It seems that everyone is trying to cut costs today. This is true of many meeting planners, as well their corporate clients. Whether the impetus comes from the need to decrease expenses to stay within a new, lower budget or to maintain a responsible appearance to members of the public that keep a watchful eye on big business spending, the simple truth is that everyone is more concerned about cost these days. This can often place meeting planners in a difficult position where clients are demanding the same level of quality for a lower price.

There is only so much you can trim off of your fees and still continue to make payroll and a profit; however, there are other ways to trim expenses while pleasing your clients and not selling yourself short.

If you do not already bargain and barter with your vendors, now is the time to start. With a recession in full swing and folks becoming increasingly aware of every penny they spend, bargaining and bartering have become quite common and are an excellent way for both parties to benefit from the relationship and meet their goals.

You have a valuable service that you can trade for the products and services you need. Alternatively, do not be afraid to ask for lower prices and to bargain your way to better deals for you and your clients.

When you are trying to plan a great business meeting event, you want to everything perfect so that it all goes as planned. This may not always be easy and in fact you will have to work hard at it to make sure that it does go the way that you are hoping. As long as you have the right materials and the work ethic to do it, you will have a great and successful time.

There are four ways to ensure that your business meeting event will just as you have planned. You will first want to make a budget. Once you know how much you can afford to spend on this special occasion, you will then be able to plan out all that you have to spend on your purchases. This will give you some kind of start so that you can follow through on it. It is very important to stick to your budget so that you are not forced to go over and have to find ways to pay the extra cost. Read the rest of this entry »

A prospective client wants you to plan a meeting at a centralized location that allows most of the attendees to drive no more than four hours to get there. He has a modest budget, but wants to impress the top executives who will be flying to the site and will need an overnight stay at a local hotel.

How do you choose the right site for this client? The geographical restrictions may limit your choice of venue options. Does the meeting need a conference table? A large room that can accommodate numerous set ups for large graphic displays? Those are just a few things to consider.

The time of year is another concern. Is the meeting going to be held during the area’s top tourist season? Are there other meetings taking place at the same time, at the same location? If the meeting is taking place during winter or storm season, will there be lodging available should departure times be delayed by the weather? What is the back up plan in case of a labor strike? Has your client been advised about cancellation insurance?

The more questions that are answered before signing a contract the better the relationship will be between you and your new client. Be professional, smile, expect (and give!) the best and be prepared for the worst.

Money and time are at a premium in this fast-paced world. It is harder and harder to make time and place in the budget to attend meetings no matter how attractive travel and hotel rates may be. One way to step around the challenges of the present economy is to use video streaming.

Video streaming is communicating live from one computer to another. All you need is healthy internet connection and a web cam plus the skill and confidence to use them. A live stream allows more people to attend your presentation in real time.

The presenter’s charismatic appeal and knowledge base will speak equally loudly to remote viewers as they will to up close and personal attendees. In addition, a symposium may have several panels and cover a range of topics. Remote viewers can pay for individual panels at a reduced rate.

Record the event and sell the DVDs on your company’s website. This benefits attendees who can watch panels they may have missed at the conference and individuals who were not able to watch the live streaming.  Allow room for comments and questions on your website, either through a comment page or by providing an email address for queries. Video streaming is a good way to increase both attendance and revenue for your presentation.

Planning an event is not all that easy as it would seem. True, there is always a great amount of fun involved in the process of organizing an event that brings together a lot of people. However an event that is not organized well will call for unwanted criticism and disappointment. When people get together, they expect it to be worthwhile. And this is even more so in case of corporate executives attending an event- they expect it to be faultless.

Faultless is the word that describes a successful event planner. Be it a seminar, an exhibition or a conference, a corporate event requires thorough preparation and perfection in every detail.

Generally speaking the typical hours for an event planner are more compared to other regular, sedentary jobs. An event planner is constantly looking around the event venue, making sure that everything is at the right place. Managing and supervising the staff for the event is another crucial task. Read the rest of this entry »