Nancy Nachman is an offsite meeting guru with years of experience in the hospitality industry.
In this episode of The Leader Assistant Podcast, Nancy walks through the process of finding and contracting hotels for offsite meetings, and shares tips on planning and coordinating company events.
LEADERSHIP QUOTE
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.– Robert Frost, The Road Not Taken
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ABOUT NANCY
When Nancy Nachman worked in hotel sales, she was well trained on what not to tell her customers in order to get the business. She would know that the hotel spa was going to be closed over the client’s meeting dates. She would know the hotel was going to be oversold and some of her client’s would be relocated to another hotel. She would know the ballroom next door to her client’s 20 person meeting was going to be loud and her client’s meeting would be bothered by the noise from the meeting next door. And, it bothered Nancy that the hotels were going to let down her executive assistant clients, who were responsible for planning a nearly perfect meeting. That led Nancy to starting her meeting planning service, The Meetings Concierge, and since 1991 Nancy has been lovingly taking exceptional care of her executive assistant customers by making sure they are always the super star to their organizations when it comes to planning meetings. Her advice is invaluable. Her expertise is unmatched. Her desire to treat everyone kindly is infusive. If you plan meetings, you’ll want to follow Nancy and her innumerable Top Secrets to Finding & Contracting Hotels for Offsite Meetings.
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EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
00:00:00.580 –> 00:00:11.180
NANCY: Hi, I’m Nancy Nachman, the Meetings Concierge, and today’s leadership quote is by Robert Frost from The Road Not Taken.
00:00:11.180 –> 00:00:21.100
NANCY: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I, I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.
00:00:27.670 –> 00:00:35.250
<v SPEAKER_3>The Leader Assistant Podcast exists to encourage and challenge assistants to become confident, game-changing leader assistants.
00:00:44.115 –> 00:00:48.615
JEREMY: Are you a strategic senior executive assistant thinking about what’s next?
00:00:48.615 –> 00:00:57.415
JEREMY: Whether you’re ready for a promotion or loving the job you’re in, Nova Chief of Staff’s certification course may be just the resource you’re hungry for.
00:00:57.415 –> 00:01:14.495
JEREMY: With over 400 students across 20 countries and rave reviews, students graduate from Nova’s hands-on, self-paced online course with the confidence, knowledge, and power to make the move to Chief of Staff for their executive.
00:01:14.495 –> 00:01:16.035
JEREMY: But don’t take my word for it.
00:01:16.035 –> 00:01:25.995
JEREMY: Visit leaderassistant.com/nova to find countless testimonials, the course syllabus, and lots of free resources to support you in your career journey.
00:01:25.995 –> 00:01:29.015
JEREMY: Hey friends, welcome to The Leader Assistant Podcast.
00:01:29.015 –> 00:01:37.895
JEREMY: You’re listening to episode 288, and this is your host, Jeremy Burrows, and I’m excited to be speaking with Nancy Nachman.
00:01:38.235 –> 00:01:44.795
JEREMY: Nancy is the Founder and Chief Connecting Officer at The Meetings Concierge.
00:01:44.795 –> 00:01:46.695
JEREMY: Nancy, welcome to the show.
00:01:46.695 –> 00:01:48.415
NANCY: Thank you so much, Jeremy.
00:01:48.415 –> 00:01:56.135
NANCY: I’m thrilled to be here and can’t wait to share some meeting planning tips with Executive Assistants.
00:01:56.135 –> 00:01:56.615
JEREMY: Awesome.
00:01:56.615 –> 00:01:58.615
JEREMY: What part of the world are you in?
00:01:58.615 –> 00:02:04.715
NANCY: I’m in Scottsdale, Arizona, so I’m bragging about it in the good months, and we don’t talk about our weather in the summer.
00:02:06.075 –> 00:02:08.415
NANCY: But I happen to live in a gorgeous place.
00:02:08.415 –> 00:02:10.735
NANCY: I love living here.
00:02:10.735 –> 00:02:11.015
JEREMY: Love it.
00:02:11.015 –> 00:02:12.915
JEREMY: Are you from that area?
00:02:12.915 –> 00:02:15.475
NANCY: No, I am from Omaha, Nebraska.
00:02:16.235 –> 00:02:31.235
NANCY: In my travels and my hotel career, I say in every corner of the country and the middle, and I’m happily staying put in Arizona, but I’ve moved around quite a bit in my hotel career, and I loved it.
00:02:31.235 –> 00:02:33.275
NANCY: I lived in some great places along the way.
00:02:34.615 –> 00:02:36.115
JEREMY: Nice, nice.
00:02:36.115 –> 00:02:40.355
JEREMY: Well, what is your favorite thing to do when you’re not working?
00:02:40.355 –> 00:02:46.095
NANCY: Well, I always dreamed of being on the Food Network as a chef, but that didn’t work out.
00:02:48.135 –> 00:02:50.895
NANCY: I love to cook, absolutely positively.
00:02:50.895 –> 00:02:52.435
NANCY: It is my joy.
00:02:52.435 –> 00:02:54.575
NANCY: Going in my kitchen is my zen.
00:02:54.575 –> 00:02:58.435
NANCY: I know it’s not for everybody, but it’s just my happy place.
00:02:58.435 –> 00:03:00.615
NANCY: So that’s where you’ll find me in my kitchen.
00:03:02.335 –> 00:03:02.595
JEREMY: Love it.
00:03:02.595 –> 00:03:07.635
JEREMY: Do you have a genre you like to stick with when it comes to cooking?
00:03:08.775 –> 00:03:17.815
NANCY: I like making food that tastes high calorie, maybe in a bit fattening, but is so healthy and not fattening and so delicious.
00:03:19.715 –> 00:03:23.855
NANCY: I think salad sandwiches, I’m really known for my amazing.
