1. www.pcma.org pcma convene September 2008 45
INTERNATIONAL
MEETINGS:
TACTICS FOR TOUGH
TIMES
BY NANCY MANN JACKSON
A faltering economy and a weak U.S. dollar
make for difficult meeting planning
all around, but — with costs that depend on
fluctuating exchange rates — international
meetings are especially tricky.
Experienced international meeting
professionals share how they’re rising
to the challenge.
,

2. pcma convene September 2008 www.pcma.org46
As soon as the International Association for Dental
Research (IADR) commits to a meeting in an international
city, usually six years out, it seems like economic issues start
piling up. “We joke that every time we decide to take a meet-
ing somewhere, we sit back and watch the exchange rate go
the wrong way,” said Gwynn Breckenridge, IADR’s director
of meetings.
According to Bloomberg.com, on July 15, the dollar
touched its all-time trading low of $1.60 per euro. The same
day, it traded at 105.07 yen. And based on financial industry
reports, the situation may get worse before it gets better. The
dollar will weaken against the euro, yen, Brazilian real, and
Swiss franc through the end of 2008, as confidence fades in
Fed and Treasury efforts to keep the economy out of a reces-
sion, according to respondents to the Bloomberg Profes-
sional Global Confidence Index, which questioned 5,450
customers from Los Angeles to Paris to Tokyo in July.
While some U.S.-based organizations may decide to keep
their meetings and events at home until the picture
improves, there are groups that need to reach an interna-
tional audience now. Confining their events to North Amer-
ica simply isn’t an option. “U.S.-based international
associations have to travel internationally to satisfy and
grow membership, and to keep their sponsors assured,”
said Ben Goedegebuure, director of sales for the Scottish
Exhibition + Conference Centre in Glasgow.
International association executives agree. “We
absolutely plan to continue meeting abroad,” said Cici
Thompson, CAE, vice president of meetings and mem-
ber alliances for Worldwide ERC, the Workforce
Mobility Association. “Our international initiatives
are a major part of our strategic plan, and of great
importance to our members.”
Added Jennifer Sombar, CMP, manager of
travel and event management for the CFA
Institute, the Global Association of Investment Professionals:
“Our organization’s mission is ‘to lead the investment profes-
sional globally by setting the highest standards of ethics, edu-
cation, and professional excellence.’ We’ve just begun a
continental rotation of our annual conference, and with
offices in London and Hong Kong, as well as central Virginia
and New York City, we will continue to support and host
meetings outside of the United States.”
That kind of strategic commitment or organizational
directive doesn’t make maintaining an event presence overseas
any easier. These days, association planners are digging deep
for new ways to produce international events that will be
viable, affordable — and provide an even greater return on
attendees’ investment. And many in the industry suggest that
planners will simply have to become more creative in the
way they approach the challenge. “The price of oil will rise;
it will be the standard,” said Richard Rheindorf, CMP, U.S.
and Canada regional director for the German Convention
Bureau. “Planners and suppliers have to be creative and
negotiate special deals. With globalization on the rise,
American companies and associations have to bring their
meetings to international destinations.”
To make international meetings work in the current
economy, planners must rethink their budgets, forge rela-
tionships with destination partners, and even revise their
planning paradigms. Here’s how some organizations are
making it work.
Rethinking the Budget
Just as many U.S. households are cutting out extras
in the face of rising prices of everything from food to
fuel, meeting planners also must, in many cases,
begin trimming expenses. “Meeting planners
have always been struggling to meet their
budgets, but costs are definitely an issue now,
CALL IT
MURPHY’S
LAW.,

3. Expert international planners know how to utilize
the services of an international tourism or convention
bureau, which often can lead entire teams of local partners
to help create a successful meeting. In Kuala Lumpur, for
example, “Team Malaysia” consists of Tourism Malaysia,
Malaysia Airlines, the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre,
and the Kuala Lumpur City Hall, working “closely to ensure
that all bids showcase Malaysian hospitality and quality
and efficient service delivery, from travel arrangements and
point-of-arrival to event execution, business opportunities,
and cultural exposure,” said Peter Brokenshire, general
manager of the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre.
