• Lock in the menu prices. If the hotel will not provide a specific menu in advance, at least agree that the menu prices will not increase more than a fixed percentage per year.


• Eliminate alcohol altogether. Or eliminate the hard liquor and mixed drinks. Serve only soft drinks, water, juices, beer, and wine.


• Order as much as possible "by consumption." Uneaten food and drink can be returned and not charged. This works well with soda and packaged foods like potato chips, but can also be done with perishables.


• Re-use food if possible. Wrap uneaten danishes and doughnuts from the coffee break and provide them at lunch with the dessert options.


• Instead of a hot breakfast, serve an extended continental breakfast by adding fresh fruit, yogurt, and cereal to the regular offerings.


• Use sit-down meals, which can cut food preparation labor costs as much as 20 percent.


• Skip the dessert, salad, or soup. Dessert can be served at breaks.


• Distribute box lunches instead of holding a formal sit-down lunch.


• Place expensive food items in harder-to-reach places on the banquet table.


• Try staffed food stations, such as stir-fry stations and pasta tables.


• Avoid shrimp, oysters, and other expensive delicacies.


• Find a local winery or microbrewery to sponsor your liquor costs.


• Use a controlled-pour system. Make sure the bartenders measure what they pour: If you are being charged by the drink served, you may find a "liberal ice" policy and weaker drinks in general. If you are charged by the bottle, the mixed drinks may be too strong.
• Ask the hotelier if a discontinued wine label is available that can be consumed at a reduced rate.


• Offer pitchers of water rather than bottled water.


• Use opened bottles of liquor and wine for hospitality or VIP suite.


• Use smaller plates—people will eat less.


• Reuse centerpieces, or ask attendees to bring something related to the meeting’s theme that can be used as centerpieces. The items later can be donated to an appropriate charity.


• If your hotel is near a lot of restaurants and shopping, provide an early evening reception with heavy finger foods and a little entertainment and let them go for dinner on their own. This is cheaper than providing dinner and some will fill up enough they won't feel like they missed a meal.

Sources: Jason Eggleston, operations manager, meeting logistics, American Society of Microbiology, Washington, D.C.; Barbara Dunlavey, CMP, CAE, executive director, Biomedical Engineering Society, Landover, Md., Vicky Betzig, CMP, founder, Meetings Industry Consulting, Brookfield, Wisc.; Christine Simpson, CMP, meeting planner, Gas Processors Association, Tulsa, Okla.; Gary Rosenberg, CMP, partner, Rosenberg and Risinger, Culver City, Calif.; Sandy Biback, CMP CMM Imagination+ Meeting Planners Inc.