Inspiration Hub

Every successful leader knows ongoing professional and personal development is the pathway to continued success. Which is why people pay big bucks to attend leadership workshops. While it’s important that your workshop provides leaders with a new perspective on an old problem, there’s also fun to be had. Let these five leadership workshop activity ideas inspire you to strike the balance between strategy and play.

Cognitive science acknowledges the powerful role that emotions play in shaping our understanding, our ways of thinking, the decisions we make, and the habits we adopt. In fact, if logic and emotion are at odds, most people act on their feelings when making a decision. Neuroscientist Antonio Damasio proved how critical emotions are to decision making several years ago in a groundbreaking study. He found that all of the subjects in his study — people who had damage in the amygdala, the area of the brain where emotions are generated — shared an inability to make decisions, even simple everyday ones.

You do it all. As the owner of your own third-party planner business you are the captain of the ship—and the crew. To help you navigate the sometimes rough waters of running your own business, we put together this handy resource guide with tips for everything from marketing and taxes to technology and negotiating. Feel free to bookmark this page as we will continue to update it with new tools for managing and growing your company. Until then, we wish you fair winds, following seas and full agendas.

I define leadership as a person or organization that is always looking for ways to innovate, that is not afraid to push important and sometimes controversial issues ahead, that digs in to solve or build without waiting for others to do so, that doesn’t look for individual kudos, but rather for collective progress.

Fear has been described by the acronym FEAR: False Expectations Appearing Real. We know that change is often accompanied by fear, as well as a sense of risk, uncertainty, and excitement. It’s also true that if we change the way we see things, the things we see change. 

Did you know that 46,2% of event planners identify the need to increase delegate attendance as one of their bigger challenges? Getting people in a room is not difficult. The great challenge lies in getting the attendees that matter in that room. The right people are in most cases in high demand, hence competition skyrockets. Just when you thought sending out bulk invitations to as many people as possible was enough, in comes the simple – and yet never fully utilised – rule of delegate attendance: creating an irresistible RSVP strategy that will jostle competitors.

In the annual Convene Salary Survey, we asked readers a number of opened-ended questions, including “What do you like least about your job?” One is six responses included some aspect of working with others. But here’s a nice twist — when we asked what readers like best about their jobs, the most popular response, by far, was the people they work with and meet. Readers also liked the constant challenges that arise on the job and the perks of travel. Here’s what you said you like most about your job.

You just unpacked your suitcase full of swag from IMEX Frankfurt last month, and the world’s largest matching organization for event professionals is already teasing you with glimpses of the creative connections that will await you Oct. 16–18 at IMEX America in Las Vegas.

“Should I get a master’s degree or a certification?” It’s a question I’ve been asked a lot over the years. And my answer is usually an ironic, “Yes.” Asking, “Should I get a master’s degree or a certification?” is like asking, “Should I have an apple or should I have turkey and dressing with giblet gravy?”

Email—a great invention, though it occasionally can feel like the bane of an event professional’s existence as we try to meet deadlines and separate the must-reads from the deletes. With regular sign-ups for white papers, subscriptions for nuggets of key information and personal messages all combined in one inbox, it can feel overwhelming to open your mail app to tens of emails throughout the day. But there are ways to combat this without sacrificing your sanity, and few barely take more than a few minutes.

Event planners are a special breed of hard-working, hyper-organized adrenaline junkies. Consistently named as one of the world’s most stressful jobs, the role of event organizer is uniquely challenging — yet equally rewarding for some. Think you were born to be an event planner? Check out these must-have event planning skills to see if you’ve got what it takes.

One element that is constantly under serious scrutiny by event planners, is the budget. Event budgets of course vary depending on the event’s scale, however, throwing a large amount of resources into it does not guarantee  success. Cost-effective doesn’t have to mean cheap in the world of event planning, therefore experiences with a smaller budget can be equally impactful and engaging, as long as event planning is executed strategically to activate and excite attendees. After all, it is the value that needs to be high, not the price.

We’re inundated with emails — in the time it took you to open this article, you probably received a few new messages. But according to Miguel Neves, CMP, head chef at digital engagement firm Social Media Chefs, that’s all about to change.

As market leaders are often all-too-aware, today’s cultural and business environments are rapidly shifting—often in highly unpredictable and disruptive ways. In the past few years alone, physical has quickly given way to digital (including cloud and app-based solutions); meetings and events have evolved into virtual and streaming solutions; and promotional and outreach efforts once aimed at connecting with Gen Xers and Baby Boomers are quickly being transformed into initiatives targeted at Millennials and Gen Zers. 

Whether you're a seasoned or first-time exhibitor, the busy trade show season can sneak up on you fast. Here is a great infographic with some important tips to help you prepare for a successful trade show.

Event planners are the some of the busiest people that I know. We work hard, and we equally play hard. However even the best of us have trouble finishing our work and putting the finishing touches on an event. Maybe it is the perfectionism taking over. Other times, our aim to control every little thing leaves us paralyzed only to complete nothing. In an event we need to overcome these situations and keep ourselves focused on finishing what we do.

Have you ever noticed how you may be on your way to your dream job, body or relationship and somehow, you’ve sabotaged yourself? Why would we consciously or subconsciously derail efforts that are bringing us towards what we believe we want? While a few reasons may be that we’re afraid of change, afraid to put ourselves out there, and afraid to shine, there are many other reasons too.

There’s nothing more frustrating than when someone refuses to take responsibility for their behaviors and actions-especially when those behaviors and actions caused harm. While we’re often so willing to overlook and forgive an error in judgment or a transgression, we tend to hang onto it more tightly when the person who caused the harm refuses to own it. So, instead of blaming, making excuses, getting defensive, ignoring it or assuming the other person doesn’t need an explanation or apology, take responsibility for the part you played (whether it was intentional or unintentional) and own it.

Most companies have one (or more) morning meetings; unfortunately, attendees often find them annoying and disruptive to their daily routine. The National Statistics Council says 37 percent of employee time is spent in meetings, and 47 percent of employees consider too many meetings to be the biggest waste of time on any day—more than social media or email.

Sometimes, you just need to look at leadership from a different angle. In Zoom Leadership: Change Your Focus, Change Your Insights, organizational consulting expert Janet Britcher urges readers to “zoom in and out” with a flexible, open mind when problem-solving, rather than looking at a situation from a single point of view.

The IMEX Group and EventMB announce new partnership - industry research, case studies and exhibitor storytelling define ‘unprecedented journey’. We are very glad to announce a partnership with IMEX Group. We have been following the evolution of IMEX and participated in some of it with #IMEXpitch, one of the first event technology pitch competitions.

At Convening Leaders 2018, Kelly Peacy, CAE, CMP, founder and CEO of Insight Event Strategy, and former senior vice president of education and events at PCMA, shared with student attendees five things she wished she had known when she was just starting out: