Stress test

Site-selection companies have proliferated in the last dozen years, as organizations have turned increasingly to third parties for support in managing their meetings. Recently we caught up with Enoch Williams, president of Arrowhead Conferences and Events in Redlands, Calif., the only site-selection firm focused exclusively on faith-based meetings, to see how the uncertain economy is affecting site-selection companies, as well as religious conferences.

BY JOAN DRAMMEH

Can you start by giving a brief sketch of how Arrowhead got started in the business of site selection?
We started in 1986 as a nonprofit organization, and today we still operate as a nonprofit. Arrowhead is wholly owner-controlled by Campus Crusade for Christ, and as president of Arrowhead, I report to the board of directors of Campus Crusade. From day one, Arrowhead has focused exclusively on the religious conference market, and as far as I know, we are the only site-selection organization with this exclusive focus.

How did you get involved with Arrowhead?
I was the national conference planner for Campus Crusade, and from there I realized that we would be more effective by serving a broader client base of meetings. So I started branching out and that was the main reason we started Arrowhead.

How has the economy affected business?
We have seen a fall-off as a result of the economy but it is not as severe as expected. There’s been an overall average decline of about 10 percent in attendance for all client meetings booked.

What are your thoughts on the recession’s impact?
In the past when I’ve seen recessions hit, the faith-based meetings market has held strong and that is for a variety of reasons. We are not recession-proof, but I find that we don’t take as large of a hit as the corporate and association markets.

Do you think hotel bankruptcies are a concern for meeting planners?
In my 30 years of being in this career, I have only seen one hotel close its doors after bankruptcy. The typical effect that is seen as a result of bankruptcy is a lower level of service.

What trends do you see among site selection companies in general – such as Conference Direct or HelmsBriscoe?
I see that they are pursuing faith-based meetings more aggressively. I think that people continue to discover that this market holds longer than corporate or association meetings, even though we are not perceived as being profitable as those other markets. We are here and we are not leaving. I’ve had less than 10 conferences canceled this year. Many of our clients have chosen to keep their conferences and it is encouraging to me to see that.

Does Arrowhead have a full-disclosure policy whereby the attendees understand that part of their room rate goes toward paying for Arrowhead’s services?
We have a contract from day one. We are commissioned through the room rate and the commission is always a part of the contract. We’ve never not done that from day one.

How do you respond to issues about site-selection companies that steer people to locations they have relationships with?
We don’t do that. We present the market to the market. We get the bid sheets to the client and we don’t have particular hotels that we try to recommend. We don’t do it.

At the outsourcing session at Rejuvenate Marketplace last November, planners seemed to be confused about all the services site-selection companies can provide.
I think most site-selection companies are beginning to stabilize, and their efficiency of making clients aware of ways they can serve them is increasing. The systems are developed, and companies can recommend services or partner with someone else when they may not have a service a planner is looking for.

Is this happening through word of mouth?
Yes, we are seeing that. We have a registration/reservation system that we are developing. We are continuing to see our system improve and we are picking up word-of-mouth clients because of that.

Do your clients have to use your registration system or can they use their own?
It’s their choice but we do provide a great tool that is very cost effective. It would be to their advantage!

How does Arrowhead generate revenue?
We make money through hotel commissions on rooms. We work to give our clients a sound contract that they can base their program on. The client puts the program together. We do not get involved in content at all.

Talk about how Arrowhead negotiates contracts.
We specialize in helping the client have a contract they can trust, that protects them and minimizes their risks. When you come into a business arrangement, there are always risks and benefits. We try to balance out the risk/benefit for our clients, because if you simply go with a contract written by the hotel or facility it will be by nature focused on protecting the hotel. We work to balance that out.

We also bring to the supplier side the fact that we work with clients we can trust, clients that we feel have a solid conference. Our clients are not simply hoping a conference will materialize to be a certain size.

When you talk about faith-based meetings, you have some [planners] who say, “I am claiming this business by faith.” You hear that phrase a lot in our industry.

When you say some clients “claim business by faith,” can you explain what this means?
When planners say they are claiming business by faith, in terms of describing what they expect their meeting attendance to be, part of our service is to ask key questions. What is your complete meeting history? What can you reasonably expect in terms of attendance? Is this a first-time conference? You start asking those kind of questions and you work through a client’s ability to qualify. Our questions uncover facts that help ensure that we are bringing a solid piece of business to the supplier, one that they can plan within a working budget.

Arrowhead is a non-profit organization focused exclusively on faith-based meetings. What else is unique about Arrowhead ?
All of the people who work for Arrowhead are employees. They are not independent contractors, as is the case in many site-selection companies. They work exclusively for us, and that is something special.

Choosing a Hotel Site-Selection Company

If you are thinking about using a hotel site selection company for assistance with your meetings, there are a number of things to consider. Size, experience and range of services are but a few considerations. When qualifying a company to provide site-selection services, we recommend that an organization review the
following areas of expertise.

Stability

• Years in operation
• Tenure and experience of account representatives
• Client list
• References/testimonials
• Number of meetings per year
• Industry reputation

Services

• Range of services
• Client communication process
• Frequency of communication
• Presentation of search results
• Response time
• Cost

Destination & Industry Knowledge

• Capacity to work with client-preferred destinations and properties
• Destination expertise (e.g. U.S. vs. international or downtown vs. resort)
• Industry contacts
• Awareness of new properties, expansions and

renovations

• Trends in contracting (attrition, F&B minimums, new types of charges, etc.)

Additional Considerations

• Ability to work with multiple contacts within client organization
• Geographic location of offices
• Ability of site-selection company to deal with experienced and inexperienced planners
• Availability of account representative throughout process
• Lead time required to book meeting
• Site inspection arrangements
• Overall philosophy on site-selection company

Reprinted with permission from 21st Century Group Inc.

For more information, visit 21stcenturygroup.com .