Developing Content and Planning an Effective Meeting

Matt Riley, NCRA Senior Director, Professional Development

Matt Riley

• Senior Director, Professional Development– Meetings– School Support– Continuing Ed.– Testing and Certification

Learning Objectives

• After this seminar, you will be able to:– Understand the basics of hotel

negotiations and the current state of the hospitality industry.

– Effectively focus your content planning efforts.

– Successfully handle the administrative aspects of hosting a convention or seminar.

Bonus Objective

200WPM

Hotel Negotiations

“In business as in life, you don't get what you deserve, you get what you

negotiate.”-Dr. Chester L. Karass, Author

Your state sees record convention attendance!

Hotel Negotiation Basics

• Who is handling your site selection and contract negotiation?• What are your challenges? • What do you want to learn?

Hotel Terminology: A Crash Course

• RevPAR: Revenue per Available Room

• ADR: Average Daily Rate• Occupancy• Transient/Leisure Travel• Business Travel

The Background

Issac Colazzo, VP of Performance, Strategy, and Planning

The Outlook

What Does This Mean?

• Book your contracts as soon as possible.

• As the financial picture brightens for hotels, negotiating will become more challenging.

• Business that hotels found attractive in the past may be reevaluated.

• Relationships and history still matter.

Tips for Negotiating in a Tough Market

• Understand your negotiating position.

• Prioritize and know your goals coming in.

• Cultivate an air of transparency and ask questions to get to win-win.

• Consider carefully before spending your negotiating capital on “flexibility.”

Common Negotiation PointsItem Description Negotiation TipsRoom Block The number of rooms

that the group is obligated to fill.

The history of the event is key here. Also, generally 15-20% slippage may be allowed before attrition.

Dates The dates over which the event will be held. May be flexible in negotiation.

Groups tend to underestimate how important flexibility here can be to the hotel.

Rates The nightly room rate. Negotiated rates may very for attendees vs. staff, key volunteers, etc.

Common Negotiation PointsItem Description Negotiation TipsSpace The meeting space

the hotel is obligated to hold for the group.

Hotels value an even ratio between meeting space and sleeping room block.

Room Rental Any fees paid by the group in exchange for meeting space.

This should normally be waived unless the meeting space needs vastly outweigh the room block.

F&B Minimum

A minimum obligation the group agrees to spend on food and beverage.

This is a balancing act. Too low and hotels don’t want the business. Too high can be disastrous.

Other Concessions

• 1 comp per 40 room nights• Room upgrades and amenities• Comps/discounts: A/V, F&B, spa,

parking, wifi, etc.• Group rate available pre/post• Anything (within reason) that will

make your event more successful and better-attended

Questions?

Content Planning

“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.”

-Benjamin Franklin

Instructional Design

Analyze Design Develop Implement

Evaluate

Source: Core Competencies in Association Professional Development, ASAE, 2005

Instructional Design

• Analyze– Identify the need, the target audience,

and the delivery model• Design– Determine learning objectives,

sequence/structure, pre-requisites, etc.

– Create course description.

Learning Objectives

• After this seminar, you will be able to:– Understand the basics of hotel

negotiations and the current state of the hospitality industry.

– Effectively focus your content planning efforts.

– Successfully negotiate the administrative aspects of hosting a convention or seminar.

Key Design Principles

• The motivated learner incorporates information and concepts more effectively.

• Active participation by the learner tends to result in higher quality learning.

• Problem solving fosters both motivation and involvement.

• Repetition and reinforcement aid retention.

• Rewards and positive feedback help to promote learning.

Source: Association Educator’s Toolkit, ASAE

Instructional Design

• Develop– Flesh out presenters, written

materials, exercises, etc.• Implement– Execute the plan.

• Evaluate– Test the learning objectives.– Collect feedback for the future.

Instructional Design

Analyze Design Develop Implement

Evaluate

Source: Core Competencies in Association Professional Development, 2005

Emerging Trends in Adult Education

• Learner-centric education• The “flipped classroom”• Gamification and game-based

learning• Peer-to-peer

learning

Questions?

PollEverywhere• Mobile polling software – make

those mobile devices your friend!• www.polleverywhere.com –

25/50/100 responses for free/$19/$79 per month.

Crowd Mics

• Turn attendees’ phones into mics.• Bandwidth-intensive, make sure to test this

one.• www.crowdmics.com – free to try,

negotiable up to $400 per event.

Catchbox• Throw-able microphone.• Especially good for breakouts; Avoid

meal/drink functions…• Models for both wireless lavalieres and

standalone.• www.getcatchbox.com - $500-600

Questions?

Administration

“The Devil is in the details, but so is salvation.”

-Admiral Hyman G. Rickover, USN

Types of CreditCredit Type Defined By Measures Formula

Continuing Education Units (CEUs)

ACCET (Universal)

Formal learning based on hours.

0.1 CEU = 1hr

Professional Development Credits (PDCs)

CAPR (NCRA) Activities that contribute to prof. dev. but don’t count as CEUs

0.25 PDC per activity (varies)

Technology CEUs

CAPR (NCRA) CEUs within the area of technology

Same as CEU

Certification RequirementsNCRA Credential(s) Credit(s) Required per

CycleRPR, RMR, RDR, CRR, CBC, CCP, CRI, MCRI, CMRS

3.0 total credits, at least 2.0 of which must be CEUs

CLVS 1.0 CEU

Trial Presentation Professional Certificate, Realtime Systems Administrator Certificate

1.0 CEU within the category of technology CEUs

Approval TypesType Program

TypePre Post Cost

Pre-Approval Fixed Date and Time

Application (at least 60 days prior), may list CEUs

Attendance Report (within 30 days after)

$150/200 application fee, no fee for timely attendance report

Pre-Qualification

On-Demand

Application (at least 60 days prior), may list CEUs

Individual CEU Credit Request

$150/200 application fee, $40/50 credit request fee

No Approval Any Nothing, may NOT list CEUs

Individual CEU Credit Request

$40/50 credit request fee

www.ncra.org/ceuforms

DEADLINES!

• Pre-Approvals/Pre-Auth.: due at least 60 days prior to the first day of the event.

• Cancellations: due at least 30 days prior to the event, 50% refund of fee.

• Attendance Reports: due within 30 days after the last day of the event.

• Late Fee: $15 per day

For Each Session

• Title• Date, Start/End Time, and Number of

Hours• Presenter• Presenter’s Bio/Resume/CV• Course Description including learning

objectives• More Information Means Faster

Approval

Questions?

Do’s and Don’ts

Don’t

Do

Don’t

Do

Please, Please, Don’t

Seminar Realtime

May - ish

Check in mail

Ummm, No.

TBA

TBA

TBA

TBATB

ATBA

Also, No.

Do

Do

Matt Rileymriley@ncra.org

800-272-6272