1What happens When you order 1,000 meals for your final night banquet and only 800 people show up?

Unless you’ve been savvy about your contract negotiations, you’ll be paying for some extra meals. In fact, industry statistics track a tendency to over-order food and beverage for meetings and corporate events by about 210%.

Food and beverage management is only one piece of the much larger issue of managing client risk when planning meetings and events. At Creative Group, we believe it is critical to insulate our clients against risk by negotiating contracts on your behalf to account for such things as deposits, attrition, cancellation and food and beverage minimums.

It is our comprehensive risk assessment process, coupled with our industry relationships, that maximizes your protection and minimizes your liability.

But we don’t stop there. We also search for opportunities to save you money by forging multi-year agreements with specific hotels or chains, negotiating program concessions, identifying major spending areas through comprehensive reporting and working with suppliers to negotiate pricing for high-use areas.

The bottom line? A significantly reduced bottom line. And a better night’s sleep to boot.

2In the average year, Creative Group operates more than 700 programs and moves more than 70,000 travelers to domestic and international destinations.

Founded in 1970, Creative Group is one of the industry’s largest and most influential full-service independent meeting planning and incentive travel management companies focused on the corporate market. Since our inception, we’ve run thousands of successful programs, including meetings, events, incentives and product launches.

We are large enough to command significant buying power without sacrificing our commitment to personalized and flexible service.

Due to our tremendous business volume and long-standing industry reputation, Creative Group is considered a national account to all of the major hotel and airline companies. We take an active role in our industry partnerships, and our management personnel sits on the advisory board for several of the major hotel chains.

Our connections run deep. Creative Group has built strong international alliances and strategic partnerships throughout the world, including 128 DMC (Destination Management Company) partners. Many of these partnerships go back more than 30 years. This rock-solid foundation ensures we can deliver the same high-touch service and value in our international programs as we do domestically.

Our leveraged buying power, coupled with our industry relationships, offer significant benefits that have regularly translated into substantial savings for our clients as well as the ability to do more with the same budget.

When it comes to getting you more bang for your buck, we pull our weight – and then some.

3one of the most important reasons to employ the services of an outside supplier like Creative Group is that effective planning will avert most potential crises. And believe us when we say there are many crises that can strike an event and compromise its objectives. But crises do occur and when they do, we manage them with a strong protocol, technical resources, dedicated employees, and our incredibly resourceful onsite staff. True story:

Creative Group recently planned a meeting for a client on the east coast as a hurricane was heading toward North Carolina. The hurricane did not appear to track directly toward the destination, but the forecast suggested that the after effects could potentially paralyze the city. After careful consideration, the client decided to move forward.

One-and-a-half days into the meeting, the hotel lost electricity and running water, and was surrounded by rising floodwaters. To provide light for the safety of participants, Creative Group travel staff hung glow sticks outside of each guestroom. The client decided to continue with the General Session despite the lack of electricity, so we used walkie-talkies and a bullhorn to project sound.

As the storm progressed, it became necessary to evacuate the hotel. Hotels with availability were contracted immediately for relocation. Motorcoaches and transportation staff were contracted and staged for transfers to the new hotels. Now came the challenge of moving 400 attendees on 28 floors with only two working elevators. Our travel staff, highly trained in emergency measures, drafted and communicated a schedule for floors to evacuate every 10 minutes for a smooth departure.

Our onsite travel services consultants immediately began rebooking flights for eventual departures, maintaining direct and continuous communication with our office. It was no small feat that the main dinner event intended for that evening went ahead as planned at one of the new hotels. The next day, Creative Group set up a hospitality desk at each hotel to answer questions, give directions, and continue to rearrange flights, as needed. Crisis averted, compliments of Creative Group.

4accordIng to the Bureau of transportatIon statIstIcs, about 30% of flights are delayed. And last year alone, there were more than 4 million reports of luggage being mishandled by the airlines.

While we do everything in our power to ensure a smooth and safe travel experience, Creative Group recognizes that travelling in this era can be frought with mishap despite the best planning. So we forged an alliance with Travelex Insurance to minimize the inconvenience and potential loss to your travelers, enhance their safety and security, and protect the investment of their organizations.

Our Travel Services department has also further enhanced its ability to respond to client concerns regarding not only those extreme weather and geopolitical events which may impact travel, but also the ability to quickly locate and identify affected travelers, domestically and abroad, 24/7.

We accomplish this by subscribing to both e-travel advisories, a global news-monitoring service, and Sabre Traveler and Security Suite, a database search engine for traveler air/car/hotel itineraries booked by Creative Group.

In the event of an emergency or emerging issue, we can instantaneously retrieve all affected passenger itineraries by airline, flight number or origin to work with the client on the best course of action moving forward.

Our PaxSCAN software, which reads a barcode discreetly placed on each particpant’s name badge, also allows us to quickly locate specific participants within a meeting or event.

Our motto? Better safe than sorry.

5creatIve group Is fortunate to be a technology-rich company with proprietary tools that serve our niche brilliantly. We have learned to leverage our strength and ingenuity in this arena along with our relationships in the industry to:

• Improvethequalityofthetravelexperience,fromregistrationtofulfillment;

• Ensurebestcasescenariotravelarrangementsatthebestcost;

• Trackattendeesonsite;

• Containcostsonmajoreventsliketradeshowsbyincorporatinganapproval process to attend, hotel link, online registration and a central portal for all communications;

• Leveragethepowerofourclients’spendinbothcorporateandgrouptravel, on one shared platform; and

• Quantifytheeffectivenessoftheeventswecreatetogetherbygenerating meaningful ROI metrics through our strategic alliance with MeetingMetrics™.

