With the down economy leading to reduced attendance at shows across the industry, many organizers are going back to their hotel partners to renegotiate room rates and blocks. So what's the best way to broach the subject? EXPO checked in with a few industry vets to find out how to strike the best deal for both parties.

Do your homework. Before going back to your hotel contacts, it helps to be prepared, says Bonnie Stephenson, CMP, Director of Conference Events, for the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America, which produces the Golf Industry Show. Arm yourself with attendance data from your last couple of events and compare them with your expectations for this year.

Mention the competition. Get quotes from other area hotels to take to your contracted hotels and ask what they can do to help you follow through with your room block. "When the economy turned, I said, 'Here's what other similar hotels are offering. Can you match it?'" says Sue Frias, Trade Show Director for the Building Industry Association of Southern California. "When you signed a contract three years ago, things were different. Now that the economy has tanked, you have to go back and see what they can do. I've gone back to all of my vendors this year."

Stephenson used the same tactic. "I don't have attrition in my contracts, but I told the hotels I wanted to get heads in their beds," she says. "Area hotels are very sensitive to each other's rates. When their competitors dropped their rates, I simply explained that our numbers were down and we needed the rates changed to get people in their hotels instead of their competitors', and all of them came down on their rates."

Work together. Remember that hotels are hurting because of the economy, too. "I wanted to be fair to them because I know they're suffering as much as we are," Stephenson says. "We both wanted to get people in their rooms." The best approach is to work as a team to create a plan that works for both parties. "It's not strongarm tactics; it's just the economy," Frias says. "My philosophy is that it never hurts to ask."

Find a compromise. If your hotels won't budge on rates, ask about other areas where there might be more room to negotiate, such as providing your attendees with free Internet or continental breakfast.