Want to lose yourself in a website for a couple of hours? Go to http://www.corbinball.com
Corbin Ball is an award winning author, speaker and resident techie for the meetings industry. His website is full of ideas, whitepapers and some just for fun things you can see and do. All of it is free. Truly amazing.
Personally I have had the absolute pleasure of hearing Corbin speak to MPI(Meeting Professional International) members twice. Knowledgeable without being smug, his presentations have taught us to how technology can be used at meetings for best results.
Enjoy some of the videos, download some free forms, and read about some of the lastest ideas on technology in the meeting place.
Friday, November 6, 2009
Friday, October 30, 2009
Website of the Week
Looking for a great way to start a site search in an unfamiliar area go to www.officialtravelguide.com From there you are only choose the drop down menu that says "Search for you Perfect Vacation or Holiday spot" and go from there. A great way to find the Destination Marketing Association International (formerly called Convention and Visitors Bureau International) member in the region of your choice. Great start when you are looking for ideas.
That's the Planner's Pointer for today.
That's the Planner's Pointer for today.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Looking for a quick read with a powerful impact? Check out Bonnie Budzowski's Clickety Clack: 86 Ways to Keep Your Speech on Track. Former president of the Pittsburgh Chapter of the National Speakers Associationj and executive coach has delivered a winner If you do any sort of public speaking from doing a presentation at a work related meetin to paid professional speaker, this is a book for you. Each tip is a guidepost to doing a powerful peresentation. I like tip 55 best. Want to know what that is? Go to www.incrediblemessages.com If you have a Toastmaster member in your family -- this would make a great gift.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Wedding Internet Site of the Month
www.weddingfavorsunlimited.com is a great site to get ideas for your wedding. Yes I know there are a lot of wedding sites out there some better than others -- this is one of them. With ideas from favors you can purchase and games for your bridal shower -- including some that you can download for free -- this site has a lot to offer. I have to admit that any website that says Cheap Bridal Shower Favor Gifts makes me curious. Have a great Labor Day weekend!
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Going Green in the home office
Going Green! That is the ralling cry in this day and age. We all want to save the planet Here are some ideas to help you save not only the planet, but your wallet as well.
1. Not printing email. Not my own idea for sure since I have seen the tag line at the bottom of emails about not printing for a couple of years now. But we still need to keep emails for many reasons, so here is my suggestion. If you use Outlook as your mail program, learn to use folders to save your emails. It's not hardand goes a long way to organizing your email. Like any habit you wish to develop, it takes time to be gentle on yourself.
2. Unless the letter has a lot of importance, print in draft mode. Along those same lines try and print on both sides of the paper. If you are printing for your own use don't print in color. And try not to print pages from websites.
3. When writing a letter or doing a paper use wider margins. It might save some paper along the way. One inch margins work well.
4. When using Excel, go to Page Set up and then go to tab mark "Sheet" and click on "Print Gridlines" that way you don't have to format your sheet using borders as an every day thing.
5. My favorite tip is use Print Preview before your print. Just doing this extra step before you print can save so much paper and ink. See an orphan line at the top of the second page -- simply adjust your side and bottom margins. This also works in Excel and you can adjust the output by going to "Scaling" in Page Set up and adjust the output by percentages. This really works when you have just one more column to print.
That's the Planner's Pointer for today.
1. Not printing email. Not my own idea for sure since I have seen the tag line at the bottom of emails about not printing for a couple of years now. But we still need to keep emails for many reasons, so here is my suggestion. If you use Outlook as your mail program, learn to use folders to save your emails. It's not hardand goes a long way to organizing your email. Like any habit you wish to develop, it takes time to be gentle on yourself.
2. Unless the letter has a lot of importance, print in draft mode. Along those same lines try and print on both sides of the paper. If you are printing for your own use don't print in color. And try not to print pages from websites.
3. When writing a letter or doing a paper use wider margins. It might save some paper along the way. One inch margins work well.
4. When using Excel, go to Page Set up and then go to tab mark "Sheet" and click on "Print Gridlines" that way you don't have to format your sheet using borders as an every day thing.
5. My favorite tip is use Print Preview before your print. Just doing this extra step before you print can save so much paper and ink. See an orphan line at the top of the second page -- simply adjust your side and bottom margins. This also works in Excel and you can adjust the output by going to "Scaling" in Page Set up and adjust the output by percentages. This really works when you have just one more column to print.
That's the Planner's Pointer for today.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Glossary Term: Requst for Proposal (RFP)
According to the Convention Industry Council a Request for Proposal (RFP) is a document that stipulates what services an organization wants from an outside contractor and requests a bid to perform such services.
The RFPs that I have responded to have had very clear indicators of what the organization wanted done. It stated the purpose of the event. In the case of an annual event, the RFP gave an event history.
An RFP should have a scope of work, clear deadlines, budget guidelines and attendance projections. It should have the purpose of the event and in the case of an annual event, give an event history.
Words of advice for those sending out RFPs: Request for proposals shouldn't be used to gather ideas if you don't have a clear idea of what is to be done. Also RFPs shouldn't be used to plan the event budget. Be willing to answer questions of those responding to the RFP. Award the bid on the date given. Be willing to answer questions of those who didn't get the contract.
Words of advice for those responding to RFPs: Don't respond if you don't have the skill set to do the work. If you have questions, please make a list and ask them in one phone call, or email. If you will be using other contractors, give their contact information. Don't forget to list your references. Repond in a timely fashion.