CreativeGroup’sproprietarysoftwaresystem,CreativeEDGE2.0,offersour clients a simple, flexible, and customizable way to use Internet technology to more effectively accomplish these quality and productivity improvements. This 24-hour link provides your participants with online registration and information verification while allowing you an immediate avenue of direct communication.

In addition, this software can customize data management and reports to meet your internal management needs. Currently, 95% of our customers employCreativeEDGEformeetingsthatwemanageontheirbehalf.TheonlylimittowhatCreativeEDGEcandoisinourabilitytoimaginewhatwe want it to do.

6one of the major value-added servIces Creative Group brings to the table is the ability to make the most of our clients’ budgets while offering them the same cost transparency they would expect from their own accounting department. Our Cost Savings Analysis and Budget vs. Actual Report document our expertise in this arena, and we are happy to share samples of these reports with you. We also attach all third-party billing with our invoices, and typically reconcile your program within 40 days from program end. Our ability to contain costs and save our clients money is deeply rooted in our culture, our SOPs and our software tools. For instance, our CreativeEDGEsoftwareperformsthesecostcontainmentfunctions:

Compares any mismatch in hotel versus flight dates, minimizing •financial penalties associated with changing or refunding an incorrect airline ticket.

Produces accurate arrival/departure manifests for meet and greet, •ensuring maximum usage from transfer arrangements.

Mitigates costs associated with missed flights by highlighting •necessarytraveldocumentsinCreativeEDGE.

LinkswithFareLINK,whichrepeatedlychecksforthebestavailable•airfare after ticketing and before departure. Past analysis shows that savings averaged 25% from this tool.

Manages breakouts, space requirements and food and beverage •guarantees based on attendee RSVPs made during online registration.

Creative Group maintains internal metrics for all our programs to ensure we bring them in on time, on target and on budget. To date, our account teams share a collective 98% success rate across all three categories.

7sInce our InceptIon In 1970, there are few places we haven’t explored. In fact, we never stop exploring, searching for new experiences, places and properties to share with our clients.

Our position in the marketplace as an ethical and honest partner, not to mention a major travel buyer, brings many suppliers to our door, all of whom are subject to the same rigorous quality standards. Because our relationship with our customers is wholly dependent on the services that we provide, we only work with individuals and companies with proven performance records and unyielding ethics.

We are a company built on the strength and experience of our people. Nearly 40% of our staff has been employed by Creative Group for 10 years or more, and about 63% have been with us for 5 years or more.

Over the years, we’ve developed a strategic process to help understand our clients’ culture, audience, aspirations and expectations, and match the right experience, place and property to those parameters, time and again.

Insight, buying power and technology point us in the right direction. Analysis, intuition and experience keep us focused on the road ahead. Inspiration, dedication, and creative energy fuel the journey.

Whether it’s your customers or your employees you’re trying to reach, Creative Group has the know-how, the flexibility, the experience and the passion to take you where you want to go.

8In thIs economy, it’s not enough to merely execute your meeting or event without mishap. You’ve got to make the most of every face-to-face touchpoint with your employees, customers and stakeholders. You’ve got to connect with them, educate them, invigorate them, reward them, wow them.

At Creative Group, we look at meetings as more than destinations, themes and travel logistics. We look at the big picture – delivering a memorable and inspiring experience to your participants and an exceptional value to you year after year – on time, on target, on budget.

Our core competencies include strategic destination sourcing, meeting and event management, incentive programs, proprietary technology solutions, marketing communications and air travel management.

Our commitment to service is the strength of our foundation. Many companies claim to do what we do, but none can claim our service benefits or match our client retention record. We’re proud to say that more than a dozen of our clients have partnered with Creative Group for more than 20 years, and some of our original clients have remained with us since our inception in 1970.

Why? Short answer, because we’re great to work with and our clients can count on us to deliver creative business solutions that deliver the wow factor year after year – in the face of any obstacle, schedule or budget.

9at creatIve group, forming our team around yours to expand your capabilities is no acrobatic feat for us. In fact, it’s one of the things we do best.

OurAccountTeamstructureiskeytoouruniqueflexibility.EachclienthasadedicatedteamledbyyourAccountExecutivethatisempoweredto support your needs in the way that’s best for you – from the number and type of resources dedicated to you to the manner in which we interact.

We work with you seamlessly, as one team, to expand your capabilities. That means your in-house staff gets the support it needs to truly blossom. And you keep your capital expenses down while harvesting more value from your department. You look good, and the boss comes out smelling like a rose.

We believe it is this business philosophy of forming our team around yours, coupled with our strategic approach to defining your needs, that has resulted in so many successful business solutions for our client partners.

10managIng your resources. Motivating your audience. Negotiating your contracts. Tracking your results. Bringing your program together on time, on target, and on budget can be a daunting task for you and your team alone. The good news: Creative Group can help.

Doing more with fewer resources is a common theme in this era of corporate downsizing and outsourcing. That’s where we come in. Our goal at Creative Group is to expand your capabilities by helping you capitalize on the resources you have – the hard-working folks who know your business, your culture and your goals – while providing you with the benefit of our expertise, experience, leveraged buying power and dedicated personnel.

As a Creative Group client, you’ll find our support invaluable throughout your organization. For instance, your directors will appreciate our focus on practical, effective business solutions. Your IT people will appreciate the way our technology systems can integrate with yours. Your executive stakeholders will enjoy real-time management reporting that keeps them in the loop 24/7.

Your procurement people will appreciate the contract negotiations that insulate you from liability. Your meeting planning staff will sleep better at night knowing we won’t miss a beat amid the myriad planning details that make your event great. Your accounting people will appreciate our transparent billing, which includes detailed third-party invoices.

And ultimately, your attendees will bring the passion to do more back to your organization as a result.

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