The Meeting Planners podcast source for what’s new and exciting in meetings and events industry!
Show 26 To Insure or not to Insure: That is the Question
Mike McAllen of Grass Shack Events & Media
Tom Hillmer of Creative Group
Jon Trask of Alliant Event Services
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:35 Intros
1:09 Jon- MPI News- Foreign Tourism increasing new Discover America website- also a survey of corporate business managers.
5:00 Mike- Micepoint- Airline ideas.
6:55 Upgradetravelbetter.com Financial executives are moving out of first class to save money.
7:41 Tom- Travel insurance ideas. Travel X creative group new offering.
14:54 Where we will be. Jon is off to London soon. Tom in Chicago. Mike in Florida and Santa Cruz California.
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Brought to you by Grass Shack Events & Media
Copyright 2008 MeetingsPodcast
Transcripts:
Female: You are listening to the Meetings Podcast with Mike McAllen, John Trask and Tom Hillmer. The Meeting Planner podcast source for what’s new and exciting in the meetings and events industry. The information and opinions expressed in this podcast are of Mr. McAllen, Mr. Trask and Mr. Hillmer and are theirs alone and do not reflect the opinions of their past, present or future employers.
Please send in your question and comments to MeetingsPodcast@gmail.com and make sure to visit our website for pictures, video and show notes at www.MeetingsPodcast.com
Mike McAllen: Welcome back to the Meetings Podcast. My name is Mike McAllen with Grass Shack Events and Media. My co-host, Jon Trask, CMP account executive from Alliant Event Services. Hi, Jon.
Jon Trask: Hello, good afternoon.
Mike McAllen: And of course Tom Hillmer, senior vice-president and account executive with Creative Group. Hey, Tom.
Tom Hillmer: Hi guys.
Mike McAllen: And before we get started, I’d like to thank our sponsors, Hilton Hotels e-Events. Blue Sky Factory, our e-mail provider of choice and Brand Creative and let’s get started. Jon, I think you have something quick. Don’t you?
Jon Trask: Well actually, one of the things that I – I read into a couple things on MPI’s industry news which they keep very current. The first one that I thought was just kind of interesting because we’ve talked about a related topic here on the show before and that is that foreign tourism might be increasing with the weakened dollar and they have a website called, Discover America which is actually put on by the travel industry association.
And they have had a huge amount of this on it already. It says, they’ve seen 1.1 million page views already and over a million minutes of research by travelers. The 1.1 million is in the first 3 months of operation. And they’ve been getting – the Japanese language site has the highest use, 36%, the German site, 21%, the Canadian site, 16%. So that’s just – that’s one thing that’s kind of good news for the economy because you know, foreign tourism does bring dollars back into the country and …
Mike McAllen: Right.
Jon Trask: … so looking at that related to things we’ve talked about before, that just seems significant. The other thing that I found on there in the last few days was just a little survey done by the National Business Travel Association. They surveyed 320 corporate business travel managers basically to find out how the current conditions are affecting them. And there were a few interesting things that came out of that, 76% of them responded that the airlines are misleading the public with their low average highest fares by adding in the substantial fees that we’ve all talked about on here.
Eighty three percent of them thought that the re-introduction of airlines with minimum stay requirements such as the Saturday night which significantly increase business travel airfares obviously. And now, the percentage of those travel managers are encouraging their business travelers to consider staying over a Saturday night if the difference in airfare is greater than the hotel and meal cost involved. So there’s actually a little shift going back on there.
They’re promoting ride sharing public transportation and alternative transportations much more than they were in the past. The domestic trips are now costing between $140 to $175 more per trip than they were at the end of 2007 and international since December have gone up $315 to $400 and that tied into that. They had a couple of little things, the five top things they’re doing to constrain air travel cost: Advanced purchase on tickets, encouraging or requiring less air travel, sending fewer employees out to their conferences, strengthening their mandates and their enforcement of the internal travel policies and driving people to travel alternatives.
Web-based meetings, things like that rather than sending everybody out and this is all stuff we’ve talked about in various ways. It’s just interesting to see a survey coming out that sort of underscores that and emphasizes the same thing we’ve all been kind of feeling for a few months. The top five things are doing to contain ground transportation cost, making sure the people refill before they return the car rental in, sharing ground transportation cost with other employees. They’re putting groups together instead of singles, moving the smaller less expensive car rentals, renting more fuel efficient cars, and finding ways to use more public transportation even on business travel.
So I thought all of that was fairly relevant stuff and just fit right into the kind of climate that we’ve all been sensing and talking about here on the podcast and in our business and professional lives.
