Your Better Ideas: Saving On F&B at Meetings and Events

F&B Saving Tips

• We are always saving on F&B when we have pitchers of water instead of bottled water, Many hotels charge $3 or more for bottled water.Caprice Caster, CMP, National Cable Vision Cooperative, Lenaxa, Kan. 

• Order continental breakfasts and refreshment breaks a la carte instead of per person. – Deborah K. Gaffney, director, conference planning, Tax Executives Institute, Washington, D.C.

• Try to use an outdoor terrace or venue to minimize decor needs. Transforming a ballroom or meeting room can be very expensive and never as attractive or as effective. – Rachel Porter, president, The Porter Event, Chapel Hill, N.C.

• One way we are saving on F&B is to replate muffins and fruit from breakfast and offer them as a snack at the midmorning break. – Christy Lamagna, CMM, CMP, Strategic Meetings and Events, New York

• Using public facilities — libraries, parks, botanical gardens, museums, etc. — can be very costeffective because you can sometimes use your own caterer and vendors. Plus these types of venues offer a nice twist to the meeting experience. – Sandy Biback, CMP, CMM, Imagination +Meeting Planners Inc., Toronto, Ontario

Tags: Your Better Ideas Saving On F&B, Event Planning, Event Planners, Strategic Planners, Strategic Events, Corporate Meetings, Corporate Events, MeetingsNet