18 Aug 10 Planning Meetings Abroad
Planning large scale international gatherings/meetings is complicated, but the fact that they are held abroad makes them even more complex. Here are some tips for planning the perfect meeting abroad:
- Start planning early – Planning early is the best way to get everything ready and prepared properly. Be sure to look around online forums and search engines to see if the venue(s) and/or hotel(s) being considered are reputable. Remember that reputable might mean different things to different people, and some countries allow establishments to rate themselves in terms of stars. Consider an all inclusive cruise meeting. Cruising to foreign ports is a great way to save money and still offer a fabulous itinerary.
- Passports and visas – Some countries have very laid back standards for entry, while others have very strict rules that are dutifully enforced. Know the rules of the country you plan on visiting and follow them fastidiously.
- Start slow – Jet lag is unpredictable, and thus it is best not to put critical meetings at the break of dawn on the very first day. Instead, schedule mixers and other light events on the first day and let the second day start a little slow.
- Book early – Let participants know what to expect in terms of jet lag, and suggest that people be on the ground and ready a day early. A few early bird cocktail mixers or other events could be held for these people, but remember the previous tip.
- Guides – A good host will prepare guides for their guests. Include basic language and custom tips when appropriate as well as a list of important numbers.
Tags: Basic Language, Break Of Dawn, Cocktail Mixers, Different Things, Early Bird, Establishments, Important Numbers, International Gatherings, Itinerary, Jet Lag, Laid Back, Online Forums, Participants, Passports, Ports, Search Engines, Strict Rules, Tip Guides, Venue, Visas
16 Aug 10 How to Choose a Venue for Your Next Big Event
Planning your next big event almost always involves picking a venue near the beginning of the process. With so many different venues, there must be an easy logic flow for determining how to pick the venue for your next big event. Try this logic flow:
- Size counts – Venues that are too small are not worth looking into and venues that are too large will look empty and deserted if unfilled. Determine a reasonable number of participants and use that as the basis for a venue.
- Look for deals – The number one reason why many people do not attend events and/or seminars is that they feel it is too expensive. If a deal can be arranged that includes the event and meals/accommodations, participation generally increases. Hotels often have large meeting facilities and/or deals with local meeting halls/convention centers and many such centers have deals with reputable hotels.
- Themes and art are important – If your event has some sort of theme, then assign additional importance to venues that work well with that theme over money if it is feasible. A seminar about online art and graphics design would be ideally located in a venue with an artistic theme, and perhaps offer all-inclusive stay options at an art-deco themed hotel or another hotel with a noteworthy sense of style.
Tags: Artistic Theme, Event Planning, Graphics Design, Hotels, Logic Flow, Meeting Facilities, Money, Participants, Participation, Seminars, Venue
12 Jul 10 Choosing Destinations
When it is time to plan a meeting, there are plenty of possibilities. The brochures and promotional materials make sound arguments in favor of many different venues, but ultimately a single venue must be selected for a single event. Here are some ideas to help you effectively reduce the number of options being seriously considered:
• To go all the way or not – If you are too busy to plan every little detail, look for all-inclusive options that handle some or all of the planning for you. This can lead to significant time savings and surprisingly, as well as a tangible amount of money saved.
• Local or long distance – There are both local venues and venues in other cities. If all the participants are from your city, then a local venue might make sense unless travel and attendance is to be considered a perk. If customers are the focus of the meeting/event, then go where they are.
• By land or by sea – Do not discount cruise ships as venues for meetings and events. In fact, cruise ships make amazing destinations for many different kinds of events. Remember that cruise events are more appropriate for certain audiences and companies than other.
• Consider price – Price is important, but that makes apples to apples comparisons difficult.
Tags: Amount Of Money, Apples To Apples, Attendance, Audiences, Brochures, Cruise Events, Cruise Ships, Different Kinds, Discount Cruise, Long Distance, Meetings And Events, Might Make Sense, Participants, Possibilities, Promotional Materials, Significant Time, Sound Arguments, Time Savings, Venue
21 Jun 10 Great Reasons to Hold Cruise Events
The truth is that just about everyone wants to go on a cruise at one point in time, but it is becoming increasingly difficult to do that with the mounting pressures of work and family. Luckily there are cruise events that can be held for nearly any reason, and those events could prove to be irresistible to anyone who has ever wanted to sail away from their problems. Here are *** great reasons to hold a your next even on a cruise ship:
Everything is included – No more trying to coordinate rooms, catering, and events; cruise ships have this taken care of. In fact, many cruise ships have a helpful planning staff that can handle everything from travel to special needs and requests.
Complete and total care – No other event venue is as self-contained yet complete as a cruise ship. A world-class gym, spa, restaurants, casinos, theaters, places for the children to play and more are all included.
Accessible to everyone – It would be harder to find a venue that was as friendly to those who are differently-abled as a cruise ship.
Elevators and ramps are everywhere, making a cruise liner very accessible.
No need to worry – Unlike destinations on land, everyone on a ship is a tourist. No more thieves or pickpockets to worry about.
Tags: Casinos, Catering, Class Gym, Cruise Events, Cruise Liner, Cruise Ship, Cruise Ships, Cruise World, Elevators, Pickpockets, Point In Time, Ramps, Restaurants, Spa, Special Needs, Theaters, Thieves, Travel Special, Truth, Venue
04 Jun 10 How to Plan a Meeting Time and Venue with Difficult Participants
Meeting planners are required to constantly prepare meetings, which is far more complex than it seems on the surface. To being with, the entire process is far less linear that it seems on the surface. Some might believe that organizing meetings starts with contacting individuals or parties, or perhaps contacting venues to see what is available; neither is necessarily true. In fact, this particular combination of factors can actually end up being something of a chicken and egg problem, where one is constantly trying to find purchase on a slippery slope.