Mike McAllen: Yes, I actually ended an interview with Christian Frei. This guy – I opposed to it last week. I don’t know if you guys have seen it yet but it’s with this guy from MICEPOINT and he is in Zürich and he has this website called MICEPOINT and it’s all about putting planners and resources altogether. It’s kind of a cool, cool thing but he was talking a lot about how you know, the European and Asian markets are – there’s a lot of travel going on now. So it’s something to look at, it’s interesting same sort of thing.
And in with the plane flights too, I was thinking that I heard this guy say the other day this is kind of it has to do with the traveling portion of it that he was wondering because he’s retired and he’s traveling business travel all the time. He’s wondering about you know, it’s almost a marketing thing with the planes people coming on board and that he was thinking it’s trying to shelve all their baggage that they bring on the plane because they don’t want to pay for an extra bag. So they try to bring as much as they can on the plane. He was saying they should charge for people for a carry ons and let everybody give everything else for free, the baggage for free that charge for carry ons and then the planes would go faster and there would be a better customer service, you know, the planes would you know, get out on time. It’s kind of an interesting way of looking at it you know. And then also putting people loading them from the back of the plane forward because a lot of you know, a lot of people are not doing that so …
Jon Trask: Yes, I know …
Mike McAllen: … they’re interesting thoughts.
Jon Trask: There hve been all kinds of studies done about loading planes. I know you know, some airlines for a while were loading from the outside of a row and then the middle seat and then the aisle seat and I know they’ve had various kinds of ways but it seems like that never quite works out as well as planned. They always get one person in front you blocking the aisle. It doesn’t matter what plane. It doesn’t matter what aisle. There’s always somebody who can’t quite put their bag up.
Mike McAllen: Right, right. I have another thing here that’s kind of on the same lines. I saw this post on the upgradetravelbetter.com site and it was – you know the financial crisis has gotten bad when investment bankers are forced to give up their paid business and first-class seats. So Merrill Lynch, UBS, AG and JP Morgan and Chase company are telling their senior bankers in Asia to fly coach on short hall flights and to reduce non-essential travel as they step up cost cuts, officials of the firm said. It’s kind of interesting. Everybody’s going back to coach, huh? But goes on and on …
Jon Trask: There’ll be no [inaudible] with the plane.
Mike McAllen: Yes. It talks more about that but I thought that was kind of interesting. And Tom, you said you had some stuff about travel insurance?
Tom Hillmer: Yes. We were just talking about it with our own company. We’re now positioning, if you will of kind of a new product. It’s a product that’s out there for a long time and I think it’s become more relevant now than it ever has but it’s for us, it’s the Travelex is the distributor of the insurance and provider of the insurance but it’s the travel insurance policy. There are two different types. There’s kind of one that’s really – I guess one more appropriate for domestic travel and one that’s even more appropriate for international travel but in a nutshell, these polices range from $29 to roughly $40 per person.
The policy covers you for 30 days and not just necessarily for a trip, if I understand correctly but it still like you know, you might take the policy out for the trip you have coming you know, starting next week. It starts on a day of your travel. Let’s say that’s a 3-day business trip you come back home again but 2 weeks later, you take another trip, you’d still be covered under that policy for those 30 days as I understand it. Again, I kind of keep professing that because this is something new to us and we’re just launching and we’re going to be doing some training of the product to our account executive with the sales meeting coming up here in a couple of weeks but what it covers, what these policies cover are form dollar one of any out of pocket expenses associated with any travel-related you know, challenges that you might have.
Everything from, you know, flight misconnects, flight delays. If you have you know, lost luggage. You know, where airlines will only charge for you know, they’ll only reimburse you after so many days and even they owe so much money. This charges you for every dollar of everything lost the minute you luggage is lost. This policy will you know, reimburse you rather – this policy reimburses you for let’s say, you take ill while you’re on the road and you have to go to a hospital you know and need medical coverage. You know, certainly if you have medical insurance that will cover something, you probably still have deductibles not a pocket. This will cover dollar one and beyond of any out of pocket expense you have were related to those types of you know, to those types of emergencies.
And I was even mentioning like the one that’s really even more expensive coverage for something like international travel, we actually as a company had a horrible experience in about a year or so. We had a participant who actually passed away on a program out of the country, in a foreign country and everything that they went through to try to get you know, to try to get that body back to United States and you know, medical evacuation and you know, well first was going to be medical evacuation but he passed away first before you know, they were able to get him out of the country for medical care.
Then it was get the body back or out of the country and all that and this insurance you know, would cover all of those expenses and you’ll be out of there in almost 24 hours whereas without anything like that you’re you know, you’re going through and you know, you have to go through the embassies and the government and all kinds of legalities and all kinds of stuff. So whereas you make one phone call, these people will take care all of that and you know, you’re almost out of there in 24 hours with your loved one and on your way home.