00:03:23.855 –> 00:03:36.215
NANCY: I make airplane sandwiches for anybody that departs from Arizona going somewhere, and I’m known for my fabulous airplane sandwiches that I send people off on.
00:03:36.215 –> 00:03:36.635
JEREMY: Wow.
00:03:36.635 –> 00:03:38.335
JEREMY: Interesting.
00:03:38.335 –> 00:03:41.935
JEREMY: Do you cut them into little airplane shapes too for the kids?
00:03:41.935 –> 00:03:45.115
NANCY: It really depends upon the audience.
00:03:46.815 –> 00:03:52.875
NANCY: I pack different food if it’s a family or a couple, and I know somebody likes this and somebody doesn’t like that.
00:03:53.335 –> 00:03:55.655
NANCY: I take menu selections.
00:03:56.295 –> 00:03:56.715
JEREMY: Nice.
00:03:56.715 –> 00:04:00.975
JEREMY: I might have to fly to Arizona just so that I can fly back with some of your food.
00:04:00.975 –> 00:04:04.515
NANCY: Believe me, you’ll never forget it.
00:04:04.515 –> 00:04:04.915
JEREMY: Love it.
00:04:04.915 –> 00:04:07.495
JEREMY: Well, it’s great to chat with you.
00:04:07.495 –> 00:04:19.475
JEREMY: We’re going to jump into really, you’ve been doing event planning, meeting planning, the meetings concierge, as you call yourself in the intro.
00:04:20.935 –> 00:04:22.275
JEREMY: How did you get into this world?
00:04:24.115 –> 00:04:33.075
NANCY: Well, the short story of the long story is unbeknownst to me, I guess I was a born traveler.
00:04:33.075 –> 00:04:48.275
NANCY: Living in the Midwest, my dad used to pile us in the car in the summer and off we go into what I called the wild blue yonder and we would travel to see what Mount Rushmore, and all kinds of interesting places and visit family.
00:04:48.275 –> 00:04:57.255
NANCY: When the day was over, there were a couple of choices of places to stay, a holiday inn on one side of the road and a Howard Johnson’s on the other.
00:04:57.315 –> 00:05:01.475
NANCY: The Howard Johnson’s had a restaurant and amazing food.
00:05:01.475 –> 00:05:09.335
NANCY: So I would always beg my dad, please let’s stay at the Howard Johnson’s because I didn’t want to get back in the car and drive to dinner.
00:05:09.335 –> 00:05:13.495
NANCY: Now, let’s fast forward traveling in my childhood and whatnot.
00:05:13.495 –> 00:05:17.335
NANCY: I go into college, I’m studying business, I have no idea what I want to do.
00:05:17.995 –> 00:05:21.475
NANCY: My dad’s like, go into business, like, okay, I’m going to business.
00:05:21.475 –> 00:05:28.295
NANCY: But I accidentally found my sophomore year, a program called Hotel, Restaurant and Travel Administration.
00:05:28.295 –> 00:05:37.515
NANCY: And I went to my counselor and I said, can you actually get a job and make a living doing something fun, like working in a hotel?
00:05:37.515 –> 00:05:41.735
NANCY: And he’s like, yeah, this is a well-known career.
00:05:41.735 –> 00:05:51.775
NANCY: So I fell into that and graduated and then went off to work for a lot of different hotel companies in sales, taking care of people who were calling up, is it available?
00:05:51.775 –> 00:05:54.775
NANCY: How much does it cost, et cetera?
00:05:54.775 –> 00:06:00.775
NANCY: And my clients were executive assistants the whole way through my hotel career.
00:06:02.515 –> 00:06:06.175
NANCY: And I always I’m a very giving person.
00:06:06.175 –> 00:06:09.155
NANCY: I love to give things away like good information.
00:06:09.155 –> 00:06:19.015
NANCY: And I couldn’t tell my executive assistant clients these little secrets and tips that I have when you’re planning meetings so that you never fall down and skin your knee.
00:06:19.015 –> 00:06:23.115
NANCY: And your executives and guests always say, Oh, my goodness, that was an incredible meeting.
00:06:23.115 –> 00:06:24.715
NANCY: And how did you find this place?
00:06:24.715 –> 00:06:26.655
NANCY: And it was so well planned.
00:06:26.655 –> 00:06:28.915
NANCY: And you don’t forget anything.
00:06:28.915 –> 00:06:33.955
NANCY: Because, you know, when you work for a hotel company, I’m supposed to charge the most I possibly can.
00:06:33.955 –> 00:06:38.095
NANCY: And I don’t tell you that your competitor is already booked in over your dates.
00:06:38.095 –> 00:06:42.255
NANCY: Or I know my spa is going to be closed over your date.
00:06:42.255 –> 00:06:44.555
NANCY: So I let you get to that signed contract.
00:06:44.655 –> 00:06:52.335
NANCY: And then I’m like, well, I’m really sorry, but the spa will be closed, but we’ll make do and make, you know.
00:06:52.335 –> 00:07:03.515
NANCY: So anyway, long story short, I’ve really dreamed about having a service to help executive assistants who plan meetings to make it better.
00:07:03.515 –> 00:07:07.355
NANCY: And that’s the short story of the long story.
00:07:07.355 –> 00:07:08.175
NANCY: And here I am.
00:07:08.175 –> 00:07:11.975
NANCY: And so, yeah, I’ve got lots of things to share.
00:07:11.975 –> 00:07:12.955
JEREMY: Nice, nice.
00:07:13.175 –> 00:07:32.075
JEREMY: Well, let’s jump in then about, you know, why do you find that executive assistants are often the ones handed the planning and the administration and the coordination of these events?
00:07:33.475 –> 00:07:54.375
NANCY: Well, the old fashioned Nancy and me that grew up in the 70s and 80s would say, because women know how to plan events, but now we’re not just women in executive assistant roles, thank goodness, and thank goodness, the executive assistant industry is elevated way beyond planning parties.
