Corporate meeting planners always have to be on the lookout for attractive, affordable venues to add to their list of possibilities. Few companies want to hold meeting after meeting in the same location, particularly when it is clear that new environments can breathe new life into corporate meetings and can prove highly motivating. Even those companies that do not mind holding regular meetings at the same venue repeatedly will likely want a new location for bigger meetings or corporate events. Knowing that you are at least partially responsible for the success of the meeting, it is your job as a corporate meeting planner to ensure that your meetings take place in venues that provide the required logistics, as well as an environment that is conducive to productivity.

Naturally, you will have local hotels and banquet halls on your list of venue options, but it is also important to seek out unique locations to offer to your clients. For example, you may want to consider contacting local museums, wineries, landmarks, theme parks and zoos to inquire about their meeting facilities. If you are located in a smaller city or town, you should also familiarize yourself with the options available in the closest major city in your region. In order to accommodate your clients that require more unique options, you should also have information on hand regarding cruise ship meetings and venues located in popular corporate travel destinations around the world.

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.

As an event or meeting planner that works with a variety of clients, you are bound to come across some who are more difficult to please or with whom you simply have a personality conflict. This can be a frustrating experience for both you and the client, but handling these situations with style, class and grace will assist you in getting through the planning process and will help you keep your good name and reputation, regardless of your client’s behavior or demands.

The most important thing to remember is that communication is the key component in any business relationship and that conflicts often occur due to miscommunication or a breakdown in communication. Knowing this, you can often avoid problems by implementing appropriate, thorough communication right from the start. Of course, this will not always resolve issues immediately, but it can diffuse many sticky situations and, if nothing else, will ensure that you did your part in maintaining your professionalism and attempting to meet your client’s needs.

It is also important to remember that, as long as you are completing your responsibilities properly and in a timely fashion, you are holding up your end of the bargain and are maintaining your professional integrity. In order to help you get through the planning process without going crazy, it is also helpful to keep in mind that this is your business and you choose who you do business with. Once you get through this particular job, you can always choose to not work with this particular client in the future.

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.

You thought it was a successful meeting.  Everything came off as planned, and your client was happy.  Then, a week later your client calls you in a panic–that successful meeting did not have a closed caption screen or sign language translator and her company is being sued.

As a meeting planner,  you need to be prepared and familiar with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

There are many types of disabilities, and the ADA has two disability lists: one is the conspicuous impairment and the other is non-visible.

While some disabilities are very clear visually, you may have a participant with dietary restrictions. He may end up not being able to eat anything at a lavish meal simply because you didn’t ask the right questions. Or worse, he could be harmed because he ate anyway without knowing some of the invisible ingredients.

As with anything else in your career, education is key. While the disabled or impaired make up a small percentage of your participants, you will be remembered favorably for having been thorough enough to include a request for detailed information from that minority of attendees. You will also help keep your clients from getting sued. “Who knew” is no longer an excuse.

Parallel to an overall cultural shift towards buying local and taking local vacations, many companies are also shifting towards planning meetings closer to their headquarters and forgoing high profile resorts and hotels. There are multiple reasons for meeting locally, as well as a number of benefits that may not be immediately recognizable, but can serve your client companies well. As a meeting planner, you need to be aware of this shift and anticipate the needs of your clients as they take steps to save money and time by moving their meeting locations closer to home.

Opting for more affordable options that offer a good value for their money, including well-equipped meeting facilities, necessary amenities and lower transportation costs, allows companies to hold meetings, complete trainings and achieve their goals while spending less time and money doing so. The time saved by hosting a meeting at a drive-to location allows more time for completing tasks and doing business, and assists companies to stay within their budget during difficult economic times. By selecting smaller, nearby cities that are within driving distance, companies can also significantly lower their travel expenses, making their meetings more cost-effective.

Meeting locally can also offer excellent image management opportunities by showing that the company is supporting local businesses and vendors, particularly if you make it a point to ensure local catering and other services are used whenever possible.

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!

Without a doubt the word “green” has taken on new meaning over the last 20 years, and everyone is concerned about it. There is even a lot of talk about environmentally friendly green meetings, and at some point you as a meeting planner are going to come face to face with some very specific client concerns about this issue. Here are some things to think about when planning a green business meeting or event.

Green Hotels

Hotels are becoming more energy conscious, and many new hotel buildings are LEEDS certified. From solar panels and recycled/recyclable materials to geothermal and wind power, hotels are looking for ways to become more energy–and cost–efficient. In fact, many of them will help meeting planners find ways to make your meeting or event more environmentally responsible.  Some hotels even have cost-effective organic food offerings, as well as a no-phone book policy.

Green Incentive Destinations

If you and/or your clients are concerned about the environmental impact of incentive travel, think about keeping your events closer to home. Of course, your participants may like to do special non-event activities, but every area has something special about it to appeal to almost everyone. If you can’t find an appropriate venue locally, think about finding travel options that are environmentally friendly and use mass transit when possible.

Of course, there are other things you can do that would warrant a blog all by themselves. Going paperless is one idea, and there are many ways to approach this idea. Recycling on a major scale for large events is a critical part of green meetings. Avoid products that use plastic, shun disposables, and take advantage of local products. You can probably find many other smaller ways yourself that will add up and give your meeting the green stamp of approval.

Source:  TheMeetingPlannersGuide.com

Did you know that business casual attire started during the energy crisis of the 1970s? Raising the office thermostat, a few notches resulted in men shedding their coats and ties. Women followed suit, discarding suit jackets with a sigh of relief.

Smart casual attire is often the standard for day-to-day work. After all, a tie and jacket can swiftly raise business casual up to international standard business attire in just a few quick minutes. Informal dresses and skirts in reasonable lengths are more popular for the average workday than dry-clean only suits.

The “don’ts” in business casual are on display all too often. Shorts, untucked shirts, flip flops and beach sandals just will not do in the office. Mini skirts and low cut blouses destroy credibility. Jeans, so often the American dress standard, are just casual, not professional.

That being said, a meeting planner has to adapt to her geographic and business standard norm. Bill Gates can get away with wearing high-class gym shoes to the office, but most likely you won’t be able to do so. Keep in mind that your appearance has an impact on potential clients.

It is possible to dress comfortably and neatly while still looking professional. A smart, put together look gives your client confidence that your job skills are up to par as well.

While we usually think of incentive programs benefiting the top producers–and the incentive itself does–the real effect is on the average employee, according to Fay Beauchine. In May 2009’s Incentive Magazine, she made the point in Incentive House Roundtable that it’s the middle producers who move up.

“We all know top performers are usually top performers,” she said to interviewer Leo Jakobson. She claimed that it’s the middle that improve by trying to hit the target. Even though they will miss it, they will still improve, even if only a few percent, and that will increase the total sales by “huge numbers in some cases.”

This underscores the importance of the incentive travel programs currently in place in corporations today. You as the meeting planner need to understand that you are a key player in your client’s bottom line, and you have to produce sales in an indirect way. This can be more difficult than the motivation speaker who simply gives them all a good talking to.

Remember that when you plan incentive travel, you need to plan with the person in mind. Tailor it to fit a participant’s ideal needs and wants and she will talk about it for a long time–and she will say it to some of the middle producers in the company.