Patent Publication Number: US-2006010023-A1

Title: System, method and computer program product for managing meeting planning operations

Description:
This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/963,911 filed on Sep. 26, 2001 which claims benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/237,284 which was filed on Oct. 2, 20000. 
    
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD  
      The present invention relates generally to planning meetings and conferences. More particularly, the present invention relates to methods for managing meeting information, especially financial meeting information, to support financial decision making in large organizations.  
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      In the past decade, while corporations and other organizations made great strides controlling supply chain costs through more intelligent spending, one area that eluded effective cost control was meetings. Organizations found no obvious way to consolidate the various costs associated with meetings in meaningful ways to support the organization&#39;s efforts to take actions such as consolidating suppliers, centralizing expenditures, establishing organization-wide contracts with suppliers, negotiating preferred pricing with suppliers based on total company spend, utilizing space available as a result of attrition or cancellation, and avoiding scheduling conflicts. Effective processes to accomplish these initiatives remained elusive, in part because means for achieving universal participation in gathering the necessary information are difficult to establish. Organizations were unable to consolidate meeting planning so that work processes could be controlled and financial information could be consolidated. Methods to control meeting planning costs and processes distributed throughout an organization were not available.  
      During the same time period, most of the financial information related to meetings was, and often still is, ‘owned’ and maintained locally by meeting planners in the form of spreadsheets or other documents. A variety of tools appeared designed to aid meeting planners with activities such as requests for proposals, meeting logistics, registration, and travel bookings. Initially, these tools were provided for personal computers and, more recently, via the Internet with its superior information distribution capabilities. To manage all the aspects of meeting planning and track all the financial aspects of meetings, a meeting planner needed a variety of these tools. Some of these tools provided financial management capabilities while others did not. However, even when financial management capabilities were provided, the various tools remained stand alone products making it impractical to gather the financial information from the various planning tools for consolidated or historical financial reporting in support of company-wide financial decision making.  
      As a result, the financial information about meeting spending needed by large organizations to take advantage of their substantial buying power remained scattered among the various divisions and software applications within these organizations.  
      Therefore, in light of the foregoing deficiencies in the prior art, the applicant&#39;s invention is herein presented.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      In view of the foregoing, it is an object of the present invention to facilitate the planning and organization of meetings and/or conferences.  
      Another object of the present invention is to provide a process to consolidate and summarize organizations&#39; meeting information to support organization-wide financial decision making.  
      Another object of the present invention is to provide a process to consolidate and summarize meeting information required by meeting planners for planning a meeting.  
      Another object of the present invention is to provide a process to consolidate and summarize meeting information required by meeting attendees.  
      Another object of the present invention is to provide a process to consolidate and summarize historic meeting information to support financial and planning decisions.  
      Another object of the present invention is to provide processes to promote the use of meeting information consolidation processes.  
      Another object of the present invention is to provide a process to consolidate and summarize meeting information gathered by the various meeting planning tools.  
      Another object of the present invention is to provide a long term process for holding past meeting data and data about recurring meetings for future budget planning and fund raising.  
      Another object of the present invention is to provide a process to avoid and resolve scheduling conflicts.  
      Another object of the present invention is to better utilize existing meeting planner resources by tracking the activities of meeting planners within an organization.  
      Another object of the present invention is to provide a process to enable organizations to avoid losses due to attrition or meeting cancellation and to take advantage of opportunities to reduce meeting costs.  
      In order to achieve the objectives described above, there is herein provided a system, method and computer program product for managing meeting planning operations. A computer system in accordance with the present invention comprises at least one input device, at least one display and at least one processor. The computer system also comprises a means for receiving data to identify a meeting, which can be done through the input device. The system also includes a means for receiving meeting scheduling data. The scheduling data may come through the input device as entered by a user of the system or it may be imported from an electronic calendar that is a part of the system. The system also has a means for data regarding resources required for a meeting and a means for generating a request for proposal to send to a supplier of the resource. The system additionally comprises a means for receiving a proposal a supplier and incorporating that data into the system. Another aspect of the invention is a means for tracking the request for proposals and proposal data received from suppliers. Further, the system comprises a means for creating a budget for the meeting and a means for receiving financial data for the meeting. The financial data can be reconciled with the budget. The system may also comprise a means for receiving registration data for the meeting. All of the information and data can be stored by the system and reports can be generated based on the stored data.  
      A computer program product in accordance with the present invention comprises computer usable medium having computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to receive input defining parameters for a meeting, to define required resources for a meeting, to request proposals from resource suppliers, to receive proposals from suppliers, to generate a budget, to forecast costs for the meeting, to receive financial data such as actual costs or income, to compare the budget, forecasted costs and actual cost data and to store all of the above information on the computer. Parameters for a meeting may comprise dates and times for meetings and events, the destination or venue of the meeting, travel times, and other scheduling information as is described herein. The computer readable program code may also be configured to cause a computer to generate a report based on data collected and generated by the computer program.  
      A method in accordance with the present invention involves the steps of receiving scheduling data for a meeting, creating a budget for the meeting, receiving data related to a required resource for the meeting, generating a request for proposal for provision of a required resource, receiving a proposal from a supplier to provide the required resource, importing data from the proposal into the budget, collecting financial data for the meeting, importing said financial data into said budget; and reconciling the financial data, the proposal data and the budget. The method also includes the step of storing all of the above stated information.  
      The details of the present invention will become more readily apparent from a reading of the detailed description taken in conjunction with the drawings and the claims.  
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       FIG. 1A  is a flowchart illustrating an overview of the method for planning meetings from a planning perspective;  
       FIG. 1B  illustrates a user interface for entering information into the meeting planning system in accordance with the present invention;  
       FIG. 1C  illustrates a meeting planning calendar feature;  
       FIG. 2A  is a flowchart illustrating an overview of the method for planning meetings from a financial perspective;  
       FIG. 2B  illustrates a sample budget user interface in accordance with the present invention;  
       FIG. 3  is a chart illustrating the sources of information and users of consolidated reports produced by the meeting planning system of the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
      The present invention is fully described hereinafter with reference to the drawings, in which preferred embodiments of the invention are shown. The invention may also be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to only the disclosed embodiments. The provided embodiments are included so the disclosure will be thorough, complete and will fully convey the scope of the invention to persons of ordinary skill in the art.  
