Planners attending HSMAI's Affordable Meetings West at the Long Beach Convention Center in June may take advantage of a new "Affordable Meetings One-to-One Meeting Concierge" service to arrange pre-scheduled face-to-face meetings with exhibitors.
Unlike other appointment scheduling programs, HSMAI's One-to-One Meeting Concierge will work individually with planners to schedule appointments with exhibitors they are most interested in meeting with during the show.
This personal approach will help to maximize the time and return for both planners and exhibitors.
"We introduced a trial version of this service at Affordable Meetings Mid-America, and received great feedback from planners and exhibitors at the show," said Robert A. Gilbert, CHME, CHA, president and CEO of HSMAI.
"Planners asked us to incorporate the new Meeting Concierge program into our Affordable Meetings conference, further illustrating the importance of face-to-face meetings."
The One-to-One Meeting Concierge will contact qualified planners who elect to take part in the program and will review possible matches developed through the show's networkNow program, discuss planner needs, and set up requested appointments with personnel from exhibiting destinations, meeting facilities, and meeting services suppliers.
The Concierge will then coordinate appointment times with exhibitors and will be on-hand at the show to answer questions and facilitate the appointments.
"The HSMAI and Affordable Meetings team went out of their way to ensure that we had a strong ROI for exhibiting at Affordable Meetings Mid-America," said Ursula Hahn of Let's Meet Mexico City.
"In addition to providing us with information for qualified planners through the lead guarantee program, they personally arranged one-on-one meetings for us during the show, which turned into great leads for us."
