CTA, Rental vs Hired, DMO, CPTD’s…Curious what these words mean for your business and the events industry? Then you’ll want to tune into this week’s podcast episode. Cam breakdown the buzzwords all rental companies should know.

Listen Now – Apple | Spotify | Youtube

What to expect from this episode:

• 3:34 — Common Sales & Marketing Terms
• 9:12 — Episode Call To Action!
• 11:05 — Common Corporate Terms
• 15:41 — Render Educate – A Global Education Brand
• 23:11 — Certifications & Associations

Let’s dive into this week’s episode about buzzwords you should know if you own or work in a rental company!

An Introduction

Ever wonder what some acronyms or terms are that you hear in industry-specific meetings? Some terms are easy to figure out but every now and then you hear one and maybe don’t want to interrupt the meeting to ask. Or conversation flows so well that you say, “I can look it up later”. Then while you are attempting to research you still can’t find the correct answer.

As always, we want to be a resource for you! In this blog, we will outline over 35 terms/acronyms that are commonly used in the events industry. Not only do we think expanding your knowledge with these will be beneficial to you as a professional, but will also assist in your credibility by learning about different certifications and associations in the events industry.

Sales & Marketing

• CRM — Customer Relationship Management
  • This acronym is typically used in reference to software.
  • Examples include HoneyBook, Dubsado, and 17hats.
    • Tip: CRM tendencies might already be a part of a software that you already have… like asana, slack, etc. Research to learn how you could implement their capabilities into what you are using at your company.
• DMC — Destination Management Company 
  • DMCs were designed to serve large brands in specific cities.
  • For example: if a company headquarters in San Diego wanted to host their employee retreat in Dallas they would hire a DMC in Dallas who specializes in team-building activities and spaces.
• DMO — Destination Marketing Organization
  • These are also typically used by large corporations and are hired on to bring an event to full scale in a specific city. Even with a marketing team, some larger companies like to outsource these contracts for additional marketing for the event in the city it’s being hosted in.
• EMS — Event Management Software
  • All our planners out there are familiar with this acronym. The venue owners should know this one too. There is various event management software designed to assist in the planning and execution of important event-related tasks.
• RFP — Request for Proposal
  • Mostly requested through email, this is a client or vendor asking for a quote with your company to perform or supply a service or item.
• ROI — Return on Investment
  • known as a common business term, this is how you track what are you putting into your company or an event and what outcome you receive after it. This isn’t specific to finances either. You can track the amount of time, resources and finances attributed.
• ROE — Return on Event
  • Based on this event, what was the impact made in that city? What is the return your company received by hosting this event? Great for public events or campaigns.
• CTA — Call to Action
  • What’re you trying to call attention to or have interactions on? What are you trying to get your consumer to do?
  • CTA examples for your website: filling out a wishlist, joining an email list, and following on social media.
  • Examples for Instagram: sharing a post, commenting, dm a specific word or message.
• Open Rate
  • How many times or do accounts open up your messages, typically tracked through email marketing?

Corporate Events

• General Session — Main keynote speaker 
  • This is usually the biggest audience level for a corporate event with a special or VIP speaker.
• Keynote — Main speaker of a corporate event
  • Both the general session and keynote are important to inquire about when it comes to floral, av, etc. to ensure vendors achieve the specific desires the client has for these sessions.
  • Does there need to be any specific stage install, backdrop, podium, etc. are all helpful to figure out.
• Rider
  • The expectations of a speaker for a corporate event.
• Breakouts
  • Smaller sessions at a corporate event.
• COI — Certificate Of Insurance
  • Communicates to your customer what your business liability insurance covers. Your company will cover up to “x” amount when it comes to venue damages or personal injury, and in what scenarios.
• BEO — Banquet Event Order
  • This is an itemized list for a catering order and event details at a venue. They are also wildly helpful for communicating expectations that the venue is responsible for. 
• F&B — Food and Beverage 
  • F&B minimums for a night or per guest at hotel events typically. 
• AV — Audio + Visual
  • Used mostly by DJ and entertainment companies. This is the audio needed and visuals needed for an event.
  • For example, microphones, speakers, lighting, TVs, monitors, etc.
• Airwalls
  • In most hotels and some independent venues, they have the ability to fold pieces of a wall in a large room into a small space and can separate large rooms into smaller rooms. These are great for creating additional spaces for large events like conferences for smaller session rooms.
• Back of House
  • The back hallways and areas where you can store items for your company while the event takes place. 

Payment

• NET payment
  • This is a business payment term pertaining to how a company may handle payments. NET is a synonym for after. When a company states they would like to pay using a “NET30” or “NET15” this means you will receive payment sometime up to 30 days or 15 days after the invoice date. Often times the invoice date is set for your event date meaning you will receive payment up to 15 or 30 days after the event.
• Deposit
  • This is what you require to book your business. As a business, you get to decide what amount you would like your client to deposit. Most business requires 50% of the total balance.
• Balance
  • This is the amount owed to your company in total for a service or product you are requiring. It is common to share pre-deposit and post-deposit totals with your clients via invoice.

Miscellaneous

• SOP — Standard Operating Procedures 
  • These are step-by-step instructions on the ways your company operates! This equips your team with company procedures and a road map for each task they are expected to accomplish. SOPs are very helpful in assisting with onboarding new employees. 
• B2B — Business to Business Order 
  • An order shared between two businesses.
• B2C — Business to Consumer Order
  • An order shared between a business and a client.
• Rentals vs. Hire
  • Around the world, rentals are prevalent and can be called many things such as hire. We have students from 17 different countries and are intentional about learning the different terms used by different regions. We thought this was a cool example to share with you all!
• Sofa vs. Couch
  • These two terms mean the same thing. This is another example of how the region you are in may dictate the way common items are referred to. You should be aware of any and all possible terms associated with your products and services to ensure you are making the most of your marketing efforts and can reach your target audiences.
• Trade Show
  • Can be a big or small event to set up a marketing booth to promote a business or product. You can participate or provide products or services for these based on your desire.
• Hybrid Event
  • An event with both virtual and in-person capabilities.
• Floral Recipes
  • All the items needed to put together a floral arrangement.
  • For example, the stems needed, mechanics, and supplies.

Certifications

• CMP — Certified Meeting Professionals 
• CSEP — Certified Special Events Professional
• CPCE — Certified Professional of Catering and Events

Certifications in any industry can assist in gaining credibility in your field. These three are specific to the events industry. All require lots of studying but pay off when you get to add the associated letters to your name on your company website or business cards.

Affiliations

• NACE — National Association of Catering and Events 
• MPI — Meeting Professionals International – Corporate Event Connections
• ILEA — International Live Events Association – Corporate & Social Event Connections
• WIPA — Wedding International Professionals Association – Luxury Wedding Connections

In closing…

That was a lot of information to take in! As Cam says in this episode, we hope that you learned at least one new term that can assist your team or impact your company while working in the events industry. For our CTA, we would love for you to review our podcast. Whether you are listening on Apple or Spotify or watching our weekly trailers on YouTube, please share with us why you like the podcast and any other topics you would like Cam to discuss.

We are here for you! Email us anytime at info@therender.co with specific questions or requests and we will happily get back to you!

Joyfully,

TJ White | Content Manager