Top 10 Things That Drive Meeting Planners Crazy

#10 Being Asked to Satisfy Champagne Tastes on a Beer Budget

Why is it that meeting clients/owners always seem to be daring me to make a silk purse out of little piggy ears? I can only squeeze the meeting budget so much before it begins to show.

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#9 Uninformed Salespeople

A big smile and an outstretched hand is all well and good, but better would be the inside scoop on exactly how your property can help my group meet its goals.

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#8 Inadequate Response to My RFP

It's so frustrating when I send out RFPs and get nothing but crickets. Would it be asking too much to get a timely response? Even a "no" is better than no response at all.

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#7 Not Getting Paid Enough

All those days on the road, nights and weekends spent agonizing over every detail—it sure would be nice to be compensated for all the work I do to make sure everything at the meeting looks effortless.

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#6 E-mails, E-mails, and More E-mails

Even control freaks don't have to be cc'd on every single e-mail everyone ever sends. Really.

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#5 Surprises, Surprises, Surprises

You know that ad for the Discover card about the guy who doesn't like surprises? I am that guy—please put everything, no matter how small, in the contract. That goes double for any fees, surcharges, or other things that entail money moving from my organization's bank account to yours.

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#4 Now Who's My Contact?

I know there's a lot of churn in the hospitality industry, but it is maddening to finally get one person up to speed on my group's specific needs, only to find the revolving door has turned again and I have to start over with someone who not only doesn't know my group, but may not even know the property all that well yet. Argh!

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#3 Cold Calls

I know you sometimes have to cold call to generate leads, but please, I beg of you, at least do a little homework about my organization and its meetings before you pick up the phone or, worse, come to my office.

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#2 Stakeholders Who Think They're Planners

I know you did an awesome job planning your daughter's wedding and that family reunion, but that doesn't mean you have the know-how to plan a 10,000-person annual conference, so please don't second-guess my every move.

P.S. I know you love that boutique hotel where you spent your honeymoon, but it really isn't going to fly for a physician advisory board meeting. Trust me on this.

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#1 Waiting on Others

Everything described in 1–9 is crazy-making, but the absolute worst is having to hurry up and wait, the surveyed planners said.

As managing director of DMAI’s empowerMINT initiative Christine Shimasaki says, “I can’t think of anything more frustrating and anxiety-ridden than being responsible for a project with a deadline date and not having complete control. Delays in decisions create pressure on the numerous tasks and other decisions that must be made in a timely manner.”

Here are the rest of the list of planner complaints:

11. Seller’s Market
12. Meeting Room Changes
13. Being Called a Party Planner
14. Hotels Walking My VIPs
15. Not Enough Space for My Ugly Baby Meeting
16. Extensive Travel Demands