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5 Best Uses of Twitter at Conferences

June 22, 2012 By Comments

conference room stageIf you’re an event organizer, you’re too busy to set up engaging twitter feeds for big screens, filter them, and promote the feeds to all the folks who couldn’t attend in person.

If you’re a conference attendee, following along on the fast-moving Twitter streams can be overwhelming, especially when there are too many retweets and off-topic conversations.

These 5 tips may help you keep up, whether you’re an attendee or an organizer:

  1. Start watching the official hash tag (example: #adobeMAX) at least 7 days prior to the start of the event. You can start following people you may want to meet, learn about the latest conference-related news, and make some early connections before you even get on an airplane. If you’re feeling brave, join in give your opinions about the conference, which sessions you’re looking forward to, and start a conversation with a “celebrity” in your industry. If you’re a bit shy, there’s nothing wrong with just following along and “listening”.
  2. See if the event has an official Twitter Dashboard, like the ones Refynr produces. For conference organizers, the benefit of a Refynr dashboard is that a) Refynr does all the custom work of designing the dashboard, b) the Refynr team manages and filters the feed for you so that you can concentrate on all your other tasks, c) and remote attendees can follow along virtually. Refynr estimates that for every 100 attendees, 20 additional will follow along on such a dashboard, because with the photo slideshow they feel almost like they are there in person. For attendees, the advantages are that they don’t have to figure out the best Twitter search on their own, and don’t have to waste time sifting through the extra retweets and spam that ofter occupies an unfiltered Twitter feed.
  3. Follow interesting tweeters and the people they follow. If someone tweets something relevant to you or your industry, follow them. Then, dive deeper by seeing who they follow on Twitter. Twitter.com and the official Twitter iPhone app has the best interface, in my opinion, for viewing who someone follows. Go through that list to read the bio and Twitter stream from each person in the list to find people/companies worth following.
  4. Create reports on the usage of the hash tag. Refynr can create custom reports for event organizers, or you can use free tools like HashTracking.com, which will analyze the tweets on the hash tag quickly and easily, but keep in mind that the free tools may not include all the data that Refynr curates, and so the data might not be exact. Either way, finding trends on who tweeted the most, which tweets induced the most engagement, and some key demographic information can be valuable to planning the next event and improving engagement with your various audiences.
  5. Follow up with all the Twitter connections you made. Make sure to follow your top people/companies of interest from the hash tag stream, and then tweet or DM them a short message to connect. It’s best to do a little research about each person before initial contact. To do so, read their Twitter bios and follow the links on their Twitter profile. You may be able to find their professional website, blog, or LinkedIn profile. Those websites are better than a personal twitter or Facebook account because it gives you insight into how their business and professional life may be connected to yours, rather than some personal information which may not be relevant.

Sure, at any given conference you’ll still meet people face-to-face and exchange business cards the old-fashioned way, but technology is changing rapidly. With new social media tools, event organizers and event audiences alike can engage in interesting, industry-focused conversations days or weeks before, and after, an event. And the connections made from Twitter, LinkedIn, or a Facebook Fan Page can be more powerful and permanent than a business card that will probably be lost or forgotten in your suit pants pocket anyways. Make lasting relationships, have a ball, and feel like the next conference brings a higher RORI (Return on Relationship Investment) for everyone!

 

 

This post was written by guest blogger Aaron Longnion,Founder & CTO of Refynr

About Aaron: Former senior engineer at Adobe, HomeAway (employee #12), and Lynda.com, who started Refynr in 2010 to clean up the Twitter streams, but found out that conferences and events need this technology more than your average twitter user. Aaron wants to see the event industry join in on to social media’s underutilized ability to easily connect like-minded people and businesses in a genuine and long-lasting way.

website: refynr.com, FB Page: facebook.com/refynr

 

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Convention Planning Security-Meeting Planners Show Concern for Concealed Gun Laws

May 1, 2012 By Comments

photo by blog.robpatton.com

Okay, you know the world is getting crazier when delegates CANNOT BRING lumber, hatchets, gas mask, chains, and super soakers to a convention but they ARE ALLOWED to bring concealed guns. Yep, you read it correctly, of all the things that are on the list of what you can’t bring to an upcoming convention in Tampa, concealed guns is not one of them. The convention planning that we are talking about is, ironically, the Republican National Convention.

