While the stress of conceptualizing, planning and executing several meetings and events a year would make any planner long to lay out on the beach for a few days with a pina colada in one hand and a John Grisham novel in the other, few planners actually take advantage of all the vacation time offered to them by their employer.
According to a recent survey by Meeting News, the sister publication of Successful Meetings, barely one-third of planners use all of their vacation time, although over 70 percent of responding planners are offered at least three weeks of vacation, and 17 percent are allotted more than four weeks.
The reason: Many planners, who often wear a number of hats in their company or organization, simply feel that they can't find the time to take a few days and get some much-needed R&R.
"I was actually supposed to take a trip to Brazil at the end of this month, but I had to cancel it at the last minute," says Sheree Gibson, director of events and external affairs for the National Association of Collegiate Women Athletics Administrators. "My work schedule just won't allow for it. I'm a senior director, and if I'm out, everything in my department has to stop until I come back."
Becki Fields, a program coordinator at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, voices similar concerns.
"It just seems that it's difficult to get vacation time in," Fields laments. "It increases the burden on others when I am out of the office, and that's not the best way to keep office dynamics running smoothly."
Planners who feel uncomfortable taking extra time out of the office—for whatever reason—may want to consider this alternative: tacking two or three extra days to the end of a resort meeting or event to spend a little time by themselves. Those two or three days post-event may quite possibly be the one time that planners are in the most need of relaxation and rejuvenation, especially after putting all their focus into the event.
The Decompression Zone
"I had a five-day conference in the Bahamas, and I told my boss ahead of time that I thought I might want to take a few days off after the meeting," says Jennifer Beam, director of meeting planning for The Solution Center in Durham, NC. "My boyfriend came down, and we stayed another five days at the resort. After putting so much time and effort into the meeting, it was great to relax. Your mind and body need it at that point, especially if it's been an intense program."
Adds Judy Greywacz, corporate meeting planner for American Express Travel/ICI Meeting Services in Strongsville, OH, "I need to decompress after a function, especially if it's very demanding and I get little sleep. I just like to take a day or two to relax, and doing it at the meeting site is easier since you're already there."
For spa-goers, adding on a couple of days at a deluxe resort booked for a meeting means that, in addition to some good, old-fashioned R&R, they might finally get time to enjoy the facial, massage, manicure, or pedicure that attendees were partaking in on their free time.
"Our program almost always ends on a Wednesday, so I usually stay through the following Sunday at whatever resort we're staying at," says Beth Lynch, a planner for ASA Tire Systems. "If there's a spa on the property, I'll get a treatment, and the rest of the time, I'll just lay by the pool and relax.
"It's always nice to do add a couple of days post-conference instead of ahead of time," adds Lynch. "By the end of the week, you know the staff at the hotel, and they know you, too. That makes it even more comfortable."
There are several ways for planners to arrange taking an extra couple of days at a hotel or resort, without having to pay the full price out of pocket. Almost every hotel chain offers planner rewards programs where planners can use earned points toward free stays (run this by your boss first). Alternatively, many properties will offer to extend the rate that the meeting planner receives during the meeting for an extra few days after the event.
For example, planners who book meetings at properties in Sea Island, GA, can receive an extension of their discounted lodging rate, which is typically 50 percent off of the group rate, for several days after the event.
Other hotels and resorts offer special packages with pampering for the planner included as an incentive to book with the property. Planners who book within select "extra value dates" at the Hyatt Regency Tamaya in New Mexico will receive a complimentary day at Tamaya Mist Spa, where they can pick from a menu of treatments, including massages, facials, and native herbal treatments. At Miami's Doubletree Grand Hotel, planners who book a program with a minimum 100 rooms from May through December are eligible to receive a complimentary two-night stay at the property, free access to the fitness center as well as a complimentary one-hour massage. The nearby Loews Miami Beach offers a similar incentive—book 100 room nights between June and mid-October, and a complimentary pre- or post-meeting massage, facial, manicure, or pedicure is built into the package.
"There are so many times that a planner comes on site, and they don't get to experience anything on the property," says Debbie Castillo, the regional director of Loews Miami Beach. "We wanted to give them the opportunity to detox after the program—to rest and relax, and to let them be pampered."