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Meetings at sea are all the rage, and it is easy to see why. Meetings at sea have all the luxuries and necessities needed to conduct business meetings, but they are so much more. Just what do meetings at sea have to offer businesses and organizations that have traditionally used hotels and conference centers? How about:
It is no secret that cruise ships are ideal for hosting meetings and conferences. They offer a number of benefits, including all-inclusive pricing, significant cost savings over land-based events, built-in entertainment and stellar meeting facilities. With the recent growth in popularity of river cruises, meeting planners are now beginning to contemplate the feasibility of holding meetings on these smaller vessels that cruise the rivers of North America, South America and Europe. On one hand, river cruise meetings they offer an appealing option that provides a more intimate setting, a unique experience and that much-coveted, all-inclusive pricing, but on the other hand, can they provide the amenities and meeting space required for your event?
River barges and boats, by their nature, are much smaller vessels and are a far cry from the floating city atmosphere of oceangoing vessels. Intimate settings for meals, which are often prepared by and eaten with the captain or the captain’s spouse, limited onboard activities and services, and minimal free space are all characteristics of river cruising. Because of this, planning business meetings to take place during a river cruise will take some research and planning. If you are opting for a larger paddlewheel riverboat cruising a river in the South, you will likely find that holding onboard meetings is a viable option; however, some of the smaller river barges that cruise the rivers of Europe may not have the space available to hold a meeting for more than just a handful of people – and will almost certainly have no audio-visual equipment.
If you are determined to host your next business meeting on a boat, a full-size, oceangoing cruise ship will always be your best bet, but with a little planning and preparation, a river cruise is also possible when planning smaller meetings and events.
Most meeting planners have probably already read about how companies want more value than ever before from their conferences. While this can create more work for you, there are some things you can do to work out the kinks long before they happen.
Think Replacement
If you need to help the company keep expenses at a minimum, replace these meeting parts:
* Replace the reception with a working lunch – this will let people meet and network, as well as enjoy a meal together. * Replace the open bar idea with team building exercises or mind storming training-these programs have a much better chance of improving the ROI than a bunch of drunk employees blowing off steam. * Replace entertainment with a spa wellness trip. You will have more refreshed folks ready to work. * Replace land based venues with a cruise meeting, and save as much as 40%. Cruising is all-inclusive, so planners may be surprised to know that meeting rooms, meals, A/V equipment and luxury accommodations are all included in one low price.
Think Reduction
What if the customer says, "Okay, these cost savings are great, let's get rid of the reception, evening entertainment, and and welcome reception open bar meet-and-greet! So what do we do on the last day, then?"
Get rid of it. Tell your client that not only will she not need to make the usual expenditures that don't improve ROI on the cost of the meeting, she can eliminate the last night's hotel bill as well.
By just replacing the non-ROI generating activities and events, you have already increased the value of the meeting. Your client will be grateful for that for a long time. And happy, satisfied clients translate to more meeting planning business for you in the future. So, it pays to find every way to cut out unnecessary expenses and increase meeting ROI for your clients.
Explode meeting ROI with a cruise event. Cruising offers a savings of as much as 40% of the cost of hotel venues, since a cruise is all inclusive.
An all inclusive cruise event can save you up to 40% compared to land based venues since so much is included. Meals, meeting rooms, A/V, coffee breaks, activities, entertainment and even room service are part of the all-inclusive cruise fare.
While we would all like to believe that if you plan it they will come, that is not always the case with corporate events and meetings. Employees and executives have so many meetings and events to attend in any given week that it can sometimes take a little extra effort to ensure that they will show up at yours. Fortunately, there are several simple ways to increase the appeal of your corporate events and business meetings, which will increase attendance and show your client or boss that you know what it takes to deliver the results they need.
Here are five tried and true ways to increase attendance at corporate meetings and events:
1. Invite an enticing guest speaker. Whether it is a trendy guru or a respected leader in your field, adding an enticing guest speaker to the line-up will significantly enhance your event’s appeal. 2. Choose an appealing venue. Folks grow tired of going to the same venue for meetings and events repeatedly. Switch things up by opting for a museum, theme park or cruise ship to increase interest. 3. Serve alcohol. While you might not want to serve alcohol during the annual stakeholders’ meeting, you can certainly arrange for a cocktail social afterwards. Alcohol always seems to increase the appeal of any event. 4. Arrange exciting entertainment options. People love to be entertained, which makes this an easy way to get folks interested in attending your event. 5. Stay in touch prior to the event and ask for confirmations. Send out regular reminders and updates as the date approaches to keep your invitees interested and involved. And, do not be afraid to ask them to confirm their attendance prior to the event.
