When the realization that COVID-19 was becoming a true threat to the meetings industry in 2020, Mindful Meeting Pros immediately reached out to all of our clients who had meetings or events booked through the middle part of the year, knowing that those events were going to be affected first. Because we work with so many different types of clients, with varying sizes of events, each one had to be handled on a case-by-case by basis, working together with the clients and the hotels or venues to ensure that we were obtaining the best possible outcome for all parties, and that could mean that some were moved to 100% virtual events, others were postponed to 2021, or some that had to be cancelled altogether.
At the same time, we wanted to make sure our clients were protected if they were forced to change dates or cancel an event in its entirety. Every hotel we worked with had a different stance on what constituted a true “force majeure” cause for cancellation. Some were extremely flexible with changes and had no problem waiving cancellation fees, deposits, and even keeping the original contract terms of rates and concessions, the same for the new dates, while other hotels were very strict and did not want to waive any fees. Ultimately, we were able to ensure that all of our clients who needed to move or cancel their events were able to do so without penalty and for the most part, were able to transfer all the same contract terms to their new dates.
This post is part of the HopSkip Planner Spotlight Series where we celebrate the positivity and optimism shown by planners across the industry when navigating the turbulent waters that COVID-19 has brought the meetings and events industry. Keep an eye out as we release more stories like this over the next few months.