Posts Tagged ‘Meeting Planners’

Staying on Budget When Planning Your Meeting

Staying on Budget When Planning Your Meeting When you’re in charge of planning a meeting, staying within your budget is probably one of your biggest worries, but it shouldn’t have to be.  With a little extra effort, staying within budget can be the easiest part of meeting planning.   Here are a few tips  to help you out with the financial aspect, so that you can spend more time and effort on the important parts of your meeting.

1.  Make sure you know your budget.  If you know your exact limits verses a guess or estimate, you are more likely to stick to it.

2.  Stay organized.  This one seems simple, but before you even begin the planning process, make a list of items you’ll need to pay for.  These might include transportation, entertainment, refreshments, technology rentals, accommodations if your meeting will involve out-of-town guests, renting a location if it won’t be at your office, and more.  Figure out how much of your budget you can afford to assign to each aspect and try to leave a little extra room in case something comes up.

3.  Be flexible.  If you have specific expectations about dates and locations, you may find yourself having to shell out a little extra money to pay for those expectations.  Some places, such as hotels, might give discounts if you’re not 100% set on a date.

4.  Have a back-up plan.  Something can always go wrong when you’re planning a big meeting.  Consider the possibilities and decide what you can do in the event of an emergency.  Not having a back-up plan could result in spending tons of extra, unnecessary cash.

5.  Rent any necessary technology.  In today’s world, technology is king, and any successful meeting requires at the bare minimum a projector.  Renting a projector is a great alternative to purchasing one when you’re trying to stay within a budget.  You’ll pay a small fraction of what you would when you purchase a new projector and you can rent it for as long as you need.  Many meeting planners also rent laptops so that each meeting attendee can use one to access websites, take notes, and perform other tasks related to the meeting.

Make Your Meetings Fun

Make Your Meetings Fun

Chances are, if you surveyed your employees, most of them probably aren’t going to use the word “fun” to describe meetings.  As a matter of fact, they probably don’t look favorably at meetings at all.  Let’s be honest, meetings aren’t usually exciting.   But what if you could spice things up a little bit?  Not only will this encourage employees to attend and participate, but the overall mood and production value of the meeting will probably change, too.  Here are few tips on making your meetings “fun.”

1.  Audience Participation

Admit it.  You, yourself, have probably started to drift off during a meeting in which the presenter droned on and on about one topic for hours.  Giving a lengthy speech about a topic usually means the information goes right in one ear and out the other.  Adding some audience participation can go a long way.  Games, hands-on activities, demonstrations, role-playing, and even trips outside of the meeting room or anything else which requires your audience to be an active part of the meeting can help keep everyone’s interest through the duration of your meeting.

2.  Get employees involved in planning

Ask your employees what they do and don’t like about your meetings and use their suggestions to change things up.  Maybe appoint a different employee to come up with ideas for each meeting or to gather information for you.  When people have a say in what they’ll be doing, they’re often more engaged.

3.  Offer Prizes and Contests

Good, old-fashioned bribery is always an option when it comes to getting people motivated.  Offer some sort of raffle or contest that allows meeting attendees to win a prize.   Or maybe at the end of your meeting, you can have a “pop quiz,” and the person who is able to answer the most questions, gets a prize.  The possibilities are endless.

4.  Use Audio Visual Equipment Rentals

Projectors, plasmas, and other audio visual equipment can perk up even the dullest of meeting rooms.  Imagine your content being projected on a large screen, in bright colors, with music or other sound to back it up.  The right equipment can turn your boring powerpoint presentation into an engaging activity that holds everyone’s interest.  And if you don’t have equipment on hand or spending thousands of dollars for equipment you don’t use very often isn’t in your budget, a rental firm like Rentacomputer.com is a great option.  You can rent the equipment for just the time you need it, and even have it delivered and picked up to and from any location.  Just call 1-800-736-8772 to find out more!

Remember, meetings can easily become boring and people work better when they are energized and motivated.  Wouldn’t you rather see your employees laughing and relaxed verses falling asleep at your meetings?  I know I would!

Technology Rentals for Meeting Planners

Technology Rentals for Meeting Planners

Meeting Planners are involved with and responsible for almost every aspect of a corporate meeting or event, from preparation to presentation.  This might include site selection; arranging for guest speakers; and scheduling, and negotiating with suppliers to provide the necessary food, entertainment, tables, pipe and drape, computer and or audio visual devices.

As a matter of fact, they work much like a Tech Travel Agent.  A Tech Travel Agent are basically Meeting Planners who specialize in providing corporate events and meetings with the latest technology.  How does this benefit you as a Meeting Planner?  Our Tech Travel Agents is your single, nationwide contact who you can count on for advice and sourcing your technology needs, no matter what they are.

Meeting Planners can consult with a Tech Travel Agent prior to booking an event at  venue.  For over twenty years, Tech Travel Agents and Rentacomputer.com  have been providing short-term technology rentals for meetings and events, as well as offering invaluable advice to Meeting Planners on the venue’s ability to provide the necessary IT infrastructure.

Using a Tech Travel Agent for your technology rental needs can help Meeting Planners reduce their workload and increase the value they provide to their clients.  You will get great rates on short-term technology rental equipment such as audio visual equipment, computer equipment, kiosks, trade show displays, and anything else you need, all delivered to your event or meeting and installed.

Using a Tech Travel Agent eliminates endless solicitations from multiple vendors who only supply to this city or that venue.  Tech Travel Agents cover it all, in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and almost any other English-speaking country.

If you’re a Meeting Planner who would like to take advantage of a Tech Travel Agent and receive all of the benefits mentioned above and more, contact one today, by calling toll-free  800-736-8772 or e-mail TechTravelAgent@rentacomputer.com

21% More Meetings in 2010

We like to schedule 1 day low cost meetings.

FutureWatch 2010 predicts that U.S. meeting planners will plan 21 percent more meetings in 2010 than they did in 2009 while spending 3.5 percent less per meeting.

This fits right into Todd Hikman’s plans to roll out new branding initiatives with the company’s worldwide sales force. “We like to schedule 1 day meetings to keep everyone up to date on our latest sales and marketing initatives. We call it the ‘Fast and Fresh’ update, and we do it every quarter with every sales person in the company”. Todd Hickman, Anacomp Industries VP Marketing.

The FutureWatch 2010 report also concludes that planners expect to locate 80 percent of their meetings within the United States this year, compared to 61 percent last year.

Additionally,  FutureWatch 2010  identifies these industry trends:

• Meetings that are located closer to home
• Meetings ROI
• Corporate social responsibility (CSR)
• Technology

For meeting planners, the highest technology-related priority this year is improving the audio/visual experience for attendees. For suppliers, meanwhile, it’s improving their customer relationship management (CRM) software.

About FutureWatch

Each year, in partnership with American Express, Meeting Professionals International (MPI) conducts a comprehensive survey of global meeting and event professionals, aimed at spotting trends and competitive factors that will shape the global industry in the coming year. FutureWatch2010 is the eighth edition of this one-of-a-kind study.

For more information about FutureWatch 2010, including a free executive summary, visit www.mpiweb.org.