      A person of ordinary skill in the art would appreciate that the present invention may be embodied as a method, data processing system, or computer program product. As such, the present invention may take the form of an embodiment comprised entirely of hardware; an embodiment comprised entirely of software or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. In addition, the present invention may take the form of a computer program product on a computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program code means embodied in the medium. Any suitable computer readable medium may be utilized including hard disks, CD-ROMs, optical storage devices, or magnetic storage devices.  
      The present invention is described with reference to flowcharts and/or diagrams that illustrate methods, apparatus or systems and computer program product. It should be understood that each block of the various flowcharts, and combinations of blocks in the flowcharts, can be implemented by computer program instructions. Such computer program instructions can be loaded onto a general-purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing device to produce a machine, such that the instructions that execute on the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus create means for implementing the functions specified in the flowcharts. The computer program instructions can also be stored in a computer-readable memory that directs a computer or other programmable data processing device to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means which implement the function specified in the flowcharts or diagrams. The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in the flowcharts or diagrams.  
      It will be understood that blocks of the flowcharts support combinations of means for performing the specified functions, combinations of steps for performing the specified functions and program instruction means for performing the specified functions. It is also to be understood that each block of the flowcharts or diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowcharts or diagrams, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-based computer systems which perform the specified functions or steps, or combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions.  
      The present invention could be written in a number of computer languages including, but not limited to, C++, Basic, Visual Basic, Fortran, Cobol, Smalltalk, Java, HTML, XML and other conventional programming languages. It is to be understood that various computers and/or processors may be used to carry out the present invention without being limited to those described herein such as an IBM or IBM-compatible personal computer, preferably utilizing a MICROSOFT DOS, Windows 3.1, Windows 95/98, Windows 2000, or Windows NT, or other operation systems such as Unix, Linux, or the IBM OS/2 operating system. However, it should be understood that the present invention could be implemented using other computers and/or processors, including, but not limited to, mainframe computers and mini-computers and other microcomputers utilizing operating systems not herein enumerated.  
      Referring now to  FIG. 1 , an overview of the meeting planning system, method and computer program product of the present invention, generally designated  10 , is displayed showing the steps in the process of planning a meeting. A meeting is an event, conference, convention, exposition, tradeshow, party, reception, congress or other gathering of people at a specific location or several locations for a period of time that may range from an hour or less to many days for the purpose of sharing information. A meeting may consist of numerous individual sessions (referred to as “events”) comprising some or all of the people attending the meeting.  
      When setting out to plan a meeting, a meeting planner must first identify the meeting  12 . In the context of the following discussion a meeting planner is an individual who plans a meeting or a team of individuals that plan a meeting which may include a supervisor or support staff. The identification of the meeting  12  involves defining parameters for the meeting as is described herein by entering, inputting or importing dynamic meeting data into the system. One step in the identification process is assigning a name to the meeting in the system. When identifying a meeting  12  a meeting planner also identifies the organizations responsible for the meeting. One type of organization responsible for a meeting is the owning organization, which may be an association, corporation, or a division within an organization that provides the funding for the meeting and therefore holds the ultimate decision making authority for the meeting. Another type of organization responsible for a meeting is a planning organization which may be the owning organization or an independent organization that specializes in meeting planning. Another type of organization responsible for a meeting is a supplier which provides products or services for the meeting. Another type of organization responsible for a meeting is a sponsoring organization which provides funding, services, or products for the meeting at little or no charge or in exchange for recognition, representation or other intangible consideration. Generally, no more than a few suppliers and sponsoring organizations are identified at this early stage of identifying the meeting  12 . The remainder of the suppliers and sponsoring organizations are identified in the course of planning the meeting as described further herein.  
      When identifying a meeting  12  a meeting planner also identifies the various individuals, groups of people or organizations which may be a company (“generally referred to as ‘people’”) responsible for the meeting. The people a meeting planner identifies include the meeting planners who are responsible for coordinating all aspects of the meeting, the owners who requested the meeting and are part of the owning organization, supplier contacts who are employees or members of a supplier, sponsors who are contacts within the sponsoring organization, and attendees. Attendees are comprised of exhibitors who often pay a fee to present their products and services at the meeting, presenters who conduct any of the various sessions at a meeting, and participants who sometimes pay a fee to attend expecting to gain some value from the meeting. Generally, no more than a few supplier contacts, sponsors or attendees are identified at this early stage of identifying the meeting  12 . At this stage, attendees may be identified in general terms, such as the departments or divisions involved.  
      Once a meeting planner has identified a meeting  12 , the meeting planner defines the events for a meeting  14 . Events are also part of the dynamic meeting data and meeting parameters which must be defined. An event is any scheduled, self-contained, activity in a meeting that requires an allocation of time and space or other resources. To define the events for a meeting  14  a meeting planner identifies the name, the start and end dates, the start and end times, the location, the room space requirements such as the room dimensions and setup, the expected number of attendees, and the people responsible for each event as well as any other requirements that effect scheduling of meeting space or other resources for each event.  
      Once a meeting planner has defined the events for a meeting  14 , the meeting planner schedules another parameter, the meeting dates  16 . To schedule a meeting  16 , the meeting planner opens the organization&#39;s meeting calendar  18  and blocks the date range for the meeting on the calendar. Depending on the importance and scheduling flexibility of the meeting, a meeting planner blocks a single date range or several date ranges and assigns a tentative or a definite priority to the date ranges. The priorities do not prevent other meetings from being scheduled in the meeting planning system during the same date ranges, but, alert other meeting planners to potential conflicts. It is valuable when scheduling a meeting to identify the key attendees for the meeting and to identify all attendees in general terms, such as the departments or divisions involved, so other meeting planners can avoid scheduling conflicts or can at least alert the affected attendees and meeting planners if a conflict cannot be avoided.  
