If your company frequently has annual meetings or conferences in out-of-town locations, you may be feeling overwhelmed by the process of planning such a large gathering in a new place. Between searching for a suitable hotel, finding an appropriate meeting hall, researching the destination city, and arranging entertainment and food for thousands of employees, the task of planning your own annual conference can be daunting. This is particularly true for medium and large-sized corporations that may have thousands of employees. How can you get assistance to prepare for a successful conference?

The short answer is by using a DMC, a destination management company. DMCs are a relatively new industry, getting their start during the corporate growth periods of the 1970s and 1980s, but they have already cemented their place in the modern workplace environment. They do deep research about the destination city, help to arrange reservations for meeting space, work to arrange airfare for attendees, and can even provide childcare arrangements for business travelers who want to bring their families along. All of this assistance makes it possible for employers to focus on the central part of the trip – planning the actual meeting agenda.

While DMCs as a whole offer invaluable services, there are some that provide better quality work than others. It’s worth the time to do your homework before deciding whether to hire a DMC and selecting which agency you will hire to work with your company.

• Analyze your company’s budget. If you’re operating on a tight financial rein for your conference, decide if you have the room in your budget to hire a DMC. If so, take the time to compare prices and services.
• Consider the destination city. If your meeting is being held a short distance away from your company headquarters, you may not need the services of a DMC to research the area. But, if you’re going out of the state or to a completely new city, a DMC may well be worth the money.
• Look at the size of your planned conference. A small meeting of less than 50 may not need the same level of service that a large conference of 1,000 may require.
• Check the DMC’s reputation. Ask about other companies the DMC has worked with and look for recommendations from other corporate employers. Find out if the DMC has corporate insurance to cover any potential issues.
• Try out the services. Hire several DMCs when you get ready to take a trip to the convention city. Have one work on finding a meeting place, another work on the airfare arrangements, and then another to plan for local entertainment. Make your final decision based on the results.

Image c/o: boellstiftung