Newsletter 1

Charisma Productions Gazette Volume 1, Issue 3 December 2009

I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E

1 Where Has Customer Service Gone?

1 How Corporations Can Benefit from Air Charter

4 Thank you for your Support

Where Has Customer Service Gone? Customer Service No Longer Important

What Happened to The Good Old Days?

Charisma Productions Network Back in the day you could go almost anywhere and

you would find a friendly face to help you find

what you needed, they would give you

recommendations and suggestions and always had

the product information memorized, and if not,

would find it for you immediately. What

Happened!? Now a days when you go to a service

establishment, you either can't find anyone, or

they're in a small group chit chatting and planning

their next happy hour. Then when you ask for help

instead of helpful assistance you get a blank look.

How many times, when you shopped around for

service did the representative profess customer

service, quality care and let's not forget the "Call

me anytime if you have a question?" Then you

finally make a choice of a vendor / supplier, sign a

contract and all of a sudden the calls, the service

and the care disappear.

How Corporations Can Benefit

From Chartering Private Jets Private Jets Added Value to Corporations

More Effective Time Management Leads Directly

to Increased Productivity Charisma Productions Network

Chartering a private jet allows corporations to

minimize the time executives and key employees spend

traveling, thus maximizing the time they have to devote

to business. A year- long study showed that business

travelers using private jets saved an average of 359

hours of nonproductive travel time over those who used

commercial flights to travel to the same destinations.

There are approximately 2080 working hours in a year

and when you consider 359 of those hours as being

unproductive, how much is a company loosing? Not

only are they loosing monetarily, how productive can

executives and key employees be after waiting in long

security lines, delayed flights, lost luggage, and many

of the unknowns that can and do happen on

commercial flights? More effective time management

leads directly to increased productivity.

When you are flying more efficiently, the on-board

environment is much more conducive to working en-

route which will, no doubt, cut down on the

nonproductive working hours. Freed from the need to

depend on commercial flight schedules, executives and

key personnel using private charter flights may be able

to attend two or three meetings in person on the same

day, further expanding the presence and personal reach

of key corporate representatives.

When it is vital to the interest of the corporation that

they attend a meeting to deal with a crisis or sensitive

matter chartering a private jet assures that the

executives and key employees can prepare in a stress

free confidential environment. They can hold private

meetings to discuss strategy or sensitive issues in depth

so that they are better prepared to deal with any

situation they will face at their destination. They are

also more likely to arrive in a relaxed and poised frame

of mind.

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Newsletter 2

Customer Service

Have you experienced this recently? all too often,

I have found the need to question, what happened

to customer service?!

So many times when meeting planners /

coordinators choose venues and Audio Visual

Production companies, they are romanced and

offered the sun, the moon, and the stars, but after

the contract is signed, it's a whole different

picture. Audio Visual companies tell you they

have the "Top of the line" equipment and when it

arrives, it's outdated equipment and sometimes

does not even work correctly. What happened to

those meetings? How does that make the planner /

coordinator look, when the sound is not working

or the screens are wrinkled and sometimes not

matching because the projectors are not the same

brand, or one has more lamp hours burned on it.

Here is a perfect example, one of our recent new-

hires had this to say during their interview

"Recently I worked with an Audio Visual

company that told me to just make sure I got the

client to sign the contract, then we could add all

the extra labor and extra fees afterwards,"

Basically he told me to reel them in, then we

could stick it to them". I was horrified that

companies would actually contemplate doing that

to a valued client. Having worked in the Customer

Service industry all my life and knowing that if

you treat a client with respect and follow your

word and promise of service, you will probably

have that client for many years. I found it

appalling and walked out the door. This was

against my belief of service and I realized that the

owner ran his business in what was in my opinion

nothing short of deceptive, which I wanted no part

of.

This situation is not the rule but seems to be the

norm in today's world. It's sad to think that as a

meeting planner, you're thinking of what a

professional event you're going to present and

then you cannot even get your service providers

on the phone when situations begin to pop up and

changes need to be made. This is when panic

begins to take effect. It seems everyone is doing it,

hotels, meeting facilities, AV companies even

production companies.

