Contract Language

Debi Maines,CMP, director of meetings for theWound, Ostomy, and Continence Nurses Society (WOCN), and senior meeting manager with Association Headquarters, shares with Convene some sample contract language that she has included in agreements with as-yet-unbuilt or under-con- struction convention centers—plus hotels associated with those meetings: Should the Convention Center not be completed in time

for the annual conference stated in this agreement,WOCN shall be notified immediately and WOCN will make a diligent effort to find a comparable (in price and quality) alternative meeting location that meets the needs of our members. The Convention Center shall be liable to WOCN for all dam- ages, direct and indirect, which WOCN may suffer as a result of the Convention Center’s cancellation, including all reason- able costs associated with rescheduling or relocating the annual conference referenced in this agreement. It is the decision of WOCN to decide if it is in the best interest of the Society to reschedule the conference for a later date or if an alternate meeting location will be used. Such costs shall include, but not be limited to, expenses

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brand-new building, where none existed before. This is the case in Nashville, where Music City Center will replace the Nashville Convention Center. When HPBA used to go to Nashville, the city was always very well-received by atten- dees and exhibitors. But the organization out- grew Gaylord Opryland and the existing convention center, and so hasn’t been able to return to Nashville for a number of years. Still, when HPBA began consideringMusic

and overhead for WOCN staff or authorized representatives to research alternate facilities, including airfare and long-dis- tance phone expenses; the increased costs of sleeping rooms and related accommodations at the second facility, including increased costs associated with meeting rooms, function space, materials, and related supplies and services (including set-up charges); increased costs of group-related food-and- beverage service; administrative and operational costs (including return of preregistration fees due to the cancella- tion and rescheduling); and other arrangement costs, such as program printing and attendee notification, shuttle trans- portation, and any other reasonable related costs and expenses associated with rescheduling the meeting or finding an alternate location for the conference which is the subject of this agreement.

Hotel Paragraph—Rights of Termination for Cause If the Convention Center becomes unavailable for whatever reason to hold the conference which is the subject of this agreement, WOCN shall have the right to cancel this agree- ment with the Hotel without penalty.

all the same people that we’re working with. Butch Spyridon, Charles Stark—even our dec- orator, Freeman—all of these folks are still there today,which willmake it very easy for us.”

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City Center, the association had an existing rela- tionship with the city—and even the management of the new building.“With every show, there are always surprises,”Van- Dermark said. “But it’smucheasierwhen you’ve been to a city before, and they’re aware of your show’s unique needs.” She added: “Another thing that makes me very comfortable is it’s

IT’S WHO YOU KNOW: Kelly VanDermark, director of meetings and expositions for the Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association, says that existing relationships with the Nashville CVB and convention-center execu- tives has made planning the HPBExpo at the forthcoming Music City Center “very easy.”

CERTIFICATION MADE POSSIBLE

‘Live Through It’ In the final reckoning, live events are just that —and these days, Evoniuk said, “you don’t get a lot of second chances.” So one of the more basic strategies she turns to when book- ing and planning a meeting at an unbuilt cen- ter is, simply, to “live through it.” She said: “In

a nutshell, it’s a live event. When things are difficult, you just have to press on.The audience is there and you can’t tell them to come back next week. You have to continue.” Evoniuk was aware that there were a host of unknown

issues that would arise as her ISTE show at the Pennsylva- niaConvention Center got closer—so she and her staff’smain strategy was to knock out as many known issues as possi- ble, as early as possible.“We just tried to backload our work- load so that we were better prepared,” she said, “and that’s just a combination of time management and prioritization strategies, workflow issues.” And, to conjure up a successful conference at a center that

only exists on paper, “You have to be a little bit of a risk- taker,” Johnson said. “It’s not for someone whowants every- thing to work out perfectly. I wouldn’t recommend it for non-experienced meeting planners.”

Hunter R. Slaton is a senior editor of Convene. The CMP (Certification Made Possible) Series is sponsored by Tourisme Montréal, www.tourisme-montreal.org.

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