25 Transformations in 25 Years: Start Up Student Group Customer Requires Creativity to Make First Event Ever a Major Success

We recently had a customer sign up who had very specific guidelines for their student groups. They needed MacNair to find hotels that could accommodate 200 rooms per night with 3 beds per room (so, we would have to locate a hotel that would have 200 cots). A place that would tolerate a large student group, was accessible to the DC Armory (either walking distance from it or metro accessible), and one who would be flexible on deposit and payment dates as this was a startup organization who did not know the response its first event would receive. Cash flow was king. We leveraged systems we use to develop a first rate RFP, researched likely properties, and used preferred supplier relationships to uncover and cajole a few potential options in short notice. We (with the customer) performed site visits and negotiated a great price with the appropriate number of rooms under acceptable terms that also included an additional block for parents and breakfast included in the room rate.

The result was that the customer's first event ever was a smashing success even in inclement weather (we hand held many through transportation challenges that weekend). They have gone on to expand their events and with our support have multiple blocks around the country including a block at the sister hotel of the initial hotel who was happy to have them and us back with a good history and track record and more accurate RFP.