Meeting planner sherpas: hotel conference centers provide single-contact meeting directors.

• Author: Woolfington, Trina
• Position: ADVICE: MEETINGS - Conference news

EVERY MOUNTAIN climber needs a veteran "sherpa" to help him or her reach the destination. Without this experienced guide, costly mistakes can be made. and reaching the final goal or destination may be compromised. A sherpa provides the climber with the experience and expertise that might be lacking. Perhaps you're wondering what a mountain climber and sherpa have in common with a meeting event planner?

Single point of contact. Just as with mountain climbers, most planners prefer to have a "hotel sherpa" to help navigate them through the planning process. Traditionally, a planner is transferred from one hotel department to another to finalize details. The process is repetitive, time-consuming and unnecessarily cumbersome for the planner. Industry feedback indicates that planners prefer to have a single point of contact throughout the process. Ideally, this single point of contact works hand-in-hand with the planner to coordinate all event details, remaining fully available during the event to assist with any last-minute changes or unforeseen problems.

Finally there is good news for planners ... forward-thinking hotels are listening by offering a more personalired approach to the planning process. As a result, once an event or meeting is contracted, the planner is introduced to a single contact who assists the client with all aspects of the planning process including food, beverage, audio visual, unique billing and transportation needs as well as VIP requests...