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Association News
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Pirates & Poachers, by Timothy Schneider, Publisher, Association News
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Los Angeles, CA – March 2015 / Newsmaker Alert / Room-block pirates and poachers—outfits that actively seek to recruit or divert meeting-goers away from official room blocks—have become an increasing threat to every association that plans meetings. Not only do these pirates and poachers deprive associations of commissions or rebates that they’ve negotiated with host hotels, they can also cause associations to incur attrition penalties that they otherwise wouldn’t have.
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Association NewsA survey by the Convention Industry Council found that while the vast majority of meeting planners have been affected by room-block piracy or poaching, less than 3 percent of them had developed prevention or mitigation practices. To address that need, the CIC’s Accepted Practices Exchange developed a dozen ways for meeting planners to prevent room-block piracy and poaching:
  • Provide information to attendees and exhibitors on the event website and in all marketing materials that clearly indicates official vendors and their logos.
  • Provide incentives to attendees and exhibitors to stay within the official room block, including registration discounts or access to services such as shuttles.
  • Use a single system to manage registration and housing bookings. Alternatively, provide a seamless integrated process that links both systems together.
  • Include an alert about the official room block and potential room-block piracy and poaching risks in the registration system, preferably with a requirement that the attendee acknowledge that they’ve seen the notice.
  • Conduct a pre-event audit of reservations and registrations. Notify registrants who are not booked in the official block and determine if they’ve been poached. 
  • In communications sent to attendees, include requests that they forward information on the official room block to the housing decision makers (such as procurement departments and travel managers) in their organizations.
  • In consultation with your association’s legal counsel, obtain and maintain trademarks and service marks for the organization’s name and events.
  • Make copying logos more difficult by disabling right-click copying, “shrink wrapping” the logo, or slicing and dicing it into several components.
  • Remove or restrict online access (using a firewall or password protection) to lists of past, current and prospective members, attendees, exhibitors and sponsors. Alternatively, remove online lists as soon as the event concludes.
  • Request permission to collect and publish event participant data but limit the information that is included on any published or posted lists.
  • Include a clause in hotel contracts about room-block piracy and poaching, including communication expectations.
  • Clearly communicate to anyone with access to participant lists regarding the appropriate use of the data. Apply “seeding” and “salting” practices to lists in order to track their use and any misappropriation of your data.
For additional information, visit ConventionIndustry.org. This subject will also be discussed at Meetings Quest in Providence, Rhode Island, and and Oakland, California. For details, visit MeetingsQuest.com or call 877-577-3700.
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Timothy SchneiderTimothy Schneider is the publisher of Association News and SportsTravel magazines, which serve group travel planners responsible for generating 106 million hotel room nights annually. Schneider Publishing also organizes Meetings Quest, America's longest-running series of trade shows for meeting planners, and the TEAMS Conference & Expo, the world’s largest gathering of sports-event organizers. TEAMS '15 is being held in Las Vegas, November 9–12, 2015. For further information on advertising or sponsorship opportunities, please call toll-free 877-577-3700 or 310-577-3700 if calling from outside the United States.

The current issue of Association News can be viewed in digital format online by clicking here.
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Media Contact:
Timothy Schneider
310-577-3700
Schneider Publishing Company, Inc.

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Placement Dates: 03/05/15 – 05/05/15
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