Outsorcerer II –How to compare the costs of internal operations with an outsourcing option
A college president once opined to me that most people know the cost of everything and the value of nothing. The first question many executives ask about any contracting approach is… “How much does it cost?” followed immediately by… “It’s not in the budget”.
However, in many cases it is in the budget. In fact it’s in so many different budgets that overall costs are essentially invisible.
Consider conference registration services as an example. A contract provider may quote $25 per registration for 600 attendees. That’s $15,000, WOW! That’s a lot, and… “It’s not in the budget”.
Where can we turn to make an apple and apples comparison? Consider these do-it-yourself cost items: Read more 
Looking for an Outsorcerer?
Serious or unexpected challenges are one of the common drivers of the decision to outsource key elements of producing a successful conference. Embarrassing onsite badge printing snafus, 200 attendees show up for the amazing session in the cozy little board room, 20×20 freight arrives from a key partner for the 10×10 spot on the floor plan, a sponsor’s worst competitor shows up at the private sponsored VIP reception, you discover the main hotel tower is closed for renovation when you arrive to set up, the preceding city-wide attendees don’t check out on you main arrival date, and on and on.
Sometimes it’s worse; catastrophic even. The $100,000 AV bill was left out of the budget, the exhibit hall is only 72% sold, or sponsorships are off by 40%; these circumstances demand serious attention. A common management reaction is to consider reaching outside to a professional to make sure this never happens again. Read more
10 Amazing Dining Highlights from MRA Services’ Travelers
MRA Services’ crew travels broadly throughout the U.S. and several have the opportunity to travel to exotic foreign places like Adelaide, South Australia, or Singapore or Leeds. One of the positives of travel, domestic and international, is the opportunity for searching out amazing places to dine.
I have my own favorites, one of which I share below, but I thought it might be interesting to poll our folks for their favorite on-the-road dining experiences. I asked each to name one best standout place, why they thought so, what they enjoyed most.
As you can see, limiting to one was a problem, so this got a little long. I’ll add a part 2 some other time. I’m building a directory of our favorite places so that we can make recommendations when clients, exhibitors or just plain friends ask us “What’s good in Show Town?”
You can help. If you have a really great dining experience you want to share let me know so I can put it in our directory. And, who knows, maybe you’ll see it on one of my future blog articles.
Here are the results for this post in alpha sequence by city name:
Four Straightforward Principles for Site Selection Success
Creativity and non-traditional expectations are valuable in refining a host site relationship. But thinking out of the box during the selection process can be a risky approach for a major conference scheduled for the foggy distant future.
Stick to these four simple principles and your selection will be right on.
- Financial stewardship and risk avoidance for the association
- Minimization of attendance cost for members
- Suitability of the facility to fit the program
- Overall attendee experience
1. Financial stewardship and risk avoidance for the association recognizes that there are necessary commitments made well into the hazy future by both the association and the property. Room blocks, rates, F&B Minimums, attrition, economic predictions, scheduling of competing organizations, capital projects all present uncertainty that both parties need to accommodate to come to a mutually beneficial agreement.
Recently hurricanes and earthquakes have joined into the ‘what-if’ equation bringing another organization to the team with event cancellation insurance. Read more
New IRS Rules Create a Flurry of Work for Event Organizers
The Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 led to Internal Revenue Code §6050W which leads to a blizzard of 1099Ks for conference management organizations like MRA Services.
Credit card processors like PayPal and Chase Paymentech are required to track the gross amount of reportable payment transactions by MRA Services starting in 2011 and report those amounts to the IRS in 2012. We have the process in hand now, but the effort is sizable on behalf of our clients.
So, when Thomas Jefferson, along with 800 colleagues, registers through MRA Services’ online system to attend ABC Association’s conference and pays by credit card the saga begins. PayPal (MRA Services’ processor) will report to the IRS all payment transactions and provide a 1099K to MRA Services for the total value as if the fees collected are revenue for MRA Services. MRA Services will then send 1099Ks to each client for fees collected through MRA Services and remitted to the client. All this then is reported in IRS filings by PayPal, MRA Services, and our clients.
The combined workload for credit card processors and third-party conference managers across the country will be staggering. And what might be next?
