Amidst all the logistics of planning a meeting, it’s easy to forget the impact the start and end has on the meeting as a whole. Below are a few simple tips you can use while planning to make sure your next meeting is as successful as it can be.

To ensure the meeting begins on time and participants have the needed resources to start immediately, you can:

• Develop an agenda a week in advance and send it to participants.
• Ask participants to review the agenda and encourage them to add anything missing so all key items can be addressed.
• Confirm the meeting’s time and location with participants the day before.
• Establish a firm start and end time so everyone gets down to business faster and knows when to wrap everything up.
• Choose an unusual time like 2:05 to improve punctuality.

The ending of a meeting is also very important, because it’s the way a meeting concludes that solidifies the ideas offered and decisions made during the discussion, which leaves participants feeling productive and satisfied. Here are some things you can do:

• Establish clear wrap-up procedures including a conclusion and summarization of the items discussed.
• Have a timekeeper that signals the time a few minutes before the end.
• Set a deadline for reporting back and follow-up.

It doesn’t matter if you’re the owner of an event planning business or an employee in one–you need to network. Anyone who doesn’t will pay the price of dwindling business prospects, and therefore dwindling business. Networking is the quintessential give-and-take proposition. In addition to the usual networking opportunities, here are some that you may have overlooked.

Book clubs. If you have ever been in a book club, you know how close-knit these groups can get. Even if you don’t have a lot of time to read, you could spend a few minutes a night looking over the choice of the month, attend the discussion, then network during refreshments afterwards.

Grocery store. A woman who teaches violin reports that she gets one new student every month or so just from talking to strangers at the grocery store. Any store will do. Take your time, too–people come and go all day long.

Sponsor an event yourself. If you are self employed, why not create a networking party for your friends, their friends and families, and your own business contacts. Make sure the event design shows your own talents for planning. Two hours a month can make a huge difference!

There are lots of ways to set up your life for maximum contact–you’re a meeting planner so you already know how!