00:07:54.375 –> 00:08:07.655
NANCY: But I think it comes down to the fact that as an executive assistant, you’re highly detail oriented and to plan an event or a meeting, you have to be highly detail oriented and most executives are not.
00:08:11.175 –> 00:08:13.275
JEREMY: That’s a good way to put it, that’s for sure.
00:08:14.495 –> 00:08:15.235
NANCY: Yeah, go ahead.
00:08:15.235 –> 00:08:18.615
JEREMY: Executives who are not detail oriented are not listening, right?
00:08:18.615 –> 00:08:20.835
JEREMY: So we don’t have to worry about offending them.
00:08:20.835 –> 00:08:35.115
NANCY: If they are, then find an associate to help become your teammate or tell your executive, if somebody else is better at doing this than me, because don’t take things on that you’re going to fall down and stumble is my rule.
00:08:35.655 –> 00:08:36.775
JEREMY: Yeah.
00:08:36.795 –> 00:08:37.755
JEREMY: Awesome.
00:08:37.775 –> 00:08:39.395
JEREMY: Yeah.
00:08:39.395 –> 00:09:02.235
JEREMY: So what is the process then, you know, if I get a call or a text from my executive says, hey, I want to take the whole team to Scottsdale and I want to have a fun experience and we need to have a nice hotel with good food and an event space so that we can have a big meeting, ra-ra together.
00:09:03.415 –> 00:09:06.055
JEREMY: I just got that text.
00:09:06.055 –> 00:09:08.415
JEREMY: What’s my first step?
00:09:08.415 –> 00:09:09.415
NANCY: Where do you begin?
00:09:09.415 –> 00:09:10.455
JEREMY: Yeah.
00:09:10.455 –> 00:09:10.995
NANCY: Okay.
00:09:10.995 –> 00:09:14.235
NANCY: So where you begin is exactly like you were just saying.
00:09:14.235 –> 00:09:19.655
NANCY: It’s called an agenda and you cannot start planning a meeting or an event without an agenda.
00:09:19.655 –> 00:09:25.255
NANCY: And the agenda contains exactly what you were mentioning, like the city you want to go to.
00:09:25.255 –> 00:09:29.375
NANCY: You mentioned wanting a resort or a place that’s known for their good food.
00:09:29.915 –> 00:09:37.275
NANCY: So you kind of start making notes and then from there, an agenda has to develop, which drives executives crazy.
00:09:37.275 –> 00:09:50.415
NANCY: But if you do not know exactly what’s going to happen minute by minute, day by day, you really cannot ask a hotel, are you available or ask a hotel, how much will it cost?
00:09:50.415 –> 00:09:53.415
NANCY: Because you don’t know what you’re asking for.
00:09:53.415 –> 00:10:02.535
NANCY: So the hard part of an executive assistant’s job is to sit down with their executive and literally say, are we arriving Monday, May 26th?
00:10:02.535 –> 00:10:05.135
NANCY: Is everyone arriving that day?
00:10:05.135 –> 00:10:11.355
NANCY: The boss will say, oh gosh, no, Sunday we’re going to need some rooms because we’ve got international guests coming.
00:10:11.355 –> 00:10:14.795
NANCY: So how many rooms will you need on Sunday?
00:10:14.795 –> 00:10:25.715
NANCY: You literally have to plan out from the exact arrival day until the last day when your guests are going to be departing and no one’s sleeping in the hotel any longer.
00:10:27.215 –> 00:10:34.055
NANCY: Day by day from like 10 a.m., we’re having a break and at 12 noon, we start our lunch with a speaker.
00:10:34.055 –> 00:10:36.295
NANCY: It will end at 2 p.m.
00:10:36.295 –> 00:10:38.435
NANCY: Breakouts will start in the afternoon.
00:10:38.435 –> 00:10:39.375
NANCY: We need four.
00:10:39.395 –> 00:10:41.655
NANCY: How many breakout rooms do you need?
00:10:41.655 –> 00:10:45.155
NANCY: From what start and end time?
00:10:45.155 –> 00:10:49.095
NANCY: That is a crucial thing when you’re asking hotels for availability.
00:10:49.095 –> 00:10:54.575
NANCY: You must know your start and end times for every single event you’re going to put together.
00:10:55.515 –> 00:11:00.035
NANCY: And the number of people at each event.
00:11:00.035 –> 00:11:02.915
NANCY: And how you want your meeting room set.
00:11:02.915 –> 00:11:10.775
NANCY: Do you want square tables or crescent rounds where you have a round table, but only there are five chairs around them?
00:11:10.775 –> 00:11:22.815
NANCY: You have to know if you are wanting to have your food served in a buffet in the foyer outside of the meeting room, and your guests will take a plate and sit at their chair and desk and eat in the meeting room.
00:11:23.095 –> 00:11:28.855
NANCY: Or, do you want to get out and give people a break and give them a separate room for lunch?
00:11:28.855 –> 00:11:30.795
NANCY: Or are you not hosting a lunch?
00:11:30.795 –> 00:11:40.035
NANCY: So, it’s really hard in an executive assistant’s position to get all these details so that you can check availability.
00:11:40.035 –> 00:11:49.395
NANCY: But your job as a meeting planner slash executive assistant is to, I guess you would call it, elevate yourself to the C-suite.
00:11:50.855 –> 00:12:02.955
NANCY: And you’re much more than a meeting planner, you’re more than an executive assistant, you are spending a good bit of money for the company, you’re putting an event together, it kind of falls on your shoulders.
00:12:02.955 –> 00:12:12.615
NANCY: So, you have to kind of learn that managing it is part of your role and be comfortable with that to make things happen.
00:12:12.615 –> 00:12:25.535
NANCY: But what I wanted to share with you, other than having an agenda, of course, which is super important to check availability, are the top three things I always say you must, must, must have when you’re planning a meeting.
