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Proposals, agreements and assumptions

October 7, 2010 by Kevin R. Johnston, CMP Leave a Comment

As you know, contracts and agreements take many different forms. There are your typical multi-page hotel contracts, and there are banquet event orders and letters of agreement. Some are short and sweet; many are filled with “fine print.” All of which, when agreed upon, bind each party to certain stipulations. Some are written to favor […]

Filed Under: Budgets and contracts, PYM Blog Tagged With: Advice & Best Practices, agreements, best practices, contract negotiations, hotel contracts, how to, kevin johnston, proposals, relationships

Force majeure clauses

September 7, 2010 by Kevin R. Johnston, CMP Leave a Comment

Well, hurricane season is upon us and as the Labor Day crowds run for shelter, the thoughts of meetings, weather and other abnormalities came to mind. What does this have to do with meeting contracts? Plenty! Flash back to fall 2005, shortly after Hurricane Katrina. At my birthday party, a co-worker asked me if I […]

Filed Under: Budgets and contracts, PYM Blog Tagged With: Advice & Best Practices, contract negotiations, Crisis Management, force majeure clauses, hotels, kevin johnston, planning events

Contract negotiation best practices, Part II

April 21, 2010 by Kevin R. Johnston, CMP Leave a Comment

In the first part of this series, we discussed four key points necessary to forming a successful agreement: Open communication and full disclosure (on both sides); providing dates for the event as well as any pre/post needs; understanding the going market rate for all types of rooms; and securing a specific, detailed agenda of all […]

Filed Under: Budgets and contracts, PYM Blog Tagged With: Advice & Best Practices, best practices, contract clauses, contract negotiations, how to, kevin johnston

The danger of planning meetings by template

February 8, 2010 by Kevin R. Johnston, CMP Leave a Comment

Many years ago I had a boss who was the “King of Clichés.” His office was filled with motivational or thought-provoking sayings, like “You can’t expect what you don’t inspect.” I’d often sit and wonder, “Why? What was the point?” As I got older and had more experience, I realized it was not the saying, […]

Filed Under: PYM Blog Tagged With: Advice & Best Practices, best practices, Contract Negotiation, contract template, kevin johnston, meeting planning templates, planning meetings

When you start your site inspection from the back seat of a limo …

December 8, 2009 by Kevin R. Johnston, CMP Leave a Comment

Recently I was participating in a Buyer Education Program in a not to be named city. The program was designed to get large group buyers together to experience the venues, service and options. All were seasoned planners or intermediaries. Following the closing of the program, several of us extended to see some of the area […]

Filed Under: PYM Blog Tagged With: Advice & Best Practices, best practices, etiquette, kevin johnston, meeting planner, Meeting Planning Etiquette Matters, planning 101, Site Selection, site tours

Contracts: Getting to green

October 6, 2009 by Kevin R. Johnston, CMP Leave a Comment

Recently, I began a keynote presentation at PYM LIVE in Atlanta by quoting from the book “Everything I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten.” Sad, but relatively true, especially the concept of leaving things as you found them. “Greening” or sustainability is not really difficult to grasp. Plan for the future, because whether […]

Filed Under: Budgets and contracts, Meeting sustainably, PYM Blog Tagged With: Contract Negotiation, green contract clauses, hotel negotiations, kevin johnston, negotiation advice, PYM

Social networking: Is it working for you?

August 12, 2009 by Kevin R. Johnston, CMP 5 Comments

Social networking: Is it working for you?

By guest blogger, Kevin R. Johnston, CMP

Recently I was having a face to face interview (OMG-F2F-Y?) with a person referred to me by one of my social network contacts: A late-20s producer with impressive experience, a great network and the desire to expand her freelance business. Coffee, fresh air and the chance to experience a person’s personality and ability to communicate one-on-one was very refreshing.

You see, it’s my “baby boomer” traits that drive my need to see and interact in person…

Filed Under: Career advancement, Networking and lead-generation Tagged With: best practices, facebook, hospitality industry, kevin johnston, linkedin, meeting planners, meeting professionals, social networking, twitter

Couldn’t be at the PYM LIVE Atlanta event?

April 28, 2009 by Kristi Casey Sanders Leave a Comment

If you couldn’t be at today’s PYM LIVE Event in Atlanta, no problem. Here’s a live Twitter stream of what people are talking about:

Filed Under: PYM Blog Tagged With: Atlanta, david nour, event, kevin johnston, opera, pym live







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