Personal Branding

First, you need to brand yourself. An often-misunderstood buzzword, “personal brand” means having a clear vision of who you are, and it makes the difference between a wildly successful planner and a mediocre one, says career and branding coach Amanda Guralski, president of bizMe Consulting. Begin this year with one big career goal,  Guralski advises; smaller goals will follow in time.

Next, ditch the suit. “Clients should view you as partner, not a vendor,” says Richard O’Malley, a 15-year veteran of special events planning and president of The O’Malley Project, a production and tradeshow services company. “When you go on the site visits, dress appropriately. Don’t wear the $3,000 suit to the lighting warehouse, because then you look like a pompous fool.”

It’s also important to remain calm. Clients need to see your consistent enthusiasm, even on tough days. “The planners that get called back time and time again are the ones who don’t let anyone see them sweat,” says Guralski. In a bad mood because of a speeding ticket acquired on the way to a meeting? If possible, reschedule. “It’s not worth losing the client.”

New planners have to cut their teeth in the industry somewhere, and a good place to start is with positions at non-profits. “It teaches you how to talk to people and how to negotiate, because you have to get everything for free,” says O’Malley, who got his start as a wedding DJ in college, then transferred that experience to fundraising events. “Having an endless budget [at a mega firm] is easy. At a nonprofit, you become a better producer. The in-the-trenches experience is unmatchable.”

As you continue to brand yourself, understand that there are times where you’ll be uncomfortable. You need to be uncomfortable to challenge yourself and advance your career. Too many mid-level planners become burned out or lulled into a comfort zone, no longer giving their all. A client’s big day becomes “just another job” to them. “It’s not just the bottom line on this one job,” says O’Malley. Create wonderful memories, add value to events, and clients will return.

Certification

Planners often seek professional certification, but O’Malley cautions against pursuing every certification opportunity presented. Thoroughly investigate the instructor’s credentials before signing up. “There are a lot of charlatans out there who hold seminars to hold seminars.”

While Guralski is an advocate of continual learning and personal growth, she says work experience often outweighs certification. “Anyone can memorize a book,” she says. “Business savvy and maturity come from applying skills and knowledge.”

Social Media

“If you’re not on social media, you don’t exist,” says Guralski, who encourages the business owners she coaches to be very clear in their 140-word bios on Twitter. Make it easy for potential clients and peers to understand what you do, what you specialize in and, eventually, to recognize you as an industry guru. Host Twitter chats on topics relevant to your expertise or form a content-driven group on LinkedIn.

Planners need to provide valuable content on social media. Content is still king. When sharing links via Twitter or LinkedIn, give your audience ideas of substance—articles on how to run their business, for example. “Posting a link to your event’s photos, saying ‘hey, look at me,’ is not content,” says O’Malley.

Marketing

Be smart and include money for event sponsorships in your marketing budget then select opportunities that optimize exposure. “Your stuff should be highlighted, not just thrown in a goodie bag…that’s wasted marketing money,” says O’Malley. “Make sure it’s something that’s seen and experienced by the crowd as important so they’ll take away the memory of it. If you’re a florist, don’t do the centerpieces—build the podium out of flowers. Maybe one or two people will say ‘look how nice that centerpiece is,’ but 500 people will say, ‘Is that podium made out of roses?’”

Maria Carter is an Atlanta-based writer focusing on business, travel and other lifestyle topics. Her work has appeared in dozens of consumer magazines and trade publications. You can reach her at maria@marcarter.com.

Learning to prioritize

Writing down your goals is the first step to harnessing time. The SMART system of goal setting makes each task more identifiable: Goals that are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time-bound are targeted and easier to meet. For example, listing “create budget” as a goal would not meet the SMART system. Instead write: In two weeks, create a budget that is 5 percent lower than last year’s program. This goal has a deadline, is specific and realistically attainable based on your research.

