FWIW, I have hosted a fair amount of hotel events in my life and what often is forgotten, is most all is negotiable, without losing quality. You start with asking about food offerings, shift and change to the dollar amount, and back to food again. Sometimes meals are brought down to half, and others, a good percentage.
When hosting large events, people get overwhelmed at getting everything done, and tend to take what is first offered. Sometimes some on a team (if there is one) are better at one portion than another so delegating helps and worst case, you can give comparisons (gained with calls to competitors). If it was a personal event such as a wedding where you were feeding 350 people on your own budget, you would negotiate. With all due respect, I go in pretending it is my own money as to me, there is no difference. Ultimately they want return business and good word spreads, and icing the deal with these comments is helpful. The economy is down for everyone, and this can work for you in hotel negotiations. You can always say you will think about it, as sometimes it is who you get, and what mood they are in that day. They also have time to talk to managers, etc., and decide they want the business, regardless. Best,Susan Reishus - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachnemodera...@yahoo.com
