If meeting planners were issued report cards on
their behavior as attendees at meetings-industry events, too many
would be sent to summer school. Indeed, organizers for major
industry associations say that while most participants are
respectful attendees, others are their worst nightmares. They’re
particularly poor at heeding registration deadlines, sources
note.
Part of the problem: Savvy planners know that even after a
deadline has passed to book within a hotel block, some rooms
usually are still available, says Amy Ledoux, vice president of
meetings and exhibitions for ASAE and The Center for Association
Leadership, based in Washington, D.C. Thus, some presumptuous (and
late-booking) individuals make an irritating habit of demanding
leniency.
“They have a little too much information,” Ledoux notes. “Just
enough to be dangerous.”
An executive at another industry association, who requested
anonymity, said planners attending conventions will accept
invitations for up to three simultaneous events and then choose
which one to attend while on-site.
This lack of courtesy is regrettable, the executive notes, but
is endemic of the entire “business casual” culture, not just the
meetings industry. Her advice: “If planners want to be treated like
professionals, they need to act like professionals.”
However, another source says meeting planners have become, in
general, much more professional on the job over the past five
years. He’d even place them on the honor roll.