Prioritizing your task list is important. Keep your system simple. For example, label tasks with an “A,” “B” or “C,” the “A” tasks being the first to tackle. There are a number of online systems that can assist in managing your tasks. Toodledo is an online to-do list with a time-tracking feature that helps you identify which tasks you might be spending too much time on and assists those who have to track hours for client-billing purposes. The tool also has a “Hot List” feature, which places priority on certain tasks.

Wunderlist is another online task management tool that works on a PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone and Android. Another task management system, Remember the Milk, can be integrated with Outlook and has a task postponement notification feature. While you are able to postpone tasks that need more time to complete, the system also notifies you when you have postponed a task too long.

If your energy level is high in the mornings, schedule challenging tasks and meetings then and leave less difficult work for later in the afternoon. Work on items you dislike first. Once you get them out of the way, it’s easier to move quickly down the list.

Dealing with technology

Probably one of the biggest time consumers is addressing emails. The more organized you are with email correspondence, the less time you will spend searching for messages and weeding through an overly full inbox. Adopt the TRAF method: Toss it, Refer it, Answer it or File it. Determine how each email fits into one of these categories and address it before moving on to the next message.

Schedule a time for updating your social media sites, either before you start work in the morning or when you get home. Keep these pages closed in your browser and turn off e-mails and sounds notifying you of updates. If the sites have a chat function, stay offline during the workday. If your event has a Facebook page or Twitter feed that you must monitor during the day, create a different login from your personal sites so you are not tempted to visit those pages.

Being efficient on the road

If you work from both a main office and a home office, or if you travel a lot, online collaboration platforms allow you and your co-workers to access files from one website, where they can be revised and shared by everyone. iCohere is one platform that also has a webcast feature for online conferences. Onehub is another platform that is useful if different teams need to access and contribute to a proposal; it provides a separate workspace for each proposal, allowing you to keep updates in one place.

Dropbox and Fileshare both allow you to send and store large files that cannot be sent via email. The applications are free up to a certain storage size and the person to whom you’re sending files does not need to have the application downloaded. The system sends an email to the recipient alerting them that they have been invited to view a shared file. Google Docs also has a file share feature that allows you to upload existing files and provides templates to create new files.

If you spend time trying to remember login IDs and passwords to all your online systems, Agile Web Solutions can help. Its 1Password tool stores all your passwords in one online system. All you have to remember is a single master password to gain access to all your passwords. With a quick shortcut key combination, 1Password will fill in the username and password on most sites with most browsers.

Managing online resources

If you spend a lot of time researching on the Web, Delicious can keep track of websites that you want to refer to later. You can save links while you’re bouncing around the Web and stack a collection of links around a common theme. Let’s say you are searching for a hotel in Orlando. You can click the “create stack” tab on your profile page and gather all the potential hotel links, images and information in one place. You can also share your stack with others, allowing decision-makers to see the options with one click.

If your job involves a lot of travel and keeping track of your itineraries is time consuming, try TripIt. The site keeps all your itineraries in one place and notifies you of flight delays, cancellations and gate changes. You can track frequent flyer points and coordinate travel with colleagues who are flying to the same city at the same time.

Evernote is another tool that combines several organizational functions. The system syncs and gives you access to your notes, bookmarked Web pages, pictures, checklists and files through any computer, tablet or mobile device. Search by keyword, tag or even printed and handwritten text inside images.

Creating and tracking goals, and using technology tools to assist in timesaving processes, will put you well on your way to being better organized.

Monica Compton, CMP, is an event specialist with Pinnacle Productions Inc. based in Atlanta. She has 20 years  experience as a global meeting planner, managing a variety of programs both domestically and internationally. 

Wine tastings and pairings are very popular, and can be an elegant addition to meetings. Incorporating some enlightening wine demonstrations inspires group interaction and adds a memorable activity to a weekend retreat or a full-fledged conference. And with so many states around the country now promoting their wineries, you’ll most likely be able to offer a wine tour as well as give local flavor to your event.

While a wine tasting isn’t exactly rocket science, to be successful it requires leadership and thorough planning. The basics are stemware, a diverse selection of wines and workable tasting programs all blended with some joie de vivre. More than one master sommelier is on record as stating that if it’s not fun, it’s not really about wine. Early on, toss out the albatross of wine—pompousness.