Many bureaus also provide help with marketing a
meeting. In Glasgow, for instance, the Glasgow City Mar-
keting Bureau offers marketing assistance before and dur-
ing an event; during the planning stages for larger
meetings, the bureau sends out first-announcement fliers
to potential delegates. And for meetings of more than
3,000 delegates, the bureau provides free welcome ban-
ners in the center of the city and at airport desks, along
with a welcome message on a prominent giant screen in
the city center. “Our aim is to make each and every dele-
gate feel part of our city for the duration of their visit,” said
Ben Goedegebuure, director of sales at the Scottish Exhi-
bition + Conference Centre in Glasgow.
In addition, “tourism bureaus can provide contacts in
the professional, education, and R&D communities who
could assist in making their programs more robust by
incorporating local expertise into their educational ses-
sions,” said James LaValle, manager of conventions, exhibi-
tions, and corporate events for the Hong Kong Tourism
Board. “We do this by leveraging other government agen-
cies as well as our successful Hong Kong Ambassadors
program, a group of local professionals and educators
who have volunteered to assist in attracting international
meetings in their fields to Hong Kong.”
International Bureaus Deliver
The Goods
pcma convene September 2008 www.pcma.org48
especially when it comes to special events and extras such as
décor and gifts,” said Laura Saeger, CMP, CMM, business
tourism manager for the U.S. office of South African Tourism.
The trick is to cut costs without sacrificing the ambiance and
success of the event. “The way the dollar is, there’s not much
you can do to make [international meetings] more affordable
other than limiting what you include in the registration
price,” IADR’s Breckenridge said. “Some planners I know
don’t include meals anymore. At our recent meeting, we had
to reduce some things we normally would have done. For
instance, we took out extra signage and scaled back on coffee
breaks, just offering drinks and no food.”
In mapping out future meetings, planners and their organi-
zations will need to keep rising prices in mind and adjust
accordingly. “Our planning cycle is typically eight to
10 months out, with the exception of our annual
conference, which is confirmed in Edinburgh in
2011 and pending in Singapore in 2013,”
CFA Institute’s Sombar said. “As we look
to our upcoming budget cycle, we’re
definitely increasing our budget for
travel, both staff and volunteer,
and lodging expenses.”
Hedging Funds
Several years ago, when Behroz Daroga, president of MEC-
USA, Meetings, Events & Communications, first began plan-
ning international meetings, her organization’s bank
recommended that she begin “hedging funds,” or buying for-
eign currency in advance in order to avoid exchange-rate fluctu-
ation in the future. “We were planning a medical meeting in
Italy in 2004, and our bank suggested we keep a certain amount
of money in euros because the euro was becoming strong,”
Daroga said. “The association [we were working with] said it
wasn’t such a big deal to block $500,000 and buy euros. So,
with the permission of the IRS, we did it.” By the time the meet-
ing took place, the exchange rate had continued to expand.
When all was said and done, MEC determined that by
purchasing euros in advance, it had saved its client
from a $35,000 loss on foreign currency. Today,
Daroga always buys foreign currency in advance
of meetings.
Developing New Revenue
Streams
Rethinking the budget doesn’t
just mean adjusting for

4. With a weak U.S. dollar and widespread economic
woes, how can a planner encourage North American
attendees to board a plane for an international meeting?
Design a can’t-miss program. “Planners and
program directors need to ensure that there is valid and
profitable educational rationale to justify the increased
expenses for international events,” said James LaValle,
manager of conventions, exhibitions, and corporate events
for the Hong Kong Tourism Board. “Add program elements
that maximize the assets of the destination being visited.
For example, if an association is to hold a program in Hong
Kong, ensure that the program includes elements that are
unique to Hong Kong and maximize the city’s geographic-
and economic-gateway status for China. Most companies
and industries are looking to China for growth and to
potentially replace dropping domestic revenues, so bring
in experts from Hong Kong in your field who can assist
with that transition through their longstanding experience
working in the region. By adding elements such as these
that might be unavailable elsewhere, you make the
program not just viable but essential.”
Educate members about actual prices. While
many planners and their members assume that interna-
tional destinations are more expensive than domestic
locations, that’s not always the case. “One has to take a
closer look,” said Richard Rheindorf, CMP, New York
City–based regional director for the German Conven-
tion Bureau. “I recently took a business trip to Berlin
and to Boston. During the first week, I flew to
Berlin, spending $420 on Continental, and stayed
at the five-star Concorde Hotel for 160 euros,
including breakfast. The following week, I had to
fly to Boston, and spent $460 on US Airways
Shuttle and $370 at the Copley Plaza, exclud-
ing breakfast. Taxi in Berlin was 17 euros; in
Boston, it was $25.”
Select sites carefully. “The destina-
tion is always a key factor, and you
should select a destination that appeals
to your audience,” said Jennifer Sombar,
CMP, manager of travel and event man-
agement at the CFA Institute. “Since our
organization’s members are financial
professionals, key business markets are
draws for us, but are often a bit more expensive. It is a
challenge since you don’t want to choose a destination or
venue that jeopardizes the way you typically host a meet-
ing, which in turn impacts the attendee experience.”
Instead, the goal is an interesting destination with
options for extending the trip for leisure. “I see U.S.-based
planners trying to choose desirable destinations, offering
pre- and post-tours, and if they’re savvy, they work with
tourism boards to offer registration incentives and other
delegate-boosting efforts,” said Laura Saeger, CMP,
CMM, business tourism manager for South African
Tourism U.S.
Rely on local members. Associations
with global memberships often can leverage
local members to help them get the word out
about upcoming meetings and help build
attendance.
“We rely heavily on our relationships with
our members to help spread the word about
the meeting to people who are not familiar
with our program,” said Cici Thompson,
CAE, vice president of meetings and
member alliances for Worldwide ERC.
“We also have offices in Shanghai and
Brussels, and are able to participate in
local events to increase our brand
identity.”
Attracting Attendees
To Overseas Meetings
SAVVY U.S.-BASED
PLANNERS “WORK WITH
TOURISM BOARDS TO OFFER
REGISTRATION INCENTIVES
AND OTHER DELEGATE-
BOOSTING EFFORTS.”
www.pcma.org pcma convene September 2008 49

5. pcma convene September 2008 www.pcma.org50
increased expenses; it also means finding ways to increase rev-
enues. At CFA Institute, meeting organizers are “also leverag-
ing the content from our live conferences by audio-recording
and Webcasting sessions,” Sombar said, “and making them
available to our membership for purchase.”
In fact, according to John Swinburn, CAE, president of
Challenge Management Inc., a Dallas-based association man-
agement company, some industry insiders say the advent of
new technologies, combined with rising fuel prices, airline
industry woes, and increased environmental consciousness,
may create “a perfect storm” that finally leads to revolution-
ized meetings that truly leverage the promise of virtual events.
In a recent posting on his Challenge Management blog
(www.cmiassociationmanagement.blogspot.com), Swin-
burn wrote that future “physical meetings will become much
smaller and much, much more expensive per live partici-
pant ... but meetings will become far greater in their reach
by drawing in participants from a huge pool that has never
been terribly active in ‘live’ meetings before. Skills
in successfully integrating multiple technologies so
that event participants from around the globe can
have an ‘almost-live’ experience will be required
[for planners].”
By packaging and selling that “almost-live
experience” to audiences who aren’t physically
at a meeting, planners can reach potentially
thousands more attendees and boost their
budgets for live events at the same time.