      Once a meeting planner has scheduled a meeting  16 , the meeting planner selects another part of the dynamic meeting data, which is the destination for the meeting  20 . Destinations are geographically separate locations, typically cities, where a meeting can be held. To select a destination for a meeting  20  a meeting planner conducts a search for suitable venues against a database contained in the meeting planning system. A venue is a conference center, convention center, hotel, restaurant, theater or other site or combination of any of these where a meeting or events are held. When selecting a venue, a meeting planner takes into account the availability of suitable meeting space, the number of available guestrooms, the quality of the venue and a variety of other factors. Naturally, cost is a major factor in selecting a destination. To assist the meeting planner in evaluating costs an organization includes various rates for guest rooms and meeting rooms in the meeting planning system. Rates for guests room and meeting rooms an organization displays in the meeting planning system include: preferred rates negotiated with a venue, distressed rates for unsold space a venue is trying to fill, standard rates sometimes called “rack rates”, averages rates, seasonal rates, rates for the specific dates the meeting is scheduled or any other special rates or standard rates offered by a venue.  
      The meeting planning system displays internal meeting space and guest rooms available in buildings owned by the planning organization or the owning organization and displays rates if the organization charges individual departments for the use of internal meeting space or guest rooms. The meeting planning system displays cancelled guest rooms and meeting space that were booked for meetings that were later cancelled. The owning organization generally has to pay a penalty for canceling guest rooms and meeting space unless another meeting can be booked in the same time slot. Display of the cancelled guest rooms and meeting space in the meeting planning systems makes other planners aware of the cancellation and fill the cancelled guest rooms and meeting space with new meetings. The system stores the information regarding cancelled meetings for these purposes.  
      Other types of suppliers set prices based on a meeting planners choice of destination. Airlines are an especially noteworthy type of supplier that has destination specific pricing. The meeting planning system displays rates for suppliers that have destination dependant pricing. Supplier rates included in the meeting planning system include, but are not limited to: preferred rates negotiated by the meeting planners organization, distressed rates, list prices, averages rates, seasonal rates, or rates for the specific dates the meeting is scheduled.  
      An organization may choose to display or highlight only certain rate categories, such as coach air fares, or display or highlight only certain venues and suppliers, such as preferred venues and suppliers, to require or encourage meeting planners to use these rate categories or these preferred venues and suppliers. Alternatively, a organization may permit a meeting planner to add venues and suppliers to the meeting planning system database. An organization may elect to make venues and suppliers which a meeting planner adds to the meeting planning system available for all meetings or only for the meeting planner&#39;s individual meeting.  
      Once a meeting planner has identified several suitable venues at one or more destinations the meeting planner sends the scheduling, meeting space, and housing requirements for the meeting and the events comprising the meeting to the venues often in the form of a document referred to as a “request for proposal” or “RFP”  22 . The responses to the RFPs  22  from the venues provide the information the meeting planner will use to finalize its selection of items such as the destination  20 , date range and one or more venues for the meeting.  
      Once a meeting planner has selected a destination  20 , and in the process confirmed the availability of guest room and meeting space at the meeting planner&#39;s chosen venues, the meeting planner converts a tentative date range on the organization&#39;s meeting calendar  18  to a definite date range as shown by a broken arrow  19  connecting the Destination Selection  20  with scheduling the meeting  16 . The meeting planning system deletes any other tentative date ranges for the meeting.  
      Depending on the preferences of people in the planning organization, owning organization, meeting planner, and the requirements and complexity of a meeting, a meeting planner may complete the steps of defining the events for the meeting  14 , scheduling the meeting  16 , and selecting a destination for the meeting  20  in any order or these steps may be completed in an iterative or ‘leap frog’ sequence.  
      It is convenient to discuss the remainder of the meeting planning process as two separate processes, Meeting Logistics  24 , and Attendee Services  26 . Meeting Logistics  24  involves coordination of suppliers  32  and the delivery of all the resources  34  the suppliers  32  will provide to a meeting. Attendee Services  26  involves coordination of all the services that enable attendees to participate in a meeting including; registration  30 , hotel booking  40  and travel booking  42 . Although Meeting Logistics  24  and Attendee Services  26  will be discussed separately, the meeting planning system shares a great deal of information between the two processes. Each process will now be described and explained in detail.  
      Beginning with Meeting Logistics  24 , once a meeting planner defines the events for a meeting  20  the meeting planner selects the supplier categories  28  that are appropriate to the meeting and events. Standard categories used in the meeting planning industry are numerous. Examples include, but are not limited to food and beverage, meeting room rental, guest room rental, audio-visual equipment rental, equipment rental, printing, advertising, air travel, car rental, insurance, staffing and a variety of other categories. Products and services for some of these categories are typically provided by the owning organization or planning organization. The meeting planning system provides these and other supplier categories  28  as standards and provides the functionality to add additional supplier categories  28  if needed by an organization for a particular meeting. The supplier categories  28  identify the general kinds of resources required for a meeting. The process of selecting supplier categories  28  from a collection of standard categories provides a standard model for meeting planners to use in managing and organizing Meeting Logistics. The supplier categories also provide a framework for managing meeting finances which will be described later. Ideally, a single supplier  32  will provide all the resources required for a supplier category, but, multiple suppliers  32  for a supplier category  28  may be designated in the meeting planning system.  
      Once a meeting planner has selected the supplier categories  28 , the meeting planner selects the resources required  34  in each supplier category for each event. The meeting planner defined events  14  for the meeting in the meeting planning system earlier in the meeting planning process so the meeting planner does not need to re-enter the events. Selecting supplier resources  34  is similar to selecting a destination  20 . The resource requirements for a meeting are provided to one or more suppliers in an RFP  32  for each category. A meeting planner chooses one or more suppliers for each supplier category based on suppliers&#39; abilities to provide the desired specific resources the meeting planner designated for the meeting. Alternatively, a meeting planner may choose a supplier based on other criteria, such as preferred supplier status, and select specific resources for the meeting from the supplier&#39;s available resources. As noted for the process of selecting a destination  20 , the meeting planning system displays suppliers of meeting products and services that may be limited by the meeting planner&#39;s organization to preferred suppliers only.  