Wine without food, said Pulitzer Prize winner Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, is “like a man without a woman.” Pairing, the most important part of the wine enjoyment journey, incorporates both and demonstrates the sensory rewards when everything is balanced.

There is no particular formula for a successful wine event, but a wine savvy emcee is required. The role might be filled by the hotel food and beverage staff, local wine journalists or wine educators. For teambuilding, here are a few programs worth thinking about.

Champagne for Breakfast

Starting a day this way breeds magic. For those who’ve made New Orleans a regular stop, this is no surprise. A Champagne tasting is nowhere near as expensive as it sounds. Many sparkling wines from France, Italy, Spain and the U.S. are very affordable. Gruet Brut Blanc de Noirs, a heralded sparkler from New Mexico, is an excellent choice. The excitement level peaks as these are paired with pastries, bagels, Eggs Benedict, cheese grits, bacon or country ham.

The lesson from this exercise is that Champagne and its sparkling wine cousins go with any food. A pianist playing Broadway show tunes, adding in some Chopin and Mozart, adds a touch of class.

The Opening Shot

Tastings can be in segments or in one event. Ideally, the environment should be informal and relaxed, where interaction is encouraged. Begin with a presentation about the language of wine: terroir, Old World wines and New World wines, and the noble grapes of the wine culture. Information about stemware, how to properly hold a glass, tasting etiquette and bottle storage will enhance the experience and help demystify it. After all, wine is actually made by farmers and has been around for thousands of years.

Have some demonstration wines poured in advance with a flyer explaining the glass, origin, style, etc. Taste each wine guided by the emcee’s commentary. The emcee proposes a toast—there are many easily found on Google.

Wine Comparisons

Turn a wine tasting into a competition. One option is to ask attendees, after tasting a selection of reds and whites, to write down the varieties they’d like to take home and why on small pieces of paper. Pull winners from a hat. Another competition is “The Name Game.” Participants use guessing skills to describe words like appellation, terroir, microclimate, reserve, corked, oaked, hot and, one of the most colorful, fruit-bomb. A handout connects facts with some PowerPoint maps and illustrations, and  glasses of wine illustrate the meaning of the words. What was strange is quickly understood.

Maps work well for gaming. France has the Bordeaux, Italy the Piedmont, Spain the Rioja, America has Napa, Oregon has Willamette Valley, and so on. Pour wines into glasses for participants to contrast Old World and New World wines. The grapes that became these wines have the same DNA, but participants can be quizzed on which ones are which. Make them guess, after a series of educational segments, which one is a Napa Cabernet Sauvignon or a white Burgundy? Because you use all the taste senses, this is better than blind tastings because it encourages good repartee and dialogue.

The finale: Four wines are poured, and participants are asked to match them by country. Australia or America? Italy or Chile? Competition is always fun, particularly when there are collectible bottles of wine for the lucky winners. At the end, offer one final prize for the most accomplished wine “student.” Remember, many of your attendees may be flying home or to another destination after the event, so offer to ship awarded wines home for them.

Doc Lawrence is a noted travel, wine and food writer/consultant, and television producer who has served as a judge for many well-known wine and food festivals. You can read more of his travels and recommendations at docnews.com.

Social. It’s a word that strikes fear in some and excites others. Today it seems that everything is social. From social media to social networking to social technology to social business, the trend is all things social. It’s the new black. So what is the social conference? Does it mean adding more social media efforts to our event marketing? Is it allowing people to use social networks to communicate with speakers during the event? Is it integrating face-to-face audiences with live streaming remote audiences?

For me, one of the most critical things a conference organizer can do to appeal to our increasingly sophisticated audience is to design experiences that are more engaging, participatory and social. People are not coming to your conference for the content. (They can get that online.) They are coming for the conference experience. So make it social and less independent.

Humans are essentially social beings. Our meetings and events are complex social experiences. And our conference experiences have the power to alter our attendees’ minds.

