09 Jul 10 The Value of Great Gifts
Businesses often find that offering affordable trinkets as incentives makes participation at meetings and events more personal. Furthermore, the trinkets and gifts often prove to be tangible reminders of the relationship between the participant and host, but that means that there is a potential for both good and bad gifts to make an impression. Here is how to decide which kind of gift or trinket you need to consider:
Saving is good, but too much of a good thing is a bad thing – It is important to stay on a budget, especially for a company looking to enhance their bottom line. It is also possible to be too frugal, and that can ruin the investment in the meeting or event itself while still costing money.
Branding – If a company buys trinkets and wants recipients to know where they came from in a year, then they need to associate that item/trinket with the brand. This is easily done with simply adding a logo, which is rarely expensive.
Buy in bulk – It might be intimidating to look at pricing for branded or even non-branded trinkets until you discover that bulk prices are available for almost everything.
Needs and appropriate gifts – Choose gifts that will be appreciated. A USB key might be great for a meeting of staff accountants, but the IT gurus probably have more USB devices than they need and are unlikely to appreciate anything but the most high-tech of gizmos.
Tags: Bottom Line, Budget, Buy In Bulk, Gizmos, Great Gifts, Gurus, Incentives, Investment, Meetings And Events, Money, Participant, Participation, Personal Gifts, Relationship, Staff Accountants, Tangible Reminders, Trinket, Trinkets, Usb Devices, Usb Key
06 Jul 10 How to Plan Travel Incentives
Travel incentives can be one of the most difficult things to plan for employees, employers, customers, and even employers. Here are some easy to follow tips for planning travel incentives:
All inclusive travel incentives such as an incentive cruise are easy to budget, but they may not be very personal. Travel incentives are only incentives when they are remembered and thought of fondly. An additional excursion or bonus gift can be the difference between a trip that is remembered and appreciated for years, and one that bores the recipient(s) to tears.
Not everyone gets to go on any excursion, so make some criteria. Do not randomly or purposely assign people to go on trips unless there is a reason. Instead, allow multiple people or parties to compete for the privilege of traveling on the company dime. Those that do not get to go should be thanked for their effort and it might be worth planning a secondary incentive in order for those that tried to earn a trip on the company dime to feel appreciated.
All inclusive travel may or may not be tax deductible, so check with a qualified accountant for further details. In some cases, it might be possible to add business-related events such as meetings to a trip in order for it to qualify for a tax deduction.
Tags: Bonus Gift, Budget, Company Dime, Excursion, Incentive Cruise, People, Personal Travel, Planning Travel, Privilege, Qualified Accountant, Related Events, Tax Deduction, Travel Incentives
03 Feb 10 How to Hire the Perfect Keynote Speaker
The success of your meeting or event could hinge on how good your keynote speaker is. Meeting and event planners need to have a good plan for finding great keynote speakers. Here are some tips:
- Establish the date, location and budget of your event. These factors will play an important role in determining the pool of keynote speakers available to you. Your date, for example, will affect which keynote speakers are available, whereas your budget will limit whom you can and can’t afford to hire. In order to save on the cost of the keynote speaker’s travel, you may want to consider the distance between where he or she resides and where your event will take place.
- Determine the type of presentation you want and the time of day when it will take place. Some speakers are skilled at delivering workshops, while others excel at providing keynotes. After-dinner speakers should incorporate humor into their talks, where morning speakers should be energizing. (more…)
Tags: Audience, Budget, Change Effort, Decision Makers, Demographic Group, Demographics, Desire, Dinner Speakers, Event Planners, Humor, Keynote Speaker, Keynote Speakers, Keynotes, Morning Speakers, Pool, Rsquo, Success, Tap, Time Of Day, Travel
25 Jan 10 Adding Unique Additions to Your Meeting Planning Services
Every meeting planner needs a niche. While you are sure to continue getting clients when offering generic meeting planning services, finding a niche or offering something a little different to your clients is the best way to really make a name for yourself and stand out from the masses of meeting planners in the industry.
You may choose to cater to a specific type of corporate clients, to become well-known as a green meeting planner, become famous for your ability to plan exceptional international meetings or become the go-to planner for companies looking for exceptional quality on a budget. Whichever type of niche you choose, specializing is a great way to make your job easier, focus on work that you truly enjoy and increase awareness of your meeting planning services.
When it comes to adding special services to your meeting planning, it could be as simple as offering something inexpensive and easy to organize, such as an opening meditation with a meditation instructor. Meditation instructors are easy to find in just about any meeting destination and can help meeting attendees center themselves before getting down to business.
This is a great way to assist attendees in setting aside outside stresses and refraining from thinking about everything else going on in their lives so that they can focus on the task at hand. This will also improve productivity during the meeting, which will please your client, make the event memorable and make you look even more effective as a planner.
Tags: Additions, Attendees, Budget, Corporate Clients, Focus, Getting Down To Business, International Meetings, Job, Meditation Instructor, Meeting Planner, Meeting Planners, Meeting Planning Services, Niche, Opening Meditation, Organize, Productivity, Stresses
22 Jan 10 Serve Your Clients Better by Taking Care of Yourself and Your Staff
Providing absolutely stellar meeting planning services is your main goal, as it should be. That is the only way to keep your clients coming back for more and to encourage satisfied clients to refer others to you for your services. You read the trade mags, attend seminars, stay up-to-date on the latest industry news and constantly seek out new, innovative ways to wow your clients and continuously upgrade the meeting planning services you provide.
All of these things are essential to your success; however, all of the knowledge and new ideas in the world will not help your company reach its full potential if you and your staff are overworked, tired and on the brink of burnout.
Here are four things you can do to take care of yourself and your staff, which will result in happier workers and happier clients:
1. Reward yourself and your staff by implementing incentive travel programs.
2. Treat yourself and your staff to a day at the spa once a year, once a month or as often as your budget will allow.
3. During staff check-ins, don’t just ask about which deadlines have been met. Also ask how they are doing with their workload and stay updated on non-work goings-on that might influence their work-life balance.
4. While your staff might be small, company-hosted family picnics or outings are still a fun, effective way to let off steam and create a family-friendly work atmosphere.
Tags: Brink, Budget, Burnout, Family Picnics, Incentive Travel Programs, Ins, Knowledge, Latest Industry News, Main Goal, Meeting Planning Services, Rsquo, Seminars, Spa, Staff Check, Steam, Success, Work Atmosphere, Work Life Balance, Workload, Wow
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