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by Patricia Fripp, CSP, CPAE
Corporate meeting planners are continuously
mired in details, trying to keep it all together for the next
meeting, and already worrying about the ones after that. We need
to learn how to work "smarter," not harder, in mastering
details.
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 association i.e. these people use
"client" 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.
Do you need a dynamic keynote speaker for your next conference?
Patricia Fripp is happy to send you a demo video and press kit if
you let us know when your meeting is. Call 800 634-3035 or email
PFripp@Fripp.com to request. To appreciate Patricia's versatility:
http://www.fripp.com/article.1+1+1=9.html
If you find this article useful, you will enjoy, appreciate and
learn from Patricia Fripp's audio and video tapes: http://www.fripp.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?
If you are interested in speech coaching check out: http://www.executivespeechcoach.com
If you are a business executive who wants to get paid for your
knowledge, or a professional speaker who needs innovative
marketing and strategy seminars, you need The Odd Couple®: http://www.fripp.com/speakingseminar.html
Patricia Fripp CSP,CPAE is a San Francisco-based
professional speaker on Change, Teamwork, Customer Service,
Promoting Business, and Communication Skills. She is the author of
Get What You Want! and Past-President of the National
Speakers Association.
PFripp@Fripp.com, 1-800 634 3035,
http://www.fripp.com
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