Booking Closer Out
In addition to rethinking budgets, planners of
international events are finding that they need
to reconsider the ways they’ve always done
things. For example, rather than booking meetings six years
out as IADR has in the past, Breckenridge is considering
shortening the timeframe to three or four years out for inter-
national events. “In the United States, you can’t get good
dates [that close to the meeting date],” she said. “But interna-
tionally, they don’t seem to fill up as quickly.”
Some groups are cutting it even closer. “At the present
time,” Worldwide ERC’s Thompson said, “we are planning
no more than one year out [for international meetings], which
has helped in terms of recognizing trends and adjusting
budget figures.”
Said MEC’s Daroga: “The trend [of planning meetings
several years out] is changing; there’s no such thing as ‘in
advance.’” Case in point: When she spoke to Convene in
mid-July, Daroga had just received a request from an asso-
ciation to book rooms for its September meeting in Europe,
which she said is “pretty standard at the moment.”
Exploiting Existing Opportunities
Aside from simply changing traditional habits and
schedules in order to make international meetings
viable, North American planners must broaden
their horizons and begin thinking globally,
according to Philip Logan, general manager of
India’s Hyderabad International Convention
Centre. “The reality is that most U.S. meetings
are by the USA, for the USA, and of the USA;
it’s currently a closed-shop approach, which
will inevitably have to change as global-
ization and emerging economies drive
growth,” Logan said. “In a commer-
cial world, sponsorship and business
opportunity ultimately remains the
SPANNING THE GLOBE
(CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT):
Ben Goedegebuure, Scottish
Exhibition + Conference Centre;
Cici Thompson, CAE, Worldwide
ERC; and Jennifer Sombar, CMP,
CFA Institute, agree that
holding meetings abroad is
necessary to satisfy and
grow U.S.-based international
associations’ membership.

6. pcma convene September 2008 www.pcma.org52
driving force for change in the meetings environment. Many
meeting planners are behind the times [in] seeing opportuni-
ties that exist due to inexperience or inability to cope with
many facets of their role.”
For instance, some of the existing opportunities over-
looked by most North American planners include:
forming strategic alliances with international meeting
planners and the International Association of Professional
Congress Organizers
participating in an internship with international meet-
ing planners
holding several concurrent international meetings
linked by video conferencing
partnering with Telco and technology supply compa-
nies for international content delivery, inbound and outbound
adding international meeting planning content to the
required core curriculum in meetings-education programs
entering international markets through joint ventures,
mergers, or acquisitions
participating in Youth International Scholarship pro-
grams to bring international knowledge back to the United
States.
“Just think outside the box,” Logan said. “For instance,
[watch international news program], not CNN 50-state news
with Mexico and Canada. The medical, pharmaceutical, and
IT firms are already globally exploring; the meetings industry
in the United States needs to follow their lead.”
Going Against the Grain
When it comes to international meetings, the tried-and-true
strategies for cutting costs continue to apply. “Consider areas
that are still affordable and less touristy,” said Jaime
Stephens, executive director of the Color Marketing Group
(CMG). “Also, consider the timing of the meeting, and go in
an off season. (Do be careful, however, to do your research,
With a weak U.S. dollar, it seems as if international
attendees would be flocking to U.S. meetings to take
advantage of the favorable exchange rate. “It is somewhat
easier [to recruit international attendees to North Ameri-
can events] than to recruit U.S. attendees to international
events,” said Jaime Stephens, executive director of the
Color Marketing Group. “It’s important, though, that the
city be appealing and easy to get to. It would be harder to
sell [a third-tier city] as a conference destination than it
would be Miami, San Francisco, or Chicago.”
While it may be a little easier to interest overseas
attendees in coming to North America than vice versa,
actually getting them here presents its own challenges.
According to Behroz Daroga, president of MEC-USA, Meet-
ings, Events & Communications, the visa issue planners
have wrestled with for the last several years “is becoming
worse. The U.S. State Department recently said it wants all
foreigners entering the United States to have visas. If that
happens, it will kill this industry and tourism completely.”