This year is a presidential election year in the US. And as part of that process the major parties both host conventions where they announce and/or confirm their leaders. Obviously the Democrats will host Pres. Obama in his bid to win re-election. And, as it’s pretty much all over but the writing, the Republicans will present Mr. Romney as their candidate to take on Pres. Obama for the Oval Office. Florida and North Carolina have been selected by the respective parties to host their conventions. Florida and North Carolina also have laws which allow concealed weapons.

Security Has Become a Large Part of Convention Planning

Convention planning is a daunting task. Just read a few of our other blog post here and you’ll quickly get an idea of just how diverse the job of the convention planner really is. However, as most meeting planners will tell you, the security of their delegates is top priority.

So you could understand why the convention planners and organizers for the Republican National Convention are showing concern over Florida’s concealed weapon law. And under most other circumstances I can give them that argument without any irony being applied. But not this convention. You see it’s the Republicans themselves (with support from some Democrats) that are responsible for these concealed weapon laws that are law in over 20 states. But, as I said above, irony seems to be alive and well with this gang. Last week Tampa’s City Council passed a resolution to ask Republican Gov. Rick Scott to implement a temporary ban on concealed weapons. This is so they can take added precautions to make sure that their delegates and attendees are safer. Isn’t that the goal for politicians all of the time, not just temporarily??

Perhaps Politicians Need a Lesson in Convention Planning Security

Some meeting and convention planners, that I’ve spoken with, tell me that they are outraged that a political organization can be exempt from a particular law but not their own conferences. Now, I do understand that there are a lot of high profile and powerful leaders that will attend the Republican and Democrat conventions. So does this mean that the convention planners and organizers for the political parties think that the concealed weapon law is okay for 99.9% of the conventions and their delegates but should be temporarily pre-empted when their conventions roll into town?

I guess the saying “it would be funny if it wasn’t so tragic” is appropriate for this situation. From my take, I think that if the lawmakers think that this law is appropriate in their respective states, then they should put their money where their mouth is. Otherwise, perhaps these conventions will also show these lawmakers that wanting a little security for your delegates doesn’t mean you are in violation of the second amendment.

I would be very interested to find out from meeting planners, that are hosting meetings in states where concealed weapons are allowed, exactly what their thoughts are regarding security and how it relates to their convention planning.

 

 

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Using a Conference Planning Template

April 10, 2012 By Comments

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It seems to be a hot button issue – whether or not to use conference planning templates. A conference planning template or a conference planning checklist template, as some people refer to them as, are basically a way of organizing planners. And the reason why many people find them to be a valuable asset to their job is that they often have so many minute details of a program that need to be accomplished. Without a project conference planning template to use they would be in an organizational mess.

Should You Look for a Free Conference Planning Template?

Today on the web you can pretty much find whatever it is you’re looking for for free. But does free always mean you’re getting the best? Well of course it depends on what you’ll be using your template for, but there are many good places where you can get templates that will fit your project.

As we have said here often, Microsoft Office is a very good source for finding templates that you can easily adapt for your own projects. What I like about Microsoft Office’s template page is that you can quickly download a template that you like and start making the necessary changes to customize it for your own needs.

Other people like to create their own project conference planning template. I find that these people are ones that have been in the industry for some time and have a great understanding of how to implement and execute programs successfully. What they tend to do is take their experiences with past programs and write out what steps were required for them successfully run programs. From here, they are making a template where they can easily go in and customize towards their future programs.

A conference planning template is, when used correctly, a valuable tool for organizing and implementing successful programs. There are many free conference planning templates to choose from or, as many seasons meeting planners have done, you can easily create a customizable template for your own specific needs. But as a meeting planner often is required to have many things happening at once, it’s probably not a bad idea that they utilize a conference planning template to help them keep organized.

