Getting There is Half the Fun
Catherine Chaulet, MiMegasite.com, 2/5/2007
Note: For complete assistance with creative meeting planning, contact Roy Podell at Atlas Meetings & Incentives at (508) 449-3090 or (800) 553-5995
A truly successful event requires a focus on activities and logistics that extend well beyond a meeting room. That means creating a great first and last impression of an event with a top-notch travel experience to and from the venue. Event organizers and meeting planners are increasingly turning to experts in group transportation for help in creating a successful road map for moving attendees from point A to point B at meetings and events. This enables those charged with running off-site corporate meetings, association conferences, holiday parties, and other activities to ensure that their attendees will be in the best frame of mind when they show up.
Transportation is one of the more challenging aspects of an event—everything from the weather to security emergencies to traffic to special needs or VIP requests can require a change in plans. The ability to respond to whatever issues surface is mission critical. And that requires a contingency plan. Assess the specific transportation problems your meeting might have during the planning stage and arrange for a plan B to cover them.
Consider outsourcing the management of your transportation. By entrusting transportation delivery and management to a partner, a meeting planner is freed up to spend more time aligning his client's objectives with the overall event. The minutiae of manifest management, for example, is left to a transportation specialist while the planner works with a senior stakeholder in his client's firm about the message he wants to permeate the event.Milestones for Success
Flawlessly executed, quality transportation sets the tone for an entire event, so it's especially important to lay the groundwork for success. Here are some suggestions:
Think about more than vehicles. A great transportation partner must provide more than cars and drivers: It must be able to handle complete transportation management and delivery. While a door-to-door pickup and drop-off certainly make an impression, don't forget that additional services such as airport greeters and luggage handling give your guests the high-touch treatment they deserve. End-to-end transportation services for an event shows guests how much you care about their experience.
Make safety a priority. Always be sure you are working with a partner that considers the safety of your guests to be of utmost importance. Vehicles should be impeccably maintained and drivers well trained. If your partner isn't providing you with details about its safety policies and training program, make sure to ask for them.
Plan ahead. Share information. Simply sharing the dates, locations, and estimated number of expected guests is helpful. Doing so doesn't commit you to anything, but it does help your partner plan a bit better and raise issues and concerns that should be considered ahead of time. Planning early and help you avoid resource issues, lock in preferential pricing, and ensure that you get the best of the best in personnel and vehicles.
Events and meetings can be very intricately choreographed productions; it just makes sense for planners and organizers to get the assistance they need when it comes to the complex logistics of ground transportation. After all, it's the goal of every mastermind behind a successful event to create that great experience and transport their guests, in every sense of the word.