Why do professors insist upon assigning projects that require getting quotes from real companies for fake events? I have one I'm just finishing that requires quoting an entire conference. I'm sure Phoenix conference centers, hotels, caterers, rental companies, ect are thrilled over this.
Fake Events
- Thread starterLavaASU
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alyx92
Active Member
Are you asking the companies under the guise of a real gig or do you say something like, "I'm doing a project and was wonding bla bla...." If you're outright with them about what you're doing I don't think any company would have a problem getting you quotes. Although if you're doing a fake gig maybe they'd get a little miffed.
Honestly, I have quoted enough real events in the last couple of years (gotta love university and charity events, they change 20 times and require 3+ bids every time) to have the numbers I need, so I used those. I'm betting most of the class just called and pretended it was real though (thats what we were encouraged to do).
Les
Well-Known Member
As someone who gives quotes, I'd certainly be a little peeved by that. Heck, I feel bad when I've called rental companies for quotes so we can bid the right amount and end up not getting the gig after all.
Fact is, I could be working with real clients or maybe going to lunch on time. I can understand the need for getting experience with communicating with these companies and learning the process, but as alyx92 mentioned, honesty is the best policy. Learning at the expense of other people's time is not a very courteous way of accomplishing that. Nothing against the students, of course. I just think that if it's going to be a hypothetical gig, there needs to be a hypothetical call with hypothetical prices.
Maybe one way that could be accomplished would be giving students three different spreadsheets of fake rental companies (X, Y and Z) -- each with different rates, inventories, and terms. Let them spec the package from that. Any professors listening?
I keep a CRM of different clients and potentials - basically anyone I reach out to or who reaches out to me (which I'd prefer to not be cluttered with fakes). Students would hate me because I do follow up and ask how things are going, what's on the horizon, etc.
Then again, some of those students may like you and decide to build a relationship once they enter the workforce... Slippery slope.
Fact is, I could be working with real clients or maybe going to lunch on time. I can understand the need for getting experience with communicating with these companies and learning the process, but as alyx92 mentioned, honesty is the best policy. Learning at the expense of other people's time is not a very courteous way of accomplishing that. Nothing against the students, of course. I just think that if it's going to be a hypothetical gig, there needs to be a hypothetical call with hypothetical prices.
Maybe one way that could be accomplished would be giving students three different spreadsheets of fake rental companies (X, Y and Z) -- each with different rates, inventories, and terms. Let them spec the package from that. Any professors listening?
I keep a CRM of different clients and potentials - basically anyone I reach out to or who reaches out to me (which I'd prefer to not be cluttered with fakes). Students would hate me because I do follow up and ask how things are going, what's on the horizon, etc.
Then again, some of those students may like you and decide to build a relationship once they enter the workforce... Slippery slope.
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techieman33
Well-Known Member
As someone who gives quotes, I'd certainly be a little peeved by that. Heck, I feel bad when I've called rental companies for quotes so we can bid the right amount and end up not getting the gig after all.
Fact is, I could be working with real clients or maybe going to lunch on time. I can understand the need for getting experience with communicating with these companies and learning the process, but as alyx92 mentioned, honesty is the best policy. Learning at the expense of other people's time is not a very courteous way of accomplishing that. Nothing against the students, of course. I just think that if it's going to be a hypothetical gig, there needs to be a hypothetical call with hypothetical prices.
Maybe one way that could be accomplished would be giving students three different spreadsheets of fake rental companies (X, Y and Z) -- each with different rates, inventories, and terms. Let them spec the package from that. Any professors listening?
I keep a CRM of different clients and potentials (which I'd prefer to not be cluttered with fakes). Students would hate me because I do follow up and ask how things are going, what's on the horizon, etc.
Then again, some of those students may like you and decide to build a relationship once they enter the workforce... Slippery slope.
Agreed, I understand the need for the experience, but there has to be a better way to do it then pretending to get quotes for a real gig. I wouldn't have a problem with them calling and saying it was a school project. Then I could find an available time and schedule them to call back.
If I were teaching this class, I would call a few local companies and venues and explain that I would be doing a project with my class and request that they provide a list of "retail" prices for their inventory/venue, policies, ect for the class to use. That way the class could use realish prices without 100 students hounding companies and either telling them it is real or telling them it's a class project and half of them getting blown off because no one has time for someone's class project (unless they know them, in which case they are probably like me and already know close enough numbers for a fake event!).
I do feel bad too when a company spends lots of time doing proposals for an event and the event gets cancelled/scaled way back. But that is just the nature of events and at least there was potential for them to get $$$.
