will feel more confident so ensure you have carefully prepared examples of your work and performance and collated all the facts before going into the meeting. Appraisals can be make-or-break moments in your career and as such it is vital to prepare for them as you would for an exam or important interview.

What do you want to achieve?

Think about what you want to achieve in your career over the next few years and how your current employer can help you get there. Ensure you take the time to think about possible training options, additional industry qualifications you are interested in, or how you can gain different experience to broaden your skill base, things that will help your career in the long term.

Compromise

Be prepared to accept that your employer may not be able to meet all your requests and think about what you are willing to accept. Consider compromises that will ensure win-win outcomes for the appraisal. For example, agree performance targets in exchange for the opportunity to gain access to specific training programmes.

Speak up

If you have ideas on improving the role, the team, or a specific process within the business, then this is your opportunity to speak up. You should take this chance to express your interest in taking on extra responsibility – this is a sure way of getting ahead, being noticed and showing your commitment to the company and your position within it.

Be factual

Above all, remember that a performance appraisal is a business discussion. Avoid emotive language and responses to the constructive feedback you may receive. Focus on factual reasons why you should be considered for a pay rise or a promotion, not just because somebody else received one. This is your best opportunity to convince your employer of the value you have contributed to the business and how you can continue to contribute in the future.

Anything that is discussed in an appraisal should not come as a surprise to either party – do not store up grievances until an appraisal – these should be discussed as and when they happen but this is a good time to re-iterate any issues that have occurred throughout the course of the year.

Performance appraisals should be a positive experience and an opportunity for you to communicate honestly with your manager about your career progression. Take ownership of the process and the rewards should follow.

Minute Taking – what PAs really want to know

By Heather Baker, Baker Thompson Associates Limited

Here is an extract which outlines the skills you need; the book goes into detail on each of these points – and much more : .

√ Being good at taking notes

You should have your own prepared system for taking quick notes and it should include a set of abbreviations. Remember you don’t need to write perfect English in the meeting. Prepare your abbreviations in advance of the meeting. If you haven’t already got a system have a look at the BakerWrite system of speed writing www.UoLearn.com. Make sure you work out how you will differentiate between people with the same initials before you go into the meeting.

√ Good mastery of English

This is very important so that people can understand your minutes and to reflect a good image of you, your department and organisation. The internet is an excellent source of information on grammar.

√ Good Vocabulary

You’ll need a good general vocabulary and an understanding of the technical terms, jargon and abbreviations that may be used in the meeting. Get yourself informed before the meeting so you’ll understand what’s being said. Use a thesaurus to vary the words you use.

√ Word processing skills

A set of well presented minutes reflects well on you. If you are regularly minuting the same type of meeting then use a template. You can then use a laptop and type your notes straight onto your template – but remember you are not writing your minutes in the meeting, you are just taking notes.

√ Summarising skills

This is after the meeting; you need to write a summary based on the notes you have taken. Minute taking is NOT dictation…. don’t “go through the process”. For example: “The Chairperson said she needed a volunteer to get estimates for the new furniture in the office. She asked the Secretary to do this. The secretary said she would do this. The Chairperson said she needed these for the next meeting. The Secretary said she would arrange this.” This would be better written as: “The Secretary agreed to arrange estimates for the new furniture to be discussed at the next meeting.”

√ Listening skills

Always the first skill that people think of as the most difficult. Understanding the subject is one of the main ways to make life easier.

√ Proofreading skills

It’s important to check your minutes after they have been typed. One tip is to print off the minutes and check them again; don’t just rely on reading from the screen.

√ Knowledge of how to use reported speech

You may occasionally have to report what people say in minutes and, if so, reported speech should be used. However, by using excellent summarising skills you can avoid the ‘he said, she said’ scenarios (see above).

√ A good relationship with the Chairperson

A very important part of minute taking. A chairperson and minute taker should always have time together to prepare for their meetings.

√ What to record

A sense of what you should and shouldn’t record is a skill that takes time to develop. It helps to understand your readership and the use of the minutes after they have been written. Most important – always include any actions.

“Successful Minute Taking : Meeting the Challenge” is published by www.UoLearn.com and can also be bought at Amazon

Heather had over 20 years’ experience as a secretary and PA before setting up Baker Thompson Associates Limited in 2000. The company specialises in the training and development of PAs and administrative staff. She travels around the world working with large and small companies to enable their office staff and PAs to work more effectively.

Planning an office move

by Berin Riley, Move-it channel moving

Whatever the size of the business you work for, planning an office move is time consuming and you will be required to keep disruption to the day to day running of the business to a minimum. There is also the need to keep up with the demands on your own time in your day to day role, so what is the best way to approach a business move?

You need to firstly liaise with your removal firm to ask them to undertake a risk assessment to ensure the safety of the workforce throughout the moving process and that health and safety procedures are followed at all times.