00:12:25.535 –> 00:12:30.915
NANCY: And there’s a few more I’ll share with you, but the top three are site inspections.
00:12:32.195 –> 00:12:49.535
NANCY: When you have decided that you’re going to Scottsdale and you’ve got four resorts that have offered availability and you’re thinking all four could work, it’s very, very important to not ever sign a hotel contract until you go and see the hotel for yourself.
00:12:49.535 –> 00:12:57.275
NANCY: And I know some of you are listening and saying, absolutely, my company would never have a sign a contract without sending me on the site visit.
00:12:57.275 –> 00:13:03.515
NANCY: And some of you are sitting there saying, no way would my company send me on a site visit.
00:13:03.515 –> 00:13:12.495
NANCY: And I understand both, but I always use the analogy that you would not say I do and marry someone without meeting them.
00:13:13.575 –> 00:13:31.495
NANCY: And what you see on the web and the hotel’s internet, the hotel’s website, blah, blah, blah, is not always the picture because a Marriott in one city can use a Marriott in another city’s photos on their website.
00:13:31.495 –> 00:13:34.115
NANCY: It does happen, I will tell you.
00:13:34.115 –> 00:13:38.675
NANCY: You don’t know a neighborhood without driving to that location.
00:13:38.815 –> 00:13:47.935
NANCY: You don’t know if there’s a sewage system that runs behind the hotel, whereas the area has this funky smell around it.
00:13:47.935 –> 00:13:52.355
NANCY: There are so many crazy things you don’t know unless you go and look.
00:13:52.355 –> 00:13:54.455
NANCY: So that’s my number one advice.
00:13:54.455 –> 00:14:01.835
NANCY: If you’re spending all this money and you want it to be just so, go look, go look.
00:14:01.835 –> 00:14:12.735
NANCY: And maybe if you can’t find somebody in your organization, even a friend that you trust in the city, where you’ve got hotels, send somebody out for a look-see.
00:14:12.735 –> 00:14:22.775
NANCY: The second thing is, I highly, highly, highly recommend that you as an executive assistant never, ever, ever sign the hotel contract.
00:14:22.775 –> 00:14:26.815
NANCY: And again, I know some of you are saying, oh, I would not, my company would never let me.
00:14:26.815 –> 00:14:33.415
NANCY: And others are thinking, I’m allowed to sign up to X amount of thousands of dollars in my company.
00:14:33.415 –> 00:14:49.515
NANCY: But I’ve seen so many things happen over the years where the hotel salesperson leaves, the executive assistant leaves, and the hotel can sometimes even go after that executive assistant in his or her new job because your name is on the contract.
00:14:49.515 –> 00:14:55.395
NANCY: And the company could say, well, we didn’t authorize her or him to sign the agreement.
00:14:55.395 –> 00:14:56.715
NANCY: I’ve seen it all.
00:14:56.715 –> 00:15:03.795
NANCY: And so I always tell my executive assistants, get your executive to sign the contract.
00:15:04.515 –> 00:15:10.935
NANCY: Don’t put your name on a piece of paper that is worth thousands and thousands of dollars sometimes.
00:15:10.935 –> 00:15:12.935
NANCY: Be very careful.
00:15:12.935 –> 00:15:19.495
NANCY: And my last thing is a thing that you must, must, must have in every hotel contract.
00:15:19.495 –> 00:15:25.695
NANCY: We’ll talk about others, but this one, I think, is crucial, and it’s called no relocation.
00:15:27.155 –> 00:15:44.435
NANCY: The hotels might have it in the contract listed as no walk or our walk agreement, and walk is just a hotel term meaning your guest is going to take a walk and we’re going to relocate them to another hotel if we’re sold out.
00:15:44.435 –> 00:15:49.655
NANCY: And you want to have a no relocation clause in your contract.
00:15:49.655 –> 00:16:00.715
NANCY: The num, I, I just, just don’t ever agree not to have it because again, like airline seats and hotels, places fill up and overbook and oversell.
00:16:00.715 –> 00:16:12.055
NANCY: You don’t want your executive, your guests, your speaker to arrive at midnight and be said, told, sorry, we just gave our last room away and we’re putting you next door at the Ritz-Carlton.
00:16:12.055 –> 00:16:12.495
NANCY: Yay.
00:16:12.495 –> 00:16:15.135
NANCY: Well, you don’t want to be next door at the Ritz-Carlton.
00:16:16.235 –> 00:16:21.095
NANCY: So make sure you have that, that in your contracts.
00:16:23.035 –> 00:16:23.675
JEREMY: Super helpful.
00:16:23.675 –> 00:16:30.715
JEREMY: So site visit, don’t sign the contract yourself and make sure that no relocation is included.
00:16:31.795 –> 00:16:32.855
NANCY: Very important.
00:16:32.855 –> 00:16:33.635
JEREMY: Yes.
00:16:33.675 –> 00:16:34.935
NANCY: Yes.
00:16:34.935 –> 00:16:35.755
JEREMY: Love those tips.
00:16:35.755 –> 00:16:36.775
JEREMY: Super practical.
00:16:36.775 –> 00:16:41.315
NANCY: You know, one thing I wanted to also say, Jeremy, is about change.
00:16:41.315 –> 00:16:56.115
NANCY: You know, when you plan a meeting every day, somebody is going to say, let’s add a breakout or why are we having a dinner or, oh my gosh, we forgot to invite these 14 or, oh gee, these dates aren’t going to work anymore.
00:16:56.115 –> 00:16:58.035
NANCY: So be flexible.
00:16:58.035 –> 00:17:04.915
NANCY: You have to be very flexible when you plan events because you’re going to get requests from your executives for changes.
