February 22 APEX Glossary Term: SMERF

Welcome to Planners Pointers! 

Each month I like to share words 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 months definition is SMERF. No, not the blue cartoon people on television.  SMERF is an acronym for a category of event market segments including Social, Military, Educational, Religious and Fraternal groups.

I used to think that SMERF or SMERF market was a derogatory term until I realized that each one of the markets listed was worth millions of dollars spent.  For example the Social markets includes weddings, a billion dollar business. Military includes events like military reunions which are very valuable to cities because the people who attend them do things outside the planned events like visiting museums and shopping at local stores.  See what I mean? 

Say it proudly!  I am a planner who caters to the SMERFS!

Planner's Pointers is written by me, Mary Pam Kilgore, CMP, of Kilgore Business Services, LLC  You may reach me through my website www.kilgorebusiness.com  You can find my blog at http://plannerspointers.blogspot.com/  Follow me on Twitter @marypam

When Was the Last Time You Read "Who Moved My Cheese?"

Welcome to Planners Pointers.   I was having lunch with a friend last week when the discussion changed from technology to the ability to change and with that came a discussion about the "Who Moved My Cheese?" by Spencer Johnson.  Ah, the story of the mice and the maze said my friend. And the ability to change or react to the change around you I said.  Which made me wonder...

What is your ability to change?  Are you like "Sniff" and "Scurry?" Are you "Haw?" Or are you "Hem?"

When was the last time you read "Who Moved My Cheese?"  If you haven't read it in a while, read it again! To plan effective meetings and events does depend on you ability to anticipate the unexpected and to look for what lies ahead.

If you have never read the parable about change you can find it in most book stores.  Looking to purchase a copy for a friend? Try the Half Price Books in your area or go to www.whomovedmycheese.com

Planner's Pointers is written by me, Mary Pam Kilgore, CMP, of Kilgore Business Services, LLC  You may reach me through my website www.kilgorebusiness.com  You can find my blog at http://plannerspointers.blogspot.com/  Follow me on Twitter @marypam

Is All in the Follow Up!

This  is International Networking Week.  Started by BNI, Business Network International, several years ago, International Networking Week celebrates the importance that networking plays in our life. 

Last week I was a part of a panel at a networking event and I was asked what my number one networking tip was and I said "Follow Up with the people you meet!  Unless you follow up, all those business cards are just ink on paper."

It is a surprising statistic that 48%, almost half,  of all sales people never follow up with new contacts or prospects.  That only 25% of Sales people make a second contact.  This seems amazing since most sales don't happen until  more than five contacts were made.

There are several ways to follow up with the new people that you meet.  You can email them, you can send a handwritten note, you can a note using Send Out Cards.  Choose one and use it consistently.  Make the note about them, and not about you.  Bob Burg in his book Endless Referrals describes his process for follow up using handwritten notes and he does it every day!  Networking Like a Pro Turning Contacts Into Connections by Dr. Ivan Misner, David Alexander and Brian Hilliard has a great way of following up with people and helps you categorize your contacts.  The book also has some great examples of notes you can send.

Being effective at networking is a trait that every meeting and event planner needs to have.  Have you followed up today with you contacts?

Planner's Pointers is written by me, Mary Pam Kilgore, of Kilgore Business Services, LLC  You may reach me through my website www.kilgorebusiness.com  You can find my blog at http://plannerspointers.blogspot.com/.  Follow me on Twitter at @marypam.

Treat Your Computer to a Day at the Spa!! -- Computer Spa that is...

Welcome to Planners Pointers!  Each day thousands of people take their cars in to get inspected or do 50,000 mile check ups.  People go to the doctor's to get all sorts of check ups.  We go to dentists for our teeth, chiropractors for our backs. 

What about our computer?  Many of us meeting and event planners are one person shops linked to the outside world via our computer.  Let something happen to it and our world crashes! 

Could our computers need a day the computer spa.  A day of deep temporary cleanses.  A good keyboard manicure,  A hardware tune up! 

Here are six things to think about as you look at your computer.

1. When was the last time you did a  complete back up of your files?  I have a friend who almost lost all of her client files because her computer got corrupted.  She was in tears!  There are several ways to do this including backing up to an external hard drive or using storage with such web based products as Carbonite.  For the cost of a couple of latte's you can have peace of mind for a year.  I have a friend who has both an external hard drive and has a subscription to Carbonite. 

2.  Are your virus checkers up to date?  How often do you virus scans? Do you have more than one virus checker.  Sometimes they don't work well together and you can have problems. 

3. Same goes for your malware detectors.  I had a friend who let her teenage grandson use her computer.  What he did was perfectly innocent, but it cost her more than $200 to fix the problem that the malware created.

4.  Is your computer running slow?  How many programs are you running in the background?  Do you need all of them to be running in the background? 

5. Slow to boot up in the morning?  Check what is in your Start Programs Do you really  need to have the small programs to start automatically?

6. Speaking of programs.  Are you storing programs you are no longer using?  When you install a new version of a program are you making sure to uninstall the old program first?  Do you do automatic updates of your programs?

Next time you schedule a tune up for your car,  make one for your computer as well.  Spending the day at the spa?  Send your computer for its own spa treatment with your favor computer technician   You will both be refreshed!

Setting the Table

Ah, one of my favorite places to host an elegant event, the Carnegie Music Hall, Pittsburgh, PA.

From time to time I  like to share words commonly used by professionals. The words along with their meaning will be from the APEX Industry Glossary maintained by the Convention Industry Council

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

While you are looking at the picture, here are a few terms for describing different items on the table.

Napery is another name for table linen

Place Setting or Cover:  A combination of flatware, glassware and china.

Double Cloth: Use of two tablecloths on a banquet table for decorative purposes, to muffle sound, or to attach to skirting.  Usually two different colors are used. 

Overlay:  A second smaller tablecloth used for decorative purposes at banquets

Banquet Round:  Round table used for meal service; depending on the diameter, can comfortably seat up to 12 persons. A round for 8 is usually 60-inches in diameter, and a round for 10 is usually 72-inches in diameter. Rounds that are 66 inches in diameter may also be found in use for tables of 8-10. 

Just add people and you have a beautiful event.

Planner's Pointers is written by, Mary Pam Kilgore, CMP, of Kilgore Business Services, LLC  You may Mary Pam through her website www.kilgorebusiness.com  You can find my blog at http://plannerspointers.blogspot.com/  You can reach me by phone at 412-260-4178.  Follow me on Twitter @marypam.