HOW DO YOU USUALLY COME TO ATTEND A SITE VISIT OR FAMTRIP?
Invited by the host organization 71%
Ask if I can see the destination or venue 45%
Go Your OwnWay When the fam begins, you may need to take charge and set out on your own if it turns out you’re not being shown what you need to see. “Usually we’re so pressed for time,…if you let [salespeo-
“What’s worse is, even though you’ve tried to CERTIFICATION MADE POSSIBLE
put your schedule together, and they want to show you other sites or other facilities that you’ve already rejected,”Wintz said. “Don’t show me
ple] do it, they generally want to show you lots of off-site ven- ues, lots of fun things, and kind of entertain us—but most of us want to come in and see the properties in a day or day- and-a-half,” said Leigh Wintz, CAE, executive director for Soroptimist International of the Americas.
“Dinner was catered by the convention center rather than held at a restaurant. This allowed us to see the possibilities for meals.”
“I participated in a fam tour of Kansas City and we did a Segway tour of the Power & Light District. We were taught how to ride them before venturing out, so there was a unique bonding experience with some of the other planners— plus it was a really fun way to see that part of the city.”
what I don’t need or want to see.Onthe other hand, you can’t blame them; if you see something that’s wonderful, you might use it for another meeting.” One solution is to make sure the schedule has some free
time built into it — which, as often as not, is not actually “free” in the weekend sense of the word, but rather just time
What about a recent site visit or fam trip was done particularly well that you wish other venues/destinations would emulate?
“For a hotel site visit of 60+ hotels, Chicago had put together a book with a blurb and photo of each property in the order we visited them. This was very useful and is still used four years later.”