00:17:04.915 –> 00:17:15.955
NANCY: And then you’re going to have to go to the hotel who has got to be your best, best, best friend in the whole wide world that you treat with tender loving care to get what you want and need.
00:17:15.955 –> 00:17:31.475
NANCY: And the reason I say that is because everyone is harassed and hassled these days, has no time, and there aren’t enough hotel salespeople back working in hotels and conference services people as there were before the pandemic.
00:17:31.475 –> 00:17:41.215
NANCY: A lot of people lost their jobs, our industry went in the tanks for a couple years, and hotels lost so much money, they didn’t hire a lot of people back.
00:17:41.215 –> 00:17:52.055
NANCY: Thankfully, on the floors, like your service staff, your kitchen staff, thank goodness, are in full swing at every hotel in the world right now, and service is excellent.
00:17:52.055 –> 00:17:55.375
NANCY: We don’t hear any poor comments about service, thank goodness.
00:17:55.535 –> 00:18:06.875
NANCY: But getting a salesperson to call you back, getting a conference person, salesperson to call you back when you’re trying to find out if it’s available, find out how much does it cost.
00:18:06.875 –> 00:18:09.575
NANCY: Your boss is like, don’t you know already?
00:18:10.195 –> 00:18:15.895
NANCY: So be aware that educate your executives that things take longer now.
00:18:15.895 –> 00:18:19.795
NANCY: And we have to be alone a lot more patient, not a little more.
00:18:19.795 –> 00:18:35.975
NANCY: But you have to nudge people, constant emails, but very kind, because people will respond to kindness much more quickly than they will to, I emailed you a week ago and you still haven’t called me, even though that’s what we’re thinking.
00:18:35.975 –> 00:18:37.955
JEREMY: Right, right.
00:18:37.955 –> 00:18:38.315
JEREMY: Awesome.
00:18:38.315 –> 00:18:46.355
JEREMY: Well, what is the best way to find these these hotels?
00:18:46.355 –> 00:19:00.395
JEREMY: So, yeah, you know, you you have maybe one option and you’re going for a site visit, but how do you narrow it down to the best hotels before you even spend that money and time going to do site visits?
00:19:06.269 –> 00:19:09.649
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NANCY: I’m thinking that there’s a few, I mean, okay, I just have to say that there are independent meeting planning services out there that do this sort of thing for customers, and that’s a huge advantage time-saving wise, because we have resources that not everybody has to quickly find information.
00:20:09.865 –> 00:20:16.745
NANCY: But if you’re just looking to find a golf resort in Scottsdale, Arizona, Google it.
00:20:16.745 –> 00:20:21.785
NANCY: I mean, just, you know, your searches will bring up the top choices.
00:20:21.785 –> 00:20:27.065
NANCY: And another great resource is TripAdvisor.
00:20:27.065 –> 00:20:29.545
NANCY: And the reason I say that is I use it too.
00:20:29.545 –> 00:20:38.465
NANCY: If a client’s looking at like to go to London, I haven’t been to three or four hotels, I’ll look and see what are the current most five, six, seven, eight comments on TripAdvisor.
00:20:38.605 –> 00:20:40.865
NANCY: And you can quickly find out.
00:20:40.865 –> 00:20:44.645
NANCY: People will say, oh my gosh, don’t go there, the neighborhood was really scary.
00:20:44.665 –> 00:20:50.285
NANCY: Or, incredible service, everyone was so nice, I couldn’t be happier, such a great view.
00:20:50.285 –> 00:20:54.765
NANCY: So confirm you’re looking on quickly on TripAdvisor.
00:20:54.765 –> 00:21:10.685
NANCY: Another great free resource is every city, pretty much in the world where you’re going to have a meeting, has a Convention and Visitors Bureau, not a convention center, but a Convention and Visitors Bureau, it’s called.
00:21:10.685 –> 00:21:23.825
NANCY: And if you just Google Tokyo Convention and Visitors Bureau, there’ll be a link always on every Convention and Visitors Bureau’s website called Meeting Planners, and you want to click on that.
00:21:23.825 –> 00:21:35.925
NANCY: And through that portal, you will find hotels, you will find restaurants, you will find off-site activities, and a million things and a way to contact them.
00:21:35.925 –> 00:21:51.785
NANCY: So that’s another free service that’s available to Executive Assistants or anyone who plans meetings to have this Convention and Visitors Bureau send out your request for proposal to hotels, and the hotels would respond directly to you.
00:21:51.785 –> 00:21:53.625
NANCY: It’s a free service.
00:21:53.625 –> 00:21:55.285
NANCY: So that is, that’s another way.
00:21:57.065 –> 00:22:10.025
JEREMY: And what’s maybe some red flags when you’re either on the phone with the hotel or on, you see it on their website or maybe you can see it in some reviews about that particular venue.
00:22:10.025 –> 00:22:16.725
JEREMY: What are some of your top red flags to kind of say, oh, you know what, this is, we need to find a different spot.
00:22:16.725 –> 00:22:20.685
NANCY: Location, location, location is what I say.
00:22:20.685 –> 00:22:27.425
NANCY: You can have a three-star hotel in a fabulous location and have an amazing experience.
00:22:27.425 –> 00:22:33.745
NANCY: You can have a four-star hotel in a crummy location and be like, oh, we’ll never stay there again.
00:22:33.745 –> 00:22:39.385
NANCY: So I think, I think researching location is key.
00:22:39.385 –> 00:22:43.565
NANCY: Obviously, there’s typical times where you have to be in a certain location.
00:22:43.565 –> 00:22:52.265
NANCY: But if you’re open to the city of Scottsdale, for example, you know, we have a lot of different great properties and a lot of different locations.
00:22:54.265 –> 00:22:56.505
NANCY: So I think looking for locations.
00:22:57.625 –> 00:23:05.905
NANCY: If you read on any reviews about the neighborhood not being good, which goes with location, another thing is the cleanliness.
