Summary: As the event planning and hospitality industries continue to rebound....slowly,  some clients and individuals are resorting to unethical practices to further their career and boost business. How can event planners respond appropriately when they come across poor business etiquette, unprofessional conduct and integrity issues?

Event Planning: Dealing with Game-Playing and Unethical Practices

It's been a tough couple of years for the event planning and hospitality industries. Many firms and establishments have faced significant challenges. As a result of this, the volume and quality of inquiries has declined in some sectors. The industries are recovering slowly but some individuals are resorting to unethical practices that are making the situation worse.

This blog entry is intended to stimulate discussion, encourage sharing of experiences, and provide options for event planners, consultants and other hospitality industry suppliers. Please share your reactions, experiences and suggestions by adding your comments or join the discussion in the Event Planning and Management Group on LinkedIn:

Fake Inquiries

Fake Inquiries & Other Unethical Games

I really look forward to your comments. Do any of these scenarios ring true and sound familiar?

Scenario 1: An event planning firm received an urgent call late one evening. Someone happened to be in office as they were working on a client project. The caller identified herself as an employee at a Toronto telecommunications firm. She sounded frantic and indicated that she had just been asked to pull together a quote for a meeting first thing in the morning. She requested a detailed proposal for a half day recreational activity to take place after a business meeting and lunch. She was very specific insisting that the event had to take place in the downtown core. The event planner who took the call became suspicious as the caller would only provide a gmail address. After follow up with a member of the company's executive team who the event planner knew personally, it turned out that the caller was not an employee. She was actually in the process of applying for a job with the firm. As part of the hiring process, she had been asked to pull together an event plan. She had posed as an employee to gather material and pass it off as her own work.

Scenario 2: An employee with the Singapore branch of a major international accounting firm contacted an event planner filled in an on-line form requesting a quote for a retreat in Malaysia for the management team. The event planner found it unsual that "N/A" had been entered in the field for decision maker's name and e-mail address. The employee was very vague and unable to clarify the decision making process and whether the retreat was strictly for fun or required a business component. The event planner contacted the most senior executive in the division. A reply came a few days later, from a senior manager and the executive was copied on the response. The employee was, in fact, pretending to be collect information on behalf of her company in order to gather information about things to do in Malaysia for a personal trip.

Scenario 3: An American consulting firm received a request for quote for an executive retreat for 10 people from a yahoo account. The individual submitting the request indicated that she was from a regional utility. The request was rather sketchy. Also, the individual making the request refused to submit it from her company e-mail address. This apeared to be suspicious. One of the executives with the consulting firm used to work with the CEO of utility and one of its directors. When she contacted these individuals, they had no knowledge of any upcoming retreats for the executive team. A search on LinkedIn revealed that the individual who had made the inquiry was employed by a competitor. She had posed as a prospective employee to gather competitive intelligence and ascertain pricing. When confronted, the individual who had submitted the requeste indicated that the owner of her firm had not authorized her request. When he was alerted to what had transpired, the owner was horrified. The employee is no longer working there.

Scenario 4: A Canadian consulting firm received a request for quote for 1 1/2 days of team building with an overnight stay. The budget was really low. When contacted in an attempt to clarify requirements, the manager making the request was unable to pinpoint the purpose of the session and whether it was business related or strictly recreational. When he was provided with feedback about the budget, the manager changed the specifications and indicated that the venue would come out of a separate budget. The consulting firm provided quotes for the accommodation and some of options. It was difficult to connect with the manager who had made the inquiry. In a follow up call, the manager indicated that he was not clear of the purpose of the retreat but would need a full proposal with all options and details about the flow of the team building before making a decision. After the proposal was submitted, the consulting firm never heard from the manager again. E-mails were ignored and he did not respond to voice messages. A month later, the firm received the following e-mail notification:

Subject: Not read: Re Request for quote

Your message was deleted without being read on Thursday, September 30, 2010 5:16:31 PM (GMT-05:00) Eastern Time (US & Canada).

Follow up with the CEO revealed that:

• the idea of a management retreat had only been mentionned in passing during the summer
• the manager had in no, way shape or firm been asked or authorized to request a quote

Scenario 5: A manager from a major international was irate in response to the "For Serious Inquiries Only" note on the RFP page of an event planning firm's website. She left a very aggressive voice mail for the firm indicating that she considered this to be HIGHLY unprofessional. She insisted that her organization was huge and global in scope. It could easily could afford a luxury event.

After the senior event planner who responded to the voice message got the prospective client calmed down, he gather specs for the event. The client indicated 2 events to take 50 clients (at each event) by chartered airline to NFL and Big 10 football games. The event planner spent about a week contacting 5 football clubs. The initial quote from an executive charter company was deemed to be too high. The event planner contacted a total of 6 airlines to obtain options.

When all information was gathered, the event planner contacted the prospective client and requested a 15 minute conversation to review options and determine which ones were of interest so that they could be built into the proposals. E-mails and voice mails were not returned. After several days, the prospective client sent a terse e-mail indicating that she was off-site all week and tied up day and night. The following week, when she returned to the office, the prospective client made no attempt to get in touch with the event planner.

At the end of the week, the event planner sent her an e-mail indicating that airlines and ball clubs were contacting him on a daily basis for an update. There was no response to the e-mail or a subsequent voice mail. In the middle of the following week, the event planner contacted the firm's head office and asked to speak with the partner who was responsible for the area of practice for which the inquiry had been requested.

