Your Team Shows Up. I Handle the Rest.
Retreats, conferences, workshops, and continuing education travel, planned so your people focus on the work that brought them together.
Someone on Your Team Is Planning This on Top of Their Real Job
In most small and mid-sized companies, there is no dedicated meeting planner. The leadership retreat, the sales kickoff, or the team workshop lands on an executive assistant, an office manager, or an HR lead who already has a full job. Suddenly they are comparing hotel proposals, negotiating meeting room rates, collecting dietary restrictions, and booking flights for 30 people from six different cities.
Corporate group travel carries real financial risk when it is handled casually. Hotel group contracts include attrition clauses that charge the company if not enough rooms are used, food and beverage minimums for meeting space, and cancellation terms that escalate as the date approaches. A contract signed without understanding those terms can cost thousands of dollars. Professional continuing education adds another layer, because sessions must fit accreditation requirements and attendance often must be documented.
MaryElizabeth acts as your outsourced travel and logistics partner. She sources venues, compares proposals, negotiates contract terms, manages attendee registration and rooming lists, arranges group air and ground transportation, and coordinates meals and activities. Your team gets a well-run event. The person who used to plan it gets their job back.
How Corporate Group Planning Works
Clarify the Objective
Strategy retreat, training workshop, conference, or team-building offsite. The goal of the gathering determines the destination, the meeting space, and how much free time is built in.
Source the Venue
MaryElizabeth sends requests for proposals to hotels and resorts that fit your dates, budget, and meeting needs, then compares rates, concessions, and contract terms side by side.
Negotiate the Contract
Attrition, food and beverage minimums, cancellation schedules, complimentary rooms, and meeting space rental are negotiated before anyone signs.
Manage Attendees
Registration, flight bookings, rooming lists, arrival times, dietary needs, and accessibility requests are tracked in one place and shared with the venue.
Coordinate the Program
Meeting room setups, audiovisual needs, group meals, team activities, and offsite dinners are scheduled around your agenda.
Support On Site and After
Final counts, last-minute changes, and travel disruptions are handled during the event, and invoices are reconciled against the contract afterward.
Corporate Groups MaryElizabeth Plans For
Workshops, Conferences, and Continuing Education
Many professionals, from healthcare and financial services to education and law, must complete continuing education to keep their licenses. Combining that education with a well-planned destination makes it something people look forward to instead of a box to check. MaryElizabeth plans the travel around the educational program, making sure meeting space, schedules, and session times work for the provider running the course and the attendees taking it.
For conferences and conventions, she handles attendee hotel blocks, group air, airport transfers, and offsite dinners or receptions. For smaller workshops and retreats, she sources resorts with the right mix of meeting space and downtime, so your team leaves energized rather than exhausted.
Corporate Travel Services Included
Plan 6 to 12 Months Ahead for the Best Contract Terms
Hotels offer their best group rates and concessions when they have time to fill space. For retreats and workshops, MaryElizabeth recommends starting 6 to 12 months out. Larger conferences and peak-season dates often need 12 months or more, especially in popular destinations where groups compete for the same meeting space.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is an attrition clause in a hotel contract?
An attrition clause sets the percentage of your room block that must be used. If the group uses less than that amount, the company pays for the difference. MaryElizabeth negotiates attrition terms and tracks pickup so there are no surprises.
Can you plan travel around a continuing education program?
Yes. She coordinates travel, lodging, and meeting space around your education provider’s schedule and requirements so the program and the logistics work together.
Do you work with small companies?
Yes. Many of her corporate clients are small and mid-sized companies without a dedicated meeting planner. She becomes that planner for your event.
Can attendees fly from different cities?
Yes. MaryElizabeth coordinates flights from multiple departure cities and times airport transfers to arrival schedules.
Do you plan incentive and President’s Club trips too?
Yes. Reward travel for top performers is planned through her incentive travel service, which focuses on recognition and experience rather than meetings.
Give Your Team an Event That Runs Itself
Share your dates, headcount, and goals, and MaryElizabeth will come back with venue options and a clear plan.
Get Your Free Corporate Travel Plan