      The meeting planning system also provides a means for a meeting planner to track RFPs  22  sent to and replies received from venues and suppliers  32 . The tracking process provides a schedule for each category which includes the date RFPs  22  should be sent to a venue or other supplier, the date the RFP  22  was actually sent, the date responses are due from venues or other suppliers, the date a decision will be made and a mechanism to remind the meeting planner when each of these dates approaches. The tracking or communications portion of the invention in conjunction with the proposal processing unit tabulates the RFP responses from the venues  22  and suppliers  32  within each category and allows the meeting planner to designate the selected venues and suppliers from the responses received. The tracking system may also prompt the planner to send a reminder to a venue or supplier who has not yet responded to the RFP. The communications unit also allows data and information to be shared among the various features of the present invention.  
      The planning process for Attendee Services  26  will now be described and explained in detail. An attendee expresses interest in attending a meeting through the process of registration  30 . Registration can be carried out through a registration unit of the planning organization, through a computer program or by a method as described herein. Registration may take place by a potential attendee accessing a web site or contacting a planning organization by some other means. It is contemplated by the present invention that attendees may register online electronically, by phone or by submitting appropriate papers to a planning organization.  
      Attendees fall into several groups based on the attendees role in the meeting, including, but not limited to exhibitors, presenters, participants and others. Meeting planners use the registration process to gather the information about each attendee such as name, title, employer, address, telephone number, facsimile number, electronic mail address, membership number, role in the meeting and sometimes demographic information of interest to the owning or planning organization.  
      In addition to registering attendees for the meeting as a whole, a meeting planner may require attendees to register  30  for individual events  36  such as meals, seminars, product demos, recreational activities such as tours or excursions, and other activities. Since the meeting planner previously defined the events for the meeting  14  in the meeting planning system, there is no need to re-enter the events for the registration process  30 . Unless a meeting is local for all the attendees, some attendees may require a hotel room in order to attend the meeting. To accommodate attendees&#39; needs for hotel rooms during a meeting, the meeting planning system provides a hotel booking service  40  as part of the registration process  30 . To accommodate attendees&#39; transportation needs the meeting planning system provides travel booking services  42  for air travel, ground transportation such as rental cars or chartered limousines, and other transportation needs. The hotel booking and travel booking services may be coordinated through third party organization such as a travel agency or GDS or directly with the hotel (venue) or transportation supplier. A GDS is an company that processes booking transactions for a variety of venues, airlines, and ground transportation companies to support travel agents and other travel companies and provides little in the way of consumer services.  
      Prior to the meeting, all of the described information is stored within the system. Following a meeting, a meeting planner generally retains all or portions of the information about the meeting. Such stored information is collectively referred to as “history”  38 . History  38  is particularly valuable for recurring meetings such as annual conventions because the information from previous meetings can be used to aid in planning future meetings. Information retained in history  38  is diverse. Some examples of information retained in history  38  include attendance at events, spending by category, attendee lists, registration forms, and other data, information, and documents. Often, however, a meeting planner does not retain this information or the responsibility for a recurring meeting is transferred to a new planner who does not have access to the original planner&#39;s history  38 . The meeting planning system ensures that meeting history  38  is collected retained and made available to individuals who need it.  
       FIG. 1B and 1C  illustrate portions of the meeting planning system of the present invention.  FIG. 1B  shows an example of a computerized interface used to enter, modify, and/or display meeting identification and scheduling information. The interface allows a user to enter or select information such as meeting status  196 , meeting description information  198 , company data  216  for the meeting planning organization. Other fields  218  may also be defined for keeping track of organization specific codes, such as approval codes, account numbers and identification numbers. The interface shows the status  196  of various aspects of the meeting planning process, such as RFP&#39;s, budgets, events, and the meeting as a whole. Identifying information for a meeting  198  is also displayed on the interface. Information such as meeting name  200 , the starting and ending dates of meeting  202 , the attendance for the meeting  204 , the estimated number of room nights and/or rooms needed  206 , the type of meeting  208 , the facility where the meeting will be held  210  the name of the planner  212  and any descriptive information about the meeting  214 . The meeting information which can be entered into or displayed on the interface is not limited to the above examples. The information described above can be typed into the system, selected from drop down or other menus, or imported into the interface by the tracking system associated with the present invention.  
      The interface can also show data about the company holding the meeting  216 . This information may include, but is not limited to the name of the person requesting the meeting or supervising the planning of the meeting, the name of the organization sponsoring the meeting, the division and/or department of the organization to which the meeting is directed, regions or locations where the division or department or meeting is located, or organization accounting codes assigned to a particular meeting.  
       FIG. 1C  illustrates a meeting calendar used in association with the meeting planning system of the present invention. The meeting calendar can specify an increment of time for which it applies  250 , such as a month, week, day or year. The calendar shows a meeting and/or events planned or tentatively planned for a particular day, as shown by the example indicated by reference numeral  254 . The meeting or event  258  shown on a block of the calendar can be provided in hyperlink text. This allows the title on the calendar to be linked to detailed information about the meeting or event  256 . A user may click on the calendar link  254  for a particular meeting, and have a separate window or jump to a separate page where more specific information about the meeting is displayed, such as the dates for the meeting  260 , a responsible person&#39;s name  262 , and the number of attendees for the meeting  264 . The meeting specifics mentioned above are provided by way of example only and should not be limiting of any information which may be provided about a meeting or event through a link. The calendar can also comprise a status indicator  266  for a particular meeting or events on the calendar, for instance showing whether a meeting is complete, cancelled, has occurred or is pending.  
