Proposals, Part Two

Our post on August 17 has sparked some discussion.

According to our poll on this blog, 58% of those responding already have information about the proprietary nature of their proposal included; 35% don't at this time, but do plan to add this language. That's a resounding 90%+!

Only 5% of the responders indicate they don't have this kind of language in their proposal, nor will they add it. Paul Ferguson, an ADME member in San Juan, writes: I’ve read the pre-proposal disclaimer and while I applaud the directness of the verbiage, I’m afraid that in a highly competitive environment like Puerto Rico where we fall all over one another sometimes in our eagerness to get close to a potential client, and in an overall climate where the buyers are becoming more and more sophisticated, with elaborate RFIs in order to pre-qualify potential DMCs, using such a statement would be a real turn-off unless our major competitors were to follow the same practice – which will not happen.
If anyone comes up with a kinder and gentler version of the disclaimer, I’d love to see it for our possible usage.

So, to continue this discussion, please take a look at our new poll... and feel free to note your comments in our comments section (just click on the comments link below).

ADME in the news....
Two meetings industry i-newsletters, Meeting News Extra and Corporate Meetings & Incentives have announced the launching of this blog... and noted the topic of proprietary information in proposals as an interesting one to follow.

Meeting News Extra notes:

Tip Sheet
The Dish on DMCs, etc.
There are two new blogs in town. DMConversations is geared to destination management company professionals and is hosted by the Association of Destination Management Executives. One recent posting dealt with a sensitive issue in the meetings industry, that of idea theft. "If there is one issue that all DMCs are concerned with, it is the proprietary information they include in proposals ... and how to make the point to clients that they just can't take these ideas and execute them on their own--or take them to another DMC to execute,"

ADMC Program in the News!

The August issue of Corporate Meetings and Incentives has an article on page 6 about the new Accredited Destination Management Company program launched by ADME less than one month ago. See below for the article link.

Why is this important? Because this magazine is read by DMC clients! Already one of our ADME members has reported "we had a corporate client ask us last week on a site if we plan to become accredited!"

This company has already completed their application for ADMC status... and more than 35 companies have already enrolled in the ADMC program. The deadline for the first class is September 30. Companies that successfully complete ADMC process from this class will earn the Charter ADMC designation. More information about this program is available here.

Here's a tip: to qualify for ADMC, a DMC must have an individual with the DMCP (Destination Management Certified Professional) on staff. If you don't currently have one on staff, you can enroll in the DMCP program by October 15 to take the test in New Orleans on February 21, 2008. You can then have your ADMC application submitted by the March 31, 2008 deadline for consideration.

Don't know much about the DMCP Program? Sign up for the FREE webinar, Steps to Obtaining your DMCP that will be offered on September 30 at 1 pm ET / 12 CT / 11 am MT / 10 am PT. To register, email ADME and note in the subject: Registration for DMCP Free Webinar. You will receive confirmation of your registration and shortly before the webinar you will receive the connection information and the outline for notes.

Here's the article from Corporate Meetings and Incentives: Launch Of A DMC Certification
Aug 1, 2007 12:00 PM, By Dave Kovaleski
The Association of Destination Management Executives, Dayton, Ohio, is rolling out a new accreditation program that it hopes will simplify the job of sourcing a professionally run, experienced destination management company. Read on...

Dean doesn't dampen ADME members spirits in Cancun

We're delighted to report that Alicia Astudillo and Jose-Manuel Garcia, IVI Cancun, report that although they received heavy rain and an occasional strong wind, their destination and families are fine. They now have good weather and are ready to "rock and roll!" Be sure to see them at the Motivation Show to convey your own good wishes.

We're checking with the ADME members in Jamaica to see how they fared... we'll share their info with you when we hear.

Proprietary Information in Proposals

If there is one issue that all DMCs are concerned with, it is the proprietary information they include in proposals... and how to make the point to clients that they just can't take these ideas and execute them on their own -- or take them to another DMC to execute!

Recently, an ADME member asked for some language to include in their proposal that might help alert the prospective client to the proprietary nature of this information. A few ADME members collaborated on a paragraph that addresses this point. One member uses this statement on the first page of their proposal every time.

Interested? Go to the Members Only page of http://www.adme.org/ to see the entire paragraph. ADME members are welcome to use this language in their proposal. Just a caution... check with your attorney if you have any legal questions.

If anybody else has similar verbiage they're willing to share, please email us at adme@meinet.com We'll post it on the members only page.

Welcome to DMConversation!

The Association of Destination Management Executives (ADME) welcomes you to its weblog (blog for short).
This weblog is designed to provide continuing information about ADME's activities, plans, recent successes... and issues of interest to DMCs.

Here’s the plan:

Weekly short pieces on:

• Latest happenings in ADME
• Plans for future programs and activities for input from ADME members
• Burning questions -- either from ADME members or from the meetings industry that pertain to DMCs
• Great publicity for DMCs
• Other thoughts about DMCs we want to share

Longer essays once a month will be posted here along with other association news.

We’ll also be responding to comments from individuals and welcome lively discussions about destination management company issues.

So, welcome to the new ADME Destination Management Conversations!