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When we buy our vegetables we understand that the person who trucks them to market and the shopkeeper who buys them will add a margin to keep themselves in business and make enough to cover overheads and re-invest to ensure the sustainability of the venture.
The Chinese have a saying “a clear pond has no fish” which describes what happens when there is no cover to enable fish to survive in their habitats. At our farm we put hundreds of fish and yabbies into the dams, but over time predator birds made their nests nearby and cleared out the fish, so now we have no fish and the birds have moved on.
My interest in this matter was stimulated during the recent Tourism Directions & Distribution Conference in Sydney. Some of the papers can be found at www.distribution2007.com/. We operate in a highly meshed industry where we give business to a wide range of suppliers, all of whom are layering in a margin of profit which is strictly tempered by the high level of competition across our sector. For example, a hotel which uses the services of a contracted audio-visual company will as a matter of course add a margin to the quote.
Yet somehow, when a conference organiser wants to take a commission for, say, a hotel booking which might have been negotiated at great benefit to the client given the organiser’s buying power, then that’s a problem in the eyes of the procurement department of the client.
This required “transparency” is effectively the enemy of profitability. There might be “fee for service” models around, but in the event of a meeting that might be four years in the planning it’s a massive ask to determine exactly how many hundreds of hours are required to deliver it.
In the business of conference management, especially at the conclusion of most events, many clients ask how do we handle the pressure of event management on an ongoing basis? This is usually just before they retreat back to their day job or a secluded holiday away from the telephone and emails to recover from the unaccustomed stress brought on by hosting a wonderful event.
At initial stages when the pace is leisurely and there is little pressure, it is easy to assume that the whole process will be “a piece of cake”, “a walk in the park” or whatever other dream the uninitiated expect! Then the millions of bits of information and the myriad of participants, suppliers and others elements kick in, rushing to a crescendo called “the event” and in a flash it is over as if it has just been fast-forwarded.
The level of expertise, resources, confidence and knowledge that is required to meet client demands must be rewarded or what would be the incentive for professional Australian event management companies to grow and continue their excellent work?
This column is dedicated to all the PCOs and event managers across Australia who work hard for their clients, employ experienced and talented staff and contribute significantly to the success of many events. Passion and commitment should be rewarded.
 Roslyn McLeod is the founder and managing director of Tour Hosts, a Sydney-based conference and event management company.
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