Save Time & Money

Patricia Fripp, CSP, CPAE offers eight tips for corporate meeting planners to save time and money:

Tip #1. After every meeting and event, do an "after action analysis." Write down what went right, what went wrong, what you would do differently if you were planning the meeting today, and who the vendors were who made your life easier.

Tip #2. In hiring vendors, do not always go for the lowest price. Whoever you hire, it affects your image. Reliability and follow-through are more important than a lower bid. Everyone is downsizing and looking for new ways to cut costs, but a vendor at a lower price may not be the answer.

Tip #3. Learn to make other people heroes. Whether dealing with vendors or people in other departments of your own company, if the person works hard and well, write a note of thanks to them and send a copy to their boss.

Tip #4. Make sure your speaker knows the terms used in your associationi.e. these people use "clients" not "customers." Also, alert the speaker to particulars of his/her audience...for example, mention the women in the audience are members, not spouses. One professional speaker was not warned and spoke "down" to his audience, making them feel bad, and the meeting planner look bad.

Tip #5. If you do mailings before a meeting or convention, be sure to put the speaker on the mailing list. This way the speaker knows what else is going on at the meeting, what the various topics are, if the schedule has been revised, and if his/her speaking time has been changed and no one remembered to tell the speaker.

Tip #6. If you are expecting a speaker to arrive the night before an event, leave them a note asking them to let the meeting planner know they have actually arrived. If you know the speaker has in fact arrived, you will undoubtedly sleep better. Leave an emergency number where you can always be reached.

Tip #7. Don't save the best for the last. Often corporations take their top performers to a fancy resort for a meeting of several days. They have one important outside speaker and they want to send the employees back to work with a bang. You will get more value for your money if you schedule the speaker the first day instead of the last. At the end of the conference the employees may be tired, hungover, or worried about packing and making the plane.

Tip #8. Use E-mail. Get on-line with networks of meeting planners who can share their experiences. Find a group similar to yours and find out the names of the most successful speakers they have used and which vendors made their lives difficult or easy.

Call 800 634-3035 or email PFripp@Fripp.com to request other articles.

The Special Event 2007

The Special events industry comes into its own: Barbara Scofidio writing for MeetingsNet.com observes “If there was a common theme at The Special Event 2007, held last week in Los Angeles, it was that this industry, which started out as a cottage industry or a ‘garage industry,’ as insiders like to describe it has finally evolved into a profession.”

The Net Meeting Phenomena

Here is my 2001 article on Jumping Aboard the Net Meeting Bandwagon. Amazing how quickly times flies and how this is all coming into place.

Outlook on Conference Centers

Here’s a thought-provoking article on conference centers and why they are sometimes overlooked by meeting planners: Conference Centers: The almighty CMP is loosening up

“Conference centers aren't on many planners' radars, either because they don't know about conference centers, harbor confusion about them, or think they're too expensive to actually book…”

Survive a Plane Crash

Here is advice extracted from Mens’ Health on how to minimize the chance of, or survive, a plane crash…

1. Favor nonstop flights: The fewer takeoffs and landings, the safer. Check the weather, including in places you'll land; if the weather could be severe, delay your departure. Call the airline or your travel agent to help you.

2. Reserve the seat next to the emergency exit. If taken, choose an aisle seat in the rear half of the cabin.

3. Pay attention to the safety demonstration, including the instructions on opening the emergency exit. Count the rows between you and the exit in ease the plane fills with smoke. Eyeball an alternate exit as well. Practice opening your seat belt.

To Prepare for Impact

1. Ensure your seat belt is tightly fastened and your seat is fully upright.

2. The best impact position according to the Flight Safety Foundation is the feet-flat-on-the-floor position.

3. Put your forearms across the top of your forehead. If you can lean forward from this position and brace yourself against the seat in front of you, do it. If you can't reach the seat, bend forward, wrap your arms around your shins, and put your face in your lap.

4. If you're over water, loosen your shirt (and tie) so your movement isn't restricted – you could be swimming soon. Be ready for two jolts: when the plane first hits water and when the nose hits.

5. Be ready to help yourself. Most survivors get out of a plane under their own power.