Demystifying industry jargon

For anyone new to the industry, or anyone who’s been here for decades but is too embarrassed to ask, “what the heck is a plenary session?”, this one is for you.

Instead of a stuffy glossary, here’s an in-the-wild help sheet of the terms, acronyms and initialisms you’re likely to hear while planning an event, attending one, and following up afterwards. Each comes with a definition, an example, and, where there’s a story, its etymology (the origin of the word). Consider yourself armed and ready for your next meeting.

Buyer

In the wild: “The buyer wants a site visit before signing anything.”
What it means: The person or organisation purchasing event services. It can mean the client, the planner acting for the client, or both, which is why it confuses newcomers.
Where it comes from: Old English bycgan, “to buy.”

DMC (Destination Management Company)

What it means: A local specialist that handles on-the-ground logistics in a destination: transport, venues, excursions, entertainment and supplier contacts.
Where it comes from: Initialism, no deeper origin.
In the wild: “The DMC arranged coaches, a private castle dinner, and a very patient guide.”

Fam trip (familiarisation trip)

What it means: A free or heavily discounted trip that lets planners, agents or press experience a destination or venue first-hand, in the hope they’ll book it.
Where it comes from: “Fam” is a clipping of “familiarisation,” from Latin familiaris, “of a household.”
In the wild: “She came back from the fam trip convinced the resort was perfect for our incentive group.”

Pax

What it means: The number of attendees or people in a group.
Where it comes from: Short for “passengers,” from the travel industry. It’s not related to the Latin word for peace, though that would be nice.
In the wild: “We’re looking at 220 pax for the gala dinner.”

RFP (Request for Proposal)

What it means: A document a buyer sends to hotels, venues or agencies describing the event (dates, attendee numbers, budget, requirements) and inviting them to bid.
Where it comes from: Just an initialism, but “proposal” comes from the Latin proponere, 'to put forth.'

In the wild: "We've sent four RFPs to hotels in the city centre."

Day delegate rate (DDR)

What it means: A fixed per-person price charged by a venue for attendees who aren’t staying overnight. It always includes a food package (typically tea and coffee, lunch and sometimes a mid-afternoon refreshment) and can also include room hire and basic au-io visual equipment. Always check exactly what’s in it, as packages vary a lot between venues.
Where it comes from: “Delegate” comes from the Latin delegare, “to send as a representative”, which is how conference attendees were originally seen: people sent on behalf of an organisation.
In the wild: “Their DDR is £65 including room hire, but screens and microphones are extra.”

Convention Visitor Bureau (CVB)

What it means: A non-profit organisation that promotes a destination and bids to bring business events there. It can be funded by government or local businesses, and its services are free to event planners. It can help you find venues, arrange accommodation, connect you with local suppliers, support legacy projects and act as an impartial local resource.
Where it comes from: “Bureau” is from the French 'bure', a coarse cloth that covered desks, which came to mean the desk, then the office.
Heard in the wild: “Before you shortlist hotels, ring the convention bureau. They’ll do the legwork, and it costs nothing.”

Professional Conference Organiser (PCO)

What it means: Someone whose job is organising conferences. They might work for an agency, freelance, or be employed directly by an organisation (an “in-house PCO”).
Where it comes from: “Conference” is from the Latin conferre, “to bring together”. The “professional” is there to distinguish a dedicated organiser from the colleague who got volunteered.
Heard in the wild: “We’ve appointed a PCO to handle registration and the exhibition, but the programme is staying in-house.”

Conference producer

What it means: The person responsible for researching and designing the content of a conference: themes, session formats, speakers and the overall programme. It’s about what happens in the room, not the logistics of the room, which is where it differs from a PCO.
Where it comes from: “Producer” is from the Latin producere, “to bring forward”. The job title was borrowed from theatre and broadcasting, where a producer shapes the show rather than building the set.
Heard in the wild: “Our producer is still finalising the keynote line-up, so don’t send the programme to print yet.”

