contracts and memorandum of understanding (mou) vita feuerstein manager conference contracting
TRANSCRIPT
Contracts and Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)
Vita FeuersteinManager Conference Contracting
Part I - Contracts
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What is a Contract?
A contract is a legal exchange of promises between two or more parties, which is codified in writing and enforceable in a court of law.
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Types of Conference Related Contracts:
Audio Visual Conference CentersConvention CentersExhibition DecoratorFood and BeverageHotel Meeting Management CompaniesMiscellaneous Venues (Aquarium, Museum, etc.)Printers (Proceeding, CD, Programs, etc.)Registration Management CompaniesSecurityTransportation
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IEEE Contract Policy
Contracts with a value of $25,000USD or greater must be submitted to IEEE for review by a Subject Matter Expert (SME)prior to final approval and execution by IEEE Procurement Department.
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How do you determine if a contracts’ value is $25,000USD or greater?
Add the total cost of services + the totalcost of exposure/risk (if applicable)
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What Determines Value?
Hotel ContractsTotal number of sleeping rooms blocked, less guaranteed attrition,PLUS meeting room rental and food and beverage commitment (ifany)
Registration Management ContractsCost of service including estimated T&L and ancillary charges PLUSestimated registration revenue of conference if funds ARE NOTdeposited directly into conference account
Meeting Management ContractsCost of service including estimated T&L and ancillary charges PLUSestimated revenue of conference (registration and exhibits) if fundsARE NOT deposited directly into conference account
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What is the Benefit of a SME Review?
Eliminates Ambiguity Ensures Contract is mutual Minimizes Financial Liability
Essential for good business practices and reduces financialrisks
Keeps volunteers and staff on top of new trends, clausesand other “gotcha’s”
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Be aware!
CONTRACTS ARE WRITTEN IN FAVOR OF THE VENDOR – The vendor is an expert at writing contacts
KNOW YOUR HISTORY - KNOWLEDGE IS POWER
DON’T ASSUME ANYTHING - The person that you are contracting with is not the person that will be implementing the contract.
GET EVERYTHING IN WRITING
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Be Aware! - Hotel
Hotels will analyze the property’s history – seasonal demand, local and group meeting space rental, fluctuation of food and beverage sales, amount other factors – allow the management team to come up with a pricing strategy that maximizes the hotels’ RevPAR (revenue per available room)
Hotels look at size of the group, rate they want, how much food and beverage they require, arrival/departure patterns, rooms to meeting space ratios, season, the groups history and contract terms, lead time and risk
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Be Aware! Meeting Management Mgmt. Services are not clearly defined and, in most
cases, no cap on billable hours
Credit Card Fees are additional and are not spelled out in contract
Hotel Commissions are not defined in contracts, but in most cases, are taken by Mgmt. Company on top of Mgmt. Fee
Additional costs are Billed outside of Mgmt. Fee (phone calls, faxes, postage, copy changes, badge design and printing, badge holders, ribbons, use of 800#)
Discounts offered for Vendor Contracts, but a markup is applied for financial gain to Mgmt. Company
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Be Aware! Registration
E-commerce sparks new legal issues
Online registration and security of credit card numbers
Not all companies are bonded
Credit Card Fees are not clearly spelled out
Additional costs are billed outside of registration fee
Ensure there are no “Pass thru fees”
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Templates Available on IEEE Website Hotel Contract
IEEE, Starwood, Hyatt, Hilton, Fairmont, Disney, Marriott, Wyndham
Meeting Management Contract
Available 4th Quarter 2009 Registration Management Contract Exhibit Space Application
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http://www.ieee.org/web/conferences/organizers/contracts.html
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2009 Policy Change:Competitive Bidding
Competitive bidding is required for contracts and commodity orders valued at or above $250K.
Conference hotel, caterer and convention center contracts are exempt from this requirement; however, it is “best business practice” to follow a competitive bidding process for all contracts/orders.