      Another tool available for use with the calendar allows the user to limit the information presented on the calendar. The filter  252  feature consists of a drop down menu which allows a user to select the information shown on a particular calendar display. All information may be shown or only meetings for a particular requester or planner, a specific division, department or regions. It is contemplated by the present invention that other means for dividing the calendar information may also be used.  
      Referring now to  FIG. 2A , the financial aspects of planning a meeting using the meeting planning system will now be described and explained in detail with reference to the meeting planning process illustrated in  FIG. 1A . The financial aspects of managing meeting planning operations in the present invention may be conducted by a budget unit that is part of a meeting planning system, a computer program product which provides instructions to a computer to perform budget manipulations or a method carried out using a computer. Dynamic financial data as used in the system, method or computer program product of the present invention consists of proposed or actual costs for resources as well as income. The dynamic financial data may be comprised of any monetary amount used by or under the control of the meeting planner that relates to the conduct of the meeting. This financial data includes quotations for the provision of goods and services, actual charges, costs, taxes, gratuities, service charges, income, complementary goods or services, cost or charge forecasts, and variances among the financial data. Items such as taxes and gratuities are generally included under the general heading of costs, because they are paid out by the organization. However, if these or other items such as service charges or gratuities are not paid by the organization, then the items would not be included in the cost categories. The financial data may also consist of the spending data or expenditures of an organization for one particular meeting or for a plurality of meetings from a single meeting to all of the meetings owned or planned by a particular organization. The dynamic financial data may also be used in generating reports regarding the meeting.  
      A meeting planner begins the process of managing the financial aspects a meeting by creating a budget  50 . A meeting planner generally prepares a budget from the history  38 ( FIG. 1A ) of a past meeting, the present meeting or using data from a similar meeting. A budget consists of two general parts, income  60  and costs  58 , except in cases where a meeting does not generate income  60 . Income  60  consists of funds received from sponsors, attendees, particularly exhibitors and participants, sales, particularly concessions, and interest income.  
      To permit effective management of meeting costs  58 , meeting cost categories are defined which correspond to supplier categories  28 . Meeting costs  58  may be fixed or variable. Fixed meeting costs typically do not change with attendance. Variable meeting costs usually do change with attendance. The present invention is particularly effective for managing variable meeting costs, as is explained herein.  
      The meeting planning system generates a budget  50  based on history  38  ( FIG. 1A ). Since meeting planners often schedule meetings several years in advance, the meeting planning system projects income and costs several years into the future using either a linear or exponential projection and factoring changes in the inflation rate, obtained estimates from financial service companies or financial publications, and trends in attendance from history  38  into the projections.  
      After completing a budget  50  for a meeting, a meeting planner proceeds to gather other financial data including quotes or proposals  52  in order to forecast  54  costs for the various costs categories. Referring to  FIG. 1A , a meeting planner obtains quotes as responses to RFPs  22  sent to venues when selecting a destination  20  and from suppliers  32  when selecting resources required  34  for a meeting. The responses are received or entered into the proposal processing unit or portion of the system, method or computer program product of the present invention. The budget portion of the meeting planning system calculates and displays the variance  56  of the forecast  54  from the budget  50  to identify potential cost overruns or surplus. A meeting planner then adjusts the meeting plans to eliminate the cost overruns or to reallocate surplus if necessary.  
      Once a meeting planner has received the quotes  52  for products and services for a meeting, the meeting planner proceeds to select a destination  20  or select resources required  34  ( FIG. 1 ). Following the selection process the meeting planner places orders with suppliers  32  and begins to incur costs  58 . The meeting planner also begins the registration process  30  then begins to receive income  60 .  
      An owning organization or planning organization may choose to manage costs  58  and income  60  at one of two levels; the meeting level or the event level. Each of these options will now be described and explained in detail. Beginning with the first option, when an organization chooses to manage costs and income at the meeting level, the costs are broken down into the cost categories for the entire meeting. A meeting planner also manages suppliers  32  ( FIG. 1A ) at this level. The same financial information a meeting planner needs to select a destination  20  and select the resources required  34  for a meeting is needed to create a forecast  54 . As a result, the tracking system previously described for managing RFP responses from venues  22  and suppliers  32  also gathers the quotes needed to prepare a forecast  54  and calculate variance  56 . Therefore, when an owning organization or planning organization provides the meeting planning system with the tracking tool for RFP responses  22 ,  32  to its meeting planners, it gives the meeting planners an incentive to use a system that will also gather financial information the organization requires about all the organization&#39;s meetings.  
      The second option an organization may choose for managing costs  58  and income  60  is at the event level which will now be described and explained in detail. When an organization chooses to manage costs  58  and income  60  at the event level, costs  58  and income  60  are broken down into the categories for each event within the meeting. Some of the income  60  collected at the event level comes from sponsoring organizations that sponsor one or more events. Another source of income at the event level is the attendees that register  30  for events  36  for which a fee is charged. As a result, the registration  30  process in the meeting planning system is another tool for meeting planners that collects financial information, in this case income  60  information, for an organization at the event level just as the RFP  22  tracking tool collected cost  58  information for the organization at the meeting level. However, some income  60 , such as registration fees for the meeting as a whole, is not collected at the event level. Therefore, the meeting planning system provides methods to distribute meeting income  60  based on; event attendance, a flat percentage per event, attendance for the day and other means.  