This entire process can be made far simpler by starting with an approach that is more time sensitive in nature. Start by contacting parties and offering a few choices, and checking for blackout times and dates. This should be a simple selecting process that empowers participants by allowing them to choose from a selection of available times. Once that is accomplished, it will be far easier to actually schedule a venue. Hopefully, the selection of a venue will not result in unsatisfied parties or participants that will no longer be able to attend.
As previously mentioned, the life of a meeting planner is not as simple as it might seem on the surface. Remember that when dealing with your meeting planner next time.
Tags: Available Times, Blackout, Chicken Egg, Choices, Egg Problem, Meeting Planner, Meeting Planners, Meeting Time, Nature, Participants, Slippery Slope, Venue
05 May 10 Selling Your Conference Session
Meeting planners work untold hours on all kind of conference details: selecting the venue, organizing the food and beverages that will be served, hiring the speaker, etc. These are essentials, but don’t forget the objective is to get people into learning sessions.
All conference attendees know about a session is what they read in the promotional packet you’ve provided. Have you thought about what elements draw their attention? The first thing they see is the session’s title. If the title is boring, their eyes will probably never slide over to the description of the session. Which session would you rather attend: A Comprehensive Dissertation on Parboiling Poultry Ovum or How to Boil an Egg? Both seem a bit boring, however the second description the better description.
Adding an element of humor to a session title can entice people to read the session description. Think of the titles of bestselling books such as How I Lost Everything in the Post-Natal Depression by Erma Bombeck or Don’t Bend Over in the Garden Granny, You Know Them Taters Got Eyes by Lewis Grizzard. A catchy title entices people to check out the session. Keep in mind that the session has a learning objective and the title should reflect the purpose of the session.
Tags: Bestselling Books, Catchy Title, Conference Attendees, Conference Details, Conference Planners, Conference Session, Dissertation, Erma Bombeck, Food And Beverages, Garden Granny, How To Boil An Egg, Lewis Grizzard, Meeting Planners, Ovum, Post Natal Depression, Poultry, Rsquo, Session Description, Session Title, Venue
20 Nov 09 Planning Successful Corporate Events
Planning an event could get very tedious, as you will need to look into every small detail and ensure that everything runs smoothly. However if you follow a few simple steps, there is no reason why you cannot achieve satisfying results. There are many ways to organize corporate events and some of these could even get expensive.
During times of economic crisis, it makes more sense to make use of event planning tools that come at affordable costs. The event planner industry is always in demand, be it a sluggish economy or a robust one- corporate groups will always want to organize in-house as well as inter-corporate events. This ensures the steady business of event management planners and also prioritizes the need to adapt to changing economic situations. Following are some handy tips to keep in mind while organizing a corporate event: (more…)
Tags: Corporate Executives, Corporate Groups, Corporate Meetings, Economic Crisis, Economic Situations, Evenings, Event Management, Event Planner, Handy Tips, Important Events, Management Planners, Olympics Opening Ceremony, Planning Tools, Rest Of The World, Simple Steps, Sluggish Economy, Steady Business, Successful Event Planning, Time Of The Day, Venue
14 Nov 09 Tips for Cutting Meeting Costs
With an increasing emphasis on savings these days, it seems everyone is looking for a deal. Resourceful meeting planners still can find new and innovative ways to cut meeting costs. It is just a matter of creativity and looking carefully at every single expenditure.
Here are some tips to help you cut costs on your next meeting or event:
- Find some great hotels in second-tier cities or near a major city that has easy access to the downtown area. Town center hotels tend to be much more expensive, and often have higher taxes than hotels outside of the city center.
- Consider when the best rates are available. Is it mid-week or weekend? Find the lowest cost dates for the venue you select based on the rate patterns.
- Be flexible with dates and scheduling and location, in order to take advantage of cost savings.
- Save on meeting room rental by serving food in the meeting room or allowing the hotel to book an evening meal event there.
- Get sponsorships from vendors who add value to your meeting attendees.
These are just a few of the ways bargain planners save. You can probably expand on this list and find many more creative ways to save on your next event.
Tags: Attendees, Bargain, Creativity, Cutting, Easy Access, Hotels, Meeting Planners, Meeting Room Rental, Nbsp, Sponsorships, Venue
19 Jul 09 Site Inspection Checklist
Meetingsnet.com offers an excellent site inspection checklist that should be a part of every meeting and event planners toolkit.
A properly conducted site inspection is one of the biggest factors to insure a successful meeting or event. The checklist walks you step by step through the process, seeing the venue as an attendee will later experience it.
Don’t neglect this all important aspect of your meeting. It offers planners the opportunity to identify potential problems or bottlenecks and resolve them well ahead of the event.
Tags: Attendee, Bottlenecks, Event Planners, Inspection Checklist, Neglect, Venue
26 Jun 09 Ordering Break Beverages for the Stressed Out Planner
Here’s a quick multiple choice quiz: If you have 100 people attending an event, how much coffee should you order for a morning break?
A. Lots! People drink more than one cup.
B. 1 cup for around 90% of the expected attendance
C. Tear out hair and close event planner business
The correct answer may be C depending on how panicked you are about ordering food and beverage for your meetings, and A used to be the answer. However, if you want to save your client money and do your reputation a favor, choose B. Why? Not everyone drinks coffee, and coffee is much more expensive per pound than it used to be, so plan on anywhere between 80% and 90%. (more…)
Tags: Attendance, Attendees, Beverages, Choice Quiz, Client Money, Coffee, Correct Answer, Diligence, Event Planner, Food And Beverage, Homework, Little Bit, Multiple Choice, Participant, Price Per Gallon, Reputation, Sake, Soft Drinks, T Pay, Venue
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