Pros & Cons of Outsourcing Event Services

Real Talk: The Pros & Cons of
Outsourcing Services
Howard Givner
Managing Director, Head of Americas
Grass Roots Meetings & Events

@GrassRootsME @hgivner
Overview
2
1.The landscape
2.Pivoting to higher value roles/tasks
3.Beneﬁts of outsourcing
4.Challenges / concerns of outsourcing
5.Best practices
6.Questions?

Grass Roots Meetings & Events
Manage $250m Spend | 8,000 Mtgs/Year
4

Service Offerings
5
Attendee
Management
Registration Mgmt
Housing Mgmt
On-Site Support
Reporting &
Compliance
App & Website Mgmt
Custom Programming
Strategic Meetings
Management
Venue Sourcing
RFPs & Proposals
Contracts & Payments
Site Inspections
Data & Reporting
32% Avg. Savings
Event Services
Strategic Event Design
Budget Mgmt
Pre-Planning
On-Site Logistics
Destination
Management
Advisory
ROI / Measurement
Content Analytics
Attendee Tracking
Trusted Advisor
Training
Meeting & Event
Strategy

Sample Clients
1. Manage $200m Spend
2. 8,000 Mtgs/Yea
6

Increased Awareness of Events As Business Drivers
1.Traditional marketing vehicles being tuned out.
2.Social media leverages reach for same cost.
8

Headcount Limits
1.Increasing workload.
2.Limits in adding headcount.
9

Poll
1.To what extent are you feeling pressure to “do more with
less”?
10

Increased Drive for Measurement of Meetings by CMOs
11

Source: Axiometrics, NABE Recession Risk
Economic Expansion In Months
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
Nov 48-Oct 45
Jul 53-Oct 49
Aug 57-May 54
Apr 60-Apr 58
Dec 69-Feb 61
Nov 73-Nov 70
Jan 80-Mar 75
Jul 90-Dec 82
Mar 01-Mar 91
Dec 07-Nov 01
Jul 17-Aug 09
97
73
120
91
58
36
105
24
39
45
37

@GrassRootsM&E_USA @hgivner 13
A.I. / Automation

A.I. / Automation in Hospitality
Digital Labor Enablement

@GrassRootsM&E_USA @hgivner
Which Jobs Will Robots Take?
15

EASY for Robots
Repeatable Tasks
Predictable Tasks
Rule-based or Learnable Tasks
HARD for Robots
Creativity
Consulting/Customized Solutions
Managing People/Machines
Cross-Domain Thinking
Nuanced People Skills
(Bartenders, Therapists, Concierges)
Towel-Folding

The Tech Factor
17
1.Same factors that make it easier to have remote workers
also make it easier to integrate outsourced partners.
a. Video chat
b. Screen sharing
c. Document sharing (Google Drive, Dropbox, etc.)
d. Company email addresses

Everything Is On the Table
18
1.Businesses are making changes faster than ever.
2.If it makes business sense to outsource something, it’ll
be explored.
3.Either YOU lead the initiative
a. You get the credit
b. You do it your way
4.SOMEONE ELSE leads it

Source: http://www.condecosoftware.com/resources/condeco-sense-
reveals-real-workspace-utilization/
44%
Breakout Room
Utilization
Desk
Utilization
34%
G L O B A L AV E R A G E S
Meeting Room
Utilization
36%
In-House Meeting Space

Pivoting to Higher Value Roles & Tasks
20

Scenario: Your Dept. Is Being Spun Off
1.Would internal clients hire you if they had a choice?
2.Could you make a sales call? Win an RFP?
3.What if you had to run your dept. like a competitive business?
a.Team strengths?
b.Team weaknesses?
c.Hidden services?
21

Becoming Indispensable
22
Save Our
Company’s
Meeting
Planners!
GOAL: Provide so much value, that if you, your events, or
your dept. were eliminated, internal clients would revolt.

