Case Study: When There is Unexpected Construction at Your Event Venue

Event Negotiation Experts Save the Day

A new or recently renovated venue is usually at the top of most meeting planners’ wish lists. However, not many would jump at the chance to hold their event in a building currently “under construction.” Such was the case for a recent RxWorldwide client. When the group contracted with the hotel, there was no mention of possible construction; but just three weeks before the event was to take place, the hotel notified them that the meeting space would not be available for use as planned.

What’s a meeting planner to do?!

Scenario: The client booked the rooms, reserved the space, ordered A/V and F&B, printed signs, and guests had already received confirmations. Everything was in place for a successful meeting when the completely unexpected occurred: the hotel called to inform them that the meeting space had become unavailable due to construction.Solution: When this scenario played out with one of our client’s meetings, instead of losing our cool, our professional team of meeting planners jumped into action. After reviewing the hotel contract, first, we were able to negotiate an extremely reasonable compensation for our client due to the burden of changing venues. Then, to make the deal even sweeter, our client was able to get a better rate at the alternate venue!

The original hotel compensation was for $33,778.40, representing a 15 percent savings.

The alternate, comparable hotel contract we secured saved the client an additional $16,650.

These two items alone represented over 22 percent of total savings!

Tip: Adding language in hotel contracts to cover items over and above the standard clauses (like “action in case of construction”) is sometimes warranted, as is a "cancellation by hotel" clause. These are items many meeting planners don’t consider when booking their events. Although you can’t control the unexpected, you can certainly control your contracts.

RxWorldwide and Infinix Global is Your Partner

Not only was our team able to negotiate a financially beneficial solution to a problem out of our control, but we were also able to make our client's meeting changes as seamless as possible for their guests. The alternate venue was located in the same city, making traveling a non-issue. And, all hotel rooms were transferred without penalty.But, troubleshooting isn't our only strength! As your meeting/event partner from day one, we make it a point to plan in advance. When working with all clients, we find out what is most important to them and the success of the program. If adhering to a set budget is the top priority, our team will negotiate for those costs that directly impact the bottom line such as lowered room rates, as well as waived resort fees and room rentals. Also, when working with groups that have specific meal caps, we seek discounts on catering and manage Food & Beverage minimums to ensure we do not fall short and incur damages.