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Delegating Is Part of the Conference Planners Job

April 4, 2012 By Comments

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Conference planners are always being pulled in many directions. Usually as the conference or event unfolds, conference planners need to be in many places at the same time. That’s why delegating is an important part of a conference planner’s job. In order for most events to be successful, conference planners need to delegate certain components of their conferences or events. That’s why they often hire local experts to help execute transportation, suppliers and staffing for example.

Conference Planners Need to Make Sure That Person They’re Delegating to Is Trained

Training is crucial for delegating. This is probably the most common mistake that a lot of conference planners make. All too often conference planners will delegate a task without ensuring that the person responsible for the task understands what’s required of them. And it’s usually in the aftermath when all hell breaks loose that the conference planner realizes the mess they are in.

In the video below we take a humorous look at what can happen when delegation is handled incorrectly. You know that whenever Basil Fawlty is responsible for delegating a task…, well, it’s pretty safe to say the task will not unfold as planned. Here we see that Basil has left Manuel in charge of answering the phones and overseeing some contractors. Well, let’s just say – what did you think would happen?

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5 Key Items for a Conference Planning Checklist

March 27, 2012 By Comments

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You don’t have to look very far to find a conference planning checklist. And when you Google the term, there certainly is no shortages of websites where you can get conference planning checklist ideas. So they must be important then, right? Well, of course the answer is yes (with some caution). I do have to say, that a good conference planning checklist is only as good as the thought that was put into making the checklist itself. Which started me thinking about which items would be considered crucial for a conference planning checklist.

Items That Should Be Included on Your Conference Planning Checklist

1) Location. This item should be first and foremost, obviously. After all you can’t do much planning, or rather logistics, until you know where it is the conference will be held. Most conference planners will begin to scout locations well in advance of their conference to make sure that they can pick dates, hotels and venues which would be suitable for their conference.

2) Dates. The dates of your conference are almost equally as important as the location of your conference. Of course depending on where your conference will be held, the dates may be dependent on factors such as temperature and other citywide activities occurring in the location over the dates that you are considering.

3) Budget. Before you can begin promoting, and then executing a conference, you will need to determine what your budget is for the conference itself. Sometimes a budget is set by the conference’s committee members ahead of time and then handed to the conference planner for execution. Other conferences may need to determine what their conferences itinerary will be in order to determine what the budget is. Whichever is your case, budgets are a crucial part of a conference planning checklist as it will have a direct impact on your conferences registration.

4) Registration. Of course the success of your conference will be judged by how many people attend. A good conference planning checklist will address registration at the onset. It is crucial today that you have a good registration marketing plan in place. There are many registration software services available to help conference planners in this area.

5) Program/Itinerary. A good conference planning checklist is all about planning for the various elements, or itinerary, of your conference. It should be well thought out in advance and then assigned due dates based on which items need to be decided and secured first. The itinerary is also key when it comes to the conferences budgets. It is vital for a conference planner to know how much money they have to spend on the various components to their conference.

With conference planning, the devil is in the details. Therefore a planner requires a conference planning checklist to help them break down vital components to their overall program. And then to address those items in the order in which they need to be addressed. A conference planning checklist can be a valuable tool as the planner works through their program. The five items listed above are crucial to a good conference planning checklist.

 

 

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Does Your Conference Planning Guide Include Timing for Your Event (Comedy)?

March 16, 2012 By Comments

A conference planning guide typically includes a checklist of items that need to be completed to make the conference run smoothly. But does your conference planning guide also include timing? Meaning how much time have you allotted for all of the components to the conference.

Now, of course, the conference planning guide most often does include timing. This is a bit of a tongue-in-cheek question as the video below comically highlights. But, comedy aside, the message is that timing is a crucial part of your conference planning.

We have featured Hyatt videos here in the past. Hyatt has done a great job in their web-based marketing by presenting conference planning topics with a humorous twist to get their point across. While they are obviously intended to be lighthearted, the take away message is that bad meetings do happen. However, it’s how a conference planner reacts to these anticipated problems as to whether or not you’re in good hands with your conference planning. We tend to think that you just might be in good hands with Hyatt.

