Ahh Hah!® President Holly Hospel, saw the need for an experienced meeting professional to assist other meeting professionals in a data collection effort that strengthens their negotiating position and accurately informs prospective vendors of the size and value of a piece of meetings business.

"This is a win-win service for the Meeting Professional and Suppliers," says Ahh Hah!® President, Holly Hospel. "We are dedicated to helping and supporting the meetings industry via data mining. The industry is in an increasingly adversarial climate with tougher attrition clauses and stricter guarantee requirements.

Much of this adversarial climate can be dissipated, if not eliminated, with good historical data. We are here to help meeting professionals succeed. Vendors ranging from hotels, to audiovisual companies, to air carriers, to trade show decorators, want to satisfy the needs of any given group, but without context (historical data) they feel they are playing a guessing game on the group’s real needs.

In response they have created clauses that place the risk onto the meeting professional. However, with historical data the vendors will often relax their clauses because their risk is reduced. Additionally the vendor/supplier has the opportunity to perform at peak levels for their clients because they know what to expect. Everyone looks good."

Hospel recognizes that meeting professionals know the value of historical data but are often locked into the immediate day-to-day planning tasks. Finding the time to establish a system or process by which to collect the data on a regular basis is impossible for some. Enter the services of Ahh Hah!® - Discovery Tools for the Meetings Executive.

“With each new data point a discovery is made as the personality of a meeting unfolds. Trends and meeting “behavior” can be anticipated resulting in better planning,” Hospel explains. "One of the best features of our service is its simplicity.

It does not require any technical support, and there is no additional software to purchase. We work with ubiquitous spreadsheet software, like Microsoft Excel. This permits us to set up completely customized systems for each client that they can operate themselves. The client is left with a customized tool that empowers their business," Hospel explains. "Once a system is established, the client has the option to retain Ahh Hah!® for data maintenance or run it themselves."

The President of Ahh Hah!®, Holly Hospel is a veteran Meetings Executive. She has organized meeting ranging from 10,000 people to 10 people. She is a former employee of the Greater Washington Society of Association Executive where she organized their prestigious conference, Springtime in the Park®.

Most recently she worked as the Director of Convention and Conferences for the Association of the Wall and Ceiling Industries – International. She is currently the Vice Chair of GWSAE’s Editorial Advisory Council and is also member of MPI and ASAE.