CLAUSE: Listing from Side to Side

“If Hotel shows that the Group has picked up less than 80 percent of the contracted room block, Hotel agrees to perform an audit before invoicing Group for attrition damages. Group will provide Hotel with an alphabetical list of attendees (including staff and exhibitors, if applicable). Hotel agrees to compare this list in good faith with the list of in-house guests over Group's meeting dates (including up to three days prior to and three days following meeting dates) and credit Group for pickup for any Group rooms booked outside the Group block regardless of rate or reservations method.”

EFFECT: Avoiding Attrition

This sample clause assumes that the hotel contract contains an attrition clause that specifies that the group will have to pay attrition damages if its block drops below 80 percent of the contracted room block. Because many hotels do not want to make their in-house guest list available to the group representative, an audit is usually conducted by a member of the hotel's staff or sometimes by representatives of the hotel and the group sitting down together to compare the lists. Group attendees can be enticed to book outside the group block at rates lower than the group rates that the hotel has offered in its effort to maximize occupancy. This clause gives the group an opportunity to capture those rooms for the purpose of avoiding attrition damages.

Tyra W. Hilliard, JD, CMP (tyra.hilliard@gmail.com) is an associate professor at the University of Nevada — Las Vegas, teaching courses in meeting and event management. She is currently the chair of the Convention Industry Council's APEX Contracts Panel and chair of the Professional Convention Management Association's Council on Education.