I Can’t Understand What My Meeting Planner is Talking About!

10 Sound bites from a planner’s conversation…

DMP – Daily Meeting Package. Don’t like being nickel and dimed to death? Look for a well

priced, good value DMP, which includes your standard meeting room, hot breakfast and lunch meals, AM and PM breaks, all day beverage service, and standard audio visual package

RFP – Request for Proposals level the playing field for all suppliers, as the exact same meeting requirements are sent to everyone as a “request”, then suppliers put their best foot forward with competitive pricing and unique venue options.

Fam Trip – Familiarization Trip provides planners a complementary visit to the hotel property to look at recent upgrades and renovations, along with tasting the food, sleeping in the beds, golfing on the course, and getting the overall vibe of the property.

BEO – This is your Banquet Event Order or the Holy Grail of your event, meeting, or banquet. This is the final approved working document that translates everything that you agreed upon to the staff at your venue. If it doesn’t appear on your BEO, it’s likely that it won’t happen!

Plus Plus – This term refers to PLUS sales tax and PLUS service charge. Used in a sentence, the cost of your meal is $25.95 plus plus (or shortened with symbols, ++) The opposite of plus plus would be inclusive, or including tax and service charge.

A/V – Audio Visual is a common request from meetings and conventions, and even in the high tech world, it is usually clumped in to the category of A/V. Sometimes standard AV is included in a DMP; sometimes it is very technical and needs to be outsourced.

A la Carte – Not meeting for the whole day, but need specific day part services? Order a la carte, or all of your services separately. Meeting room rental, meals, audio visual, etc. are all billed separately and you order just what you need.

Pre Con – Why say the whole word conference if you don’t have to? This term refers to a final meeting before the conference or “pre con” when planners can finalize general sessions, break out conference rooms, teambuilding, banquets, and private board meetings.

SMERF – Social, Military, Education, Religious, and Fraternal are all markets that fall in to the SMERF bucket. Most urban and suburban hotels have departments dedicated to attracting SMERF business in addition to corporate meetings, weddings, mitzvahs, and galas.

ADA – The Americans with Disabilities Act is a law that prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities. Be prepared to address your planner’s questions about handicap accessibility in hotel rooms, elevators, entranceways, etc.

Now that you can talk the talk, let's see if you can walk the walk here at Normandy Farm Hotel and Conference Center. Call us at (215) 616-8500 to book your next meeting or event.

Located just 25 minutes from Center City Philadelphia and situated in the heart of Blue Bell, Pa.,Normandy Farm Hotel and Conference Center is more than a meticulously restored American landmark—it's a fully wired, high-tech hospitality venue. Relax on our grand terrace, sip a cocktail in America's oldest silo, play a challenging game of golf on our championship course, plan an event with us or dine on our delectable farm-to-table cuisine. It all adds up to One Historic Experience.