An article for meeting planners by
Patricia Fripp, CSP, CPAE
Corporate meeting planners are continuously mired in details,
trying to keep it all together for the next meeting, and already
worrying about the ones after that. We need to learn how to
work "smarter," not harder, in mastering details.
Tip #1. After every meeting and event, do an "after
action analysis." Write down what went right, what went wrong,
what you would do differently if you were planning the meeting
today, and who the vendors were who made your life easier.
Tip #2. In hiring vendors, do not always go for the
lowest price. Whoever you hire, it affects your image. Reliability
and follow-through are more important than a lower bid. Everyone
is downsizing and looking for new ways to cut costs, but a
vendor at a lower price may not be the answer.
Tip #3. Learn to make other people heroes. Whether
dealing with vendors or people in other departments of your
own company, if the person works hard and well, write a note
of thanks to them and send a copy to their boss.
Tip #4. Make sure your speaker knows the terms used
in your association i.e. these people use "client" not "customers."
Also, alert the speaker to particulars of his/her audience...for
example, mention the women in the audience are members, not
spouses. One professional speaker was not warned and spoke
"down" to his audience, making them feel bad, and the meeting
planner look bad.
Tip #5. If you do mailings before a meeting or convention,
be sure to put the speaker on the mailing list. This way the
speaker knows what else is going on at the meeting, what the
various topics are, if the schedule has been revised, and
if his/her speaking time has been changed and no one remembered
to tell the speaker.
Tip #6. If you are expecting a speaker to arrive the
night before an event, leave them a note asking them to let
the meeting planner know they have actually arrived. If you
know the speaker has in fact arrived, you will undoubtedly
sleep better. Leave an emergency number where you can always
be reached.
Tip #7. Don't save the best for the last. Often corporations
take their top performers to a fancy resort for a meeting
of several days. They have one important outside speaker and
they want to send the employees back to work with a bang.
You will get more value for your money if you schedule the
speaker the first day instead of the last. At the end of the
conference the employees may be tired, hungover, or worried
about packing and making the plane.
Tip #8. Use Email. Get online with networks of meeting
planners who can share their experiences. Find a group similar
to yours and find out the names of the most successful speakers
they have used and which vendors made their lives difficult
or easy.
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