Aug 25
maureen-pickellTrade Shows ASAE & the Center, attendee interaction, meeting industry, Tips for Meeting Planners, Trade Shows
The ConventionPlanit.com dynamic duo, Julie and mysef, attended a session entitled “What is the Future of tradeshows?” and learned a lot about charting the course for a new business model.
Instead of “re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic” (as one supplier succinctly put it) we should be polling association members, staffers, meeting planners and exhibitors all to come up with a trade show that lives up to everyone’s expectations…as well as providing ROI.
The night ended with Cindy Lauper…talk about a “Grand Finale!”
Jul 15
Ashley SpitzerTips for Meeting Planners attendee interaction, meeting ideas
There is a lot of talk in the industry about green meetings that are good for the environment. But how about healthy meetings that are good for your attendees?
Many meeting professionals are paying more attention to this area. They recognize that a little exercise is not only healthy for attendees, but also keeps them awake by oxygenating the brain as well as muscles.
Planners shared their best ideas for healthy meetings in the Stellar Tips section of ConventionPlanit.com.
Scott Ludwigsen with Phoenix Marketing International suggests scheduling a walk around the hotel/conference center into meeting breaks. “For those attendees that actually take the walk, reward them by handing out tickets at the far end of the building,” he says.
“Prior to the next health break, draw a ticket for a prize and you will see the number of walkers increase dramatically during each subsequent break. Net effect: people come back from their breaks ready to listen, look, and learn!”
Another exercise incentive suggested by Al Rickard of Association Vision is to have a quick scavenger hunt during breaks that forces people to walk around a certain area.
“Put attendees in teams of three or four so they can meet new people in the process,” he explains. “Give away some small prizes for completing it. Then set up a table with prizes displayed for those who complete the hunt and a big sign that says “Free Prizes.” Prizes can be small gift certificates for local shops, local trinkets, hotel certificates for a free massage at the spa, or a free breakfast.
Alicia Dahill with Oliver Wyman offers this idea for squeezing exercise into meetings: “Hire the hotel’s fitness trainer to come in for the first five minutes of your morning and afternoon break to provide attendees quick stretches and movement with the focus on things attendees can do in their own office. This will help attendees feel more energized and awake during the meeting, and they will appreciate your efforts to incorporate fitness into the meeting.”
Use your imagination to go beyond walking and stretching. For example, the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) & The Center for Association Leadership placed stationary bikes in the main gathering area during its Annual Meeting in San Diego two years ago. Rickard also suggests making large exercise balls available.
Meeting attendees, presenters, exhibitors, meeting staff, and others also spend a lot of time standing or walking, especially at large meetings with trade shows.
Eleanor with Symantec Corporation recommends having acupressure foot masseuses on hand.
“Even 10-minute sessions can relieve feet tired of walking long distances to get to and from different meeting rooms, not to mention presenters who stand for hours doing their sessions,” she says. “Foot massages are also good to boost energy.”
There are also other novel approaches to staying healthier by relieving both the physical and mental stress of meetings. Sybil L. Simons with Group Travel Advisors recommends a program called “jokesercise.”
She explains, “’High-Powered Howard,’ a comedian and personal trainer, offers half an hour of exercise punctuated with comedy. Attendees will love it! My groups do.”
Of course, providing healthy alternatives to meeting attendees extends beyond what they can do with their bodies to what they can put in their bodies.
“Keep your attendees hydrated and energized by providing a variety of unique soft drinks such as pomegranate-flavored soda, green apple iced tea, peach iced tea… something different in addition to water and coffee to add an unexpected gourmet twist to your meeting refreshments,” recommends Sharon Naylor with Sharon Naylor Wedding Books.
Kathleen Zwart with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida offers a tip with a double benefit — better health and a cost savings. “For an all-day meeting with lunch and an afternoon break, I hold back the dessert from the luncheon and serve it during the afternoon break,” she says.
“Your attendees aren’t tempted with two sweets in a short timeframe and you save money by not ordering a separate item for the break. You can include something non-sweet also, like fruit, nuts, or popcorn.”
For more advice that can help you in all areas of meeting planning, visit the Stellar Tips section of ConventionPlanit.com.
Feb 19
Ashley SpitzerTips for Meeting Planners, Trade Shows attendee interaction, meeting attendance, meeting ideas
Redefining value has become more important than ever before. What worked last year or the year before may be out the window, especially with a rapidly changing economic landscape and competitors scrambling for market position.