That's the Planners Pointer for today.
The RFPs that I have responded to have had very clear indicators of what the organization wanted done. It stated the purpose of the event. In the case of an annual event, the RFP gave an event history.
An RFP should have a scope of work, clear deadlines, budget guidelines and attendance projections. It should have the purpose of the event and in the case of an annual event, give an event history.
Words of advice for those sending out RFPs: Request for proposals shouldn't be used to gather ideas if you don't have a clear idea of what is to be done. Also RFPs shouldn't be used to plan the event budget. Be willing to answer questions of those responding to the RFP. Award the bid on the date given. Be willing to answer questions of those who didn't get the contract.
Words of advice for those responding to RFPs: Don't respond if you don't have the skill set to do the work. If you have questions, please make a list and ask them in one phone call, or email. If you will be using other contractors, give their contact information. Don't forget to list your references. Repond in a timely fashion.
That's the Planners Pointer for today.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Glossary Term -- Attrition
Each month I would like to share a word commonly used by professionals. The words along with their meaning will be from the APEX Industry Glossary.
The Convention Industry Council is the organization of 33 associations coming together to exchange information among the meetings, convention and exhibitions industry. One of the initiatives is APEX, Accepted Practices Exchange to develop practices that reach industry wide. One of the practices is a glossary of terms used in the industry. The goal of the glossary is to standardize the definitions of words used by the meetings industry.
This month's term is Attrition.
Attrition: The difference between the actual number of sleeping rooms picked-up (or food-and-beverage covers or revenue projections) and the number or formulas agreed to in the terms of the facility’s contract. Usually there is an allowable shortfall before damages are assessed.
Attrition Clause: Contract wording that outlines potential damages or fees that a party may be required to pay in the event that it does not fulfill minimum commitments in the contract.
The way to avoid attrition is to be realistic in the number of rooms or amount of food you will be needed. The rule of thumb that I use is that you can always increase your block if you need to, but you can’t lower your count.
That’s the Planner’s Pointer for today.
The Convention Industry Council is the organization of 33 associations coming together to exchange information among the meetings, convention and exhibitions industry. One of the initiatives is APEX, Accepted Practices Exchange to develop practices that reach industry wide. One of the practices is a glossary of terms used in the industry. The goal of the glossary is to standardize the definitions of words used by the meetings industry.
This month's term is Attrition.
Attrition: The difference between the actual number of sleeping rooms picked-up (or food-and-beverage covers or revenue projections) and the number or formulas agreed to in the terms of the facility’s contract. Usually there is an allowable shortfall before damages are assessed.
Attrition Clause: Contract wording that outlines potential damages or fees that a party may be required to pay in the event that it does not fulfill minimum commitments in the contract.
The way to avoid attrition is to be realistic in the number of rooms or amount of food you will be needed. The rule of thumb that I use is that you can always increase your block if you need to, but you can’t lower your count.
That’s the Planner’s Pointer for today.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Seeing the End from the Beginning:
How will your event look? Take a minute, take five minutes. What do you see? How do you want it to look? Called visualization, this exercise done at the beginning of planning an event is helpful because you can let your creative juices flow and think about what you want to see happening. For example: If you are a bride to be what you would like to see happening at the reception. What colors do you see? Do you see a band or DJ? What does the room look like? I would do this even before you look at all the wedding magazines. Are you planning a fund raiser? What kind of activities do you see? What kind of food? Sit down or stations? What kind of entertainment? Let the mind wander and most of all write it down.
Having an idea of what you want to happen will help guide you to possible themes, locations and dare I say budgets. This vision many change somewhat from the beginning, but it lays the groundwork. Good groundwork makes for great events.
That’s the Planner’s Pointer for today.
Having an idea of what you want to happen will help guide you to possible themes, locations and dare I say budgets. This vision many change somewhat from the beginning, but it lays the groundwork. Good groundwork makes for great events.
That’s the Planner’s Pointer for today.
Monday, June 1, 2009
Goal Setting
Whether you have decided to do a meeting with 25 people or a convention with 25,000 people you need to determine the goal or the purpose for having the event. In my opinion, once you determine the goal other parts of the process fall into place.
For example: A non-profit organization wants to have a fundraising concert to raise funds. Since the goal is to raise funds, the first thing that needs to be determined is how much money they would like to raise from that concert. That will determine everything from ticket price to the artist they want to have perform the concert. If the goal of a meeting would be a brainstorming session to develop the next new product for your company then you needs would range from a comfortable setting to the people who you would have at the session.
Once you have the goal, share it is with everyone involved.
That’s the Planner’s Pointer for today.
For example: A non-profit organization wants to have a fundraising concert to raise funds. Since the goal is to raise funds, the first thing that needs to be determined is how much money they would like to raise from that concert. That will determine everything from ticket price to the artist they want to have perform the concert. If the goal of a meeting would be a brainstorming session to develop the next new product for your company then you needs would range from a comfortable setting to the people who you would have at the session.
Once you have the goal, share it is with everyone involved.
That’s the Planner’s Pointer for today.
Saturday, May 23, 2009
First Post on Planners Pointers
This is the first post of "Planners Pointers." The purpose of this blog is to offer suggestions on how to plan meetings and events. The new blog postings will appear on Tuesdays and Fridays.
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