Some hotels tell you that it is mandatory to use

their in-house audio visual company (which

normally ends up costing you more money than

using an outside vendor). Also, you need to read

the VERY FINE print on those venue contracts.

That's where they sometimes put down room

space and not actual room names, which

sometimes ends up with you not having use of the

rooms that you were promised, and also restrict

you from a reasonable time to set up you special

event. Even minor changes can turn into major

problems and major expense, when in reality, it

should not have happened in the first place.

As a corporate planner, when the events are not

100% of what you had anticipated you look bad in

front of your client or boss. Your reputation is in

jeopardy of being attacked because you are the

one who will have to explain the WHY? things

did not run as smoothly as you had promised your

client or boss, and you also end up explaining all

those extra charges that were not on the contract.

When you talk about planning a meetings,

conference, product launch, or corporate tours you

should always get at least 3 bids, from production

or audio visual companies, and see what each has

to offer. Then before making your final decision,

ask for references, check their websites, and look

for testimonials. Referrals from other meeting

planners are also very helpful. If the company you

are considering is not willing to provide you with

this information, you should be very cautious.

Planners need to be savvy in who's who in the

meeting industry. Not all who profess to have the

quality care and service actually bring it to full

term.

E-mail me your opinions at info@cpnevents.com

Share Your Comments On Our Blog

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Newsletter 3

Air Charter

A crucial trait of any successful business is excellent

communication. When famed investor and

businessman Warren Buffett purchased his first jet

over 20 yrs. ago for Bershire Hathaway, it was

considered a luxury. But after years of use and seeing

the impact it had on his business, he ultimately labeled

the plane with the moniker, “The Indispensable.”

Andrea Montgomery, VP of Operations for

Montgomery Aviation in Zionville, relayed the story

recently when asked about the business of flying.

Montgomery explains that general aviation airports

and fixed based operators have grown to become

essential tools to help businesspeople travel more

efficiently.

A 2009 study by the Alliance for Aviation Across

America concluded that general aviation-not

commercial-accounts for1.2 million jobs in the United

States and $150 billion in economic impact annually.

It is also determined that 85% of businesses that use

general aviation are small to mid-sized companies.

MYTH – General aviation is predominantly used by big

companies and corporate CEOs.

REALITY – Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact,

eighty-five percent of the companies and organizations that rely on general aviation aircraft are small-to-mid sized businesses which serve as a lifeline to small and rural communities across the country. General aviation serves medical personnel, construction companies, telecommunication providers, manufacturers, farmers and ranchers, and food suppliers and emergency and natural disaster responders. These aircraft operate in over 5,000 airports across the country that serves communities that the major airlines mostly ignore. [15]

AS QUOTED BY ALLIANCE FOR AVIATION ACROSS AMERICAN.

Think about what you have just read, in these

economic times why are small to mid-size companies

utilizing private jets for business travel and are

successful? They recognize the importance of their

executives and key employee’s time management.

They understand waiting for their next flight out could

be a deal breaker.

.

For Further Information Please Contact Our Flight

Specialist:

Charisma Productions Network

John Harmon: 805-241-0566

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Newsletter 4

T H A N K Y O U F O R Y O U R S U P P O R T

We wish to thank our readers and our clients for their

support and feedback helping to continually grow the

Charisma Productions Network. We look forward to another

successful year in 2010 as we continue to grow and provide

you with successful stress-free events.

We appreciate hearing from all of you and strive to improve

our articles and hope to have something for everyone at one

point or another. Please send us suggestions for topics you

would like to read about or if you have an article that you

would like to share we’ll be happy to post it.

In our last issue we published an article about facilities and

their mandatory in-house AV usage. These are just a few of

the comments we received back :

Excellent post, You touched on one of my hot buttons. I am continually amazed at the number of planners who do not realize that they do not have to use in-house AV and that they can actually get a better deal on the

outside. Susan W.

Well said, Don't forget that many properties add insult to injury by tacking on a 18-23% "service charge" on TOP of the mandatory AV charges. Sometimes they don't event tell you about the extra charges in the bid, but they turn up on the bill. Colin G.

Excellent comment! It's this sort of thing that hugely contributes to companies deciding not to exhibit. Killing the golden goose...

Happy Holidays to All

And

A Very Prosperous New Year