Conference and Banqueting Management: Strategies and Analysis Report

This report provides an overview of conference and banqueting management, focusing on the key elements required for successful event organization. It begins with an introduction to the industry, highlighting the importance of catering services and market trends in the UK. The report then delves into the specifics of planning a conference, including venue selection, guest profiles, and decorations. It emphasizes the importance of suitable food and beverage choices, menu planning, and different service codes. The report also discusses the key factors for organizing off-site conferences, including objectives, site visits, and venue relevancy. Furthermore, it examines menu planning considerations, such as selecting appropriate dishes based on guest status and the time of the meeting. Ergonomic considerations, including seating arrangements, technology, and ambiance, are also discussed. The report concludes by summarizing the key takeaways, emphasizing the importance of thorough research and analysis in all aspects of conference and banquet management, referencing multiple sources.

CONFERENCE AND BANQUETING MANAGEMENT

Introduction to a conference or banquets
• Service on Plate provides good quality of
foods and beverages in UK market.
• In British Venue Surveys 2016, it has been
predicted that there are more than 1,05,000
conferences and banquets organized in the
UK.
• After the great backup of catering five years
back, customers are preferring catering
services for official meetings and
conferences.
• For eg., when, Service on a plate is
organizing an official business meeting, they
must keep a detailed list of information such
as,
• Venue of the meeting: Wardour Street.
Nearest tube: Piccadilly Circus
• Number of invitees: 100
• Time of the meeting : 11:00 AM to 03:00 PM
• Discussion Topic: Maintaining sustainability
in the tourism industry

CONTD…
• They must go through a detailed
analysis of the profile of the
people attending the meeting.
• Perfect decorations must be
done in the seminar hall
relevant to the purpose.
• An accurate count of the guests
attending should be made so
that food shortage should not
occur.
• Arrangements are to be made
based on the status and
background of the people.

Suitability of food and beverages for a
particular meeting or seminar or banquet
• At first, some snacks such as Hummus
with whole-grain pita bread or low-fat
pretzels will be served to the invitees
during the interval of meeting so that
invitees do not feel bored.
• Good quality beverages should be kept.
Several food codes like buffets, a la
carte etc. are available.
• Staffs will provide perfect serving
codes as applicable to the conference.
• As the meeting will continue until
afternoon, hence, lunch menu would
include items, like, Cheese, Ham, Tuna
Mayo, Beef, Chicken, Vegetarian
Lasagne etc will be served.
• After lunch, some dessert items such as
pies, puddings, various sweets etc. are
served.

Key factors for organizing an off-site
conference or banquets
• Off-site meeting refers to a meeting which includes
development strategies, provide advanced training to the
employees or discussion about promoting an employee.
• It is a type of decision-oriented and strategic extended
conversation. Below given some key points about
organizing an off-site meeting (Howie et al. 2016).
• Objectives: To organize an off-site meeting, staffs have to
know the key objectives of the meeting. Depending on it,
some inspirational message can be written.
• If they have an idea about the equipment needed in the
conference such as presentation screens, projectors,
laptops, stable internet connection etc. then organizing the
meeting will be much helpful.
• Site visit: The staffs from Service on a Plate visit the whole
venue once so as to decide how the decorations and
different arrangements should be made in the venue.
• The dining table during lunch should be decorated so that
the invitees or guests do not get offended (Harvard
Business review, 2015).
• Relevancy of venue with the topic: Repeated analysis
should be done about the venue. Venue should be chosen
which supports the event’s objectives.

Key menu planning considerations for
conference and banqueting events
• As this is an official meeting, the
menu must be selected depending
on the status of the guests attending
the conference depending on time of
meeting.
• During the start of the meeting,
each guest is given table snacks and
tea or coffee or soft drinks
according to preference.
• The meeting table are decorated
with flowers and proper seating
arrangement are made.
• Beside each seat, a glass of water
and a pad are kept so as to note the
key points of the presentation.

CONTD…
• In lunch both vegetarian and
non-vegetarian dishes are kept
(Butlers Service on a Plate,
2018).
• Vegetarian dishes includes
caramelized red onion hummus,
lightly steamed asparagus,
selection of beets roasted in olive
oil and sea salt marinated
jalapeno etc.
• Non-vegetarian dishes includes
Dorset cured meats, coppa,
smoked mutton, air-dried beef,
and pork etc.

Ergonomic considerations for a particular
conference or banquets
• According to Laudon and
Laudon (2016), as it is an official
meeting, the staffs of Service on
a plate must thoroughly analyze
the physiological and
psychological status of the guests
attending the meeting.
• Some high profile persons prefer
welcomes by means of giving
garlands whenever they are
entering in the room.
• Thus such arrangements must
be done to impress the guests.

CONTD…
• Seating arrangements must be
prepared in organized order.
• The high profiled people are provided
special seats. The whole seminar hall
should be air-conditioned.
• No power failure should occur in the
mid of the conference.
• Stable internet connection will be
provided.
• Each chair will be provided with a
glass of water, a paper pad and a pen.
• The seats of the chairman and client's
executives must be in the proper
position so that they can able to
monitor the conference accordingly
(Schwalbe, 2015).

Conclusion
• Thus, Service on a plate is one of the
reputable catering company in UK.
• It has successfully served almost
50,000 conferences in UK.
• Thus while organizing any seminar
or conference, thorough research
must be done in every perspective.
• The venue of event, number of
invitees, time of the conference, likes
& dislikes of the invitees etc. must be
made.
• Psychological and physiological
analysis of the clients should be used
to decorate and serve foods to the
guests.

REFERENCE LIST
• BOOKS
• Bowie, D., Buttle, F., Brookes, M., and Mariussen, A., 2016. Hospitality marketing.
Taylor & Francis.
• Chibili, M., 2017. Modern Hotel Operations Management. Routledge.
• Laudon, K.C., and Laudon, J.P., 2016. Management information system. Pearson
Education India.
• Schwalbe, K., 2015. Information technology project management. Cengage Learning.
• WEBSITE
•
• Butlers Service on a Plate (2018), Preparing freshly
• cooked meals every day, Available at: http://www.thebutlerscromer.co.uk/ accessed on
7 May 2018.
• Harvard Business Review (2015), How to Plan a Team Offsite That Actually Works,
Available at:
• https://hbr.org/2015/06/how-to-plan-a-team-offsite-that-actually-works accessed on 7
May 2018.