When we require our attendees to sit passively and quietly in rows with little or no social interaction, we work against the brain’s natural social systems. We rob attendees of the chance to engage, interact and learn. We create social isolation in the midst of a crowd. In short, we are treating our attendees like robots trying to download data from the speaker into their hard drives: the brain. We think that if our attendees hear the information, they automatically learn it.

In traditional conferences, an expert stands at the front of the room and lectures to an audience that sits passively listening. It’s a one-way monologue. Research is clear that this conventional conference design is directly opposed to how our brains learn.

Conference organizers need to work hard at making a shift from long-established one-way, vertical presentations to more multi-directional education experiences. We need to create horizontal experiences where attendees are invited to talk to each other, talk about the content, talk with the speaker and engage in active learning with one other. This means fewer speaker monologues and more attendee dialogues.

In short, we need more structured and facilitated conversations to create a compelling, irresistible social conference experience that continues to attract today’s sophisticated audiences.

> Return to “The Challenge of Change“

Meetings are not inventive. In most cases, they look, feel and are delivered as they always have been. I, for one, get bored at most meetings. Given the opportunity to change anything now and for the future, I’d wave my magic wand and…

1. Make it all more visual: art on walls, sculpture in hallways, places to create art for the spontaneity of creating and using the right side of our brains. Invest in community and have community artists. Have items for sale for people who want a bit of the local flavor.

2. Add water and light in places that allow participants to relax. This means redesign of the traditional buildings we use for hotels. An article in the Sept. 19, 2011, issue of The New Yorker, “Laboratory Conditions,” gives insights into how design can change.

3. Use music, appropriate and thoughtful, designed to stimulate thinking and relaxation. Play is a bit of art, too. It’s the ability to use different parts of our bodies and brains, and to incorporate creativity differently into what we do. If a game of golf at a meeting is OK, then different play can be. And it can be created to accommodate all.

4. Create seating that’s not too low or too high—and in places convenient for conversations that bubble up when people gather.

5. Encourage intentionally created community and spontaneously created community encouraged by the venue and organizers, who may be the community themselves. (We’ve seen it happen with Tweetups. We’ll see it continue to happen and we’ll broaden the access to anyone without prejudice or membership.)

6. Provide more resources, outside the usual. That is, access to different thinking and the people who do it. This is an easy one; in every venue and virtually, there are people who are subject experts or subject-knowledgeable who want to share ideas.

7. Include reflection time without overcrowded agendas. No one needs that “one more” session or speaker no matter who they are. Having time to reflect, alone or with others (while seated near light and water in appropriate seating) allows us to regroup after filling our heads.

8. Offer experiences as part of the meeting that are designed to fill our heads differently. For example, I’d like to have an art tour at the D.C. convention center or at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia if I’m in those buildings for other purposes.

And for a start—because my magic wand is not that powerful—I’d immediately add the following:

1. Audience-centric room sets a la Paul Radde (thrival.com). Why, after all these years, are we still seated in the same bad chairs  in the same straight rows at the same draped tables? Let’s move stuff around and open it up. Let’s have spaces that allow participants to move and flex and write and talk and listen and learn.

2. Awareness about those who attend meetings and their needs: not because it’s PC, but because it is empathetic and appropriate. We’re all different and we learn from each other.

3. Comfort, defined however each of us wants to define it. My comfort includes availability of appropriate seating; bio-needs met including foods and beverages available throughout and not only from 10 to 10:30, at lunch and from 3 to 3:30; adequate restrooms that are near the space used; lighting that allows me to see; sound that allows me to hear; and signs and badges that are the right size to read.

4. Service from the venue and vendors and the meeting organizers from the minute I arrive until I leave. For example, I loved the story in The New York Times about the Occupy Wall Street protestors ordering pizzas. Who knew that protests could be so organized?

Wouldn’t it be cool if you could have more spontaneous meetings?

> Return to the “The Challenge of Change”

Joan Eisenstodt is a highly respected hospitality and meetings industry trainer, facilitator and consultant. She is the chief strategist of Eisenstodt Associates LLC, which provides clients with planning and management support for conferences, seminars and conventions. She has a passion for politics and social justice.