Support documentation is required with submission of contact
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Part II – Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)
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What is a MOU?An MOU is used as a confirmation of agreed upon terms.
It is a written document describing the roles and a general description of the responsibilities of two (or more) parties which sets forth the basic principles and guidelines under which the parties will work together to accomplish their goals.
An MOU is less formal than a contract, but is signed by the parties involved to indicate their agreement to the principles contained in the MOU.
AN MOU IS A PARTNERSHIP17
Types of MOUs (Policy10.1.2)
Financial Co-Sponsorship Co-Sponsorship indicates a shared involvement among several organizations, one of which is an
IEEE organizational unit. Other co-sponsoring organizations could be IEEE organizational units or other “Not-for-Profit” non-IEEE organizations.
Co-Sponsorship indicates a shared and significant involvement in the technical, financial, publicity and administrative areas of the conference.
Technical Co-Sponsorship Technical Co-Sponsorship indicates direct and substantial involvement by the IEEE
organizational unit solely in the organization of the technical program. The IEEE organizational unit has no financial involvement
in the conference.
Technical co-sponsorship does not guarantee that the papers accepted for presentation at the conference will be eligible for inclusion in the IEEE Conference Publications Program (CPP), which handles post-conference distribution of conference papers in all media.
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IEEE Policy (10.1.5)
A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), sets forth the relationship and obligations of the involved parties. A MOU is required when two or more organizational units agree to provide financial or technical co-sponsorship to a conference.
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Relationship and Obligations of the Involved Parties
Financial Co-Sponsorship :“Shared and Significant Involvement”
Technical Co-Sponsorship: “Direct and Substantial Involvement in
the Technical Program”
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All MOUs Should Describe:
The Parties Involved The Name Of The Event The Duration Of The MOU The Role Of Each Party How The MOU Can Be Terminated Contact Information Of Signing Parties
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Technical MOUs“Direct and substantial involvement”
Add the following: In detail, describe your “direct and substantial
involvement”
Who owns the copyright to the intellectual property developed under the MOU
Will the conference proceedings be included in IEEE Conference Publications Program (CPP)
Who is the financial owner of the event
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Financial MOUs “Shared and significant involvement”
Add the following: What is the financial split between sponsoring
parties; how is the profit/loss shared? Where are the conference funds being held; who has
access to the conference funds? Who defines the role of the conference organizing
committee? Who has oversight for the conference? When applicable, who is responsible for VAT
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TemplatesTemplates have been created for use when preparing Financial and Technical MOUs.
They can be used as written or as a guide in preparing conference-specific MOUs.
If there are multiple sponsors, one MOU may be used provided it identifies the relationships of each sponsors.
If an MOU is currently in place that defines the relationship of the co-sponsoring parties, it is not necessary to rewrite the MOU, however, it is recommended that the MOU is reviewed and when possible, template clauses are incorporated.
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http://www.ieee.org/web/conferences/organizes/MOU.html
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MOUs are due with the submission of
the Information Schedule
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2009 Policy ChangePolicy 10.1.4
All co-sponsored conferences shall submit a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to IEEE Conference Services for review, final approval, and execution. Following IEEE Conference Services review and changes, if applicable, authorized representatives of each of the sponsoring organizational units shall sign the MoU and return it to IEEE Conference Services for execution.
Once submitted to IEEE Conference Services, the MoU review process shall take no more than 60 days from the time of receipt to execution.
If the compliance recommendations of IEEEE Conference Services are challenged by the OU, then appeals shall be forwarded to the IEEE Conferences Committee Chair for final ruling.
Co-sponsored conferences shall not use the IEEE name or Master Brand in its web site, publications, or promotions before the MoU is executed
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2009 Policy ChangePolicy 10.1.5
The IEEE organizational unit’s direct and substantial involvement in the technical program.
The technical paper review process, including a clear identification of the level of paper review, if the conference proceedings will be included in the IEEE Conference Publications Program (CPP)
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