00:23:05.905 –> 00:23:12.625
NANCY: If you read things where it says, my sheets were dirty, there was hair in the bathroom, there was no maid service.
00:23:12.625 –> 00:23:14.825
NANCY: Run.
00:23:14.825 –> 00:23:24.785
NANCY: Cleanliness and location are key elements to at least getting the familiar feeling that you’re going to be in a good place.
00:23:26.465 –> 00:23:30.905
NANCY: And also through the Convention and Visitors Bureau, there are salespeople.
00:23:30.905 –> 00:23:33.085
NANCY: You can ask them.
00:23:33.085 –> 00:23:34.985
NANCY: There’s ways to contact them and email them.
00:23:34.985 –> 00:23:36.125
NANCY: It’s very easy to find.
00:23:38.285 –> 00:23:43.505
NANCY: You can ask them, you know, like, our group is this kind of group or our executives are these kind of people.
00:23:43.505 –> 00:23:45.365
NANCY: This is the things we like to do.
00:23:45.365 –> 00:23:46.965
NANCY: This is an area we’d like to be in.
00:23:46.965 –> 00:23:54.525
NANCY: And they’ll guide you and lead you to choices, which is great in their city.
00:23:54.525 –> 00:23:56.225
JEREMY: Yeah.
00:23:56.565 –> 00:23:57.285
JEREMY: Well, okay.
00:23:57.285 –> 00:23:59.485
JEREMY: So you’ve been doing this for a while.
00:23:59.485 –> 00:24:10.425
JEREMY: What are your favorite hotels or venue spaces in the US., for example?
00:24:10.425 –> 00:24:12.145
NANCY: In the US.
00:24:12.145 –> 00:24:15.305
JEREMY: Maybe like one West Coast and one East Coast, or if you have any?
00:24:15.305 –> 00:24:16.125
<v SPEAKER_3>Okay, sure.
00:24:16.125 –> 00:24:17.545
NANCY: Oh gosh, I have so many.
00:24:17.545 –> 00:24:18.965
NANCY: That’s my problem.
00:24:21.185 –> 00:24:30.505
NANCY: So for me personally, if I were choosing where I could stay anytime, I’m a five-star kind of hotel woman and I like a hotel that has amazing room service.
00:24:31.625 –> 00:24:32.585
NANCY: Those are my things.
00:24:32.705 –> 00:24:35.965
NANCY: My husband always asked me, I thought your meeting was on Tuesday.
00:24:35.965 –> 00:24:37.325
NANCY: Why are you going Monday?
00:24:37.325 –> 00:24:40.845
NANCY: And I’m like, because I want room service dinner Monday night.
00:24:44.345 –> 00:24:50.865
NANCY: You know, there’s a really fabulous resort in California that I just love.
00:24:50.865 –> 00:24:52.285
NANCY: It’s in Southern California.
00:24:52.285 –> 00:24:59.365
NANCY: It’s about 45 minutes from LAX, south of LAX, called Terranea, T-E-R-R-A-N-A-E.
00:25:02.525 –> 00:25:04.385
NANCY: Yeah, Terranea.
00:25:04.385 –> 00:25:05.985
NANCY: It’s an independent property.
00:25:05.985 –> 00:25:10.005
NANCY: It’s sumptuous and fabulous and lovely.
00:25:10.005 –> 00:25:11.305
NANCY: Absolutely love that.
00:25:11.305 –> 00:25:16.625
NANCY: And then here in Scottsdale, we just have opened two new hotels.
00:25:16.665 –> 00:25:19.365
NANCY: One is called the Global Ambassador.
00:25:19.365 –> 00:25:22.865
NANCY: I know it’s a strange name and I’m still trying to swallow that one.
00:25:23.445 –> 00:25:25.785
NANCY: But he, the guy, is a Global Ambassador.
00:25:25.785 –> 00:25:30.345
NANCY: Sam Fox is the owner and it’s the coolest city hotel.
00:25:30.345 –> 00:25:35.185
NANCY: And then Caesar’s Republic just opened a property here too.
00:25:35.185 –> 00:25:40.285
NANCY: So we have so many amazing resorts here and it’s amazing.
00:25:40.285 –> 00:25:44.985
NANCY: I’m surrounded by some fabulous properties here.
00:25:44.985 –> 00:25:50.125
NANCY: Probably my number one Scottsdale resort would have to be the Fairmont Princess.
00:25:50.845 –> 00:25:52.865
NANCY: It’s just got it all.
00:25:52.865 –> 00:25:55.445
NANCY: And then let’s see East Coast.
00:25:56.965 –> 00:26:02.665
NANCY: You know, I just automatically think of New York City because I love New York City.
00:26:02.665 –> 00:26:07.325
NANCY: And I think my number one favorite hotel there right now has got to be the Mandarin Oriental.
00:26:09.605 –> 00:26:10.385
NANCY: Love that.
00:26:10.385 –> 00:26:16.045
NANCY: And then there’s a really cool resort called the Inn at Blackberry Farm.
00:26:16.045 –> 00:26:21.965
NANCY: It’s in Tennessee, and it’s a country hotel, but it’s really high end.
00:26:21.965 –> 00:26:25.545
NANCY: They have their own orchard and gardens and horses and you name it.
00:26:25.545 –> 00:26:28.985
NANCY: So it’s a fabulous place for like a retreat.
00:26:31.505 –> 00:26:37.885
NANCY: Gosh, we could talk hotels all day and I wouldn’t get tired of it until we started cooking and eating.
00:26:37.885 –> 00:26:38.705
JEREMY: No, that’s great.
00:26:38.705 –> 00:26:39.305
JEREMY: Super helpful.
00:26:39.465 –> 00:26:45.405
JEREMY: Thanks for the recs and definitely people definitely have to check that out.
00:26:45.405 –> 00:26:45.785
JEREMY: Awesome.