      When a meeting planner manages costs  58  at the event level the meeting planner finds that costs  58 , like income  60 , are differentiated in that they are sometimes incurred at the event level and sometimes at the meeting level. Examples of costs  58  that are typically incurred at the event level are charges for room setup, catering, speakers, and any other resources needed only for a single event. Examples of costs  58  that are typically incurred at the meeting level are charges for meeting room rental, audio visual and equipment rental, destination management services and other services that support more than one event. A meeting planner distributes the costs  58  incurred at the meeting level to the individual events in the meeting planning system based on factors such as attendance, a flat percentage per event, a dollar value per event, or other means. Using one of these factors, distributing meeting level costs  58  to individual events is easy for a meeting planner because the meeting planning system can do the work. However, before the meeting planning system can assign event level costs  58  to individual events, the meeting planner must enter the cost  58  of each item into the meeting planning system, which involves a considerable amount of data entry work since meetings often require a great many items. Therefore, in a preferred embodiment, meeting costs  58  are managed at the meeting level rather than the event level. Alternatively, the meeting planning system provides the ability to track costs  58  at the event level because the additional work used to input costs  58  at the event level enables the planner to track costs  58  for individual suppliers and produce reports for venues and suppliers, referred to as resumes, which a particular planner may require. Often such detailed information is lost year to year as planner responsibilities change. The planner uses the resume for purposes such as proof of signature for authorizing individual event orders and supplies, and to keep a head count for meal functions. Income  60  is tallied to provide a total income at the meeting level and to track income  60  for individual events that are required to be self-supporting. The event level cost  58  and income  60  information later becomes a source of history.  
      After a meeting is complete a meeting planner receives invoices  62  for the actual charges  64  for the products and services provided by the suppliers  32  for the meeting. The meeting planner then reconciles these invoices against the meeting planner&#39;s own records. In general, invoices  62  correspond to the supplier categories  28  and costs categories. Therefore, by entering the actual charges  64  into the meeting planning system, the meeting planning system can readily calculate and display the variance versus forecast  56  for each supplier  32 , as an aid in the reconciliation process. For complex invoices  62  or invoices  62  the meeting planner has trouble reconciling, the meeting planner enters the quotes from RFPs  22  and actual charges  64  for individual products and services into the meeting planning system to calculate variances  56  on an item by item basis. But entering quotes and charges  64  for individual products and services is a laborious process that a meeting planner will want to avoid whenever possible.  
      If a meeting planner chooses, costs  58  and actual charges  64  for each item are broken down into greater detail and entered into the meeting planning system. Examples of cost  58  and actual charge  64  detail are; quantity, unit cost, tax, gratuity, and service charge. The meeting planning system calculates the following: detailed costs  58 , actual charges  64 , extended cost which is quantity times unit price, and total cost which is the sum of extended cost, tax, gratuity, and service charge. Entering detailed cost breakdowns into the meeting planning system is a laborious process that a meeting planner would typically not undertake unless the meeting planner received an electronic data feed from a supplier  32  or venue into the meeting planning system or the meeting planner needed to track a detailed cost  58  such as tax, or gratuity for a particular cost category.  
      Once the meeting planner has entered the actual charges  64  from suppliers  32  into the meeting planning system, the meeting planning system can calculate other variances  66  of interest to the planning organization and owning organization such as the variance versus budget  66  and the variance versus forecast  66  for the cost and income categories and for the meeting as a whole. These variances enable the owning organization to judge the financial success of the meeting and enable the planning organization to judge the financial performance of the meeting planners. This is another example of a tool, in this case the reconciling tool, contained in the meeting planning system that gives the meeting planners the incentive to enter information needed by an organization for other purposes.  
       FIG. 2B  illustrates a sample budget detail interface which displays dynamic budget information in accordance with the present invention. On the budget detail interface, the meeting is identified  230 , by name, number, dates and/or property where the meeting will be held. For a draft budget or forecast  54  ( FIG. 2A ), the property, location and dates may not yet be set for the meeting. In such a case, only a name or number may identify a meeting or hypothetical budgets may be set up for various suppliers or combinations of suppliers.  
      The example of a budget detail interface shown in  FIG. 2B  shows necessary resources divided by the category  234  which particular resource item falls under. Example categories are food &amp; beverage, room rental, audio-visual equipment, amenities and entertainment, room setup, and miscellaneous categories. For each category  234 , the planner can choose a particular supplier  236  for the resource. The user of the system can type in a particular supplier or import a supplier through the tracking system of the present invention to the budget interface. A means is provided on the interface to allow the planner to choose the entered supplier to be chosen for the budget. In the example shown, a select button  238  is shown. In addition, the budget shows a forecasted  240  cost for the particular resource from a particular supplier. As shown in the Food and Beverage line of the budget  232 , when the select button  238  or other means is used, forecasted cost information is also selected for that supplier. The budget also has means to enter the actual cost  242  of a particular resource. When the actual costs are entered, the planner is able to reconcile  246  the actual costs with the forecasted costs. The planner can check off each resource as it is reconciled  246  after the meeting is over or the cost has been paid in full.  
      The planner also has the option of adding notes  244  for each resource. Notes may include information about the supplier, quantities to be ordered or reasons why the actual costs were smaller or larger than the forecasted costs. The notes may assist in the formulation of the budget or as explanations when costs are being reconciled.  
      Once a meeting planner has entered the actual charges  64  from suppliers  32  and income  60  into the meeting planning system, the meeting planning system can consolidate the meeting information  68  with information about other meetings enabling an organization to generate consolidated reports about all the organization&#39;s meetings. Reports are generated by a report generating unit of the meeting planning system, a computer program which instructs a computer to create reports or a method for generating reports.  
      Each of the consolidated reports contains information collected by meeting planners in the course of using the meeting planning system to plan meetings for the meeting planner&#39;s organization. The meeting planning system retains the information collected by the meeting planners to enable the meeting planners&#39; organization to produce the consolidated reports. Referring now to  FIG. 3 , consolidated reports will now be described and explained in detail with reference to  FIG. 1A-2B . Each report provided in the meeting planning system may be filtered, sorted, and customized by meeting planners and other users using report generation tools and technology commercially available for customizing reports and contained in the meeting planning system. The meeting planning system exports the information in each reports in standard formats so the meeting information can be combined with other information and manipulated with other data management tools not contained in the meeting planning system.  