First and second option

What it means: A way for a venue to hold dates for you before you sign a contract. If you have first option, nobody else can book the space without the venue contacting you first. If you’re on second option and you’re ready to contract, the venue will notify the first option holder and offer them the chance to confirm. If they release the dates or don’t respond by the deadline, you move up. Holds are typically free but time-limited, so ask when your option expires.
Where it comes from: “Option” is from the Latin optio, “choice”. You’re paying nothing, but you’re buying the right to choose.
Heard in the wild: “We’re on second option for the 14th, but the first option holder has until Friday to confirm.”

Attrition

What it means: The gap between the number of rooms (or catering covers) you contracted for and the number you actually use. Fall short of the agreed threshold and you may pay a penalty.
Where it comes from: Latin attritio, “a rubbing against,” from atterere, “to rub away.” Fitting, since your room block slowly wears down.
In the wild: “Our contract allows 20 per cent attrition, so we’re safe as long as 80 per cent of the block gets booked.”

BEO (Banquet Event Order)

What it means: The venue’s master document for an event, covering setup, timings, menus, AV and staffing. Everyone treats it as the final word.
Where it comes from: Initialism. “Banquet” comes from the Italian banchetto, “little bench,” because early banquets were literally eaten at benches.
In the wild: “It’s not on the BEO, so the kitchen won’t do it.”

Cut-off date (or release date)

What it means: The deadline after which the hotel releases unbooked rooms back to general sale at regular prices.
Where it comes from: From “cutting off” access to the group rate.
In the wild: “The cut-off date is the 15th, so tell your delegates to book now.”

Pick-up

What it means: How many rooms from your block have actually been booked.
Where it comes from: From the verb “pick up,” in the sense of collecting or taking up.
In the wild: “Pick-up is only 60 per cent with two weeks to go, so we need to push registrations.”

RevPAR (Revenue Per Available Room)

What it means: A hotel performance metric: total room revenue divided by the number of available rooms (or average daily rate × occupancy). Planners care because it shows how much leverage they have in negotiations.
Where it comes from: A blend of the initial letters and the word “par,” coined by the hospitality industry. Say it “rev-par.”
In the wild: “RevPAR is up this season, so don’t expect much flexibility on the group rate.”

Room block

What it means: A set of hotel rooms held at a negotiated group rate for event attendees.
Where it comes from: Old French bloc, from Middle Dutch blok, “tree trunk,” then any solid chunk of something.
In the wild: “We reserved a block of 150 rooms for the conference.”

Rooming list

What it means: A list sent to the hotel before the event with guest names, room types, and arrival and departure dates.
Where it comes from: Self-explanatory: a list of who is rooming where.
In the wild: “The rooming list is due Friday, and three speakers still haven’t confirmed.”

Posters

Where you’ll hear it: on the day, especially at academic and medical conferences
What it means: Visual summaries of research or a project, produced by attendees to showcase their work. They’re either printed and displayed on poster boards or shown on screens as electronic posters (e-posters). They’re usually grouped into a poster session or poster area, where delegates browse and talk to the presenters.
Where it comes from: From the verb “to post”, meaning to display something publicly.

Heard in the wild: “Poster boards are in the exhibition hall, and presenters need to be at theirs during the lunch break.”

Breakout

What it means: A smaller session that runs alongside or after the main general session, usually in a separate room.
Where it comes from: The phrasal verb “break out,” meaning to split off from a larger group.
In the wild: “Pick two breakouts this afternoon, and arrive early for the popular ones.”

Keynote

What it means: The headline speech that sets the tone or theme for the whole event.
Where it comes from: Music, where the keynote is the note that establishes the key of a piece.
In the wild: “The keynote was brilliant, but it ran 20 minutes over.”

Plenary

What it means: A session attended by all delegates together, as opposed to breakouts.
Where it comes from: Latin plenus, “full.”
In the wild: “The plenary starts at nine, and the doors close at five past.”

Run of show

What it means: The detailed, minute-by-minute schedule of an event, including cues, speakers and responsibilities.
Where it comes from: Borrowed from theatre and broadcast production, where “run” refers to a production’s performance sequence.
In the wild: “Check the run of show: the CEO is on at 9:42, not 9:45.”