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.

Meeting and event planners often find themselves being asked to plan a variety of social and business events, regardless of their niche. Because of this, it is always a good idea to have a few tricks up your sleeve for when you choose to accept these projects. While you might be a corporate event planner who never anticipates planning a wedding, you never know when one of your best clients might ask for a favor or when uncertain economic times might encourage you to expand your service offerings. Therefore, having some unique ideas for weddings in the back of your mind might prove useful at some point in your career.

For a truly romantic, intimate setting for a wedding or vow renewal ceremony, river cruises are an excellent option. Whether opting for a small ship, a barge or an ultra-romantic steamboat, couples will have a memorable wedding day when they choose a river cruise wedding. This affordable option allows them to combine their ceremony and honeymoon in one price package and offers the opportunity for family and friends to join them for just the ceremony or for the full journey. Wedding river cruises can take place in Canada, Alaska, the Pacific Northwest, the South and the Great Lakes, or on one of Europe’s many rivers, depending on the couple’s preferred destination and budget.

Planning a river cruise wedding – even if you have never planned a wedding – is easy and convenient with the group cruise planning tools at Seasite.com.

For oceans of information, visit www.landrykling.com or www.seasite.com or call 800-448-9002.

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.

London is one of the world’s most visited cities. With its combination of historic buildings, renowned museums and galleries and the best in dining, clubbing, entertainment and now a new range of boutique hotels, you won’t run out of activities for your meeting attendees.

It’s no surprise that London is full of hotels of various sizes and standards. Famous and expensive hotels sit alongside smaller guesthouses, but it is the boutique hotel that’s currently proving a popular choice with meeting planners with small groups. Small and stylish, with impeccable service and a real atmosphere rather than one manufactured by the marketing department of a large hotel chain, staying in one of these hotels can only make your trip to London more enjoyable.

There’s so much going on in London that even the residents don’t see it all. Plan your event so that your attendees can enjoy a little bit of history at the Tower of London or St. Paul’s Cathedral for example; some of the treasures and paintings in the museums and galleries; a show in the West End and some great drinking and dining.

Ignite, Canada’s innovative meetings magazine, provides event planners fresh ideas and strategies for meetings and conferences as well as special Hot Rates & Dates from hotel meeting venues

Toronto, ON (PRWEB) November 24, 2009 — Successful meeting planning has just been made easier for event management professionals with the launch of Ignite Magazine’s new website. The site, a companion to the print magazine, offers event planning professionals access to a wealth of educational articles designed to assist in meetings and events production; incentive programs; and tips for corporate travel planners and association and corporate meeting executives.

Plus, Ignite’s special Hot Rates & Dates section at http://ignitemag.ca/hot_rates is helping companies save money and find the best sites for business events, with the most up-to-date offers from an array of hotels, meeting facilities, airlines and other suppliers.

The Ignite Magazine website offers articles on topics from teambuilding ideas to incentive programs; sample RFPs and budget checklists; and useful planning tools such as a room space calculator to assist in booking appropriate space. Event planners can also find tools for conference event management, such as a guide on how to successfully spread responsibilities among an organizing committee.

Recognizing that corporate travel managers play an integral role in administering cost-effective, results-driven programs for their companies, Ignite Magazine’s website features tips and strategies tailored to business travel planners. The site features a corporate travel planner’s guide to cost-conscious travel, business travel tips for successful corporate travel programs, and recent articles on corporate travel policy and how to manage a company’s travel risks.

Ignite Magazine’s Hot Rates + Dates offers special packages from meeting venues across Canada and the U.S., assisting meeting planning professionals in getting the most out of their budgets. Hot Rates + Dates include everything from special room rates and rebates to airline miles and event planner points. The launch of the new Ignite Magazine website comes on the heels of the publication’s first anniversary and marks a new era for the meetings magazine in its ability to serve the event planners community with contemporary strategies in an increasingly competitive environment.

For more information about Ignite Magazine, visit www.ignitemag.ca.

About Ignite Magazine: Ignite Magazine offers fresh, new resources for people who plan and manage meetings, events, business travel, promotions and incentive programs. The magazine’s mission, in print and online, is to provide event and meeting planning professionals with information, inspiration, guidance and great ideas for everything from conference services and event management details to corporate travel management and unique business gift ideas.

Meeting and event planning this year has been a challenge, due to the low or nearly non-existent budgets. With many corporations in saving mode, it comes as no great surprise that the event planning industry too has cut down heavily on unnecessary expenditure. The days of extravagant meals and rich cuisine have been replaced by a much more economical plate full of health-conscious food that causes less heart burn- both physically and fiscally.

Event planners are no longer focused on the status of a banquet rich with off season fruits or vegetables flown in from exotic countries. The new idea is to simply get it right, and get it right on the lowest cost. However, don’t get it wrong – cost cutting does not have to equate to low grade or below average. In fact the new concept of serving food at meetings and events never looked so healthy before. A platter full of assorted meals that are beautifully presented is what you are looking for. The food menu in most events these days might be missing some of the excessively rich dishes that were offered in previous years, however it tastes just as good.

Thanks to the smart work of some intelligent event caterers, a whole new look has been introduced to food items in corporate events. Eating smart and spending smart seems to be the new motto of the event planning industry in the midst of an economic crisis. A good example of one of these innovative event meals is a beautiful set of small sized glasses neatly arranged in a row with small servings of dessert in them. This is definitely not “just” cost cutting, it is indeed “stylish” cost cutting that rather pleases the eye. This concept of serving healthy and economical food is also good for the environment as food does not go waste. A few years back, event meals used to be so lavish and extravagant that half of the food would go wasted.

Fortunately, these days most corporate groups are realizing the value of food, encouraging event meals that are high on nutrition and low on costs. The modern consumer has also turned health conscious and avoids eating too many meals in conferences and other kinds of corporate events. Healthy meals offered in small quantities seem to be gaining popular ground in the event planning industry.

These are all things to consider when planning your upcoming holiday events.

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!