So I mean, it’s got quite an expansive coverage you know, expansive list of what the coverage includes but you know, really amazing things and you know, even like I said to the point of a misconnect and you got to stay on a hotel room because it’s a weather issue and you know, the airlines wouldn’t cover that for you. You could call the 800 number and they’ll immediately authorize payment of you know, wherever you’re staying and the expenses associated with it. So …
Mike McAllen: Wow.
Tom Hillmer: Yes.
Jon Trask: Yes, people you know, you sort of assume that you’re taken care of with some of the flight delays and things but when it comes down to weather and it comes down to acts of God and things out of their control, you really not. And, you know, that’s why you end up sleeping in airports.
Mike McAllen: Yes.
Tom Hillmer: I mean, we’ve gotten into the point now we were positioning with this with our customers and again there’s a meeting funds with companies and we work with our customers out there and planning all the logistics of their meetings and in fact program travel programs and we starting with you know, the online registration process of the participants. That we’re positioning this with our customers now were the customer can either provide it you know, and then with [inaudible] that goes on the website with regards to advising the participant that it has been provided for them by the host company and this is what it will include and you can have a live link that takes you to a you know, PDF of what the actual policy covers and you can print it and bring it with you and your travel documents or whatever, or as many of our customers are doing right now, they’re disapproving to have it positioned that’s being an individual expense.
If the people want to personally pay for it or expensive to other you know, other GNE budgets or something like that but not necessarily the meeting have to be an expensive meeting budget. It’s still being provided and people have the options such as decline it, you know, then it was kind of their own decision if they get stuck somewhere and they got all these expenses their incurring for 29 bucks. They could have, you know, travel and save themselves in awful lot of hassles. So and I think the other thing about it in Travelex specifically that I, you know because we’ve you know, we’ve partnered with them for a long time and the thing that impresses us the most about it is not just the coverage but the customer service.
I mean you call this people 24 hours a day on an 800 number from anywhere in the world and it is immediate assistance, immediate gratification, immediate support for whatever you need. I mean it’s really you know, we’re just seeing of amazing reaction to it. It’ a really great you know, support from it. So well, we’re even …
Mike McAllen: [inaudible]
Tom Hillmer: Yes. We’re even talking as a company. We’ve got some things are working through right now but we’re even talking as a company about an annual policy coverage for all of us who travel, you know, and providing that maybe as an additional benefit to the employees who are road warriors in our company to say look, if we’re going to tie this and you know, we’re going to sell it to our customers and promote is as a being great product, what a great way to be able to back that up, I think, all of us at Creative Group are covered by this policy and can personally can speaks to as you know, its sufficiencies and its effectiveness when it needed to be called upon. So …
Jon Trask: Right, right.
Tom Hillmer: Very well. We’re all kind of still in a [inaudible] for us and we’re just kind of get it rolled out and train people on it more specifically so they’re comfortable selling positioning at the customers. But I could see where it would be a really exciting you know, an exciting products to offer a customer. It’s another way we’re trying to position ourselves certainly as you know, consultative partners to our customers and every way we can be and you know, it’s a great piece of mind for when people are on the road and anything that can ever happen to them anymore.
I’ve been traveling for years and I don’t think I’ve had a bag delay of 3 or 4 years and I have bags delayed like twice in the last like 3 months. So you know with the chaos out there and everything going on you know, in the airline world, for just that alone would be great, you know, it’s great benefits. So …
Jon Trask: Well and I mean part of you know, part of the industry’s job is a planner. It’s to look into all these contingencies and be aware of the things that can be happening to a wrong and you know, make plans for them and so yes, insurance and things like that are very prudent direction to go when you’re in a very uncertain economy and world and travel. You know, so many changes as you’re saying over the past few years, you really – it’s kind of a safety net to put under your folks when you send them on the road I think.
Tom Hillmer: Yes.
Mike McAllen: Yes, that’s a good piece of mind to have.
Jon Trask: Just being a good planner at that point.
Tom Hillmer: Absolutely.
Mike McAllen: Well put, well put. All right, well I guess we should kind of cut it short today and where you guys are going to be? Are you guys headed anywhere in the world?
Tom Hillmer: Before our next job, I’ll just be back in Chicago and be there for the next week so …
Mike McAllen: So how about you, Jon?
Jon Trask: I’ve got my looming London vacation coming up but …
Tom Hillmer: Have fun
Jon Trask: … but I haven’t gotten any roads up between now and then. It’s all been kind of locally based running around with local clients here in Southern California.
