Find Your Hidden Savings

Written by CTE employees

Hidden costs can lead to hidden savings with careful planning.

Hotels

There are many hidden housing costs that leave room for negotiation when discussing your contracts. Many charges, such as Internet fees for your guests and the event itself, can be eliminated by adding minuscule fees to the room charges. $1 multiplied by your attendee total adds up to a substantial amount of money. Hotels also work off of different budgets. Many times they can move money from one budget (i.e. advertising) to cover the cost of a discount for your event. For making their hotel one of your recommended places to stay, you can also negotiate for additional money to underwrite the costs of the shuttle buses to and from the convention center.

Concierge Services

Many of your attendees will be visiting from out of town. It may be the first time they travel to your destination or they may have been too busy on previous visits to do any exploring and want to venture out. Chances are, you and your staff may not have much knowledge about the town either. The local convention or tourism bureau is always willing to provide information desks at the convention center. They can recommend restaurants, arrange sightseeing tours, or supply your attendees with discounted tickets to local events. And as an added value, you won't have to hire someone to act as a concierge.

Badge on Demand

One of the costs many organizations forget about is the price of mailing badges. Not only is there the cost of the badge stock, ther eis also the cost of envelopes, stamps and staff to stuff and seal envelopes. The easiest way to decrease this cost is to employ a registration company that has a badge-on-demand system. Your attendees will visit your registration staff anyway to pick up their lanyards and badge holders - why not have them pick up their badges too? A good registration system will quickly print out documentation, and you will save money by only using needed badge stock. You can also get accurate check-in reports utlizing this system.

Advertising

Make sure you secure a sponsorship for your badge holders and lanyards. These are necessary costs that can quickly add up and your exhibiting companies would be happy to have all of your attendees and exhibitors advertise their company. If you have a large event, consider having two companies sponsor your lanyards - one for the exhibitors and one for the attendees. You can also underwrite the cost of badge production by selling advertising space on your badges and tickets. Imagine having a final bill of zero dollars for your badges thanks to your aggressive advertising sales.