 That partner had never even HEARD of the initiative. He had no clue why a member of his team was contacting an event planning firm requesting the quote. 

The partner had the prospective client return the event planner's firm within minutes. She was furious and blasted the event planner. She said "this is not helping your brand!" and threatened to blacklist the event planning firm. The event planner again called the practice manager. The practice manager indicated that no blacklisting was going to take place and promised to speak with the member of his team about it.

Why the Game Playing?

It is difficult to get inside the head of another human being and determine what motivates their behaviour. For some reason, the individuals who were involved in these scenarios felt the need to disguise the real intent of their contact. They failed to understand that their behaviour, at best, displays a lack of respect for the time of other professionals. At worst, it's unethical. In some instances, it represents an attempt to steal intellectual property. It's certainly an attempt to benefit from the expertise of other professionals without having to compensate them. This is unacceptable at any time. In a tough economic climate, it boders on cruelty and it's inexcusable. When business is slow, why would one put another professional through hours and days of work when there is no hope of potential business?

Warning Signs: Detecting Fake Inquiries & Other Unethical Games

While fake inquiries and unethical practices can be difficult to spot ahead of time, the benefit of 20/20 hindsight reveals some patterns. Proceed with care if the request for quote:

1. comes after hours
2. is from a Gmail, Hotmail or Yahoo account
3. is from an individual who refuses to provide a company e-mail address or phone number
4. is urgent (e.g. "I'm running into a meeting in 5 minutes and I need this right away for my manager". "I know it's after hours but I have to present this first thing in the morning.")
5. is sketchy and the person making the inquiry is unable to provide basic information such as objectives and budget
6. comes from an individual who has an intense or panicky demeanour
7. comes from an individual who fails to respond to follow up e-mails and voice messages
8. involves specications that change drastically as time continues
9. was urgent and yet decision-making drags on for weeks or even months

A helpful practice is to request a "read receipt" whenever you send a proposal or follow-up e-mail. If your follow-up e-mail is deleted without being read, this is a good indication that some kind of gamesmanship is taking place. It's time to decide what action you want to take. 

What other warning signs would you suggest? Please add your comments.

Options and Recourse

For a long time, event planners, consultants and hospitality industry professionals have felt they had no recourse when confronted by these situations. There are some options. The individual showed no respect for you or your organization and displayed no regard for your time.

Do not hesitate to go over his or her head and take action. 

That's  right. If someone falls off the face of the earth after getting you to spend a lot of time researching and exploring options for them, escalate it. If an inquiry is vague or sketchy or if you suspect an inquiry is not bonafide, contact someone more senior to clarify requirements. It will stun you to discover the number of times people are working on university term papers and getting you to do their research. You'll also be amazed at how often it's a competitor posing as a client.

The only way that this tide of poor business etiquette will be reversed and these ethical breaches will stop is if we as event planning professionals stop tolerating it.

Contacting the Employer

• Send an e-mail or a personal and confidential, registered letter to the CEO to report what has transpired.
  If you have an e-mail address for one or more employees, you can often figure out the CEOs e-mail address. If you share a LinkedIn Group with the CEO, you can usually write to him or her directly.
• Phone the executive assistant for the CEO.
• If the company has a code of ethics or an ethics ombudsman, contact him or her directly. Company websites are starting to include information about how violations in ethics can be addressed.
• Report the violation to corporate security.

CEOs appreciate it when you alert them to behaviour that reflects poorly on their organization and its reputation.

If you think you're powerless when someone impersonates an employee from a firm where they are not employed, think again. Companies do not take kindly to this practice. Many people treat this type of behaviour lightly but it may constitute fraud. For example, the job applicant in Scenario 1 found herself on the receiving end of a call from corporate security and a cease and desist letter from their legal department. She also blew any chance of obtaining employment with that firm or a favourable reference from her previous employer who was brought into the loop by corporate security.

Involving the Appropriate Professional Associations

If the individual who engaged in the questionable practice is a member of Linkedin or another social network, often they will list their designations and affiliations with professional associations. Most associations have codes of ethics. You can file a complaint and request an investigation.

Examples:

MPI

MPI - ADDENDUM I TO THE POLICY MANUAL PRINCIPLES OF PROFESSIONALISM (Page 19)

Principles of Professionalism

"As members of Meeting Professionals International, we are responsible for ensuring that the meeting industry is held in the highest public regard throughout the world. Our conduct directly impacts this result.

Maintaining Professional Integrity:

• Honestly represent and act within one's areas of professional competency and authority without exaggeration, misrepresentation or concealment.
• Avoid actions which are or could be perceived as a conflict of interest or for individual gain.
• Offer or accept only appropriate incentives, goods and services in business transactions."

Complaints about MPI members should be sent in writing with as much detail as possible to:

 
Director of Membership
3030 Lyndon B. Johnson Freeway, Suite 1700
Dallas, Texas USA 75234-2759

PCMA

PCMA Code of Ethics (.PDF)

"The Professional Convention Management Association represents the highest levels of professional and ethical behavior in the convention and meetings industry. This association has adopted these Principles of Professional and Ethical Conduct and its members use them as standards of honorable behavior by which they may evaluate their relationships with their organizations, suppliers, and colleagues." (Bolding Mine)

Additional Information & Resources

• Ethics Today: Are you on the Right Track
• Planners Must be Mindful of Professional Ethics
• Do the Right Thing (MPIWeb)
• Event Coup: Making Sense of B2B RFQ Challenges

Photo Credit: Thomas Hawk

Photo Credit: the|G|™