When we think of cruise ships in the corporate meeting and event planning world, we usually think of business meetings at sea, conferences held while traveling up the coast or incentive cruises that stop in multiple ports. However, we often overlook the many benefits of using cruise ships for stationary events – as floating hotels, which allows you to take advantage of simple, convenient event planning and reap the money-saving benefits of hosting your event on a ship without ever leaving port.
Whether you are looking for accommodations for out of town participants, a large venue for a conference or trade show, or several smaller meeting spaces for an executive retreat, employee training or award ceremony, you may want to consider a cruise ship venue. Just as you would when planning an event at sea, this allows you to take advantage of one upfront cost and easy planning for catering, equipment, décor, meeting spaces and, if needed, accommodation. Hosting a meeting or event on a docked cruise ship can be particularly cost-effective if your company or client is headquartered in a port city. Attendees can then be responsible for their own transportation to and from the venue and the need for arranging lodgings will be minimal.
Hosting your next meeting or event on a cruise ship in port will add a unique appeal for attendees and can result in significant cost savings for your client or company.
Hosting a business meeting on a cruise ship not only ensures stellar attendance, it also can make your job as a meeting planner simple and convenient. At the same time, your company or client can enjoy cost-savings of up to 40% over a land-based event at a resort hotel. Cruise ships are now well-equipped to handle meetings at sea and will be standing at the ready with group discounts, business meeting packages and everything you need for a successful meeting when you contact them.
Part of the simplicity of holding business meetings at sea is that the accommodations, entertainment, meals, meeting venues, audio-visual equipment and décor are all included for one upfront price and can all be arranged without having to contact multiple vendors and negotiate multiple contracts. Opting for a cruise ship meeting allows you to choose from a wide array of possible destinations, as well as offering you the opportunity to select the cruise length that will best suit your event budget and planning needs. Depending on the size of your group, you may also be able to choose a half or full ship charter, which allows for a more personalized experience.
If conducting your next business meeting on a cruise ship sounds appealing, visit Seasite.com to learn everything you need to know about hosting meetings at sea and to take advantage of convenient group cruise planning tools.
If you are looking for some good locations for your business meetings get Las Vegas booked–now. Why? Because several of the big properties are reporting signs of the recession easing. MGM Mirage and Las Vegas Sands have both suggested the downward spiral has stopped and business leveled off. What this means to you, the planner, is this is prime time to get those rooms and conference centers committed before the prices go up.
This also means that you may have some big talking to do to convince your clients that it’s okay, despite public opinion and government guidelines for travel expenditures. Already some businesses are thinking more about their employees, who will benefit from the conferences, than the public. Even though the public will eventually benefit with better products and service in American goods, taking public image into consideration in this case could be harmful. Read the rest of this entry »
As a planner, you know how business conferences can help employees become more productive, more motivated, and more valuable to a company. However, meetings can also create a more well-rounded employee as well. Here are two ways you can help businesses improve their employees’ breadth of knowledge through conference and meeting attendance.
Technology Transfer
This term may be old, but it’s a good one. Transfer of information happens even between conference/meeting session. When people have to choose between two sessions that they are interested in, they often ask for materials or information from others who attended the one they missed. Offer to plan interim meeting sessions for technology transfer, even if they are only for an hour a day. Reserve a room just for that purpose and schedule nothing else during that time. Read the rest of this entry »
Multi-national companies have something to look forward to when it comes to looking for venues for conferences. There are many places around the world that are offering world class conference centers, and the choices are many- from Asian countries such as Japan to the Netherlands- up-to-date, swanky conference centers are mushrooming all over the world.
Companies in the US no longer need to stay restricted to local venues, and can now go out and explore beautiful locations around the world for convenient and impressive conference centers.
What is even better is the fact that countries such as China, Latin America, and South Africa are also looking at enhancing their event management avenues and coming up with well-equipped conference centers. Read the rest of this entry »
