the third party planner

Steve Prats - The meeting advocate
Spring 2007

STEVE PRATS is regional vice president for the Houston office of HelmsBriscoe, a leading meeting services firm.

MPG: What led you into the hospitality industry?

Steve: My first job in this industry was a water boy at Guido’s Restaurant in Houston when I was 14. It was on Main Street and had a huge shrimp holding two guns on the top of its sign. I was too small to be a bus boy so all I did was put water and horseradish on the tables.

When I was in college there was a gentleman by the name of Dan Adamson who was the executive director of the Society of Petroleum Engineers. My father was an engineer and Dan was a family friend. He told me that there was a whole new world out there called the hotel industry and he knew lots of hotel folks. With his help, I interviewed with Hyatt and went to work for them in the early ‘80’s as a corporate trainee. On day one I showed up in my suit with an empty briefcase and I had to wash dishes.

Tell us about your decision to join HelmsBriscoe.
I had been in leadership roles with hotel properties and CVBs and was probably becoming more cynical about the industry than I needed to be. I was looking for something new. Roger Helms called me because someone who had joined HelmsBriscoe told him about me. That’s how it started.

What I liked about his company is that it didn’t come with all those things that hotel leadership comes with. We don’t have a housekeeping department; we don’t have a banquet staff - all those things. It is more customer focused and service driven and I was right there.

Do you remember the call from Roger Helms?
I do, it was in 1995. I didn’t know who he was but I agreed to talk and met with him in Scottsdale. In a matter of minutes I was instantly in tune with his company’s goals and that this was something I wanted to do.

My challenge was explaining to my wife that I had met Roger, he had a dream, I wanted to be part of it, and there was no salary. I promised her that we would always make the house payment although it might be tight for awhile and we actually did. I got a part time night job at a Pizza Hut. I met with a couple of my local hotel friends and made sure that they knew so if they saw me in my Pizza Hut uniform they wouldn’t say, “O my gosh, the poor guy is now having to work at a Pizza Hut.”

What are your thoughts about the state of the hotel industry?
The hotel community has changed over the years, all for the better. It’s become a true profession. For hoteliers, it’s big business and they’re making big money. They have all the tools and the training now. As a direct result they are using tools and techniques that maximize their revenues.

It’s great for the hotel owners but it’s not necessarily the best things for the clients. That is why I actively promote advocates, companies like HelmsBriscoe. More than ever, meeting buyers need effective advocates.

Give us an example of how advocates can help meeting buyers.
Hotels have recently created a position called “the revenue manager.” They can literally track the history of every date for the past umpteen years and the revenues generated that night from all of the various market segments. Hotels can now tell how their prices compare to their competitive market set by researching their competitors pricing structure – online – and instantly adjusting their rates. They’re maximizing revenue and that is smart business – for them.

But, if you are the client, you may wonder what has happened to the value of your relationships with your hotel vendors? Now the value of the relationship has nothing to do with the value of the purchase. It’s impacting the procurement process and that’s why advocates have become more important.

What else are you observing about the meetings industry?
We’re in a bullish seller’s market. It’s difficult to find space. You used to be able to pick up a phone, call two or three hotels, get several options, and choose. That’s no longer the case, in fact, that would be the anomaly. It’s not just difficult for short term meetings, either. There are some cities that will not book out more than 13-14 months. They are forcing compression and are using time as a negotiating tool.

As meeting costs are going up, are you seeing corporations cut back on their meetings?
No, we’re not. You certainly have teleconference calls - we have them just like everyone else. We are seeing more regional meetings, smaller meetings, and repurposed meetings.

How do you think this industry is changing?
What I read is that while the industry is still experiencing growth, the growth is declining. That’s the sign of a turn. Occupancies are not growing as fast, revenues still are. I find that interesting and believe it is the result of better revenue management.

Planners have had long “relationships” with their hotel sales contacts who may no longer have the authority to give the planner what they want. When this sellers’ market ends, and it will, buyers will remember who has been most helpful. Our industry is “relationship based,” and those relationships should go both ways. We can overstrain them during periods of growth and in the opposite direction during the soft periods. It is going to be an interesting turn.

So, Steve, what is your advice?
Never lose sight of the value of the person on the phone. Never, ever let email or Excel take the place of that person.