If you work as a meeting and event planner for a corporation, there are very likely hiring policies and procedures in place that make the process of hiring new staff members clear and simple; however, if you are a self-employed planner looking to expand your staff, it may feel like more of a challenge to determine how best to acquire new talent. Fortunately, there are always folks looking for work; therefore, the task is simply to find someone with the skills, experience and personality to be a good fit for you and your meeting or event planning business.

Starting with people you know is usually a good first step. This does not necessarily mean hiring friends or family members, as this is sometimes a good idea and sometimes not. But, it does mean that you should keep an eye out for potential candidates at networking socials and events you attend, as well as letting people you work with know that you are looking to hire.

A great place to start can be the folks that work as event staff, such as servers, bartenders, check-in staff or security guards. Some of these people may have taken these jobs as a way to get into the event planning field and begin to make connections, or to cover expenses while they complete their college degrees.

If you have ever gone to a special celebration or conference, you may have noticed a theme to the event. Some of the most popular are island themes, international themes, sports themes, and motivational themes. However, if your client wants a them and yet has no idea what she wants, ask her these questions to help give you some ideas.

1. What is your company best known for?

Some companies are known for being eco-friendly, others for supporting children’s charities, others for being extremely good at what they do. You can create your themes around those special qualities.

2. Has the company bounced back from any recent hardships that it should be recognized for?

Many companies have suffered from recent financial woes, and if they have been the comeback kid, you can create a great theme from that success. Notable sports figure who were recognized for coming from behind to win often have careers in public speaking, and you can plan around other aspects of winning from the underdog position. 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 »

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 »