Posts Tagged ‘Conference’

Face Time. It Matters.

Monday, 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.

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Fulfilling the Dream Fund Convenings

Monday, November 23rd, 2009

October 21-23, 2009 – Charlotte, North Carolina
September 21-23, 2008 – Denver, Colorado
October 17-19, 2007 – Oakland, California

Each year approximately 100 grantees and donors of this Public Interest Projects’ collaborative fund came together to strengthen social networks and discuss strategic opportunities. In addition to the on-site management, arrangements were made for the meeting’s production, the guests’ hotel and travel and on-and off-site food and beverage and entertainment.

The Fulfilling the Dream Fund used Ginger Donnan Events as the event planner for our national convening. She was always the consummate professional, brought us in under budget, and negotiated great deals on our behalf. She is adamant about sticking to the budget, and found creative ways to maintain quality and cut costs. Having Ginger on the team freed staff up to focus on content planning and design, knowing that the logistics were all set. During the convening she handled any travel snafus, made sure that people got their needs met, made sure that everything went smoothly, and was there to troubleshoot as necessary. – Maritza Guzmán, Program Manager, Public Interest Projects, October 2009, September 2008 and December 2007

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Can We Get a Drum Role, Please?

Tuesday, August 18th, 2009

The highlights video from this year’s Communities for Public Education Reform Convening is now available! Click here for our round-up about the event and see the video here:

2009 CPER Convening – Highlights from PIP Videos on Vimeo.

We all know that it’s all about video now, but for planners, who view events from a completely different angle than attendees, it’s great when we can see and hear the feedback, in addition to reading the evaluation forms. Not to mention the promotional value the video gives the client!

For more information about the convening, click here.

For more information about this funding collaborative supporting community organizing for school reform, click here.

Next year’s convening will take place May 20-22, 2010 in Denver, Colorado.

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Rocky Mountain Higher

Wednesday, August 5th, 2009

Last week we had the opportunity to return to a favorite city to hold events – Denver, Colorado. This is our third trip there in the past year and we’ll be headed back in May 2010 for a non-profit client’s annual conference that has grown from 175 to 250 in the last three years. Some of the latest happenings:
Freaky weather: 50 degrees the last week of July while Seattle was blistering. Have no fear, though, it’s back to normal: 80 degrees with a chance of snow.

2009 deals: hotels are booking 2010 like crazy but this year still has plenty of availability.$100 million goes a long way: the downtown Sheraton (previously Adam’s Mark) has undergone some incredible changes and many are still to come, including a 6,000 sq. ft. fitness center.

Closures: Sadly, we learned that our dine-around won’t include Alto, a wonderful Larimer Square restaurant that recently shuttered its doors.

It was great to experience old favorites, like the free 16th Street Shuttle and Enstrom’s Almond Toffee, and take up a friend on some recommendations (8 Rivers on Blake Street and a Max Evans at the Celtic, where all the decor – from the stained glass to the street signs – comes from Ireland).

We’ll be back before the event next year so stay tuned for more Denver developments!

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Back from the Birthplace of American Democracy

Tuesday, June 9th, 2009

We’re back from Public Interest Projects’ 2nd Annual Communities for Public Education Reform Convening in Philadelphia. Two hundred community, youth and parent organizers, as well as the foundations that support them, came together to share experiences and improve skills.

It was a busy three days including simultaneous dialogue sessions, site visits to local organizations and entertainment provided by the Kensington Creative and Performing Arts Drum Line and Familia Rojas, a local Puerto Rican Bomba group. Participants also had the opportunity to experience the variety of cuisine that Philadelphia has to offer through a diverse dine-around.

This year’s event was particularly successful due to continual follow-up to invitees until registration was confirmed or released, allowing additional, wait-listed guests the opportunity to attend. In addition, we were able to reduce the event’s budget by 20%.

Now it’s time to start planning next year’s convening!

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