Your removal firm will liaise with the necessary local authority about access and parking for vehicles in controlled areas.

Once the health and safety checks have been carried out and approved, it is then down to preparation by overseeing the packing and managing the contents of boxes or crates. Ask colleagues to go through their files into three categories; take, store and destroy. This can save a lot of time when unpacking in the new office.

It is vital to keep an accurate list of what the contents of each box is and to which member of staff it belongs so the new office can be set up quickly.

Dealing with colleagues who hoard files can be difficult and tact will be needed. This is a really good opportunity to free up office space by archiving bulk files which can be stored off site at a low monthly cost and easily retrieved when needed. You can also use this as an opportunity to securely dispose of redundant documents. Be ruthless and encourage colleagues to part with out of date samples or general office clutter which can fill store cupboards, so hire a skip.

The protection of the business premises is very important to avoid damage as furniture is moved in and out of the building and it will be necessary for your remover to provide floor, wall and door protection which can be easily removed once the job is complete.

Your remover can also dismantle and reassemble office furniture so it is important to draw up a map of the new building and label items and their new position accordingly.

Ensure your manager has approved the new office set up to avoid colleagues disappointment with the space they have been allocated.

Don’t forget to discuss with the remover the treatment of more unusual items such as works of art or sculptures. Also you may be moving equipment or samples which can be damaged by changes in temperature or movement so make sure colleagues list any unusual items and the requirements for storing and moving them.

If you do not have your own IT technicians then it is important to arrange the decommissioning of your IT and telecoms equipment for safe transit before it is recommissioned into its new positions so that everything is ready for your colleagues to resume work on time.

This is a good opportunity to arrange for your computers and other electrical equipment to be PAT tested prior to being reconnected at the new office or for new equipment to be installed.

Security at this time is vital and it will be necessary to restrict access to buildings and the unauthorised removal of stock, documents or equipment until the move has been completed in its entirety.

Once the removals process has been approved communicate the dates, timing and procedure to all staff along with emergency phone numbers.

Finally, a separate letter should be sent to clients and suppliers informing them of the move, the new address and assuring them disruption will be kept to a minimum.

Don’t forget moves can be carried out overnight and over weekends to avoid disruption to the business and ensure the firm’s customers receive the best possible service during this period.

For further details or to discuss a move of any size contact Move-it Channelmoving at www.move-it.co.uk or call 01233 645177

Conferencing/Collaboration: Make the best use of the simplest business communications tool – the telephone

by Tim Duffy, CEO, MeetingZone – UK’s largest independent audio and web conferencing service provider

Some of the content of this article first appeared on www.telegraphbusinessclub.co.uk

As if all of that is not enough, with the increasing awareness of the need for businesses to operate in an environmentally manner, especially in light of the Chancellor’s commitment to cut carbon emissions by 34% by 2020 and the UN Climate Change Conference taking place at the end of the year, there is now the need to make sure that your business is operating in an environmentally friendly way!

When used as part of a conferencing and collaboration solution, there is one very simple business communications tool that can help to achieve all of the above – the telephone!

Do you read about conferencing and collaboration solutions i.e. audio, web and video and think that these technologies are probably the most written about, but yet continue to be the least deployed; that they are complicated and only affordable by large enterprises? If you do, then now is the time to think again!

Audio, web and video conferencing are, quite simply, communications tools that allow the bringing together of the right people at the right time, especially important in today’s fast moving business environment, when it is not possible, or necessary, to meet face to face.

To reduce costs and not just the hard but the soft costs often not taken into account, of the ‘dead time’ associated with travelling, all you need to do is to choose a conferencing and collaboration solution that meets the individual communications requirements of your business.

The right choice will improve productivity and efficiency by increasing the time that employees are at their desks handling your customers’ requirements, instead of travelling to and from meetings. Increased customer service levels boost competitive edge.

Reduced business travel, i.e. the time employees spend in their cars, on a train or on an aeroplane, helps to lower your organisation’s carbon footprint, so you are able to promote the fact that your business is operated in an environmentally friendly way.

So how do you choose the right conference and collaboration solution for your business? It’s easy, just think about the answers to the following questions.

When you hold a meeting with other employees, suppliers or customers do you need to ‘see’ them? If the answer is yes, then you need to be looking at video conferencing. But, budget constraints may be an issue.

Video systems range from high-end room based, to those for large or small conference rooms to software applications that run on your lap top or PC with a webcam. Costs span from £500 to £750,000. If you regularly hold meetings with three or more participants then you will need video conferencing bridging capability (some systems have embedded bridging functionality) that enables you to connect all of the participants. Depending on your usage you may consider purchasing your own bridge or to use a video conferencing service provider who delivers bridging services.