If I actually had to get quotes for this I would have told them it was for a class project, but I also know companies because I rent from them for real gigs, so they would have been fine to give me a quick number (without worrying about inventory or cross rentals or anything).
I do feel bad too when a company spends lots of time doing proposals for an event and the event gets cancelled/scaled way back. But that is just the nature of events and at least there was potential for them to get $$$.
If I actually had to get quotes for this I would have told them it was for a class project, but I also know companies because I rent from them for real gigs, so they would have been fine to give me a quick number (without worrying about inventory or cross rentals or anything).
We had to do this in college as well. Everyone I called I told them what the story was, where I was going to school, etc. There is a flipside to this that they guys I called actually like... it introduces the sales guys to new customers. I remember calling one company and getting blown off. However, Grandstage, ILC, and Chicago Spolight all took my call. Long story short, when it came to renting stuff when I had real budgets I did not call the company that hung up on me. I would be real straight with the sales person. Worst things that happens is they laugh at you. Best thing that happens is you learn a little more about a new vendor. Now I would probably do this all by email and be short and sweet about it. Bullet point what you need and have them fire it back to ya quick and dirty.
I hope that wasn't me.
I think it's presumptuous for an instructor to request legit info. At least let the students accept info from past events and cobble prices together from that.
I contacted a rental shop just last week on behalf of a client to get a rental estimate for reference (i.e, not for a scheduled event). They didn't have what I needed but used their internal formula to determine what my client should expect to spend. That was a ROM estimate (rough order of magnitude). When you contact a company for a project like this, specifically ask for that kind of estimate. It'll be close enough for what you need it for as well as close enough for what the rental company needs it for (which is to not be held liable for a very rough estimate that may be underbid).
Whatever the reason for soliciting a quote, tell the truth. It's a small industry -- if you lie, they'll likely find out. We're a contracting/consulting firm, and it's rare a job walks into our shop that we can't connect to existing relationships with clients, collaborators, architects, institutions, reps, or friends. A rental estimate for a fake conference walks in the door and it won't take long to figure out.
I know you're wrapping up your project, but this post is aimed at people in your position on the front end of the project.
The client/contractor relationship is a precious one. You'll want to be honest with whoever you call so they'll always be honest with you. It may result in a "We don't have time for this, Sorry." More than likely, if you call three places, at least one or two will be able to look at what you're asking for and give a general, educated guess of an estimate.
If you solicit an estimate under the guise of a real project, they'll spend much more time on it getting accurate numbers because they don't want to underbid the job in the event they get it. The more time they spend on it thinking it's a real project needing real numbers, the more likely you are to seriously offend them if/when they find out it's a hypothetical event.
If you tell the truth, they'll spend just enough time to get you a ballpark number. Offer to buy them lunch and you may even get a really interesting conversation out of them about what their line of work is like.
Don't look poorly on anyone who doesn't have time for you with this type of request. We've had to hire three more guys recently because business is booming. Barely have enough company-wide man-hours in a week for all of our jobs that are paying for our time. We're still likely to make time for other things, but we certainly would want to avoid spending 20 hours on a project we could've done in 2 if we had known it was theoretical.
Whatever the reason for soliciting a quote, tell the truth. It's a small industry -- if you lie, they'll likely find out. We're a contracting/consulting firm, and it's rare a job walks into our shop that we can't connect to existing relationships with clients, collaborators, architects, institutions, reps, or friends. A rental estimate for a fake conference walks in the door and it won't take long to figure out.
I know you're wrapping up your project, but this post is aimed at people in your position on the front end of the project.
The client/contractor relationship is a precious one. You'll want to be honest with whoever you call so they'll always be honest with you. It may result in a "We don't have time for this, Sorry." More than likely, if you call three places, at least one or two will be able to look at what you're asking for and give a general, educated guess of an estimate.
If you solicit an estimate under the guise of a real project, they'll spend much more time on it getting accurate numbers because they don't want to underbid the job in the event they get it. The more time they spend on it thinking it's a real project needing real numbers, the more likely you are to seriously offend them if/when they find out it's a hypothetical event.
If you tell the truth, they'll spend just enough time to get you a ballpark number. Offer to buy them lunch and you may even get a really interesting conversation out of them about what their line of work is like.
Don't look poorly on anyone who doesn't have time for you with this type of request. We've had to hire three more guys recently because business is booming. Barely have enough company-wide man-hours in a week for all of our jobs that are paying for our time. We're still likely to make time for other things, but we certainly would want to avoid spending 20 hours on a project we could've done in 2 if we had known it was theoretical.
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