As a meeting planner name five different contracts you may have when planning a large convention

Explain in detail why you would need a contract with each vendor. Then rank the contracts (highest to lowest) in order of the contacts that are most visually important to the client, in the overall success of an event. Instructions: Your initial post should be at least 250 words. Please respond to at least 2 other students. Responses should be a minimum of 100 words and include direct questions. This essay is for a disscussion board with other classmates. the two students statements that I choose to respond to are listed below. By Katherine Wooden on Oct 25, 2016 2:04 PM For an event planner, large conventions require certain services be bound by contract. An example of 5 important contracts are the Venue Contract, Food Contract, Beverage Contract, Method of Payment Contract/Clause, and the Audiovisual Contract. The contract with the venue is the most important. Without this contract, the venue could back out at any time or change the services originally offered. It is important to agree on terms related to dates, number of spaces needed, number of guest rooms needed, services required, and rates (Astroff, 2012). The importance of the rest of the contracts change depending on the type of event being planned. I’ll rank the next four examples as if we were planning an association convention. In my personal opinion, the next most important contract for a large association convention would be the audiovisual contract. Some venues provide audiovisual equipment, but other times planners have to use outside vendors. This contract ensures proper equipment will be present at the convention. Equipment like speakers, microphones, and projection systems. There must be a clear statement declaring who is providing what equipment, and at what cost (Astroff, 2012). Next in importance is probably a tie between the food contract and the beverage contract. These two are so closely related, and if the venue has their own Food and Beverage department (like a hotel would have), they might actually be part of the same contract. Some planners may have to hire outside caterers and beverage suppliers. Event planners must decide on menu items, types of drinks required and desired, prices, and amount of product needed. Those decisions should be established and agreed upon in a contract with the vendor (Astroff, 2012). Then there’s the Method of Payment Contract. I put this as the least important of my examples, because we know in the end, the vendors will get paid. However, it is beneficial for the vendors and event planner to specify how the debt will be paid. The planner can choose to pay in partial payments, or all at once. They can also decide to defer payment till a certain time after the event has passed. Or they can agree that it all needs to be paid upfront. Either way, it is in everyone’s best interest to put it into writing how the planner will pay the vendors (Astroff,2012). Kelly Barthe (Oct 24, 2016 6:15 AM) When planning a large convention it is important to construct a Request for Proposal to the location in which you and your client are looking to reserve. When accepted a letter of agreement is sent that should be signed and returned, “this constitutes a legal contract whereby both parties have agreed to the terms and arrangements” (Astroff 294). This initial agreement is known as the ‘preamble’ and introduces both parties, the date of the event, address, event name, and contact information. The next contract would involve discussing how many rooms would be held for the meeting group, rates, commission, and methods of how reservations will be made including any fees that will result if guests do not show or leave early. Or there may also be contracts added that would “waive early departure fees for certain attendees, such as the organization’s staff members, VIPs, and speakers” (299). Other important contracts would include the reservation of meeting spaces. It is important to specify the duration of time each meeting will be and how long the hold on the space will be. Discussion of workrooms should also be discussed to negotiate where and when guests can access offices or press rooms. Another contract would include Food and Beverage provided by the location. In these contracts it is important to “include prices for cakes, soft drinks, and juice” and to “spell out the costs of labor required” (303). Gratuity is important when insuring all hotel staff is compensated for their hard work and assistance during busy meeting sessions. Lastly there is the “termination clause” or “Act of God clause” releasing both parties from liability in the “agreement for cases when either party might cancel because of circumstances beyond its control” (307). ~Kelly Please Contact me if you have any questions