10 Sep 09 Doing Your Part for the Economy
It’s been said–and posted on meeting planner blogs all over the internet–that the economy paired with recent government regulations for bailout companies is creating big trouble for meeting planners. Business are canceling meetings and conferences all over the world, and the ones that are not being canceled are being scaled down almost to ineffective levels. What’s a meeting planner to do?
Step One: Help Your Clients
Instead of canceling, make suggestions on how they can change or postpone the meeting. Also support them. Meetings are not going to hurt companies. They help them, and you need to be vocal about this–not only to companies but to the public. Let everyone know that meetings bring in money to local economies, and they also help the company on many different levels.
Step Two: Be Proactive
Long before your clients cancel a meeting, call them and compliment them on their decisions to continue the meeting. Send them emails with evidence of how meetings help companies. Get them charts, graphs, and testimonials on why their plans are good and you may prevent a problem down the road.
Step Three: Show Results
After a meeting, help your client measure the ROI of each meeting. Help her see the change for the better, and if the results are stellar get the press involved. Write a press release about it, which will get your name in front of the public as well.
Tags: Bailout, Big Business, Big Trouble, Cancel, Conferences, Decisions, Government Regulations, Graphs, Internet Economy, Meeting Planner, Meeting Planners, Money, Press Release, Proactive, Roi, Testimonials
21 Aug 09 Take Advantage of Federal Guidelines for Bailout Companies to Increase Your Value
As a business meeting and event planner, you are constantly searching for ideas to add value to your services. Recently the federal government published guidelines to the businesses receiving bailout dollars. These guidelines can in fact aid you to be a preferred planner.
The boards of directors of corporations getting cruicial relief from the government have to adopt a company-wide policy on any outlays linked to air travel services, entertainment and holiday parties, and conferences and events. This policy is not aimed to include justifiable outlays for sales conferences, human resources development, unexcessive performance incentives and other controls attached to a firm’s ordinary business operations. What does this mean? Here are a couple of the stipulations and ways you can employ them to cause your client’s businesses seem golden even if they are planning incentive travel. (more…)
Tags: Air Travel Services, Bailout, Boards Of Directors, Business Meeting, Business Operations, Conferences, Corporations, Event Planner, Federal Government, Holiday Parties, Human Resources Development, Incentive Rewards, Incentive Travel, Loyalty, Neighborhood, Outlays, Performance Incentives, Regard, Stipulations, Target, Travel Rewards
06 Aug 09 Fourth Quarter Play Strategies–Conferences
Even though the recession brought the bailouts, which in turn brought scrutiny into meetings and conferences, emerging from the economic downturn does not guarantee that the meeting business will spring back. However, the hardships don’t not guarantee that it will stay in the toilet, either.
Fourth Quarter Cautions
Conference and business meeting planners may see a slight uptick in business with no real surge simply because companies are concerned about their images. There are articles all over–including blog posts here–about the idea of image and spending. The flip side of that is this: meetings are important to education, motivation, and technology sharing. You can be prepared for reluctant spending by having lots of alternatives to lavish accommodations, high-tech meeting environments, and expensive dinners with high-priced keynote speakers. (more…)
Tags: Bailout, Behinds, Business Meeting, Economic Downturn, Education Motivation, Flip Side, Fourth Quarter, Goldman Sachs, Hardships, Incentive Travel, Keynote Speakers, Last Quarter, Lavish Accommodations, Meeting Planners, Property Owners, Recession, Scrutiny, Strict Rules, Uptick, Warrants
23 Jul 09 Doing Your Part for the Economy–Stay a Planner!
With meetings being canceled left and right and critics pointing fingers everywhere but at themselves, it’s hard to justify sticking with it. Planners in every field are suffering, including festival and wedding planners. The world is a hotbed of anxiety and judgmental voices seem to take up residence in everyone’s head these days.
However, if you are a meeting planner who wants to make a difference, the best thing you can do is stay where you are and help our industry regain its rightful place in the business world. There are some things you can do to motivate yourself to stay with it through the tough times. (more…)
Tags: Admiration, Anxiety, Bailout, Business World, Employee Education, Employee Retention, Government Expectations, Help Companies, Hotbed, Meeting Planner, Pointing Fingers, Positive Image, Productivity, Special Offers, Successful Relationships, Tough Times, Transparency, Voices, Web Conference, Wedding Planners
14 Jul 09 How the Travel Promotion Act Will Help Meeting Planners
Although government guidelines for bailout companies have hurt the travel industry in many ways, the recent (June, 2009), bill S. 1023 holds promise that there will be help in the offing for the travel industry in general. This will eventually hit the meeting planner market. Here is how it will work.
The Act will contribute $425 million towards reducing the United States budget deficit over a decade’s time. It will increase jobs, stimulate the economy, and add to our tourism reputation. How much will it cost U.S. taxpayers? Zero.
S. 1023 will be paid for by a combination of contributions from private sources, plus a $10 charge for all foreign non-visa travelers to the U.S. Despite the challenges of an ongoing conflict between Republicans and Democrats, this bill has been popular in both camps. (more…)
Tags: Bailout, Conflict, Decade, Dollars Each Year, Foreign Travel, Government Guidelines, Meeting Planner, Meeting Planners, Partnerships, Private Sources, Promotion Act, Republicans And Democrats, Reputation, Taxpayers, Thousands Of New Jobs, Travel Industry, Travel Planners, Travel Promotion, United States Budget, United States Budget Deficit
07 Jul 09 In Support of Meetings
It may sound like a self-interest broken record, but meetings are good for the economy despite what many may think. The next time someone maligns your line of work as a meeting planner and tells you meetings are a waste of taxpayer’s money (in the case of bailout companies), here are some arguments in your favor.
“I’m helping local communities.”
When a meeting comes to town, money is spent. It may not be evident right away, but there is more changing hands than the money you as a planner dole out for meeting space, hotels, and details. The participants will visit local restaurants, they will shop, they buy souvenirs, they leave tips, they go on short expeditions within the town–all this an more contributes to the local economy. (more…)
Tags: Bailout, Changing Hands, Ears, Economy, Event Planner, Expeditions, Government Efforts, Government Guidelines, Helping The Environment, Local Restaurants, Lots Of Money, Meeting Planner, Meeting Time, No Doubt, Participants, Planners, Public Image, Real Estate, Self Interest, Souvenirs
Advertisement
Corporate Meeting Planner Resources
- What Makes Travel Events and Meetings Amazing?The act of hosting a meeting in an exclusive or interesting location can be made more impressive with a little planning or can be ruined as a gesture with carelessness. Here is what you need to think about in order to keep your travel events purely amazing: Events – Going to an exotic destination and failing [...] […]
- Best Plan for Meetings at SeaPlanning a meeting at sea is not as difficult or as different as it might sound on the surface but there are still a few key differences to be aware of. Some of the best meeting planners keep the following advice in mind: Equipment and space for equipment is at a premium – It might be [...] […]
- Factors to Consider When Shopping For a Cruise EventAnyone planning on hosting a cruise event should certainly check to see which cruise companies can get the job done at the best price, but there is often more to consider than just the bottom line. In fact, some customers that have not given a lot of thought to the logistics and organizational side of [...] […]