Mike McAllen: I don’t think vacation to London is looming. So is it …
Jon Trask: Well it is if you feel like you’re not prepared. I mean you know, part of it is the business that we’re in develops this sort of little sickness inside you so I just don’t have all my plans together yet for the trip and it’s been bothering me.
Mike McAllen: Right.
Jon Trask: So you know, I had a number of thing that I had to get ready and I’m just not quite where I want to be on all of that before I leave but I did actually get in touch with the tourist agencies and a couple of places. We’re going outside of London and got some connections of you know, maps and things coming and so I’m feeling a little more confident every day by day.
Tom Hillmer: Are you going to be doing a theater in London, Jon?
Jon Trask: Actually, we are. We are going to a number of events. I really enjoy the nightlife in London and that’s part of the thrill of going and so we’re seeing Jools Holland in Albert Hall. We’re going to see Eddie Izzard while we’re there.
Tom Hillmer: Have fun.
Jon Trask: We’re seeing Spamalot. We’re seeing a play at the Donmar warehouse. So yes, we’ve got a few things already in line.
Mike McAllen: Wow, that’s great. That’s cool.
Tom Hillmer: There’s a great restaurant right down the heart of the theater district there like right across the street from like you know, three or four of the major theaters and every time we’ve been in London and we’ve gone to see any kind of shows, we have dinner there in the last couple of times and it’s an outstanding dinner up to this time. I got to look it up – the name of the restaurant is called, Indigo. I’ll never forget it. I can’t remember the name of the little hotel that it’s in but its in the upper level of this hotel that used to be an old bank and it’s one of those buildings that it has a tight angular shape like a tight triangularly shaped building on the corner. It’s kind of like a small version of Harrod’s department store, if you know what I’m talking about the way it’s exact you in the tight corner like that.
And it was an old – actually I think it was originally an old bank building if I’m not mistaken and they converted it into this really cool hip sort of trendy you know, hotel and the main lobby area is you know, the checking area and kind of a lounge area and then up above, a kind of an overlook of a balcony up there is this restaurant called Indigo and the food is outstanding. It’s a great place to go for you know, kind of an early dinner before you have to run right off the back door and literally cross the street to most of the theaters and highly, highly recommended. We’ve always had great [inaudible].
Jon Trask: We’ll have to check that out. Last time we were there, we tried to go back to Rules which is if anybody is familiar with London is over by Covent Garden and incredibly old. It was – Charles Dickens used to eat there apparently and so it’s got this great history and we got to London and they were under renovation the weekend we were there.
Mike McAllen: Oh, that sucks.
Jon Trask: We’ll probably go back to Rules. We have to try them again but Indigo sounds great. I’ll look them up and see if we can make a reservation one night.
Tom Hillmer: Yes, that’s great.
Mike McAllen: That’s a fun area there. My sister was an actress. She was in an Andrew Lloyd Weber play there and she was there for a long time. We went over there to spend a month in that area. It was really good time I can remember. I should actually talk to you a little bit offline, Jon about some of the things around there that we did.
Jon Trask: Cool.
Mike McAllen: Yes, great. Very cool.
Tom Hillmer: All right guys.
Mike McAllen: All right guys. Yes and I would be out in Florida and then I have something in Santa Cruz coming up so …
Tom Hillmer: Jon, when are you in London?
Jon Trask: I’m actually going toward the end of November and early December. We’re going for a couple of weeks.
Tom Hillmer: Yes because I would be out in your neck of the woods a week from Sunday for five, six days. We’re going to be up in Huntington there so …
Jon Trask: Oh well, you’ll have to let me know your schedule.
Tom Hillmer: Exactly.
Jon Trask: We’ll do the show live from Huntington Beach.
Mike McAllen: Right.
Tom Hillmer: There you go, exactly. Wouldn’t that be great?
Mike McAllen: The one with a live audience.
Tom Hillmer: Right, exactly.
Mike McAllen: All right guys. Well …
Tom Hillmer: All right.
Mike McAllen: … let’s talk again next week and in the mean time, I’d like to remind everybody to use our comment line at 510-735-9690 or e-mail us at MeetingsPodcast@gmail.com. So, thanks guys and I’ll talk to you next week.
Jon Trask: It’s a great week.
Tom Hillmer: Yes, it’s a good week.
Female: We appreciate and thank you for listening to the Meetings Podcast. You can find Mike McAllen at grassshackroad.com, John Trask at alliantevents.com and Tom Hillmer at creativegroupinc.com. The Meetings Podcast theme music comes from the Delgado Brothers which can be found at delgadobrothers.com. Special thanks to riptidegraphics.com for the audio editing of this podcast.
