March 1st, 2010
We’re fans of the Convention Industry Council’s public information campaign “Face Time. It Matters.” that was launched in December 2009 because of the decline in off-site meetings being booked due to image concerns.
One aspect of meeting planning that we’ve seen affected by these concerns is whether or not to invite significant others to off-site meetings. Law firm partner retreats are back on the calendar but guests are staying home. The problem is that partners are then anxious to leave as soon as the meeting ends, skipping essential opportunities to strengthen bonds during activities and dinners. We’re encouraging clients to carefully consider this as well as these findings from the research conducted for the ”Face Time” campaign:
• Face-to-face meetings build trust and relationships;
• Both education and training are more effective in a live setting;
• Live meetings actually save time and money;
• Live meetings facilitate problem solving through a more effective exchange of ideas;
• Face-to-face meetings provide the human connection that powers business;
• Face-to-face meetings create jobs and powers the economy.
Tags: Conference, Event planning, partner retreat
Posted in Blog, Featured, Industry | No Comments »
February 11th, 2010
We’re working on a lot of solicitation these days, including donations that aren’t “funds,” but still play an important part of a successful fundraiser. In-kind donations, including event materials and auction items, limit costs for fundraising events and expand the circle of those with a stake in the event. For individuals and organizations who can’t afford that $400 ticket but still care about the cause and want to contribute, in-kind donations provide an alternate means.
Event fundraising requires a system and just a few tweaks takes a sponsor solicitation strategy to an approach for in-kind donations:
• Create a wish list of contacts.
• Research the best way to contact them.
• Write compelling correspondence that includes:
- reasons to get involved
- ways to contribute
- benefits for in-kind donations, just as you would a cash sponsor, such as seats at the dinner or an ad in the journal
• Call to follow-up.
• Take notes during every conversation.
• Consider their input and adjust your outreach based upon those conversations.
• If they offer something that you didn’t ask for but that costs you nothing, say yes!
And remember, this kind of outreach raises awareness and opens doors for further communications and donor development!
Tags: Events, Fundraising, Non-profit
Posted in Advice, Blog, Featured, Non-Profit | No Comments »
February 1st, 2010
Imagine a salesperson, with 15 minutes to spare between meetings, brings her travel mug for a refill to a local coffee shop. Unfortunately, she’s sans laptop and the noisy crowd makes phone calls impossible. Now imagine a development coordinator at an environmental charity looking for anecdotes about conservation that the organization can use for outreach. If only someone could connect them.
Microlending and microfunding have led to microvolunteering and The Extraordinaires are leading the way with a website that makes it easy to ask for help and even easier to provide assistance. They’ve even created a free iPhone application for those on-the-go to contribute. Did we mention how easy it is?
Non-profit organizations can post missions such as:
- Identifying people, places or things on a map
- Taking, uploading and organizing photos
- Researching a topic, issue or question
- Creating a custom mission asking for feedback or a personal story
We’re recommending our non-profit clients use it to collect photos that attendees have taken at their events. How will you “Be Extraordinary”?
Tags: Events, Non-profit, Volunteers
Posted in Blog, Featured, Non-Profit | No Comments »
January 25th, 2010
As 2010 events rev up, we’re soliciting vendor proposals and negotiating contracts like rapid-fire. It’s great to see the industry reviving and, as usual during the proposal stage, we’re finding service providers to be communicative, thorough, and enthusiastic, flush with the prospect of new business.
Unfortunately, this isn’t always the case. When vendors underperform, it’s important to remain calm and not rush to any conclusions that can lead to unnecessarily broken contracts. Most of the time, it just takes an honest conversation to reach an understanding.
1. Schedule a meeting with the primary contact, in person if possible, to review the status of the project.
2. Begin on common ground, mentioning tasks that have been completed well or you know the vendor has underway.
3. Be aware of the tone of your voice. Respectful discussions breed compromise and understanding.
4. Explain that each question or request is part of a larger context and impacts numerous tasks down the line.
5. Reset expectations. Review the current situation and outline areas or steps that need to change.
6. Ask for suggestions on how to make improvements.
7. Review written timelines and have both parties sign the document as a sign of good faith.
Most service providers know, especially in this recovering economic environment, that reputations and future opportunities are on the line. Use this to your advantage to seek the best out of your vendors. If a discussion does not improve matters, the situation may need to be escalated to the business owner or to your lawyer to identify additional steps that can be taken to assure the event’s success, even if it means exercising the contract’s cancellation terms and identifying a new vendor who can hit the ground running.
K968VJSMJXDF
Tags: Event planning, Events, Vendors
Posted in Advice, Blog, Featured, Industry | No Comments »
January 14th, 2010
Companies that organize multiple events each year may have a go-to event registration system integrated with their contact management database. But for small organizations surviving on Excel contact sheets and throwing their first annual conference, subscribing to an online registration system can save time and keep details organized.
For a simple form that just requires registrants to fill in answers, 123Signup and Constant Contact provide easy-to-use products.
Acteva has a bit more flexibility for developing registration questions and fees are just $0.99 per person for free/unpaid events.
Regonline’s system gets more flexible yet with a clean design for $3.95 per registrant.
If your event is open to the public, Eventbrite allows you to promote and sell your event.
For internal events that involve travel, Expedia Corporate Travel and Orbitz Business can help you develop sites that set parameters for employees’ travel. And for events that require travel for attendees that are not employees, a registration site with a built-in travel booking service from HRG or Concur’s Cliqbook could work for you.
Overwhelmed by all the options and time needed for the site’s development? The Compass Group Inc. creates custom registration websites for a standard price, which is great for large events since there’s no per person registration fee. Their websites can also include separate pages for the agenda, activity descriptions, local things to do, reimbursement policies or anything else you may need to communicate to guests!
Posted in Advice, Blog, Featured | 1 Comment »