Contract and Negotiation Specialist

Overview Contracting and negotiation are crucial—yet complex—roles for meeting professionals. Understanding legal terminology and common contract clauses (and the liabilities they protect against) allows meeting professionals to negotiate from a position of strength. You’ll acquire that strength through MPI’s Contract & Negotiation Specialist Certificate Program.

You’ll also gain knowledge of contract law and negotiation tactics that enable meeting professionals to protect the interests of their organizations. And with knowledge comes power, especially when it comes to legal matters. Negotiating contracts involves managing financial and liability risks and protecting your business, particularly when considering the performance clauses (attrition and cancellation) that are standard in most venue contracts.

No contracts are the same; words and phrasing vary and need to be carefully reviewed and edited. Sometimes, additional clauses must be added to balance the risk and liability between parties. And what of force majeure, indemnification and the host of clauses that deal with issues that range from nuisances to calamities, such as construction and remodeling and incompatible groups? It’s said the only right answer in the law is “it depends.”

This certificate program will illustrate legal principles with examples from the news, the instructor and your peers. Bring success and horror stories to share with other participants, enhance your legal knowledge and fulfill your role to negotiate contracts that protect your organization from the financial and liability risks associated with your meetings and events.

After completing the Contract and Negotiations Certificate Program, you'll gain the skills to interpret, modify, and negotiate venue contracts to minimize risk and achieve mutually beneficial outcomes.

• Explain the purpose of the primary contract clauses found in venue contracts.
• Identify stakeholders in communication and collaboration for meeting and event emergency preparedness.
• Give examples of how contract language may result in financial or liability risk.
• Prioritize issues for negotiation, determining “hot buttons” based on your meeting specifications.
• Modify venue contracts based on knowledge of meetings contracts, specifications, market conditions.
• Distinguish between contract language that is merely unfavorable and puts a party at significant financial or liability risk.
• Negotiate key performance and liability clauses so the outcome is multiple options and not just a win-lose scenario.