The Teppanyaki Chef by HyattMeetings2010

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Four Ways That Corporate Meeting Planners Can Trim Budgets

March 9, 2012 By Comments

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Corporate meeting planners are always looking for creative ways that they can trim their meetings budget without losing too much of the overall program. To say that that’s a bit of a juggling act might be an understatement. Today, corporate meeting planners have a tough job. Of course for many corporations and associations meetings are a vital part of their operation. But the question for many corporate meeting planners is “how do I still put on a top-notch program with a reduced budget?”.

Corporate Meeting Planners Take a Fresh Approach to Orchestrating Their Meeting

Many corporate meeting planners that I speak with tell me that, for their organization, meetings are still proceeding at full speed. However what they do concede is that these meetings must be executed with a much lower budget than they are used to in the past. So we thought that, after getting some feedback from these corporate meeting planners, we would share a few tips on how you can still execute a successful meeting and save a bit of money at the same time.

Four of the Top Areas That Corporate Meeting Planners Review Are:

The Times That Your Meeting Will Occur- a lot of corporate meeting planners have been able to save money on the hotel portion of their meeting by negotiating room rates and whether or not they can be lowered by moving their meeting two different days of the week. Additionally there can be even further savings, at times, by moving the meeting to a different time of the year are altogether.

Transportation – we’ve talked a lot about transportation here in the past. For corporate meeting planners especially, transportation is an essential part of their program. Their delegates have come to expect that they will be transferred from the airport to the hotel where the meeting is occurring. What a lot of corporate meeting planners are now doing is narrowing the timeframe of which they are offering complimentary transportation. Also they are looking at the type of vehicles they are booking. For example they may group arrivals within a timeframe of 30 to 45 min. into the same vehicle. Additionally if corporate meeting planners are hosting evening functions then transportation also plays into that budget as well.

Evening Events/Food and Beverage Functions- many times corporate meeting planners have to include special events outside of the actual meeting itself. This is a chance for the delegates to relax and network with each other (especially if they come from different parts of the country). We touched above on how transportation also plays a part in evening events, especially if the event is away from the hotel. Some corporate meeting planners have told us that they still have evening functions but instead of busing their delegates to a venue away from the hotel they either host the function inside the hotel or select a venue that is within walking distance from the hotel. The benefits for having a function in the hotel is that you will save not only on transportation costs but, quite often, there are also savings from room rental and service and equipment charges that are associated with off-site venues.

Entertainment – a lot of times corporate meeting planners view entertainment as a fringe element to the program. In other words something that they can easily cut out to save money. But many corporate meeting planners also say that there are ways to still offer entertainment yet save considerable budget dollars at the same time. Often times entertainment is during the evening function or perhaps as part of the last day of the meeting. And many times corporate meeting planners have spent a small fortune booking a very popular band or special presentation for their group. Today many are still offering entertainment. It may however be reduced somewhat in style and format. For example a trio would still be a nice complement for an evening function. Or, on the last day, there’s nothing wrong with hiring a comedian to entertain the troops for the last 30 to 45 min. of the program.

Today corporate meeting planners are becoming very creative at putting together their programs. Many still want to offer the more traditional elements to their events but need to shave budget dollars at the same time. It may take a little more planning time, but there are definitely ways that corporate meeting planners can achieve their desired results without blowing the budget.

 

 

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How a Meeting and Event Planner Uses a CVB

March 7, 2012 By Comments

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There’s no doubt that a meeting and event planner wants a CVB (Convention and Visitors Bureau) to assist them with their planning needs when bringing a group or convention to a particular city. A CVB is basically a marketing division for the city that they are in. It’s their job to promote their city in such a way that a meeting and event planner wants to bring their group to the CVB’s city. A CVB will spend mind boggling marketing dollars to brand their city. What exactly does branding a city mean? Well the best example that I can think of, when trying to demonstrate a city that has branded themselves well, is New York City. If anyone comes up to you and asks if you been to the “Big Apple” you most definitely will know that they’re talking about New York City. That’s branding.