What would I kick to the curb and flush down the toilet? I have to be honest, there are so many things I would change it took me the better part of a week to come up with an answer, but I looked into the abyss and came up with one thing that we all suffer from in the meetings industry. The one thing that holds us back as a community. The one thing we must change. Fear. As an industry, we need to abandon our fear of anything and everything.

Fear is paralyzing. Fear is overwhelming and fear has brought down civilizations and I fear (pun intended) that fear is slowly eating away at our industry and making our skills and services nothing more than a commodity that can be done by a trained monkey or an online “meeting planning program.”

Our services used to be special; our services used to be  desired and considered essential. However, through our fear of losing that position, we have painted ourselves into a corner. Our fear takes many shapes. We are afraid of budgets. We are afraid of what the boss thinks. We are afraid of the attendee reaction. Because of this, we are producing meetings that are the same year after year because we will only do what has worked in the past. We will only do what is the tried and true. We will no longer take risks and make stakeholders and attendees understand why our talents are necessary.

There is no desire to shake things up because we might make a mistake, choose something that one person does not like or have a session that is a bomb. The heavens will tumble if we have one attendee who is unhappy; we fail to realize that is actually what we need to be doing.

Instead of recognizing that it is fear holding us back as an industry, we make excuses. We cannot try Pecha Kucha for our session because our speakers are not prepared for that. We cannot engage through social media—our attendees are not ready for that. We cannot have sponsored lanyards; it would upset the other sponsors. We cannot go from four days to three because it has always been four and it would confuse the attendees. These are all excuses that I hear from the meetings and events community everyday. The true reason is fear; fear of change.

Meeting and event planners need to abandon fear and let go. We, as an industry, need to take the time to learn and grow and not make excuses. Yes, you can have a hybrid event and stream your sessions; technology like WordPress and Livestream has made it affordable and doable so the only reason not too is fear. You are afraid of failing.

You can take the time to learn social media because your attendees are on all of those platforms. The excuse that “our attendees do not do that kind of thing” is a fear reaction.

If we abandon fear, we open ourselves to trying new session styles, trying new venues, new programs and new platforms. We open ourselves to running hybrid events and online campaigns. We can be the driving force in face-to-face interaction instead of backseat drivers letting fear rule the road.

> Return to “The Challenge of Change”

Keith Johnston is one of the most outspoken voices in the meetings industry. His PlannerWire blog doesn’t shy away from the often-caustic commentary as part of its stated purpose: “new thinking for meetings and events.”

The term “strategic event marketers” is common within the events industry, yet some planners remain hesitant to embrace a strategic event planning process. Acting as a strategist does not require one to understand or recite the organizational go-to-market plans or financial earnings. Rather, it is about understanding the event objectives and developing innovative tactics to create memorable attendee experiences.

If there is one thing I could change within the events industry, I would challenge all planners to become strategists and focus their attention on the attendee engagement versus merely logistics.

A successful strategy I often use is storytelling. It’s the concept of developing an event around one common message or storyline, and ensuring every element supporting the event connects the dots back to the main storyline. When the attendees can recite the storyline upon the leaving the gathering, you know you have successfully relayed your strategic message. The key is being consistent in the delivery. When executed effectively, the storyline should become intuitively obvious and, to double the punch, the attendees should feel inspired by the message.

Storytelling creates a huge opportunity for event strategists to cultivate longevity in the conference objectives. While the story is unveiled at the event, it can act as the foundation for post-event communications throughout the year.

In addition to storytelling, planners can also act as strategists by leveraging technology throughout their events. The event technology landscape is vast and the options, features and usage can be overwhelming. However, as planners we cannot allow ourselves to become paralyzed by the immensity of it, but rather see it as an opportunity to customize our specific event. When evaluating how and what technology to incorporate into an event, the handy storytelling strategy can act as a useful tool. Determine how the technology can help tell your story and connect to the event message.

