Here are some tips on how meeting planners can save money on staffing. Click here to add your own tips, or to edit any of these.

• Hire on-site registration and secretarial staff instead of paying staff to travel.
• Know local overtime restrictions and regulations.
• Schedule staff at straight time to avoid overtime.
• Pay staff travel per diem. Outline exactly what they're allowed to spend on meals and transportation.
• Use interns and volunteers as much as possible.

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.

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