Transparency of commissions, lack of information and being involved too late in the process are the main ‘irritations’ in the relationships between professional conference organisers (PCOs), venues and convention bureaus.

A workshop session at the annual conference of the Association of British Professional Conference Organisers (ABPCO) saw the three groups thrash out what caused the most friction. Venues were criticised for hidden costs, lack of free Wi-Fi, insisting on in-house suppliers and automatic release of provisional space by PCOs; while convention bureaus were singled out for inappropriate contact with clients and membership fees.

Visit Manchester’s head of business tourism Steven Small remarked upon the increasing likelihood of convention bureaus being private/public models and the tensions that created in terms of being seen as “a public cash cow” for subventions to attract organisers; as well as the need for transparency in commissions given they were seen as a "free service".

PCOs were criticised for failing to give enough information at the beginning of the process and requiring fast tenders and then giving slow responses, while lack of transparency with commissions was a bugbear across all three sectors.

Ultimately the issue came down to clear communication, said MCI’s Jennifer Jenkins. She added: “I think the commission issue will be solved by the client. I think clients will demand transparency across their event and we can stop having that awkward conversation.”