A story used at Symantec’s annual sales conference was based on the need to motivate the attendees to propel their efforts from a successful 2011 into greater achievements in 2012. In an effort to understand the conference objective, the executive team was surveyed with a few key questions: One, how do you want the attendees to feel pre- and post-conference? And two, what is one message you want the attendees to walk away with? The responses helped shape the conference storyline into “Fast. Forward. Move fast and move forward into 2012.”

Vibrant, yet visually and tactically appealing, the storyline was carried through every conference element from the signage, website, messaging, evening events and even the technology.

To amplify the forward motion aspect, we used the hottest and latest technology trend of “gaming” to engage attendees. Mobile device applications are the direction of the future and a gaming experience was yet another opportunity to create a memorable event and drive home the common message.

A good event strategist is the heartbeat of a memorable event, and every planning decision should be leveraged to inspire the attendees and further the conference story. We need to challenge ourselves daily to act as strategists and implement new conference planning technologies.

> Return to The Challenge of Change

Ashely Muntan, CMP, is an event marketing manager for Symantec Corporation and resides in Atlanta. With more than 11 years in the industry, she project manages large events and takes pride in acting as the team “storytelling champion” and seeing projects come to fruition. 

Many meeting planners attend conferences for continuing education, but it can be difficult to leave behind the role of planner and assume the role of attendee. Approaching new people can be difficult because of obstacles we put in front of ourselves as well as those innate to a conference setting. As a result, many people leave events without making meaningful contacts.

It’s also a planner’s responsibility to provide opportunities for people to network. Until people are given permission to meet others, most feel self-conscious and remain within their comfort zones. Ideally, every conference should begin with intentional networking events in the beginning that encourage attendees to meet new people. Until icebreakers become a standard, however, attendees must take initiative.

Overcoming Obstacles

Whether you’re shy or outgoing, figuring out how to meet people on your own is difficult. Many conferences provide registrants with a list of names of other attendees. Peruse companies and people, connect over social media prior to arriving and make arrangements to meet up before you get there or during the event. Research if the conference has a program for first-timers. Some places give a badge for newbies, prompting others to approach and welcome them. Connect with speakers ahead of time. Research them and meet up at the conference. Challenge yourself to walk up to someone standing solo and introduce yourself. Remember, singles like to mingle.

Being unprepared is easily overcome with strategy. Ask yourself a few questions to determine your goals. Why are you going? What kind of people do you want to meet? Are you looking for sales, business referrals, a mentor?  Stating your objective will make it easier to find the right people.

Being in a group provides security, but it also can be a hindrance. If you do go with a group, plan goals and create a supportive outreach team beforehand. Get together for breakfast, but disperse during lunch, and meet up again for drinks later. There’s no need to be split the entire time, but utilize the conference time to meet new people. Introduce each other to one another’s acquaintances.

Becoming a Natural

How do you become someone who effortlessly connects with others? A trick is to not just approach people, but to make yourself approachable as well. There is nothing more beneficial than a smile and eye contact. A positive disposition is simple, and it makes people want to meet you. Many conferences supply badges, which unfortunately hang around the neck and land on the stomach—not prime placement for people to figure out who someone is. Bring your own badge and place it in an easy-to-see location, which makes you more accessible.

Once you are in a conversation, relate to the person you are talking with. Listening is crucial. Look him in the eye, smile, and make a connection. Ask genuine questions and find common ground. If you are really interested in people, they will want to continue to talk to you and eventually you will be the focus of the conversation.

Do not try to sell the starting point in a relationship. If a business interaction sounds promising, arrange a future time for that, but do not do it at the conference.

Following Up

What you do after the conference is just as important as what you do prior. Schedule a time for follow-up. Whether by phone, email, lunch or social media—make it happen. Find a way to help your connection before you ask for a sale or a favor. Learn about them and give them the opportunity to know you and develop a relationship of trust. It can be as simple as sharing a resource or recommending a book.