00:26:45.785 –> 00:26:49.105
JEREMY: Well, is there anything else when you’re okay?
00:26:49.105 –> 00:26:54.745
JEREMY: So let’s say you found the hotel and you already talked about doing a site visit.
00:26:54.745 –> 00:26:56.505
JEREMY: You know, don’t sign the contract yourself.
00:26:56.505 –> 00:26:59.885
JEREMY: Have your executives sign it.
00:26:59.885 –> 00:27:02.825
JEREMY: Make sure there’s the no locations in there.
00:27:02.825 –> 00:27:04.585
JEREMY: What about the price?
00:27:04.585 –> 00:27:10.725
JEREMY: How is the how much negotiation room do you have when talking to these venues?
00:27:10.725 –> 00:27:14.725
NANCY: That is an absolutely excellent question for two reasons.
00:27:14.725 –> 00:27:19.785
NANCY: Number one, everything is negotiable.
00:27:19.785 –> 00:27:34.925
NANCY: And don’t be afraid to negotiate, because when I worked in hotels and I would have executive assistants say, OK, to every price I quoted, I’d be like, gee, this is good, because my bonus depended upon you paying a lot of money for things.
00:27:34.925 –> 00:27:35.665
JEREMY: Right.
00:27:35.665 –> 00:27:38.425
NANCY: And then others would say, well, that’s too much.
00:27:38.505 –> 00:27:44.825
NANCY: Or my boss is trying to keep the rate under this or, gosh, we paid only this last year.
00:27:44.825 –> 00:27:47.425
NANCY: How can we save some money this year?
00:27:47.425 –> 00:27:53.305
NANCY: So salespeople are waiting for you and accustomed to discussing it.
00:27:53.305 –> 00:28:00.925
NANCY: So people hear the word negotiation and they get like their throat closes and they don’t want to ask for things or say things.
00:28:00.925 –> 00:28:04.105
NANCY: But you’re you’re having a discussion.
00:28:04.105 –> 00:28:05.545
NANCY: Just look at it like that.
00:28:06.285 –> 00:28:11.305
NANCY: And it’s a comfortable discussion because fortunately it’s not your money.
00:28:11.305 –> 00:28:12.545
NANCY: It’s your company’s money.
00:28:12.545 –> 00:28:15.025
NANCY: So it’s not coming out of your bank account.
00:28:15.025 –> 00:28:17.305
NANCY: But you should treat it like it is.
00:28:17.305 –> 00:28:25.165
NANCY: You know, you always want to save your organization money every which way you can while still putting on the wits, so to speak.
00:28:25.165 –> 00:28:37.565
NANCY: So a little trick is if you get hotel room rates from a hotel and you really want a particular hotel, you can contact them and say, let’s say they quoted $349.
00:28:37.565 –> 00:28:42.745
NANCY: You can tell them, we really are trying to keep this no more than $300 a night.
00:28:42.745 –> 00:28:49.805
NANCY: Shoot low, because if they come back and say, well, we can do $325, but that’s the best we can do.
00:28:49.805 –> 00:28:50.565
NANCY: There you go.
00:28:50.565 –> 00:28:52.205
NANCY: You’ve won.
00:28:52.205 –> 00:28:59.025
NANCY: And there’s lots and lots of little ways to save money, and it’s not just on the room rate.
00:29:00.285 –> 00:29:04.625
NANCY: But here’s the thing about what you really have to know about prices.
00:29:06.625 –> 00:29:11.145
NANCY: The hotel room rates is where the hotel makes their biggest profit.
00:29:11.145 –> 00:29:27.545
NANCY: So if the room rate is $300 a night, the profit to a hotel is about $250, because it can’t cost more than $50 to have a housekeeper come in and quickly clean a room and change the bedding, etc.
00:29:27.545 –> 00:29:29.745
NANCY: So there’s a huge profit to hotels.
00:29:30.705 –> 00:29:39.125
NANCY: Where there is less wiggle room and less negotiation or discussion is food costs.
00:29:39.125 –> 00:29:51.085
NANCY: Because as we all unfortunately know, food has gotten insanely expensive and now you go to a hotel and it’s like four times what it was two years ago.
00:29:51.085 –> 00:30:20.445
NANCY: The cost to plant the seed, harvest the product, get it to the market, get it into the hotel, have it stored so it’s fresh and ready for your guests, have it served with the lights on and electricity and freshly shampooed rugs and uniformed waiters with insurance plans and salaries and there’s so many costs to get that steak on the plate, as we call it, and that there’s not a lot of wiggle room.
00:30:20.445 –> 00:30:23.985
NANCY: So don’t try and wiggle room on food costs.
00:30:24.045 –> 00:30:29.885
NANCY: Wiggle room on meeting room rental, you can try your best and you should.
00:30:29.885 –> 00:30:32.425
NANCY: My philosophy is never pay meeting room rental.
00:30:32.425 –> 00:30:38.545
NANCY: You’ve got my guest rooms, you’ve got my food and you’re already charging me a fortune for the wine, etc.
00:30:38.545 –> 00:30:44.485
NANCY: And I always try and discuss or negotiate no meeting room rental.
00:30:44.485 –> 00:30:52.385
NANCY: If they, you know, sometimes a hotel is going to put the wall up and say, sorry, this is it, that’s the best we’re going to do.
00:30:52.385 –> 00:30:55.565
NANCY: And then you’ll talk to your executives and they’ll say yes or no.
00:30:57.225 –> 00:31:01.585
NANCY: But, you know, do your best to try and save money everywhere you can.
00:31:01.585 –> 00:31:06.425
NANCY: The AV thing, let’s talk about that really quickly, because I call that the budget killer.
00:31:06.425 –> 00:31:09.365
NANCY: The audiovisuals, your screen, your microphone.
00:31:09.365 –> 00:31:11.745
NANCY: It’s insane what they charge.