A Meeting and Event Planner Uses a CVB to Start the RFP Process

Let’s assume that you are a meeting and event planner. And also let’s assume that you have selected a city to take your group of 50 to. So now what you do? Well obviously you want to develop a meeting planner template or checklist and start listing all of the steps that will be necessary for you to execute a successful meeting. For more on meeting planner templates or checklists see the related articles below.

CVB’s are a free service for a meeting and event planner. So the first thing the meeting and event planner should do is contact the city’s CVB and get their meeting put on the books. Your CVB contact will spend a little time getting to know you as well as a little bit of information about your group (i.e. the type of people, what they like to do, where they like to go and what they like to eat). Following that meeting, the CVB will then send out a request for proposal (RFP), usually to hotels first, indicating how many rooms you are seeking and for how many days (otherwise known as room nights) plus any food and beverage and meeting room requirements. Then the hotel salespeople get to work. They’ll look at their books to see if they can accommodate your request and then send you a summary of rooms available and at what rate. Depending on your food and beverage and meeting requirements you may have some wiggle room as far as room rate negotiations. A meeting and event planner can tell their CVB contact how many hotel properties they want their RFP to go to. The CVB will manage the RFP process from the hotels (although it is the norm that the hotels will communicate directly with the meeting and event planner). Once a hotel has been selected the others will be notified that they did not make the cut.

A Meeting and Event Planner Will Consult with the CVB on Which Service Companies to Hire

A CVB also has an extensive list of service providers. Whether it be a DMC (Destination Management Company), a transportation company, and attraction or restaurant, a good CVB will be able to point the meeting and event planner in the right direction. I usually recommend to meeting and event planners that they ask their CVB contact not to have service companies contact them until they know which hotel they are using. Sorry service providers this is not an attack on your operation at all. It’s just that a meeting and event planner can be inundated with sales calls and e-mails from service providers. And having been a service provider in the past I can tell you that these calls and contacts are all well intended. However the reason I advise meeting and event planners today to hold off on having service companies contact them is so that they are allowed enough time to make the proper decision on their hotel and meeting facilities. Then, once the hotel and meeting facility has been finalized, initiating contact with service companies would proceed. Of course if a meeting and event planner has the budget a DMC is recommended to help with all of the other service aspects of their program (disclaimer – I have worked for a DMC in the past – so I know how valuable their services can be).

While this is usually not a major issue it is worth noting that a CVB can only put forward companies that are members. I say this is not a major issue because most reputable companies do belong to their local CVB. When selecting smaller parts of the program, such as restaurants, you may want to consider talking to your hotel contact as there may be excellent local restaurants that are not a member of the CVB.

A CVB is a great tool for a meeting and event planner. It can help provide the local expertise to execute a successful program. One that has the attendees talking for some time. A CVB can also be assistance by offering city guides and other tourist information to the meeting and event planner.

 

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Characteristics of a Corporate Meeting Planner

February 28, 2012 By Comments

A corporate meeting planner is one busy person. If you’ve read a few of the blogs here then there’s one thing that I’m sure you’ve seen often and that is that a corporate meeting planner wears many different hats. A lot of people have asked me over the years what characteristics are important for a corporate meeting planner.

A Corporate Meeting Planner Needs to Be Extremely Organized

In order to successfully execute a meeting, a corporate meeting planner needs to be a very organized person. But in answer to the question that I’ve been asked many times in the past regarding what characteristics stand out, what I usually tell people is that a corporate meeting planner has to be good at logistics. After all, most corporate meetings involve a whole slew of activities.