Another crucial issue to consider is whether your IP network is video ready? Will this potentially bandwidth hungry technology play havoc with your existing mission critical applications? Do you have the resource to manage the video conferencing systems plus the network itself?

If it not necessary for you to see those you meet with, then a simple and easy to use audio conferencing solution is the answer. All you need is access to a phone!

Most desktop phones/PBX’s allow you to hold internal and external conference calls with a limited number of participants. But depending on usage, the specific application and the number of participants in your meetings, you should consider using an audio conferencing service provider who will provide you, and your meeting participants, with a single dial in number to access the service and individual PIN numbers to join specific conferences. Costs are usually based on a price per minute, per line.

Most meetings include the need to share information whether that is a sales forecast, a presentation or a contract, etc. A cumbersome way of handling this is by e-mailing the information to be shared to all of the participants. However, a more efficient and productive solution is to use a web conferencing application from a service provider. All that is required is access to a phone for the audio element and the Internet for a web conferencing session. The service provider will issue you with an individual url and an access code to be used by each participant once they click onto your url enabling them to share the necessary data. Again cost is based on price per minute.

There is no time to waste, talk to a specialist service provider today. A specialist service provider will work closely with you to quickly determine the most cost effective conferencing and collaboration solution which meets your business’ specific communications requirements. You will quickly see just how the plain old telephone really can play a role in helping your business to cut costs, increase productivity and efficiency, drive up profitability and crucially help the environment!.

For more information please call: 0 0155510 (international callers 1844 265518) or visit www.meetingzone.com

Riding the Recession – the Insiders Guide to Keeping Venue Costs in Check

by Nigel Alden, Managing Director of Complete Event Solutions

Venue costs are a substantial part of most organisations’ event expenditure and, particularly in today’s challenging times with budgets being cut, event organisers are being expected to watch every penny. There are ways of ensuring you do not spend any more than you need to on venues without compromising on standards.

After a long career helping companies control their event expenditure, I hope I can talk with some conviction and with a degree of inside knowledge about tips that may help you save your organisation substantial amounts of money.

For example:-

√ Don’t ask what the rate is – tell them what rate you want!

When you call a venue with a conference enquiry, don’t just ask them what the rate is. The Conference Co-ordinator’s job is the same as yours and mine – to do whatever benefits their company the most. In other words to get the best rate they can. So firstly do your homework – find out what their normal conference rate is. Let’s say their published 24 Hour Rate is £185.00. If you ask what rate they will do, they may quote you, say, £170.00. However if you say, “I have a budget of £140.00,” I will guarantee on many occasions you be offered that rate or somewhere near it. In present circumstances, they will probably offer even lower, so push those rates down!

The same applies to Day Delegate Rates – tell them your budget is 25-30% less than their published rate and see how near they get.

√ Those expensive extras

Don’t forget many of the excellent dedicated management training centres and residential conference centres around the country automatically include syndicates, a/v equipment, unlimited tea and coffee, etc. so you won’t even need to ask!

√ Know how attractive a particular piece of business is to the venue

Be aware of what the slower periods are for many hotels and other conference venues, as they will have more flexibility on rates. For example, the key low times are: Weekends Mondays and Fridays Mid-December to mid-January Mid-July to early September Any week following a bank holiday

There will, of course, be exceptions to the above, particularly if the venue is in a location not primarily reliant on corporate and/or conference business. But if you have any flexibility on when your event takes place, do keep the above in mind.

√ Short notice gold dust

If you have business for the next two, three or even four weeks, be aware of how much venues will want that business, because by then they will have a pretty good idea of how busy they are going to be over that period. So be ruthless, be shrewd, be bold and get those rates down!

√ Make your conference agency work for you

You could forget needing to remember all of these tips by ensuring your conference agency is asking the same questions. Be under no misapprehension – we are here to ensure our clients do not pay a penny more than they need to. We are inundated with special offers from venues, we know hotel rates inside out, we know how to get the best rates possible and we know how attractive a piece of business is to venues.

And it’s a free service. And we save oodles of your time by doing all the work. And we can book any venue anywhere. And so on and so on.

We are on your side SO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF IT.

And if you haven’t got a conference agency, for goodness sake get one. They can save you a lot of effort (because they do all the work) and money (see above) and eliminate the risks involved in booking venues you don’t know, because their venue knowledge should be top notch (OR YOU HAVEN’T GOT THE RIGHT AGENCY).

Let us prove how much we can save you by following the tips above and by taking advantage of the excellent rates currently available (see our Promotional Offers flyer for the deals we can get for you from the main hotel groups) and at every conference venue throughout the country.

http://www.pa-assist.com/venue-offers

For more information or for a no obligation venue search for your next event, telephone 01420 561165, e-mail info@completeeventsolutions.com check out our website www.completeeventsolutions.com or click here for more information. We look forward to working with you. .

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Editorial Features