Words of Wisdom
23
Your job is not to run meetings or manage
meeting planners. It’s to make sure meetings
are designed to achieve the organization’s
goals, are cost-effective, and are successfully
executed in a way that’s consistent with the
company’s brand, values & vision.
Kevin Iwamoto

Goldspring Consulting

Poll
1.How indispensable do you think your company views you
and/or your team?
24

The Need to Prove Value Of:
1. YOUR EVENTS:
a. For attendees
b. For exhibitors / sponsors
c. For the host organization
2. YOURSELF
3. YOUR DEPARTMENT
25

How to Become Indispensable
1.Focus on parts of job clients really value.
a.Strategic guidance to clients for designing, executing &
measuring events that achieve business goals.
b.Delivering those results, not necessarily doing them
yourself.
2.Outsource the rest.
26

A Doctor’s Value
27
Usually Delegated to:
TASK Doctor
Internal
Staff
Outside
Company
Reception / Paperwork √
Vitals √
Exam / Consultation √
Labs √
Billing √

Zero-Sum: Limited Time & Focus
1. Every hour spent on website conﬁguration (e.g.)
is an hour NOT spent on higher value tasks:
a. Staying abreast of disruptions, trends,
innovations (e.g. hybrid/virtual mtgs)
b. Analyzing which ones to deploy to which
events, and how
c. Focusing on strategy & results
d. Cultivating client relationships on a business /
advisor level
28

From Logistics Managers
to Business Event Strategists
29
From Order Takers to Trusted Advisors

Strategy Before Logistics
1. WHY + WHO
30
WHY
+ WHO
+ HOW MUCH
(Strategy Planning)
what
+ when
+ where
(Logistics Planning)
Determines

Shifting to the Agency Model
31
ACCOUNT PERSON
(Focus: CLIENT relationship)
•Determine goals
•Know audience
•Design event to achieve
goals
EVENT PERSON
(Focus: EVENT execution)
•Budget
•Timelines
•Logistics
Event
Blueprint
Both can be trusted advisors, in different areas.

What Makes A Trusted Advisor?
32
Trait Example
Treats client’s business as if it’s
their own
Advocate cancelling event if not a good use of
resources
Is proactive
Don’t wait for clients to decide to plan events.
Come to them with ideas.
Is willing to push back, challenge
client
Advocate spending more $ if needed to
achieve goals.

Gardener
1.Uses better equipment.
2.Buys fertilizer, etc. in bulk
3.More extensive knowledge
4.Frees you up from mundane chore
5.BUT: You still need to tell him what
you want.
34

Words of Wisdom
35
Everyone should have an outsourcing plan. It
allows you to manage surges in business,
obtain niche expertise, brow a global network
of local resources, and brings new
perspectives and skills to your team.
Lance Wieland

BCG

Accessing Specialized Talent
Increasing Capacity
Increasing Staﬃng Flexibility
Improving Organizafonal Performance
Reducing Costs
Leveraging New Tech
Growing Revenue
Accessing Best Pracfces
Increasing Compeffve Advantage
Reducing Risk of Fin. Compliance
Reducing Risk of Staﬀ Turnover
Other
0 0.175 0.35 0.525 0.7
3%
14%
18%
25%
31%
31%
41%
48%
53%
54%
58%
70%
Source: Smith Bucklin
Survey of 360 associations
Expected Benefits from Outsourcing

@GrassRootsME @hgivner 37
Focus on Core
Reduce Costs

Focus on Core (Highest Value) Work
38
1. Engaging clients as a business partner / trusted advisor.
2. Know the business, client’s goals, needs, etc.
3. Know how events ﬁt into the business to drive growth.
4. Help clients deﬁne & articulate success.
5. Strategic design of events to achieve goals.
a. Facilitate connections
b. Drive post-event application of takeaways
6. Analytics, ROI/measurement.

Reduce Costs
39
1.Leverage volume of outsourced specialists drives:
a. Better rates
b. Better terms & conditions, faster response times
2.Eliminate overhead / beneﬁts expenses.
3.Save time recruiting, training & managing staff.
4.32% average savings overall* (GRG ﬁgures)

Words of Wisdom
40
‘No matter how large the corporation’s hotel
and meeting programs are, the combined
client and customer volumes provided by the
TMCs and MMCs far overshadow the
volumes of a single corporation.’
Kevin Iwamoto

Goldspring Consulting

Increase Capacity / Flexible Scaling
41
1.Ability to scale your department’s capacity up/down in
response to workload.
2.Ability to be available geographically where clients are.
3.FMLA (Family & Medical Leave Act) leave coverage.

