Planning a flawless meeting in the United
States is tough enough. But when the event is overseas, the
potential for making a serious gaffe can multiply, given a litany
of factors including different cultures, currencies, business mores
and languages.
How to avoid falling victim to missteps abroad? M&C asked
some experienced pros for their best advice, and the result is the
following roster of commandments for avoiding the mistakes planners
are most likely to make on foreign soil.
1. Heed arrival times
This might seem like a no-brainer, but according to Marta
Pons Bonet, market research analyst at the Hotel Barcelona Arts in
Spain, planners often don’t consider the arrival times of their
attendees when booking rooms. For example, flights to Europe from
the United States typically arrive in the morning. And hotel
check-in times typically are in the afternoon.
To be sure attendees have a place to rest their weary heads,
request that the hotel provide early check-in for all who might
need it. If the property cannot guarantee rooms will be available,
and if the budget will allow it, Pons Bonet suggests booking the
rooms for the night before arrivals, thereby ensuring that
delegates won’t have to sit in the lobby for hours on end.
2. Claim your VAT
Planners often miss the opportunity to recoup big bucks by
forgetting about or failing to file the proper paperwork for
value-added tax reclamation. “Once, I almost fell out with a client
because I kept pestering them about applying for a refund after an
event,” says Flemming Madsen, director of sales and operations,
First United A/S, Copenhagen, Denmark. “They were completely
stunned when I called them and told them it had gone through and
they had $120,000 coming their way from Danish customs.”
Approximately 120 countries offer VAT refunds. Check with the
country’s national tourist office and local supplier partners to
find out what the VAT is, what forms need to be filled out and
filing deadlines. For further assistance, a number of companies,
such as the Burlington, Canada-based International Sales Tax Refund
Corp., will handle all the paperwork for you.
3. Use a PCO
Professional congress organizers were a hot topic at the
International Ideas Exchange seminar held during the annual meeting
of the Professional Convention Management Association in January.
According to moderator Leigh Wintz, CAE, executive director of
Soroptimist International of the Americas in Philadelphia,
association executives and planners are hesitant to hire a
professional congress organizer for their international meetings
because they think the PCO runs the entire program, and the expense
is prohibitive.
“They can work on a piecemeal basis,” notes Wintz. PCOs can
handle elements such as site inspections that would be costly and
time-consuming for U.S.-based staff. She recommends obtaining PCO
recommendations from a national tourist office or convention
bureau; another resource is the London-based International
Association of Professional Congress Organizers (www.iapco.org).
4. Delegate tasks
When associations meet outside the United States, they often work
closely with the chapter based in the meeting destination. Problems
can occur, however, when the host’s role is not clearly delineated,
leading to squabbles over which office U.S. headquarters or the
host city’s office is responsible for key elements of the event.
Companies also might encounter this problem if they are meeting in
a country that has a local office or branch.
The solution is simple: Be sure to spell out what is expected
of the host chapter at the outset, so there is no confusion at the
later stages, recommends Leigh Wintz.
5. Respect local customs
Paying attention to local manners and mores is of particular
importance when the meeting has multinational and/or local
attendees. For example, dinners and evening events often start too
early. “Nobody in Europe begins dinner at 6 p.m., and meetings
seldom start before 9 a.m.,” says Reiner Burkle, regional vice
president, Marriott Berlin and Ritz-Carlton Berlin. He adds that
Europeans don’t like rushed dinners, so meals often last several
hours. And Asians, he says, generally will not stay out past 10
p.m., even if the meal isn’t finished.
Ask local contacts about typical meal times and etiquette to
prevent timing faux pas.
6. Tip appropriately
Nothing generates ill will like a meager tip. Tipping customs vary
from country to country and sometimes even within a country.
Consult with local partners or national tourist offices on tipping
norms prior to the event, so gratuities can be appropriately
budgeted.
For more guidelines specifically geared toward tipping at
meetings outside of North America, the McLean, Va.-based Convention
Industry Council’s new International Manual, 1st Edition (www.conventionindustry.org) will be available in
June.
7. Bridge the language gap
One meeting professional’s term for something might not be
another’s even if they speak the same language.
For instance, “There is an essential difference between
American English and British English, the form most Europeans learn
at school,” notes Alexandra Heemskerk-Teyema, director of Delta
Amsterdam, a destination management company in the Netherlands.
If an American planner orders a “podium” for a meeting in
Europe, for example, the supplier will build a big stage, instead
of providing the simple stand generally used by speakers, which
Europeans call “lecterns.”
Help is on the way: International meeting terms also will be
included in the CIC’s International Manual, 1st Edition, according
to Mary Power, CIC’s president and CEO.
8. Go metric
While the United States inches along on square feet, the rest of
the world uses the metric system. This is particularly important to
remember when sending out requests for proposal or when giving
directions for room or trade show setups.
According to Delta Amsterdam’s Heemskerk-Teyema, when
U.S.-based planners provide specs labeled “100 x 100,” most
suppliers will assume that means 100 x 100 meters a space about
three times larger than 100 x 100 feet. The result: Your business
might be turned away because the facility doesn’t believe it can
provide adequate space, or your room will be much bigger than
expected.
A simple solution: Always convert the specs to meters. For
help, go to www.onlineconversion.com, a handy resource that does
the math for you.
9. Plan a mid-meeting gala
Holding the farewell party or awards banquet on the last day of the
meeting might be the norm for stateside events, but it’s generally
a bad idea when the meeting is overseas, points out Gianni Veneri,
director of sales and marketing for Fourth Dimension Italy, a
Rome-based DMC.
“Those events typically go very late into the night,” he
cautions. “Often, attendees have very early morning transfers to
the airport for their flights back to the States.”
A better idea: Schedule the gala dinner for the next-to-last
night, so guests truly can enjoy the event without paying the price
the following day with a miserable return journey.
10. Break down costs
Outside North America, hotels typically charge groups for meeting
space, regardless of how many guest rooms they’ve booked at the
property, says Leigh Wintz. However, planners might be able to
negotiate those charges. Or they might find that some other
elements of the meeting that typically mean extra charges in the
States, such as A/V equipment, are included in the price of the
meeting space. Similarly, some international properties include
breakfast in guest room fees.
Always ask the property to detail what’s included and what
isn’t.