Here are some creative marketing ideas to help build meeting attendance:
Go Viral – Forget the swine flu! We’re talking about viral exposure in the social media. Come up with unusual – even outrageous – ideas for your meeting that will start tongues wagging and tweeters tweeting. Get your executive director to volunteer to sing a song onstage at the Opening General Session if the meeting attendance sets a record (be sure to post a video of him/her singing a few lyrics on YouTube as a sneak preview). Then have your Board members, convention planning committee members, and other leaders start tweeting about this and posting links to the YouTube video and your meeting website.
Talent Search – Everyone has talent, right? (OK, maybe some people are more talented than others.) Have a “Talent and Great Ideas Show” at your next meeting. Use your e-newsletter, online convention promotions, and the social media to recruit members to participate. Each person needs to demonstrate their talent for a minute or so (do a card trick, play a musical instrument, sing, dance, juggle, do an impersonation, etc.) and then deliver one industry-related great idea that attendees can take home and use in their business. Record a couple short videos with willing members to show how it works and post these on YouTube as examples. The show will add fun and value to your next meeting, and create powerful social media marketing leading up to the meeting to promote attendance.
Jeopardy – Think of an important topic in your industry and imagine how that might play out in a Jeopardy-style game. (Remember, answers must be phrased in the form of a question!) Creativity is the bottom line, of course – think about how the game can be built into into a PowerPoint presentation, for example.
What are you waiting for? Step out of your comfort zone, toss ideas around with colleagues, and think about the wow factor!
Jan 11
maureen-pickellTrade Shows attendee interaction, Event Industry Networking, meeting experiences, pcma
The PCMA 2010 Annual Meeting “Convening Leaders” opened in Dallas this weekend with organization members giving back to the city. Five Dallas based charities benefited from the hard work, talents, donations and fundraising efforts of convention participants attending PCMA’s 5th annual meeting, Jan.10-13, 2010.
Attendees also enjoyed the Opening Welcome Reception sponsored by the Dallas Convention & Visitors Bureau. The event provided glimpses of the North Texas culinary scene, arts district, sports, hair and make-up professionals, shopping opportunities and carnival fun. Interactive entertainment, Texas food specialties and two-steppin’ music rounded out the evening.
Over the course of the four days, the annual meeting will offer <u>200 plus speakers and more than 60 education sessions</u> along with ample opportunity to network with colleagues. Attendees will learn new skills, share goals, solve problems and generally expand their horizons while reinforcing the position that “Face to Face” encounters are still the best example of “social networking.”
What is your favorite session so far?
If you’re currently at the show, be sure to say hello to Maureen Pickell. She’s been busy blogging about her experiences in between networking and attending sessions!
Dec 01
Damion RutherfordContests, Tips for Meeting Planners, Trade Shows ASAE & the Center, attendee interaction, meeting attendance
As conference attendees consider the events they will continue to attend, or are forced to justify attendance to their employers, the value of the conference must be high.
What better way to incorporate the needs and desires of your attendees than to value their feedback?
Karen Freeman, CMP with VSR Financial Services, Inc. says:
Incorporate feedback sheets for your conference as a way to gain insight on how your attendees feel. Collect them as they leave or ask them to fax or mail them to you. Put your address and fax number on the feedback sheet so they don’t have to hunt for the information later. Then read them and listen to what folks have to say.
The most important step is to incorporate some of the ideas into the next conference. When folks know you really listen they feel more like they are a part of the conference. And all meetings are created for the attendee…right?
I received an email yesterday about ASAE & the Center’s 2010 Annual Meeting & Expo. The message focused on the changes for 2010 based on attendee feedback, in a question answer type format. (First by identifying the problem followed by the solution.)
ASAE is utilizing attendee feedback to create a better experience for the attendee…and what better way to engage the audience than by taking their opinions to heart? An attendee whose input and ideas are implemented will be more likely to continue and increase involvement within the organization.
So let’s keep the feedback forms coming!
Karen Freeman’s advice won the November ConventionPlanit.com Stellar Tip Contest. If you have a meeting related tip to share, submit your thoughts for the December contest – and respond to this post, too!
Sep 16
Ashley SpitzerTips for Meeting Planners, Trade Shows attendee interaction, hsmai affordable meeting, meeting ideas, social media
Affordable Meetings National Day 2 – keynote speaker Scott Klososky takes control of the audience with engaging and useful social media tips and tricks.