At a recent meeting in Toronto, the International Asso-
ciation for Dental Research (IADR) “had quite a problem
with people not getting visas,” said Gwynn Breckenridge,
IADR’s director of meetings. “We thought it was easier to
get into Canada than the United States, but that ended up
not being the case.”
A large number of would-be IADR attendees from
China, Nigeria, and India — including more than a few indi-
viduals who were on the schedule as presenters — were
declined visas. “We contacted the convention bureau, and
they contacted the embassies,” Breckenridge said. “We
tried contacting the embassies ourselves, and we pro-
vided everything they asked for. In the end, we had to
refund the participants’ registration fees.”
To avoid similar problems, planners should “constantly
tell people to begin the visa-application process as soon
as they send in their papers,” Breckenridge said. “I tell
them not to wait to see if their paper is approved, but just
start the visa process immediately. Some people go ahead
and book their hotel room and their airline, then they can’t
get a visa and they may not be able to get refunds.”
In order to get more international attendees not only at
a meeting but inside the room block, Daroga recommends
opening the block much earlier than is standard in North
America, especially for medical meetings. “Pharmaceutical
companies overseas have to get their budgets approved by
regulatory agencies [well in advance],” she said. “When
they don’t get access to the hotel block early enough, they
of course go online and get their own rooms, even if
they’re at a higher price than the room block would be.
They have to have time to get their paperwork in.”
To avoid the problem and make it possible for more
international pharma companies to book inside the room
block, Daroga recommends opening the block to interna-
tional attendees nine or 10 months prior to the meeting.
Coming to America

7. pcma convene September 2008 www.pcma.org54
so you aren’t holding your meeting during monsoon season.)
While ‘affordable’ is a relative term, there are still some bar-
gains to be had.”
Seeking out destinations that are off the beaten path,
including emerging locales such as Malaysia, South Africa,
and Qatar in the Arabian Gulf region, may yield more afford-
able rates along with unique, memorable meetings. “With
tighter budget strings, meeting planners must select destina-
tions that offer the best value for their money, which ensures
justification of delegate investment, without cutting costs or
comprising a delegate’s experience,” said Peter Brokenshire,
general manager of Malaysia’s Kuala Lumpur Convention
Centre.
Partnering With Local Providers
Some of the budgeting issues that North
American planners deal with when
meeting internationally stem from inter-
national hotels’ different set of operating
rules — and sometimes only a local partner can
help planners navigate the territory. Breckenridge
said she’s found that international hotels tend to raise
their prices when they learn that a convention may
be coming to town. “When we go to hotels and say
we’re doing a convention, all of a sudden, the rates
go up,” she said. “Some planners I know go online
to check rates and document them, then after talk-
ing to the convention bureau, if the rates go up,
they’ll confront [destination executives]. If a hotel’s
going to do that, the planners won’t let the hotel
participate. I’ve discussed with other planners that
it’s cheaper to do a meeting for 10 people than for
4,000.
“Hotels overseas also don’t negotiate any concessions,”
Breckenridge continued. “They give you a room rate, and
everything else you have to pay for [separately]. You’re very
lucky if you get a comp room, [and] there’s no discount on
food and beverage. You have to budget for every item.”
When holding a meeting in Barcelona, Breckenridge hired
a local professional congress organizer (PCO) to handle hotel
booking and contracts for her organization, and saw quick
results. “Because of the number of rooms they book in the
area, they were able to get a few comp rooms, a few dis-
counted rooms for staff,” Breckenridge said of the PCO. “It
wasn’t what we would get in the United States or Canada,
but it was more than we usually get elsewhere. Sometimes
it helps to use a local partner.”
