Do you know how to work with interpreters?
by Elizabeth Colón
With the advance of international trade and the internet as essential business tools, many companies have gone global in a short period of time. Although English is the most common language in the business world, it’s still much more productive to bridge language gaps between English speakers and those who prefer to speak in a native language.
This is especially true in the world of conferences and meeting planning. The main purpose of meetings and conferences is communication. Whether that is communication about a topic, a company, or for networking purposes, being able to convey and understand the key messages is of utmost importance. Additionally, multilingual meetings provide the opportunity to build rapport, promote two-way conversation, and gain valuable feedback from an audience. As a planner, your role should be to facilitate multilingual features in the planning stages. Here are a few aspects you should know about.
Do you ever pause to realize that the meeting planning decisions you make can save a neighbor’s job or add to the local tax revenue? In your busy professional life, local economic impact most likely is not at the top of your to-do list.
Today’s savvy job seekers need to maximize the tools available when looking for their next employer. Whether you’re unemployed or just looking for new opportunities there are several things you can do to find the right company or organization.
The old adage, “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know!” still rings true today.
The best place to start is through your personal network. Make a list of everyone that might be of help to you. Even if someone is in a different industry or department, don’t discount them, they may know about a position or company that you haven’t thought of. After you come up with your list of contacts, put together your elevator pitch.
In the wake of a General Services Administration (GSA) Inspector General's (IG) report investigating an October 2010 conference, the U.S. Travel Association urged federal lawmakers today to carry out a measured and appropriate response to the findings of the report.
"The findings of the IG report clearly detail instances of inappropriate spending and poor decision making on the part of federal employees," said Roger Dow, president and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association. "At a time when Washington is laser-focused on creating jobs and curbing wasteful spending, we hope policymakers will remember that responsible travel can help accomplish these goals. We know through repeated studies that travel for face-to-face meetings increases worker productivity in the private and public sectors. We also know that meetings, conferences and events are critical to our economy and support 845,000 U.S. jobs. We hope Congress and the Administration will consider these facts when deciding how to appropriately respond to the event from October 2010."
|  Karin Eastham, author of “Cook the Part” and presenter of Cook Up Some Teamwork: Five Lessons from the Kitchen |  Lisa Bialecki, the director of integrated communications at Rust-Oleum in Vernon Hills, IL |  Shannon Timmerman, CMP for Glacier Canyon Lodge Conference Center in Wisconsin Dells |
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We’ve all heard it before….the sum is greater than its parts.
Business organizations with well-run teams have many benefits including lower turnover and higher profits. So why are some teams more productive and successful than others? And, how can organizations work to foster a synergy where employees are empowered and motivated to perform at their best?
Karin Eastham, author of “Cook the Part” and presenter of Cook Up Some Teamwork: Five Lessons from the Kitchen, says hosting ongoing team building initiatives is key to success of organizations.
“In any business, you want team members to look out for each other, to fill the gap in each other’s weaknesses and to appreciate the skills and talents of team members.”
Grand Rapids has a new full-service hotel -
Riverfront Hotel-Grand Rapids - to serve its central business district from one of the most prominent lodging locations, the former Radisson Hotel on Ann Street.
Local entrepreneur Bob Sullivan, owner of the 162-room hotel visible from US-131 North at the Ann Street exit, said the name change reflects that he will be operating the lodging as an independent hotelier. All signage that refers to Radisson -- everything from the hotel's main marquee to telephone nameplates in every room -- will be replaced with the Riverfront Hotel brand early next week.
Sullivan said he decided to part ways with Radisson, a hotel franchise owned by the Carlson Co. Inc. headquartered in Minnetonka, Minn., when Carlson's rebranding strategy under its Ambition2015 plan didn't provide the right fit for Sullivan's Ann Street hotel location.
Does online learning really work? What happens after the session is over? Is it possible to retain and attract new members by providing top-notch education, networking, and ongoing support? In a simple answer, yes, and if you’d like to learn how to do so, we turn to a case study about continuing the community after the conference is over – a real life example and model to observe and possibly duplicate for your corporation or association.
As the recession kicked into high gear in 2009, business leaders started pulling marketing dollars from organizing and attending industry events. The economic pendulum seems to have swung to the positive side, and now tradeshows and virtual events have bounced back. What has changed in the past three years is that these events are no longer two- to three-day, stationary meeting places—they are now ongoing communities for organizers to network with their customers.
by Linda Leier Thomason
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and environmental sensitivity are more than buzz words in the industry today. They are adopted business practices often requested of meeting locations by planners whose organizations share this same goal.
To address this request, some hotels, at check-in, are now offering guests the option of foregoing housekeeping services for loyalty points and/or on-site restaurant credit. The continuing “Go Green” efforts of hotels are giving guests as many options as possible while satisfying planner demand and being environmentally responsible.
by John Otrompke
Meeting planners who try to build conference attendance from multiple medical specialties got a helping hand recently which made their task a little bit easier, when a number of accreditation agencies made a new process for joint accreditation possible for them.
Multi-disciplinary training is thought to be important to quality improvement in the medical setting, according to a 2003 report from the U.S. Institute of Medicine, Health Professions Education: A Bridge to Quality. As a result, some meeting planners have been trying to design programs with multi-specialty teams in mind, but they have faced barriers to increased meeting enrollment.
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