01 Feb 10 Branded Gifts Serve Many Purposes
Branded merchandise is a great addition to incentive travel packages and meeting planning. For those of you who provide meeting planning services to corporate clients, promotional products are a way to increase awareness of your brand, or you can offer products imprinted with your client’s information as an additional service. If you plan meetings and incentive travel for your employer, you can incorporate promo gifts into your planning as pillow gifts, or as functional items to be used during your event.
Here are several examples of branded gifts that can add value to your incentive travel packages or meeting planning services:
• Luggage tags
• Travel wallets or document holders
• Sunglasses
• Beach towels
• Toiletry bags
• Conference folders
• Conference bags
• Stadium blankets
• Laptop bags
• Key chains
• Luxury personal care kits and bath products
• Carry-on luggage
• Golf towels
• Divet tools
• Ball caps
• Sweatshirts, polo shirts or jackets
• Umbrellas
• Travel sewing kits
• Manicure kits
• Shoe shine kits
By gifting one or more of these branded items to your attendees or incentive travel winners, you will enhance their experience, while providing meaningful, useful business gifts that also promote company pride and increase brand awareness. The multiple benefits to you, your clients or employer and your attendees or winners are certainly reason enough to consider including branded gifts in your planning process.
Tags: Ball Caps, Beach Towels, Company Pride, Conference Folders, Divet, Golf Towels, Incentive Travel Packages, Key Chains, Laptop Bags, Luggage Tags, Manicure Kits, Meeting Planning Services, Meetings And Incentive Travel, Pillow Gifts, Polo Shirts, Shoe Shine Kits, Stadium Blankets, Toiletry Bags, Travel Sewing Kits, Travel Wallets
29 Jan 10 Selling Yourself as an Expert in Your Field
At least a little bit of self-promotional and selling yourself as an expert in your field is necessary, regardless of whether you are employed by a corporation, work under a self-employed meeting planner or provide meeting planning services on your own. In any of these situations, it is important that others in the industry begin to know who you are, that your current and potential clients perceive you as topnotch and that you view yourself as a well-versed, professional expert in your field. All of this is part of building your brand, which is important even if you do not own your own company – or at least not yet.
There are plenty of reasons to sell yourself as an expert and build you brand, with the most obvious being that someday you will be going out on your own, seeking a promotion or exploring your options for furthering your career at another firm. If you are already well known in the industry and have already participated in expert-like activities, such as making yourself available for speaking engagements or writing articles for trade publications, each of these transitions will be much smoother, and you will likely find that potential employers or clients will be seeking you out, rather than the other way around.
Tags: Career, Current, Little Bit, Meeting Planner, Meeting Planning Services, Options, Professional Expert, Speaking Engagements, Trade Publications, Transitions
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
18 Jan 10 Tips for Expanding Your Understanding of Cultural Differences and Similarities (Part 2)
There are many ways to broaden your cultural knowledge, understand and appreciate cultural differences and similarities, and incorporate respect for cultural particulars in your meeting planning services.
Here are eight simple, fun ways to expand your multicultural knowledge base:
1. Dine in ethnic restaurants.
2. Research different cultures online.
3. Read books and magazines with cultural focuses that are different than your own.
4. Attend cultural events, such as Greek festivals, Asian art exhibits and Dia de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead) events.
5. Visit museums, monuments and exhibits that pertain to specific cultures.
6. Attend short courses, speaking engagements or seminars regarding cultural diversity or offering interesting information about particular cultures.
7. Get out of the tourist traps when traveling. Every trip you take is an opportunity to explore neighborhoods, markets and attractions that are popular with locals, rather than simply staying in areas that are teeming with tourists.
8. Buy ethnic cookbooks and have fun learning about new foods and cooking methods with your partner or family.
While you may begin this journey in an effort to expand your potential client base and enhance your meeting planning services, you will find that learning about other cultures and trying new foods and activities is also a personally fulfilling endeavor that will help you grow both personally and professionally.
Tags: Art Exhibits, Asian Art, Cooking Methods, Cultural Differences, Cultural Diversity, Day Of The Dead, De Los Muertos, Dia De Los Muertos, Different Cultures, Endeavor, Ethnic Cookbooks, Ethnic Restaurants, Fun Learning, Greek Festivals, Meeting Planning Services, Multicultural Knowledge, Museums Monuments, Particulars, Speaking Engagements, Tourist Traps
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