Access Best Practices / Specialized Expertise
42
1.Ability to access experienced/niche personnel you may
not need (or be able to afford) full time.
a. E.g. sponsorship sales, app development
2.Sourcing example:
a. Greater likelihood someone has seen a given venue.
b. Greater volume > better rates, terms, response times

The Hollywood Stafﬁng Model
43
1.Pros:
a. Match staff to workload. Scale up/down as needed.
b. Get exact talent needed for project/task.
c. Ability to hire people on a project basis who you may
not be able to afford full time.
2.Challenge:
a. Will desired staff be available? Need a deep bench.
b. Getting them to understand your brand, audience.

Protect Existing Team
44
1.Following last recession, & massive layoffs, reluctant to
expand in house teams too much.
2.Outsourcing enables a smaller team.
3.If using contract staff, they become ﬁrst ones to cut.

They Won’t Need Me Anymore
46
1.Companies outsource all the time.
2.If it makes business sense to outsource something,
there’s a good chance it will eventually be outsourced.
a. You lead the initiative. You have input. You manage it.
b. Someone else leads the initiative. You’re not part of it.

They Won’t Need Me Anymore
47
% of Companies Outsourcing Payroll
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
All Companies $5 billion + in Sales
73%
47%
Source: Journal of Accountancy

Loss of Control
48
1.By deﬁnition there is less control when outsourcing than
when doing something in-house.

Fear of Change
49
1.Understandable. Pace of change keeps increasing.
2.Can’t let that stop something that’s good for the company.

They Won’t Know Our Brand/Clients As Well
50
1.True. Which is why you have to properly on-board them.
2.All brands entrust outside ad agencies to market their
products.

Don’t Outsource Things Just Because
You Don’t Like Doing Them
51
1.Some responsibilities may not be enjoyable, but may be
key to the business and/or your value proposition.

Provide Proper On-Boarding
53
1.Need same training on company brand, values, employee/
attendee demographics & preferences, etc.
2.Attendees at events won’t know who isn’t an employee. Will
expect everyone to act the right way, have baseline company
& event knowledge, etc.

Clarify Roles, Approvals & Deliverables
54
1.Clearly outline process for approving expenses.
2.What elements can they sign off on? (BEO? Floorpan?)
3.Agree on deliverables & due dates

Words of Wisdom
55
In order for a global SMM program to work,
you have to provide global leadership with
regional relevance.
Jami Stapelmann

Estee Lauder

Company Vs. Individual Contractor?
56
Individual Company
If Person Leaves or
Doesn’t Work Out
You’re responsible for
recruiting & training a
replacement.
Company is responsible
for recruiting & training a
replacement.
Guaranteed Specific
Person
Yes At company’s discretion
Payroll Taxes,
Insurance
See IRS rules for
employee vs. independent
contractor
Company’s responsibility

A La Carte or Bundle With 1 Vendor?
57
1.Consolidating with 1 Vendor
a. PRO: Fewer resources to manage, pay & on-board.
b. CON: Can one vendor be expert at everything?

MSA & SLA
58
1.A master service agreement (MSA) is a contract reached between
parties, in which the parties agree to most of the terms that will govern
future transactions or future agreements. Specifies generic terms such as:
payment terms, product warranties, intellectual property ownership,
dispute resolution, etc.
a. Specific projects under an MSA are outlined in a Statement of Work.
2.A service level agreement (SLA) is a contract between a service
provider (either internal or external) and the end user that defines the level
of service expected from the service provider. SLAs are output-based in
that their purpose is specifically to define what the customer will receive.

Rotate Vendors Every 3 Years?
59
1.Keep pricing & services levels competitive.
2.Re-evaluate needs after a multi-year engagement.
3.*Factor in transition learning curve

Questions?
60
@GrassRootsME

@hgivner

howard.Givner@grg.com

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