Midwest Meetings | Engagement/Presentation News & Views

Engagement/Presentation News & Views...

Meeting Planning Tip of the Week: Tips for Choosing the Right Theme for Your Special Event

To choose the perfect theme for a special event, consider the décor, music and entertainment, as well as the food and beverage. These factors should all encompass the theme to set the right tone for the occasion.
When collaborating with an on-site event production team, consider the following:
Décor - What type of atmosphere do you want to create? Would your guests be most comfortable in a traditional setting, or would a themed special event better suit your objectives?
Entertainment - Will the audience prefer passive or active involvement in the entertainment? For instance, a more casual event can be enhanced with games, such as billiards and foosball, which let guests interact. At a more formal event, you may want to include a musical performance as part of the evening’s entertainment.
Food & Beverage - Do you prefer a full sit down meal or a lighter spread that enables guests to mingle more actively with each other? Are there any special dietary restrictions to keep in mind?
To learn more about these tips, visit http://www.qcenter.com.
Courtesy of Q Center, St. Charles, IL

Re-capturing the Attention of Rowdy Meeting Participants

Capturing attention can be a challenge when participants get rowdy, or even if there is a lot of cross-talk. Simply speaking louder and trying to shout over the group is likely to backfire. Not only do you risk alienating the group, you can risk irritating your vocal chords.

Read more from Cvent and Anne Thornley-Brown

Meeting Planning Tip of the Week: Finding the Right Team Building Environment

Team building is an effective way to break the ice and encourage open communication among group members. Participants work together through games and challenges and learn in an interactive environment, creating fun and entertaining meetings.

To choose the perfect team-building events, you must:

• Know the size of your group

• Create a set budget

• Define your goals

• Determine the ways you can incorporate your brand, theme, or message

Based on your considerations, you can select the team-building event that is right for your meeting. Ranging from culinary competitions, moviemaking challenges, scavenger hunts and problem solving, there are countless options designed to customize your event.

To learn more, visit http://www.qcenter.com.

Content Marketing: The Name of the Game for Events in 2013

It's becoming clear that content marketing is the most effective way to reach attendees in the year 2013.

No longer are blogs and social media written off as the realm of kids and technogeeks.

Read more from Jenise Fryatt

3 tips for facilitating group discussions

Most of us have had to suffer through a “discussion” occurring in the presence of a large number of people, most of whom never get an opportunity to speak. Here are three tips for creating an effective focused discussion with a group.

Read more

Are You Attracting Your Best Attendees Or Are You Repelling Them?

Why are conference organizers doing so many things that repel their best customers?

Instead of bombarding paying attendees with marketing messages, how about just making good on your promise to deliver education and networking opportunities?

Read more from Jeff Hurt

What Participants are Expecting from Your Event

Most event planners have a pretty good idea of what their customers want from an event. There are, of course, lots of logistical challenges to tackle like venue, food, entertainment, registration and sponsorship. At the core of an event is the participant. More participants mean more revenue, more potential sponsorship, more energy at the conference and more word of mouth to continue growing into next year. But do you know what your participants are expecting? Read more from Go Big Event

Trade Show Marketing Strategies on Lead Generation

How many leads do you get after spending a year’s salary? A better question is, how many leads did your top competitor get?

Would you be surprised to hear that your top competitor may have netted over 500% more leads than you did? Frustratingly, he only had to spend 10% more money than you do to get that massive ROI. What did he do differently? Read More:

Why Conference General Sessions Should Be More Like The Olympics

The 2012 London Olympics were an interesting diversion from U.S. politics, the scorching heat and a questionable economy.
They captivated our attention as we rooted for our countries, the underdog and individuals that had overcome great odds.
Read more from Jeff Hurt

3 Things Meeting Planners Really Want from Their Hospitality Marketing Partners

Have you ever wondered how a meeting planner's mind works? Why they chose a particular property? How you can win more business from them?
As a meeting professional for almost 20 years, I can tell you it isn't really rocket science. But there is some methodology to the way planners think. The National Conference Center (NCC) set out to find out how event organizer's make that ultimate choice by surveying their planner and trainer clients.
Below, are the top three planner needs NCC identified. I have added my own "nice to have" ideas that hotel marketing staff might want to use to get hotel group business. Read more from Dede Mulligan

Meeting Planning Tip of the Week: How to Plan a Successful Blended or Virtual Meeting Experience

There are many advantages to hosting virtual or blended meetings, such as lower costs and higher engagement. However, in order to make these meetings a success, you need the right preparation and meeting technology.
To make the most of these innovative events, follow these steps:
Make sure to send the agenda and any visuals ahead of time so that attendees know what to expect and can better understand the meeting’s purpose.

Require everyone on-site to use a laptop or mobile device with the meeting software running in order to be on the same page as the virtual attendees.
Keep your audience engaged during the event. Ask questions and take polls to spark conversation and evoke interest.
Use a facilitator when hosting a virtual conference, to handle any technical issues and participant questions.

To learn more about these tips, visit our post “Tools & Strategies for Blended & Virtual Meetings” at http://www.qcenter.com.

Does Your Registration Process Stop Me from Registering

I love Holiday Showcase. I have been a few times and I have always had a great experience. I go to see the exhibits, connect with old contacts, and find some really great destinations that make it into my client’s rotation.

So – Why am I not going to Holiday Showcase

Top Wedding Planners Share Tips for Working Well With Clients

As part of its Maverick series, the Event Leadership Institute hosted a discussion with notable wedding planners and designers on Tuesday. The event drew some 135 event and meeting professionals to the Lighthouse International Conference Center, where speakers Marcy Blum, Colin Cowie, Tara Guérard, and Ceci Johnson shared their business strategies with E.L.I. executive director Howard Givner. One focus of the one-on-one interviews was client relations. Read more from BizBash

How to get your guests to dance

Some people are blessed with employees or family members who consider a rented dance floor a little slice of heaven and a chance to bond with one another. For those of us who aren’t so lucky, it can be hard to get a dance party going during an event.

Read more from Eventjuice

Millennials Favor Texting, Do Not Value Email

Did you know that texting is the number one form of writing today among Millennials?

Some may guffaw at the thought of texting as a form of writing.

Purists scream that young people today don’t know how to write, spell or use proper forms of grammar.
Read more from Jeff Hurt

Your Presentation Needs To Start With A Presenter Attendee Agreement

I start the majority of my presentations by making an agreement with my audience. I call it my presenter-attendee agreement.

Why use valuable presentation time for the presenter-attendee agreement?

Most people come to conferences and presentations with an implied agreement that the presentation is about and for the speaker, not the audience. In reality, the focus should be on the audience, the learners.
Read more from Jeff Hurt

So You Spent 3 Days and Thousands of Dollars, What Did You Do For Me?

Sorry to break it to you… but your attendees don’t care how much work you put in. They want to know what they are going to get when they attend an event. So why not try to go above and beyond what they expect and give them things that they will remember and talk about after your event?
Read more from Liz King