 With a stress score of 49.85, Event Coordinator lands the #6 spot on the list of most stressful jobs, according to the 2012 CareerCast.com Job Stress Report, an annual survey of 200 different professions that measures work environment, job competitiveness, and risk.
"An event coordinator is responsible for planning all logistics and activities associated with the events for which he or she is responsible," the CareerCast.com report states. "Though they may conduct many events through the year, any event may be a once-in-a-lifetime special occasion for the people involved. Therefore, events often have very high visibility and high stakes for the coordinator involved."
Enlisted Military Soldier earned the top spot as the nation’s most stressful job, while Medical Records Technician ranked as the least stressful.
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by Pat Ahaesy  So often I speak with event or conference planners about their annual or monthly events. What I hear is that they’ve been doing the same thing over and over, month after month, year after year. Certainly, some things need to be the same, but maybe it’s time to re-evaluate the programs you’ve been doing.
Are they becoming lackluster? Has attendance fallen? Are attendee survey results showing a decline in results? Quite frankly, are you feeling downtrodden from anticipation of your next conference or event?
 1. Attendance builders.
A CVB can send promotional materials to potential registrants including destination guides, brochures, reminder postcards, tourism information, and more, all designed to attract potential attendees to your meeting destination.
2. Attrition management.
Some CVBs will assist planners in managing attrition by actively promoting the room block to attendees, highlighting special group rates and the benefits - for the attendee and for the organization - of reserving rooms within the block.
3. Bids.
During the process of selecting your meeting or event venue, an area CVB can act as a relay and assist in collecting bids from the facilities under consideration.
by Deanna Tassoni
 I know, I know: you do it all by yourself. You program your meetings, decide your catering, perfect your invitation lists, plan your seating arrangements, set up your venues, book your own speakers, and work all day and all night to pull off your perfect event. Now you’re absolutely exhausted, and you’re too stressed out to enjoy the work you’ve done.
You’ve seen them: event planners who run on coffee instead of food and water. By the time the day of an event arrives, their nerves are so thin they’re ready to blow up if anything goes wrong. Don’t be the stereotypical, crazy-eyed event planner. It’s time to start thinking about how to work smarter instead of working harder.
Okay, well, I know you won’t stop working hard, but at least consider how to work hard and smart.
by Bob Cherny
 I have watched several webcasts recently related to my hobbies. While they were all informative and worth my time, they suffered from many of the same faults. The content was great but the production values were abysmal.
First off, let’s separate “web conferences” from “webcasts.” A “web
conference” is the Internet equivalent of a conference call. A bunch
of people in distant parts of the world gather at an agreed upon time
to hold a meeting. They each wear their headsets and watch each other in windows on their monitors. That is not “webcasting."
A “webcast,” like a “broadcast,” is a one-way communication medium. Like a broadcast, I believe that there is an expectation of quality from a “webcast” that is not expected of a “web conference.”
 •Items you can’t live without when heading to the course.
Joe’s bags are packed and he’s on his way to play golf for his annual company event. Once he arrived, he realized he forgot his golf shoes and putter. You may think this will never happen to you, but you’d be surprised how many individuals show up without all of their golf essentials. Before you leave for your next golf outing, make sure you have everything you need!
•TeesWhile some golf courses provide tees for you, it never hurts to have a few extras on hand.
 •The buzz of what’s hot •Five steps to make planning a meeting easier.The standard slideshows and company booklets are the fads of yesterday. Today, people want faster results and personalized attention. Here are some ways to ensure your meeting attendees aren’t sleeping in their seats… •Prezi© vs Powerpoint© Presentations Prezi is the more modernized version of Powerpoint. With Prezi, presentations can be live and on the web by using a single canvas instead of the traditional multiple slides. Everything from videos, photos and text are placed on an infinite canvas and grouped together in frames. Prezi differs from Powerpoint in that the presentations don’t have to linear and users can zoom in and out of a visual map. For more information on Prezi, visit www.prezi.com.
 • Learn what steps to take when planning a meeting and what mistakes to avoid.
Attendance is key when planning a meeting. Regardless of the size of your meeting, having good attendance is always in the back of a meeting planner’s mind. There are a handful of things a meeting planner can do to help increase attendance at a meeting and here are a few of them.
Choosing the Right Speakers
Anyone can hire a speaker but finding a speaker that fits just right with your event, it can make all the difference in the world. Try to select speakers who haven’t made the rounds at recent events. Choose a speaker(s) that may be unfamiliar to a majority of people. At the same time, make sure to market the speaker well so attendees will be eager to hear them. Look to see if the speaker(s) you have in mind, have good testimonials. Strong testimonials will instantly catch your attendees attention. In addition, it can make promoting them easier as well.
 • An emergency action plan is a life saver.
Keith Abrams, MA, ATC, LAT, PES, CES has been a Certified athletic trainer for 18 years. Some of his past experiences include: working with the Atlanta Braves, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Kansas City Chiefs, XFL football league and various colleges, high schools and clinic settings. He is the go-to guy when it comes to preparing an emergency action plan for a sporting event.
Abrams offers a website service for event coordinators to locate certified and qualified athletic trainers. His service is free,so it’s a win-win all the way around for the event coordinator organizing an event or tournament. It’s a nationwide service so they can assist in locating athletic trainers for any and all sporting events.
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