Inspiration Hub

Chances are, you’ve already been inspired by (or at least have heard of) Marie Kondo, organizing consultant and author. Through her widely popular books and Netflix series, she’s helping us all create a more tidy, pleasant and peaceful way of living. Her approach? Simple and effective: She suggests gathering all of your belongings by category, holding each piece, one-by-one and evaluating whether or not it “sparks joy.” If it does, keep it, if it doesn’t — say thank you and goodbye.

It’s easy to be in awe of the attendees at Elevate!, the inaugural Association for Women in Events conference. Many at Mandarin Oriental, Washington, D.C., are among the industry’s brightest and most-driven stars. AWE’s hope is to inspire and promote its members to leadership positions. The fact remains that while women comprise the bulk of the events industry’s planners, a glass ceiling—however cracked—remains atop the ladder. “Make yourself indispensable,” advised Sarah Hurwitz, a former White House speechwriter who was the opening keynote on March 7. Her tip to up-and-comers is sound, but it raises the question whether men have as much work to do to prove their worth.

In early journalism school, I was taught the importance of a good headline. Hopefully this was a good headline to get you interested. What back up or spares do you think of when you read the headline?

Event planning is a mix of fast-paced excitement and mind-boggling stress. You know it’s worth it when you see the smiles on your attendees’ faces — but sometimes it’s hard to remember that feeling during a last-minute crisis. Whether you need to get pumped up to power through an event-day marathon or a tricky sponsorship negotiation, mantras can help you feel centered so you can take action.

United is the first U.S. airline to let its passengers pick a gender option other than male or female when booking tickets. Delta and other carriers said last month that they plan to make similar moves shortly. We’re with they/them.

Writing contracts and negotiating terms with suppliers can be tricky. How do planners protect themselves and their attendees from cancellations? Are attorney fees included? In a recent Smart Meetings webinar, veteran hospitality contracts attorney Lisa Sommer Devlin shared some tips for creating win-win contracts. Here are the contract clauses you shouldn’t do without.

Is your life hectic? It seems that everyone I talk with laments their frenzied life. Have you ever considered that your customer or client is also frenzied? You can add to their frenzy with uncertainty or create an oasis of calm certainty through proactive communication. Proactive communication is a simple technique that will set you apart because of the calming response of the customer’s brain to certainty.

With all the logistics you have to manage for your company’s trade show program, you might feel justified in skipping trade show promotional activities. But that would be like planning a party and not sending out all the invitations. Sure, the show organizer will get people to the show floor.  But it’s up to you to get them to your booth space.

The board of directors for the Las Vegas Convention Center has approved a recommendation to enter into exclusive negotiations with Elon Musk’s Boring Company to construct a proposed loop of underground tunnels with high-speed electric people carriers to whisk convention attendees and workers around the facility. 

As an association or chamber professional, you likely plan a lot of events (or assist your members in their events). But hopefully you’re able to attend a few events of your own for professional development purposes. If you do attend conferences during the year, do you feel like you’re getting your time and money’s worth? What do you do with all that information once you get home? To fully maximize your conference experience, take a look at these four post-event best practices.

You already know the ins and outs of planning an event, but how can you enhance your attendees’ experience and ensure that you’re engaging them before, during, and after the fact?

One answer is to more deeply leverage today’s meeting technologies. While event management software tools offer a smoother and more efficient meeting planning process, they can also improve engagement, build your brand, and provide attendee insights.

The food revolution that has transformed American taste buds over the past several years has brought more pressure than ever for event organizers to deliver healthy, local food creatively presented—all while respecting a growing array of dietary restrictions and sustainability practices. 

Recruiting, engaging, and retaining young professional members continues to be a hot topic. After all, generations do vary, and you can’t just treat them like you would your more senior-level professional members. (Well, you can, but that may not get you very far.) The one thing all generations of members have in common, though, is this: They ALL want value. It’s just what’s valuable to each generation that varies.

