Partnership Meeting

I just participated in a really interesting meeting. A company called Richter Scale Productions came in to introduce themselves and talk about creating a partnership with PRA and KCA. The woman who set up the meeting is a new sales person for the company named Lynn. She is a CMP and I recognized her from my Special Events Planning class I took at ASU! I could never forget a woman with so much spunk and personality. She was laid off from her previous employer, but because she has such an extensive network in the industry she was referred to Richter Scale Productions. They are originally based out of Colorado, but they have started an office in Phoenix. Their equipment is always "out of commission" during the winter and so they decided that Phoenix is a good market that needs their specialty services during Colorado's "off-season". Richter Scale Productions, Inc. is a full service event production company offering everything from the development of creative concepts to the seamless execution of comprehensive production services. These services include sound reinforcement and lighting design, mobile hydraulic staging, multi-camera live video production. innovative set design and decor, CAD event drawings, PowerPoint, script writing, and design and installation of permanent sound and lighting systems. They are well-known for their semi-trailers that literally transform into a large stage. It takes only up to 2.5 hours for the trailer to be turned into a full stage.
I just thought it was neat to see these two companies come together and talk about what each of them does and how they could establish an open relationship with each other and with clients in order for them all to benefit. It sounds like both companies are honest and ethical and this could potentially be a very successful relationship. The meeting concluded by talking about upcoming events/programs that the other could attend in order to get an up close look at how the other operates.

Transportation

A huge part of my internship has been helping operate/ coordinate transportation for clients and attendees. Most often our first point of contact with the attendees is when they arrive at the airport. They come down from the gate and are immediately greeted by me or one of the other hired guides. We hold a sign with their company name and logo or program logo. Our manifest tells us what flight they were on and we are able to use the terminal monitors to find out what gate they are coming from (this only matters in terminal 4 because there are gates A-D that come down from 2 different sides) and what carousel their luggage will be arriving on. We inform them that once they get all of their luggage they should meet at a specific location where we will take them to their transportation. The "lead" guide is always at terminal 4 and they are in charge of managing all of the vehicles. If I'm in terminal 2, I call the lead when I first make contact with the guest and then again when they have all of their bags. The lead will let me know when I should walk the guest out to the curb to be picked up. The same goes for terminal 3 except there are different pick-up areas for different sized vehicles. A motor coach cannot pick up in the Blue Diamond Area where sedans and vans are allowed. There is always something different with each group because the client determines in the contract how long the attendees are allowed to wait "with bags in hand". The common wait time once they have all of their luggage is 20 minutes, but some clients prefer to be cheap and make the attendees wait for over an hour. In cases like this we inform the attendee that they can go get lunch in the terminal or they can take a taxi at their own expense. If an attendees luggage is lost then we help them resolve the issue with the airline. Airport transportation is very detailed and is the most difficult aspect of transportation that we handle. We also arrange transportation to and from off-site events and activities, and airport departures.

Activities

Taking groups on tours and activities has to be one of the most fun parts of my internship. Many of these people are coming to town to participate in meetings and conferences and it's nice to help them let loose and have a good time. Most often the client chooses anywhere from two to ten activities that we have proposed to them. They give us a guaranteed number of participants before the date specified on the contract in order for us to secure contracts with our suppliers. We generally have a relationship previously established with our suppliers so they work with us and understand that we can't give them any money until our client signs the contract. The client is usually the one paying for the activities, but sometimes it's the attendees responsibility. That means more work for us because we have to collect payment from each person and process it in our office. Attendance is usually higher when the attendee is paying because the money lost by not going comes out of their own pocket. Sometimes the client over-guarantees because they would rather have too many available spots than not enough. This is where PRA is able to make a little "breakage" or more profit than what was originally planned. Some of the activities that I have taken groups on include: Perimeter hikes of Pieskiwa Peak, F1 Race Factory, Horseback riding at Fort McDowell Adventures, Desert Botanical Garden, and Spring Training games.

Busy Busy

Wow, I can't believe how fast February zoomed by! I've been working about 50-60 hours a week at PRA and working at Dos Gringos for 30-35 hours every week! I was only in the office for 1 day last week because I was out executing programs. I'm looking forward to a day off soon! Where do I start?! There are three different operations managers in the PRA office and some have 2 or three programs running per day. I've been doing a great deal of off-site and on-site activities. I've taken groups on hiking tours and to the F1 Race Factory. I've been on-site at several resorts throughout the valley in order to make sure that our suppliers are providing exactly what they are supposed to and that the client and attendees are all happy. I act as sort of a liaison between our client and our suppliers because we don't want them getting too friendly and trying to cut us out of the deal. I think that PRA deserves the credit for finding the client and the supplier and making sure that everyone gets what they wanted and more. We make it possible for the client to have a successful meeting by organizing everything from transportation to activities and everything in between.