00:31:11.745 –> 00:31:18.705
NANCY: So hotels do not have storage closets, and so they’re not owning that equipment that you’re renting.
00:31:20.205 –> 00:31:24.685
NANCY: Unless they’re maybe have five LCD projectors, and they quit every day, every day, every day.
00:31:24.685 –> 00:31:35.905
NANCY: But most hotels don’t have a storage closet, and you don’t want them to, because technology is always changing for the better, and the newer and the better and the smaller and the faster is coming out.
00:31:35.905 –> 00:31:50.885
NANCY: So they outsource to an AV company in that city, and they bring it in and rent it for your time period, and then they charge you double, triple, quadruple what the AV company is charging them.
00:31:50.885 –> 00:31:55.305
NANCY: But try to negotiate directly with the AV company.
00:31:55.325 –> 00:32:04.025
NANCY: Ask your hotel sales manager, do I negotiate audio-visual pricing with you or with your AV provider?
00:32:04.025 –> 00:32:11.045
NANCY: Some hotels have their own in-house provider, some do not, but try and get to the actual provider if you can.
00:32:11.045 –> 00:32:14.745
NANCY: If you can’t negotiate with the hotel, tell them what you need.
00:32:15.125 –> 00:32:20.185
NANCY: Don’t ask, you can ask for a price list, but there’s 5,000 things on the price list.
00:32:20.185 –> 00:32:28.545
NANCY: Tell them you need the microphones and the power strip cords, et cetera, and ask them for their very best discounted rate.
00:32:29.665 –> 00:32:34.845
NANCY: That’s another way to save money, is on the AV portion.
00:32:34.845 –> 00:32:41.725
NANCY: The room rate, always negotiate the room rate until a hotel tells you, sorry, that’s the best rate I can give you, then you’ll know.
00:32:41.725 –> 00:32:42.985
JEREMY: Yeah, totally.
00:32:43.485 –> 00:32:46.245
NANCY: But look at it as a discussion, not a negotiation.
00:32:46.245 –> 00:32:49.365
NANCY: You’re just discussing things.
00:32:49.385 –> 00:32:50.785
JEREMY: Super, super helpful.
00:32:50.785 –> 00:32:52.205
JEREMY: Thank you so much.
00:32:52.205 –> 00:32:52.885
NANCY: My pleasure.
00:32:52.885 –> 00:32:55.385
JEREMY: This is great, great tips.
00:32:55.385 –> 00:33:10.225
JEREMY: And Nancy, this is lots of note-taking, I know, from assistants listening, and we as assistants get stuck with the event planning and negotiating and talking about the AV stuff.
00:33:10.225 –> 00:33:14.525
JEREMY: And so I really think this is going to be really valuable for assistants all over the world.
00:33:14.525 –> 00:33:18.645
NANCY: It is valuable because it’s fun to plan meetings and events.
00:33:18.645 –> 00:33:24.685
NANCY: I think it’s for me, I think a lot of people who do it, they really, really enjoy it.
00:33:24.685 –> 00:33:27.465
NANCY: It’s a perk almost to your job if you enjoy it.
00:33:28.165 –> 00:33:37.505
NANCY: But having all these little tips and tricks will make it a little easier for you and clear when you’re asked to plan your next meeting.
00:33:37.505 –> 00:33:37.885
JEREMY: Perfect.
00:33:37.885 –> 00:33:47.545
JEREMY: Well, Nancy, what’s the best way for people to reach out if they have more questions about this process, if they just want to connect and say hi, what’s the best place and where can they find you?
00:33:48.105 –> 00:34:11.645
NANCY: I would say my website, which is meetingsconcierge.com, and I also of course have a LinkedIn profile, Nancy Nachman, The Meetings Concierge, and my email is nancy at meetingsconcierge.com, and I always like to say my advice is free.
00:34:11.645 –> 00:34:13.225
NANCY: So come at me with your questions.
00:34:13.385 –> 00:34:18.305
NANCY: I’m always, always happy to answer any question that you have.
00:34:18.305 –> 00:34:19.265
JEREMY: Perfect.
00:34:19.265 –> 00:34:23.105
JEREMY: Well, I will put all those links in the show notes at leaderassistant.com/288.
00:34:25.625 –> 00:34:27.205
JEREMY: Again, that’s leaderassistant.com/288.
00:34:30.465 –> 00:34:31.645
JEREMY: Thank you so much, Nancy.
00:34:31.645 –> 00:34:36.385
JEREMY: It’s been super interesting to hear all of the insights in this industry.
00:34:36.385 –> 00:34:40.345
JEREMY: And I’ve done plenty of event planning myself.
00:34:40.465 –> 00:34:44.785
JEREMY: I’m not a huge event planning fan, but I can do it.
00:34:44.785 –> 00:34:51.125
JEREMY: I love showing up to the event and not having to plan anything or worry about the details, but it doesn’t always work out that way.
00:34:51.125 –> 00:34:57.585
JEREMY: So I appreciate you sharing your insight and look forward to staying connected.
00:34:57.585 –> 00:35:02.305
JEREMY: And again, for everyone listening, please reach out and say hi to Nancy.
00:35:02.305 –> 00:35:06.245
JEREMY: She’s got lots of years of experience in this world and would love to help.
00:35:06.245 –> 00:35:10.245
NANCY: Thank you so much, Jeremy, and for all that you do for the Executive Assistant community.
00:35:10.705 –> 00:35:12.565
NANCY: I really appreciate it.
00:35:12.565 –> 00:35:13.245
JEREMY: You’re welcome.
00:35:13.245 –> 00:35:13.625
JEREMY: Thank you.
00:35:24.257 –> 00:35:26.917
NANCY: Please review on Apple Podcasts.
00:35:33.355 –> 00:35:35.035
NANCY: goburrows.com.
