CROWN POINT | Bob Becker knows how to save money planning conferences, because his first exposure to it was ferreting waste at one.

Becker, the owner of Meeting Planners in Crown Point, was asked to analyze the expenses of a large Medical Users Software Exchange conference that lost about $20,000 over four days.

"The goal of any conference is to break even," he said. "This one group lost a ton of money. I was told to try to find out why. It really led me into meeting planning."

Becker discovered a variety of mistakes by the group, including waiting too long to secure accommodations, forcing the group to pay premiums at a hotel already booked.

"They rented cars for four days and left them in the garage most of the time," he said. "I learned there is also a need to collaborate. It's just like anything else. If you go to a hotel and they don't know you from Adam, you are a fish out of water if things go wrong."

If an organization is planning multiple conferences or events, it can enter into a larger-scale contract with a hotel or other service.

"If something goes wrong, they want to work with you because they know you have a more conferences coming," Becker said. "It turns out I made really good deals by working with larger economies of scale."

With success in that audit, Becker planned MUSE's annual conference, with up to 2,000 attendees and a $2 million budget, for 12 years, including seven years as treasurer of the group.

He also planned eight to 10 smaller conferences for MUSE with budgets of about $350,000 each.

Becker, who launched Meeting Planners last July, is marketing his services in Northwest Indiana and Lafayette, where he has additional business ties.

"I'm finding associations and companies that might want to do incentive meetings, sales reward meetings," he said. "I have a background doing meetings all over the country and in Canada."

The company's motto is: "A successful event exceeds attendees' expectations."

"A lot of people have never traveled or gone to these things," Becker said. "You want make sure it is a good experience with a good hotel and a successful meeting."

That includes every detail, from spelling all names correctly to providing the right food and other amenities.

"Non-profits can't pay people, so you have to find different ways to reward people -- arrange for a unique dinner cruise on the Vancouver Bay or something like that," Becker said.

Before retiring to start Meeting Planners, Becker worked as information services director at St. Alexius Medical Center in Hoffman Estates for two and a half years, Sinai Health System in Chicago for 12 years and Elkhart General Healthcare System in Elkhart for two and a half years.