Some of the logistics that are involved with executing a corporate meeting are:

Transportation- quite often, and especially with corporate meetings, the corporate meeting planner is required to arrange transportation for the delegates at the airport (and sometimes from their starting cities as well) and transfer them to the hotel where the meeting will be taking place. Many times they are also charged with having to make airline reservations for the delegates as well. If a corporate meeting planner’s lucky enough the transportation logistics will revolve around one or two days before the meeting and one or two days after the meeting. But many times their department is handling individual flight request as well as individual ground transportation. From here they will develop a travel manifest. But ask any seasoned corporate meeting planner if that’s the end of it and you’re likely to get a loud chuckle from the planner. Because there are often many changes to flights (and hence ground transportation as well) due to last-minute changes, weather etc. I’ve worked with transportation manifests where you could barely read because of all the writing (changes) by the time the meeting was finished.

Hotel and Meeting Logistics – on top of getting all of the delegates to the meeting’s location, the corporate meeting planner also has to make sure that the hotel is booked, meeting rooms are blocked, food and beverage arrangements have been made and all of the appropriate speakers and/or presenters have been booked. You’re starting to get the idea why meeting planner checklist are so important to their jobs.

If you think a corporate meeting planner has a tough job then you are correct. But if you ask a corporate meeting planner if they like their job, all lot will tell you that they love the fact that they have so many components that are so different when organizing a meeting. A corporate meeting planner needs to be good at logistics. As a matter of fact organizational skills are probably at the top of the list of characteristics required for corporate meeting planner.

 

 

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Budget Saving Tips for a Meeting and Convention Planner

February 14, 2012 By Comments

As we’ve talked about here many times, a meeting and convention planner wears many hats. Their job requires them to be a seasoned negotiator, a time management expert, as well as being a fiscally responsible expert. So it shouldn’t surprise you that these same meeting and convention planners have very good ideas on how to execute successful programs while saving money in key areas.

A Meeting and Convention Planner Has a Good Understanding of How Hotels Operate

The hotel can be one of the most expensive components to a meeting. If it’s too expensive then delegate registration will be low as the overall conference price will be out of reach for some people. In talking to a couple of meeting and convention planners that I have worked within the past, they tell me that they will often look at hotel rates based on the day of the week. You see, they understand from the hotel’s point of view that the name of the game is trying to fill those hotel rooms to achieve 100% occupancy. However, in order for those hotels to do that, they often have to watch what room rate they are offering. For example, let’s say a particular hotel typically charges $200 per night per room. Well that’s their goal anyways. On certain days of the week, the hotel’s revenue manager is often forced to reduce their room rate to increase occupancies. Frequent flyers will understand this format as airlines will also reduce seat cost to fill planes. So during negotiations it might become apparent to a meeting and convention planner that they could shave considerable dollars off their hotel budget if they were to alter the days of the week that they plan to host their meeting. Now there is a bit of a tightrope here as a meeting and convention planner has to be sure that the days they are offering their meeting to their delegates are days that are attractive enough that delegates will register.

A Meeting and Convention Planner Has Alternatives for Trade Shows Today

For larger associations, a tradeshow is often a main component to their meeting. It’s a chance for their members to see what suppliers are offering first-hand. However it’s not an inexpensive undertaking. While it is true that trade shows can be very profitable when planned and executed properly, the reality today is that they are becoming less and less attended. A lot of meeting and convention planners that I’ve spoken with recently are jumping on the virtual tradeshow bandwagon. Maybe it’s also a sign of the technology times. Virtual tradeshows are great way to keep the interaction between purchasers and buyers. And now, by shifting to a virtual tradeshow format, a meeting and convention planner has more flexibility in executing their tradeshows. First, they don’t have to get their members all in one location anymore as their members can enter the tradeshow from the comfort of their office or home. If you’ve never been to a virtual tradeshow before I recommend you visit one as you’ll be quite surprised with their format. Good ones are equipped with chat rooms, places where you can leave your information and get up-to-the-minute information on what you’re looking for. From a supplier point of view, virtual tradeshows are attractive because they can easily obtain visitor information, as well as what the likes and dislikes are of the purchasers. I’ve been to some virtual tradeshows where I literally received a gift from the supplier (delivered to my office) the very next day. Talk about efficiency.

So while a meeting and convention planner has a multitude of tasks that are required to execute a successful meeting, many are finding smart ways where they can shave budget dollars without compromising the meeting itself.

 

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