I was at an educational forum recently where the keynote presenter spoke with passion regarding the success of completely virtual meetings in building communities using tools such as WhatsApp, Instagram, and Skype. The inference was that this digital disruption would cause face-to-face meetings to eventually fade away. While I am in absolute agreement that these virtual communities allow powerful sharing of ideas, I am also a firm believer that there still is nothing that replaces interactions and relationship building at face-to-face meetings. 

In the events industry, connections count. Networking is one of the keys to success — and getting good deals with vendors, venues, and other events managers. Whether you’re working your first event job or have afew years (or a lifetime) under your belt, you always need to build new relationships and keep existing ones warm. Here are some networking tips for every stage of your event planning career.

How many people do you know who’ve cut the cord on cable? Maybe you’re one of those people. You got tired of paying for channels you never watched, and so you dropped cable for Netflix. (Or Hulu. Or both.) The point is, you didn’t want to pay for things you weren’t using. Many people feel this way, and many MORE people (more than ever before, at least) are starting to act upon it.

Unless you are living under a rock, you’ve heard of voice assistants such as Amazon Echo or Google Assistant, but have you thought about how to use voice assistants at events? We have to make sure as an industry we are always thinking about the purpose of the event and not just adding technology because it’s new and shiny. Could voice assistants really be a replacement for chatbots? What are the benefits of implementing voice assistants at events? Or do they have no place at all being at events? We will be covering all this and more.

I hear it all the time. “How do I effectively market my events?” This is one of the greatest challenges meeting planners face. They want to improve app adoption, engage attendees with content and on social media, and increase visibility for their sponsors and exhibitors.

Honest feedback is the secret to planning a successful event. While you can follow trends in events, there’s nothing quite like getting information directly from the source—your attendees. Well-designed surveys are crucial to improving your product. Only attendees can provide you with real insight. So, consider incorporating surveys throughout the event timeline.

Doing social but not doing video? Then you’re missing a huge opportunity to promote your events to a wider audience. According to our recent Pulse Report, video is the most effective social promotion tactic of all. Only 3% of those who used video to promote their events last year didn’t find it effective as a promotional solution. If you’ve not produced video content before, it can certainly seem daunting. However, it needn’t mean giving up masses of time and money – you can produce effective content in minutes, utilising free or low-cost tools.

Privacy has become the top necessity for event planners, according to a new report from Benchmark Resorts & Hotels. The global hospitality company released its “Top 10 Meeting Trends for 2019” report based on insights gleaned from interactions with event professionals all over the world. “We learn a lot from our guests, often by observation in addition to their direct feedback,” says Ted Davis, Benchmark’s chief sales and marketing officer. What they have found, according to the report is that from high-tech to down-time, groups are now demanding that organizers plan based on how they live their lives. Here are some of the insights the synch with the observations Smart Meetingseditors have discovered on their global travels.

Video has already replaced the radio star. In the era of YouTube, Udemy courses, and live streaming, it may seem it’s set out to do the same with live presenting. But there’s one thing video can never beat: Personal interaction. Making a connection with your audience is a skill that needs to be honed and perfected to hit the mark with your presentation.

Today’s business travelers are on the road more than ever before and are faced with new stressors on a daily basis, from longer wait times at the airport to managing demanding schedules while out of the office. Unfortunately, travel stressors are typically the kick-off to the meeting experience and can leave attendees drained and exhausted by the time they arrive at the destination.

If you have a lot of repeat or long-standing customers, you might assume that you have been providing them with ideal customer service. But in reality, these customers might only be mildly satisfied – ordering from you out of convenience or habit rather than out of any real brand loyalty. The problem with mere satisfaction is that is something all buyers naturally expect to feel when making a purchase. To earn true loyalty, you need to exceed these expectations in a way that leaves a lasting impression.

As social media has grown, so has the power of influencers and the buzz around the benefits of influencer marketing. This tactic offers a lot of potential for event marketers. It can expand your event brand’s reach, open up new audiences and push people who have been on the fence to jump in. If you haven’t delved into the world of influencer marketing yet or are knee deep in building a campaign, here are eight dos and don’ts for making your influencer campaign successful.