In most cases, local tourism
boards and convention bureaus can
help match planners with the local
supplier partners they need, as well as
serve as essential partners in planning
viable international meetings. “We can work with
airlines for special rates, identify sponsorship
opportunities where appropriate,” said South
Africa’s Saeger. “We can help identify low seasons
when rates are at their most competitive, and we
can direct [planners] to in-country experts who
can help them identify cost-effective options.”
Added James LaValle, manager of conventions,
exhibitions, and corporate events for the Hong
Kong Tourism Board: “Planners should always
contact the tourism office or bureaus to see what
they have to offer. Tourism bureaus and offices can
provide effective assistance to budget-strapped
planners in identifying local service providers who
COMING FROM AMERICA
(CLOCKWISE FROM TOP
LEFT): Richard Rheindorf,
German Convention Bureau;
Philip Logan, India’s
Hyderabad International
Convention Centre; and
James LaValle, Hong Kong
Tourism Board, believe it’s
time for North America–
based planners to begin
thinking globally.

8. pcma convene September 2008 www.pcma.org56
potentially could offer savings, and sometimes offer assistance
with generating local funding for high-profile events from the
local government or corporate community. Additionally, most
destinations offer some level of reward or privilege program,
like our Hong Kong Rewards program, with elements that
can offset some of the costs associated with the program by
providing some products and services free of charge.”
Strategizing
Along those lines, savvy planners will try to use their loyalty
points from domestic hotel chains even
when meeting overseas. “I try to place
[international] meetings in hotels
that are part of a
chain, such as Starwood,” Stephens
said, “where I have some negotiating
leverage, since CMG currently uses Star-
wood properties frequently.”
As business becomes increasingly
global, planners must get creative about
making international meetings work,
regardless of what’s happening in the
economy. In fact, for North Amer-
ica–based international associations,
holding meetings overseas is an essential
strategy for serving members well. “Our
membership is global,” CFA Institute’s
Sombar said, “so by bringing our events to various locations
around the world, we are bringing them closer to some seg-
ments of our membership.”
Overcoming the economic hurdles of meeting interna-
tionally is, for these planners, simply part of the job. “As far
as the current market is concerned, we feel that interna-
tional planners now see their meetings as even more impor-
tant to their companies and associations,” Scotland’s
Goedegebuure said. “The view is that conferences are a cru-
cial way of bringing people together to meet their objectives
at this time.” I
A weak exchange rate may have attendees looking
for cheaper rooms outside the block. The International
Association for Dental Research (IADR) recently completed
its biennial international conference in Toronto. “When we
booked it, the hotel rates were going to be great and the
exchange rate was going to be phenomenal,” said Gwynn
Breckenridge, director of meetings for IADR. “By the time
registration started, everything had changed.”
With contracted hotel rates no longer as affordable,
many attendees booked outside the block. A number of
international attendees, many of whom work at universi-
ties, were able to get better package deals through their
university travel offices or travel agents, according to
Breckenridge. IADR planners set to work to avoid attrition
fees. “We gave the hotels a heads-up, and we kept send-
ing e-mails to our members, explaining that if people con-
tinued to book outside the block, it would hurt the
association and our ability to get future discounts,” Breck-
enridge said. “We also held a drawing, offering a free hotel
room for four nights for anyone who booked through our
housing bureau.” IADR incurred an additional expense by
adding shuttle buses to encourage more people to book
rooms in the hotel block. After all that effort, IADR ended
up just meeting its minimum and kept costs in line, Breck-
enridge said, “by scaling back on some of the things we
normally offer at our meetings.”
Avoiding Attrition
“CONSIDER THE TIMING OF THE MEETING, AND GO IN AN
OFF SEASON. (BE CAREFUL TO DO YOUR RESEARCH,
SO YOU AREN’T HOLDING YOUR MEETING DURING MON-
SOON SEASON.) WHILE ‘AFFORDABLE’ IS STILL A RELATIVE
TERM, THERE ARE STILL SOME BARGAINS TO BE HAD.”
Contributing Editor Nancy Mann Jackson is a
freelance writer in Birmingham, Ala.