DMC’s Deliver

Planners can reap ROI by hiring a DMC –

By Ruth A. Hill / Meetings West, Vol.11 | Number 11 | November 2005

Edited for Do An Event

It’s time to plan that event or meeting in a city you know little or nothing about, where you have no business contacts, and the list of supplier needs extend well beyond transportation shuttles.  How will you find the right off-site venue and caterer for that important board gathering, not to mention décor?  Where are the best restaurants for the dine-around evening, and where can you find the type of local entertainment you want?

            As far as the big picture, how will you build this entire occasion to achieve the objectives at hand, not to mention meet the expectations of your C-level executive attendees?

            You might assume the search and solve challenges all by your lonesome, or delegate them to your staff – if you have them.  You might try relying on the local CVB, or – possibly the best choice for the achieving ROI – outsource to an independent DMC (destination management company).

            While some experienced planners swear they would never plunge into the unknown without a DMC partner, others tend to try to do everything themselves, assuming they are saving money and the need to explain to upper management why they hired extra hands.  Some simply don’t know what a right-fit DMC can do for them.

            “DMC’s are the location experts,” says a veteran planner. “ I use them for feet on the street – bus staffing, meet-and-greet at the airport, so many tasks that require legwork and scheduling. I could spend my time cold-calling temp agencies to hire 20 staff to man registration in hopes I get reliable people, but I know all $10.-an-hour bodies aren’t created equal.  A DMC knows the territory and the people you need.  If you spend your own time trying to ramp up somebody to serve that venue, I say that’s not good ROI.  If knowledge and connections are available in a nice little package called a DMC, why not go to them?”

            The value of partnering with a  DMC is multifaceted, say other industry veterans.  They can save you time, negotiate costs and services with local suppliers, open doors you could never unlock, persuade the right city bureaucrats to close a street for your procession, theme and design your parties, and generally make you look good.

            They can not only show you a “wow” venue, they also can tell you how they’ve mounted events there. Lay out your objectives to a DMC pro, and a good one will not only make all the magic happen, they’ll also hand you a report afterwards telling you how they fulfilled the objectives you gave them.

DMC EVOLUTION

            Although the DMC industry has been around for several decades, today’s versions have evolved from a small mom and pop business launched of kitchen tables into companies that offer traditional DMC services along with a lot else, including everything event and meeting planning. Some operate only in one destination, while others operate in multiple locations.

            According to the Association of Destination Management Executives (ADME), qualified destination management professionals are locale-specific logistic and event experts for their respective destination. Their staffs are constantly updated about local venues, costs and how best to make them work for a group needs. DMCs act as locale architects and general contractors for meeting planners, hiring subcontractors they know and trust to produce a large event or meeting. DMCs respond to planners’ RFPs with proposals that include ideas and costs. Just as convention services managers in hotels and decorating companies in the exhibit hall become extensions of the planner’s staff, so does the DMC.

            Depending on the individual company and its specialties, a DMC may offer a range of services, including guest designation tours; VIP amenities and transportation; shuttle services; convention staffing; ancillary activities like team building, entertainment, décor and theme development; on-site registration services; housing; and lots of other things a meeting planner might need. A local DMC is your lifeblood, because they know their own city, what is going on, and who are the strongest partners you can have for your program. In these days of doing more with fewer dollars, DMCs understand about negotiating volume discounts on transportation and other services. They know restaurant owners, so they can ask for deals because it’s where they do business regularly.

            Because the DMC industry is changing, and generates billions in revenues annually, lots of hospitality entities are getting in on the act, including hotels and CVBs. But at the end of the day, it’s often an independent DMC company that best fills the event prescription.

CONNECTIONS, CONNECTIONS

            Suppose you are coming to Sacramento and you want a behind-the-scenes tour of Old Sacramento for your VIPs. Hiring Do An Event will open the right doors.

            “We often work with The Old Sac staff,” says Do An Event president, Kevin Cohee, “and we can set up special evening tours and private dinners throughout the city because we have the right relationships with the right decision makers. They can trust me because I am the face of the group I want to bring in.” DMCs also bring ROI to planners by negotiating deals an outsider could not access. From the supplier’s viewpoint, it’s the difference between bargaining with an outsider who’s bringing in one piece of business and dealing with a hometown company that regularly brings them business.

            “We are allies with our local suppliers, because we work with them all the time,” say Renee Mulvey, CMP president of Destination Connecticut! in Avon, Connecticut. “We get preferred pricing for our clients with vendors we know to be reliable. For instance, we know that ‘ABC’ Transportation Company will show up on time and be courteous.” Other DMCs say leveraging relationships is at the top of the returns often brought to existing clients. Tapping into a good DMCs relationships and knowledge will save you time, energy, research and money. For instance, they know if ‘X’ company is still as wonderful as it once was or was sold and now under bad management.

BOTTOM LINE CONSIDERATIONS

            Included in the search for the right DMC partner is an agreement on payment for services rendered and possible a report to detail objectives to fulfill, or ROI.

            Though there are five primary methods of payment, most DMCs prefer a management fee, clean and flat, nothing charged on top of F&B charges, and so on. However, the most popular pricing model is a la carte – a price on every element in the program, so the planner can just order them. Whatever the choice, it needs to be clear and accountable, so that everything is out there for procurement to see.”

SELLING UPPER MANAGEMENT

            Some planners hesitate to outsource to DMCs because they know – or – fear they’ll need to justify it. Convincing the higher-ups of the benefits of hiring a DMC is a relatively easy process.

            “Just list the time it would take you – or your staff – to do those tasks, like screening and hiring 20 competent staffers to run the registration. It’s pretty easy to do if you multiply hourly rates times the hours needed. The argument is, rather, why wouldn’t I spend that money on a DMC, better staff and better venue management? It will come out to less money in the end, thus better ROI.

            Diane Devitt, president of New York City’s The DND Group, says some planners resist hiring a DMC because they already have staff and need to justify them by having them do destination research. Others don’t have a staff and are killing themselves in doing all the work.

            “At the end of the day, if they are truly a meeting manger or director, their role is strategic,” says Devitt. “Meetings and events are part of the communication process. If planners were in an advertising department, there would be no question that they’d use an ad agency to expedite their campaign. So why can’t meetings and events people come to grips with the fact that the industry has come of age. It’s time to outsource! The meeting planner who intends to get above that glass ceiling needs to ask him/herself whether they are valued for their knowledge of the industry or for their ability to count coffee cups.”

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