If you weren’t lucky enough to attend, we’ve got some of the highlights for you (we took lots of notes) -
Live Q&A: Screens posting Twitter feeds for an educational session are becoming popular, but Klososky’s method, we felt, was more effective. Attendees text messaged questions to a specific number and code, which would then appear on the presentation screens. Klososky flipped his presentation to view and answer the live questions in between segments.
We felt this was more effective because:
- The internet at the convention center could not control the posting speed (which was slow, of course, considering the large number of people using the server)
- Attendees could interact specifically with one another; Tweeting questions to a general hash tag for an event can become confusing if it is used by too many attendees. What if attendees are tweeting to the same hash from several educational sessions? It is difficult for attendees and presenter to quickly interact with one another.
Social Media is the most democratic form of communication: Klososky noted that never before have users had so much control over the information we receive. If we don’t find something interesting or important, we don’t share it. The media has lost control over the information we receive and deem valuable. The media has no choice but to embrace the new, democratic communication we have, and create thorough content to compete.
Useful Websites: Klososky shared some very useful websites for our industry. Here are a couple –
- Addictomatic.com: enter your event name, company name, etc. to see what people are saying on social media websites. Very helpful from the brand control standpoint as well as from the user standpoint.
- Namechk: Enter a username or vanity URL into the search field, and the site pans virtually every social networking and bookmarking site checking for availability. Even if you don’t use all of the sites, it is a good idea to reserve your usernames just in case.
Aug 18
Ashley SpitzerMember News, Tips for Meeting Planners, Trade Shows ASAE & the Center, attendee interaction, Event Industry Networking, Keep America Meeting, meeting education, social media, Trade Shows
What are planners looking for from the ASAE Expo?
A survey taken on the floor the first two days found planners looking for new ideas and new partnerships. To quote one association planner,
“In order to be successful, we look at our exhibitors not just as exhibitors, but as business partners.”
Face to face interaction with business partners at the expo is an important way to foster connections.
After ASAE has concluded, planners can solidify these new relationships by using ConventionPlanit.com as a web portal to our varied portfolio of suppliers.
Technology, especially social networking, are important components to the meetings industry, but can be made much more successful through new face to face connections!
Aug 04
Ashley SpitzerContests, Tips for Meeting Planners attendee interaction, economy, meeting ideas, meeting planner feedback, Tips for Meeting Planners
A smart way to save on your meeting costs is by cutting back on the breaks.
We worked with a hotel to provide vouchers for breaks instead of serving an expensive break time. Each participant was given vouchers to go to the snack shop located in the hotel lobby.
Each voucher was worth $3. For each item the participant chose, they turned in a voucher. The vouchers were then counted and charged to the master account. This wound up costing considerably less than paying for breaks. Hope this tip helps you in your planning!
…this idea comes from Kathy Craig, Administrative Assistant with Ecumenical Stewardship Center in Indianapolis, Indiana, who just won our July Stellar Tip Contest.
If you have a meeting tip to share, enter the August contest to win a $100 prize!
Jul 29
Ashley SpitzerNews, Tips, Tips for Meeting Planners, Trade Shows attendee interaction, meeting education, meeting planner help, technology, Tips for Meeting Planners
If yesterday’s tech info post tickled your fancy…
…here’s some extra help to get you started:
Watch this short video from MeetingsPodCast.com on how to use Flickr Video for your next meeting or event.
Jun 12
Ashley SpitzerNews attendee interaction, meeting attendance, meeting industry
Technology has certainly helped to improve meetings, but does technology also have the ability to hurt face-to-face meetings?
Carolyn Burns Bass’ comment from our “Meeting Attendance Costs on the Rise” discussion brings this issue to light. She said…
“Social media has made great inroads into corporate communications. Blogs, discussion forums, webinars, etc., are great tools for ongoing projects, planning, and performance boosters. Still, as great as these tools can be, they can’t replace the in-the-skin experience of an on-site meeting, convention, or incentive trip.”
…What do you think? With all of the rising costs facing meetings we’ve discussed, are online meetings such as webinars going to increase, or replace face-to-face meetings? Through podcasts, webinar participants can even simultaneously watch the same lectures…without any travel costs.
The added bonus for this? The podcast can be uploaded onto iTunes, for example, and used for future reference. Not only are similar web-based alternatives more cost efficient, but they eliminate the hassle of travel and conserve the environment.
How can online meetings hurt a company? What do you think the future holds for the industry?
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