Helen Conte

Planning corporate meetings and conferences taps into a variety of skill-sets. It starts with the ability to see the big picture and understand the goals and what is needed.  

Getting the best price, value, and quality for rooms, conference space and food and beverage arrangements requires people skills plus the experience to understand where there is room to negotiate and how to work collaboratively with my hotel counterparts. 

My experience also equips me to ensure that everything goes smoothly. I am very detail oriented and this is a job that requires close attention to detail, from A/V equipment to room counts. I have to know the questions to ask to gather as much information as possible up front to get the best pricing.

My job is to work to be sure that your company is protected, so I stay on top of every detail. Often secretaries and assistants offer to handle parts of the project, but I prefer to handle everything from start to finish. Your meeting is my priority while they are usually being pulled in many directions and it can be costly to let an important payment or cancelation deadline pass.  

It is important to pay attention to dates and stay on top of room counts. That is because most contracts require you to cancel rooms by a certain date or be responsible for payment whether they are used on not. Plus, if you do not pay for a/v equipment on time, the hotel may not have what you need. 

I also usually coordinate everyone’s transportation. That means if there is are flight cancelations or changes in plans, I will be there to rebook. In fact, when you book your meeting through me, whether I join you on-site or work remotely, I am on call from start to finish.