      One report generated from the meeting planning system is meeting history  38 ,  80 . Meeting history  38 ,  80  is tabulated from actual charge data  64 ,  82  income data  60 ,  84  and attendance data  86  from registration  30  ( FIG. 1A ). A meeting planner  88  uses meeting history  38 ,  80  as a guide to project attendance, costs  58  and income  60  for future meetings. Meeting history  38 ,  80  is a valuable tool a meeting planner uses to demonstrate to a venue that the meeting will use the meeting space a meeting planner is requesting. A meeting planner uses meeting history  38 ,  80  to negotiate discounts from venues and suppliers  32  based on the volume of business a venue or supplier expects. A meeting planner uses meeting history  38 ,  80  to negotiate perks such as complimentary guest rooms, office or meeting space, waivers of service fees and other complimentary services from venues and similar perks from other suppliers  32 . A meeting planner uses meeting history  38 ,  80 , particularly attendance information, to promote a meeting to prospective sponsors and exhibitors. A manager  89  uses meeting history  38 ,  80  to project attendance, costs  58  and income  60  for large, individual, recurring meetings such as annual conventions, several years into the future to plan for the required internal and external resources.  
      Another report generated from the meeting planning system is an organization&#39;s meeting spending by supplier  90 . The meeting spending by supplier report  90  totals the actual charges  92  for each venue and/or supplier for all an organization&#39;s meetings over a specific time period such as a year, quarter, month or other defined period of time. A manager  94  uses the meeting spending by supplier report  90  to identify its largest venues and suppliers to aid in selecting preferred suppliers. Consolidating venues and suppliers into a few preferred suppliers enables a manager to negotiate comprehensive contracts that cover all the organization&#39;s business with a supplier. A manager uses the meeting spending by supplier report  90  to negotiate reduced rates with venues and suppliers  32  since the manager now knows the total volume of business the manager&#39;s organization conducts with each supplier  32 . A meeting planner  95  uses the spending by supplier report  90  to negotiate reduced rates with venues and suppliers  32  for individual meetings.  
      Another report generated from the meeting planning system is an organization&#39;s meeting spending by cost category  96 . This meeting spending by cost category report  96  shows the trend in the total actual charges  64 ,  98  for each cost category for all an organization&#39;s meetings over time. Typically the trend in an organization&#39;s meeting charges  64 ,  98  is presented year on year. A manager  100  uses the meeting spending by cost category report  96  to identify cost categories where actual charges  64 ,  98  are growing faster than in other categories so the organization may introduce methods to control actual charges  64 ,  98  in the rapidly growing categories. Once an organization has introduced efforts to control actual charges  64 ,  98  in a category, a manager uses the meeting spending by cost category report  96  to monitor the effectiveness of the organization&#39;s cost control efforts. A manager also uses the meeting spending by cost category report  96  to negotiate preferred pricing with suppliers by showing a supplier the magnitude of the business the supplier will receive as a preferred supplier.  
      Another report generated using the present invention which is similar to the meeting spending by cost category report  96  is a meeting income by income category report  102 . This report shows the trend in income  60 ,  104  for each income category for all an organization&#39;s meetings over time. Typically the trend is presented year on year. A manager  106  uses the meeting income by income category report to identify income categories where income  60  is declining or increasing faster than other categories. An organization may then introduce methods to address the declining income categories or direct more services and resources to the rapidly increasing income categories. A manager uses the meeting income by income category report  102  to monitor the effectiveness of the methods to address the rapidly changing income categories.  
      Another report generated from the meeting management system is a meeting comparison report  108  which compares information about similar meetings or series of meetings. A meeting comparison report tabulates and displays the actual charges  64 ,  110  in costs categories, income  60 ,  112  in income categories and attendance  114  from registration  30 . A meeting comparison report  108  displays actual charges  64 ,  110  and income  60 ,  112  per attendee and per meeting planner. A meeting comparison report  108  enables a manager  116  to determine which meetings are meeting or failing to meet the organization&#39;s financial goals.  
      Another report generated from the meeting management system is a destination cost report  118 . A destination cost report  118  tabulates and displays actual charges  64 ,  120  based on the destinations  20  where an organization holds meetings. A destination cost report  118  tabulates actual charges  64 ,  120  for any collection of meetings such as a series of meetings or all meetings in a particular time period. A manager  122  uses a destination cost report  118  to identify destinations where the organization incurs the largest actual charges  64 ,  120  so the manager can evaluate whether there are other more cost effective destinations the organization can use. A manager  122  also uses a destination cost report  118  to identify meetings that may be relocated to consolidate meetings at a single destination and negotiate lower rates from the suppliers  32  at that destination. A manager  122  views actual charges  64 ,  120  in the destination cost report  118  on a per attendee basis to determine how costs effect attendance or a per meeting planner basis to determine how cost effective the organization&#39;s meeting planners are.  
      Another report generated from the meeting planning system is a destination income report  124 . A destination income report  124  tabulates and displays income  60 ,  126  based on the destinations where an organization holds meetings. A destination income report  124  tabulates income  60 ,  126  for any collection of meetings such as a series of meetings or all meetings in a particular time period. A manager  128  uses a destination income report  124  to identify destinations where the organization obtains the greatest and least incomes  60 ,  126  for consideration in relocating meetings from low income destinations to higher income destinations.  
      A report that is similar to a destination income report  124  generated from the meeting management system is a destination attendance report  130 . A destination attendance report  130  tabulates and displays attendance  132  from registration  30  based on the destinations where an organization holds meetings. A destination attendance report  124  tabulates attendance for collections of meetings such as a series of meetings or all meetings in a particular time period. A manager  134  uses a destination attendance report  124  to identify destinations where the organization obtains the greatest and least attendance for consideration in relocating meetings from low attendance destinations to higher attendance destinations.  