Alice Heiman is a sales process consultant focusing on redesign, implementation and reinforcement for a diverse list of corporations, start-ups and growing companies. She is the inventor of The BizTalk Blender, The Ultimate Networking Event. Find more information at aliceheiman.com

Q. Why do I need to set up “sub-blocks”? Can’t I just put everyone on one block? Wouldn’t it be easier to manage?
A. By allocating sub (smaller) blocks, you can better manage your inventory. For example, staff rooms may be at a discounted rate. Members may get a hotel preference compared to non-members or exhibitors. By setting up smaller sub blocks, you can easily see where each of these groups are relative to pick up and you may add or re-allocate where some groups may not be performing and others are in need of additional rooms based on demand.

Q. Why is it important to integrate registration information to housing/reservation info?
A. Two main reasons. 1, When the systems are integrated, the common info (name, address, etc.) most often will pre-populate to the reservation system eliminating the need to re-type it. This makes it easier to make a reservation at the time of registration. 2, Statistically when the systems are integrated, in-block reservations increase by as much as 25 to 30 percent and the pick-up will happen earlier.

Q. How do you determine what concessions to request? For example, If you have 5,000 room nights, what should the hotel comp be?
A. There really are no standards. Some concessions appear to be great but in actuality may not be as good a value. This varies with the meeting, venue, demand during the meeting dates in your city/venue. The key to concessions is to identify what value items are important to the group. For example: Comp rooms at 1:50 as opposed to 1:40. Looks good on paper, but if you have 500 room nights, you gain 25 more room nights. Sounds like a lot, but 10 percent on F&B, AV or power may yield a higher dollar return.

Q. Will hotels let you put that clause in typically? I’ve had push back.
A. Hotel clauses need to be vetted thoroughly by your legal or a competent authority. Once accepted by a major chain property (Marriott, Hyatt, etc.), these become much easier to get accepted at other properties within their respective brands. The “My legal won’t accept this” can’t be used in most cases when it’s been accepted previously by another in the chain.

Q. How do you get hotels to do the audit? We work internationally and we put wording in the contract that they must do so, but we receive push back when we ask them to audit, thus missing out on revenue. They think the job is too big and they usually claim they don’t have the staffing to do so.
A. Get it in your contract. This is a common practice and we’ve never had a hotel push back when we state that there will be an audit post-event and that credit will be given to those identified. Don’t budge on this. There are processes in place at the hotel level to accommodate this need.

Q. How is using a housing partner different from using a hotel’s “Passkey”-type system?
A. It’s all about focus. Most hotels/CVBs that will provide housing do it as an accommodation, not as their primary focus. That having been said, you don’t often get the “Turbo charged” version. Not that the system is dialed back, with a housing provider, you get the experience, system capabilities knowledge and PRIMARY FOCUS on housing to maximize your goals and objectives.

Q. Are there any cut-off date trends?
A. The more time to fill your block, the better. And if you capture and can share history of late pickup, you’ll have a much better chance of getting a shorter window prior to your event. Optimally, 30 days is the hotel “standard” and two weeks is the preferred.

Q. What percentage books after the cut-off date?
A. Studies have shown as much as 30 percent. Integration with registration can reduce this percentage.

Q. What incentives have you seen that get more participants to stay in the group block?
A. Athletic events use a “stay-to-play” model, where a participant must stay in the block to play in the event. Others offer a monetary penalty if someone is not in the block, or some offer a discount on the program to their exhibitors if they prove they have stayed in the block.

Q. Is it necessary for housing systems to have their own app for mobile devices like iPhone or Android?
A. No, it is not required nor needed. The Passkey system recognizes a mobile device and directs the user to a web-based, mobile-device optimized website. They are still on the Internet but the size and format of the screen is better for mobile devices and takes up less memory.

With goals and objectives at the forefront, next look at audiovisual requirements, speaker needs and traffic flow, taking into consideration participant safety, comfort and accommodation for people with disabilities. If your program includes a food and beverage function, review your meeting room’s access to this service and decide if you will need these functions outside your meeting room or included within.

When deciding on a room setup, keep in mind three principles to guide choice of configuration:

◗ Set to the long side of the room. For a rectangular room, placing the speaker on the long side will put more of the audience closer to the presentation. If you are lacking space or using rear-screen projection, you may have to set the stage on the short side of the room to be more space efficient.

