Article Meetings / Events 2 min read

Wednesday Buzz: Don’t Forget to Pay Your Vendors

Here's a simple reminder of the best way to ensure that your vendors continue to work with you. Also: Slack has a message for Microsoft.

Ernie Smith

November 2, 2016

Heads up: this content is over 5 years old, so some information may be out of date.

Want vendors to work with you?

A key way to keep them happy, according to the Event Manager Blog, is to build a reputation for paying on time.

“No one will ever work with a deadbeat, even if the reason for nonpayment was dissatisfaction,” the post states  (opens in a new tab). “Make sure you have a strong contract with expectations laid out. If things go wrong consider that sometimes it is best to pay that person, even if you never work together again, than it is to argue over what you owe and develop a reputation for stiffing vendors.”

It’s part of a list for building your event vendor dream team—which you can read over this way  (opens in a new tab).

Tweet of the Day

That feeling when you think “we should buy a full page in the Times and publish an open letter,” and then you do. 💫 pic.twitter.com/BQiEawRA6d  (opens in a new tab)

— Stewart Butterfield (@stewart) November 2, 2016  (opens in a new tab)

Is Microsoft making Slack nervous? Based on this tweet by Founder Stewart Butterfield, maybe a little bit.

On Wednesday, Microsoft officially released its Slack competitor, Microsoft Teams  (opens in a new tab), which will come baked into Office 365. In anticipation of the launch, Slack put a full-page letter in The New York Times, warning Microsoft that it’s not going anywhere.

“We’re glad you’re going to be helping us define this new product category. We admire many of your achievements and know you’ll be a worthy competitor,” the letter states. “We’re sure you’re going to come up with a couple of new ideas on your own too. And we’ll be right there, ready.”

You can read the full letter over at Slack’s blog  (opens in a new tab).

Other Links of Note

The cofounders of Vine, who sold the company to Twitter before the larger social network released it to the public, are launching a new competitor to Twitter’s own Periscope. TechCrunch has the scoop on Hype  (opens in a new tab).

Facebook may not have the stomach for schemes that analyze social usage patterns. The company quickly shut down an effort  (opens in a new tab) by a U.K. insurer to base discounts on Facebook usage patterns.

Like Instapaper? You might like it a lot more, now that all of its premium features  (opens in a new tab) are free.

(iStock/Thinkstock)

Ernie Smith

Ernie Smith is a former senior editor for Associations Now.