      Another report generated from meeting information is a meeting planner performance report  136 . A meeting planner performance report  136  tabulates attendance  138  trends, income  60 ,  140  and actual charges  64 ,  142  versus budget  50 ,  144  or other information about the meetings planned by a particular meeting planner. A manager  146  in an organization uses a meeting planner performance report  136  to compare a meeting planners meeting financial information to the organization&#39;s objectives, to the meeting planners personal performance objectives or to meeting planner performance reports  136  for other meeting planners. The meeting planner performance report  136  identifies aspects of meeting planning that require greater attention by a particular meeting planner. The meeting planner performance report compares established prices such as list, average, or preferred prices, to each planners actual charges  64 ,  142  as a measure of the valued added by each meeting planner or a meeting planning department as a whole. The meeting planner performance report also identifies aspects of meeting planning where a particular meeting planner is particularly skilled or has developed effective practices that will benefit other meeting planners in the meeting planner&#39;s organization.  
      Two reports required by a meeting planner  156  are a schedule of events  148  and a resume  150 . A schedule of events is a chronological display of the events  152  for a meeting that were entered into the meeting planning system during the process of selecting a destination  20 . A resume is similar to a schedule of events but it is expanded to include set up information and the resources required  34 ,  154  for each event. These two reports enable a meeting planner to organize a meeting. A schedule of events  148  is also provided to attendees while a resume  150  is provided to venues and suppliers.  
      Numerous other report formats may be generated from the meeting planning system to meet the particular needs of a meeting planner or organization. The reports described herein and other reports may be used by managers, planners or others. Some examples are a balance sheet for a meeting, an income statement for a meeting and reports of income or attendance by attendee demographics for a single meeting or collection of meetings. The content and format of these reports will depend on the specific information entered by the meeting planner into the meeting planning system and the particular needs of the user of the report.  
      In the foregoing discussion some of the interrelationships between the various steps in the meeting planning process were described but for the most part, the steps in the meeting planning system were presented as separate processes. In fact, many of the various other steps in the meeting planning process are interrelated. The meeting planning system compiles the information gathered by a meeting planner in the various steps in the meeting planning process enabling the meeting planner to use the information collected in later steps in the meeting planning process. One example from the foregoing discussion is the definition of events  14  that are later used in registration  30 ,  36  and in the process of selecting resources required  34  for a meeting. Some additional examples where the meeting planning system stores information collected in one stage of the meeting planning process that is used in another stage in the meeting planning process will now be described and explained in detail.  
      Online registration enables a meeting planner to transfer the task of entering an attendee&#39;s registration in the meeting planning system. There are several incentives to encourage an attendee to register on line including; a single place for an attendee to register  30  for the meeting, events  36 , housing  40  and air transportation  42  and to pay for these services as a single transaction, the ability of the attendee to easily review and change a registration at a later time, the ability of the attendee to produce a single travel itinerary with all the attendee&#39;s confirmation numbers and the ability of the attendee to generate an expense report for the meeting. If an attendee is associated with a large client of the organization providing the meeting planning system an attendee&#39;s expense report is generated in the format of the attendee&#39;s organization or submitted electronically to the attendee&#39;s organization.  
      In addition to tracking registrations  30  for a meeting, it is desirable for a meeting planner to track registrations for individual events  36 . If a meeting planner knows how many attendees registered for an event  36 , the meeting planner can adjust the room setup, catering order, move an event to a more suitably size room or cancel the event as appropriate. Adjusting the foregoing aspects of an event reduces meeting costs if attendance falls below expectations and improves service to attendees if attendance is above expectations. The meeting planning system tracks and compares registrations for events  36  to expected attendance and alerts a meeting planner if event registrations  36  vary by more than a threshold amount from expected attendance through either a report the meeting planner runs or an warning message. However, an attendee is unlikely to register for events  36 , especially if there are a large number of events to choose from, unless a meeting planner provides an incentive to the attendee. One incentive meeting planners use to encourage registrations for events  36  is to require attendees to register in order to attend, an action that tends to discourage attendance for events  36 . The meeting planning system provides better incentives to encourage an attendee to register for events  36 . The meeting planning system permits an attendee to indicate all the events the attendee wants to attend. Once the attendee selects events the meeting planning system displays any scheduling conflicts between the events the attendee selected and enables the attendee to designate his preferred event for each time period. The attendee&#39;s preferred events are treated as the events the attendee is registered for. Once the attendee has selected preferred events the meeting planning system produces a personalized schedule of the events that the attendee plans to attend including the locations, times and any amenities provided for the event. An attendee may, at any time, produce an updated report that will display any cancellations or other changes in the events the attendee plans to attend. An attendee may also change his event schedule at any time and the change will be reflected in the report of event attendance the meeting planner sees.  
      Often a meeting planner contracts with the host venue to pay a cancellation penalty if the meeting planner cancels the meeting. If a meeting planner must cancel a meeting the meeting planner can post an alert message in the meeting planning system that other meeting planners in the owning organization or planning organization will see alerting other meeting planners to schedule a meeting at the venue during the time scheduled for the original meeting so the owning organization can avoid paying the cancellation fee.  
      The foregoing meeting planning system may be provided by an owning organization, a planning organization, a supplier organization or by a company that owns or operates venues. The meeting planning system enables each of these types of organization to report costs by supplier and supplier category as described in the foregoing discussion. The meeting planning system also enables planning organizations, suppliers and venue companies to report costs and income by customer. A planning organization reports actual charges  64  and income for all meetings it plans for its customers, the owning organizations. A supplier or venue company reports actual charges  64  and income  60  for all meetings it services for its customers, the meeting planners&#39; organizations. The actual charges  64  and income  60  reports available to a planning organization or supplier from the meeting planning system enable the planning organization or supplier to identify its largest and most profitable customers to provide superior service to these valuable customers.  
      The foregoing disclosure is illustrative of the present invention and is not to be construed as limiting thereof. Although one or more embodiments of the invention have been described, persons of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate that numerous modifications could be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the disclosed invention. As such, it should be understood that all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of this invention as defined in the claims. Within the claims, means-plus-function language is intended to cover the structures described in the present application as performing the recited function, and not only structural equivalents but also equivalent structures. The written description and drawings illustrate the present invention and are not to be construed as limited to the specific embodiments disclosed. Modifications to the disclosed embodiments, as well as other embodiments, are included within the scope of the claims. The present invention is defined by the following claims, including equivalents thereof.