◗ Minimize straight-row seating. Set chairs in a semi-circle or herringbone (V-shape) to give the audience the best view of the presentation. With straight-row seating, you can only see the people next to you and the backs of heads of those in front of you. A semi-circle set enables viewing between persons.

◗ Avoid center aisles. The center of the room is the best viewing of the presentation and should not be wasted on an aisle. A center aisle would be necessary if you have entertainers entering or leaving through the center of the room.

With these principles in mind, it’s time to choose the ultimate setup for your next meeting.

Theater or Auditorium Style
This is the best setup for a large group where writing is not necessary and food is not served. Chairs are set in rows facing the speaker, stage or focal point of the room. Remember that a standard meeting room chair is narrower than most people’s bodies. Ask the hotel or venue not to set the chairs touching side-by-side and allow at least 2 inches between (4-6 inches for optimal comfort). This reduces the capacity of your room because not all chairs are used. You may not have a choice in chair spacing, however. Capacity restrictions and fire codes can dictate space between chairs, distance between rows and the number and width of aisles. Some hotels may use chairs that interlock to meet spacing requirements. Ask what the hotel’s regulations are up front and to provide diagrams of the various setups available. A last-minute change of setup due to fire code regulations can cost additional man hours.

Schoolroom or Classroom Style
This setup is best for meetings where attendees need to write or use a computer. It allows for minimal interaction between attendees and is best used for lectures and training meetings. Chairs are set at 6-foot or 8-foot tables facing the presenter. Standard seating is three people per 6-foot table and four people per 8-foot table. To allow for more workspace between attendees, ask the hotel to reduce this to two chairs per 6-foot table and three chairs per 8-foot table. This setup is most optimal for breakout sessions where entertainment is not used and thus center aisles create the best access for attendees entering and exiting the room.

Conference Style
This format is ideal for smaller groups where attendee interaction is a main objective. Seated around tables, participants have a direct view of their colleagues to facilitate discussions. Specify what type of table arrangements you need based on the objectives of your meeting:

Boardroom: One solid, rectangular table that can be an existing table in a hotel meeting room or created by putting together 30-inch-wide tables. This setup is best for a board of directors meeting with heavy discussions as participants are in closest reach to each other.

U-Shape: Tables are arranged in a horseshoe, which is ideal for meetings that need to facilitate discussion between attendees but also include an audiovisual presentation set at the opening of the “U.”

T-Shape: Best for a panel, presenters or lead management that needs to sit at the top of the “T” and direct the discussion down the length of the tables.

Hollow Square: Best for meetings that do not require an audiovisual presentation. If the hotel has serpentine tables, request a rounded hollow square setup to maximize seating on the ends. If these are not available, straight tables can be placed at an angle creating an angled hollow square setup.

Multi-Sided Shapes: Multi-sided shapes such as a diamond or octagonal are best for larger groups of 20 or more. They comfortably seat nearly every attendee at the end of a table and provide direct sight and voice communication to
participants.

Banquet Style
This setup works best for meetings that require food and beverage service and where participants are asked to break out into small groups. Setup includes 60-, 66- or 72-inch round tables with chairs around the entire table or only on one side—a crescent-round or half-moon setup. If your function includes a speaker or audiovisual presentation, the crescent-round setup allows for better viewing of the presentation while still facilitating discussion between attendees.

Combination Setups
For large conventions with a quick turnaround between meeting and meal functions, consider combining a theater-style setup with banquet tables at the back of the room. Attendees can easily move from one function to the next without major changes to the room setup.

No matter what setup you choose, remember to consult with your conference services manager on what setup has worked the best in his or her facility and any challenges that need to be overcome such as columns restricting sight lines or fire marshal restrictions. Facilitating a learning environment in accordance with your meeting’s objectives should take top priority. The more comfortable the room can be for attendees, from the width of the chairs to the temperature in the room, the more likely they will learn and interact on a higher level.