I have not traveled anywhere for a few weeks (!) and so instead I am writing this self-serving blog about why anyone who plans meetings or incentives anywhere in the world should call me.

By the time you read this though, I will on my way to the mountains of Bulgaria (yes, you read that correctly) for a little adventure, followed by visits to Budapest and Prague. Assuming that I am not abducted by Bulgarian mountain bandits and sold off for body parts, I will write all about that trip when I return. The general rule is, if someone tells you to get in the trunk of a car, run.

On top of that, I will also be going to the Burning Man Festival in the Nevada desert the first week in September. Assuming I am not abducted by performance artists and my body parts used in a pagan ritual/art project/happening, I will write about that, too.

To business… and I will try not to make this sound like an advertisement.

We basically do three things.

First… We market specific hotels from around the world to meeting planners. They pay a membership fee, or their umbrella organization pays a fee, to be a member of the “collection.” We invite members to join based on the quality of their facility and service. Essentially, only places where we would want to stay. Included in that membership; they are on our web site and in our newsletters, they can come to our customer events, we help introduce them to our best customers, and we organize Client Education Trips for qualified buyers. In this sense, we are a global sales office for our members making it extremely easy for meeting planners to check availability and rates, get proposals, set up site inspections, and have an advocate to help them negotiate the best deals.

This service is completely free for meeting planners. We save you enormous amounts of time and frustration. The hotels pay us both membership and performance fees to get in front of planners who their own sales organization might not be able to. Third-party planners get fully commissionable rates. Everyone wins.

Second… The majority of our meeting planner customers are not actually meeting planners. They are often Executive Assistants or Administrators, or Marketing Managers and Sales Executives who have to plan a few meetings a year but do not have the resources, connections or time to devote to finding the best place for their particular needs.

They don’t care if the place we find for them is in our collection or not. They just want the best place. Sometimes our member properties are not available, or too small, or too big, or too expensive, or in the wrong location, but that doesn’t mean we can’t help. We can. Our staff has been in this business forever and developed personal relationships with suppliers all over the world. Computer generated Requests for Proposals may be the darling of CFOs because it is all about tracking, but they are not necessarily the best way for meeting planners to get all of the options at the best price with the most concessions.

Consider us the boutique, high-touch, relationship-based source for all meeting and incentive needs. Every non-member hotel, independent or chain, loves us, too because we end up booking many groups based on what works best for our client regardless of affiliation.

This service is completely free for meeting planners. We save you enormous amounts of time and frustration. The hotels pay us performance fees to get in front of planners their own sales organization might not be able to. Everyone wins.

As an aside, another benefit of working through us is that individual hotel sales people will not be hounding you with questions, asking for updates, or begging for the business. They do that to us. They don’t know who you are until you are ready to talk to them. It is difficult to overestimate how much time this will save you. A lot.

Third… We represent a collection of Destination Management Companies around the world and throughout the US. A DMC (Destination Management Company) provides a ground service based on local knowledge of their given destination. Some examples of these services are: Transportation, Gala Dinners, Themed Events, Team-Building, Excursions, Language Interpreters, Custom and Shipping, and for those who have ever used a DMC, everything else. Often, a DMC can provide preferential rates based on the buying power they have with their preferred suppliers. If you ever do anything overseas, you need a DMC.

So in the same way we are a source for hotels, we are also a source for great DMCs. Not only that, we also represent the Tour Player Club network of golf courses, transportation companies, some wonderful stand-alone event venues, and now, even a Group Ticket Broker. You need to get your group tickets to a show or sporting event or, well, anything requiring tickets? Call us.

This service is completely free for meeting planners. We save you an enormous amount of time and frustration. The DMCs and other travel partners pay us performance fees to get in front of planners their own sales organization might not be able to. Everyone wins.

If you have not yet seen it, go to our web site at www.thecramercollection.com and click on the animated users guide icon. It’s a two-minute cartoon that explains everything.

On to Bulgaria.