Meeting Planner Careers

Whether you are just starting out in the field of event and meeting planning, or are a seasoned professional constantly on the lookout for ways to improve and grow your business, there are certain must-have items that you should quickly acquire, if you do not have them already. These items will assist you in increasing awareness of your services, in coming across as professional and reliable, in ensuring that people you meet will remember you, and in bringing in new clients. While each of the three must-have items listed below may seem simple, once you begin to use them you will quickly see their value as part of building a solid foundation on which to expand your client base and grow your list of contacts.
 

1. A professional website – If you do not already have a website, you need one immediately. Even if you only have basic information on a home page, it is absolutely essential to establish an online presence and have a convenient place for potential clients to obtain information about your services.
2. Business cards – Whether they are simple or sophisticated, business cards are an absolute must. Order them now and carry them with you everywhere you go. You never know when you might meet someone who will be important to your business.
3. Thank you cards – You can opt for stylishly imprinted cards with elaborate designs or simple blank cards from your local stationary store, but you should always have thank you cards on hand. Thank everyone for everything. People like to feel appreciated and it will help them remember you.

You already know that attending networking functions and connecting with local businesspeople are an important part of increasing awareness of your meeting or event planning services. You also know that networking events are a great way to meet both potential clients and vendors that you might like to work with in the future. But, there is more to making the most of networking functions than simply showing up and shaking a few hands. To get the most out of social networking events, you need to plan ahead, be prepared and have a plan in place for following up with the folks you meet at the function.

Planning ahead and being prepared includes making sure you have enough business cards and written materials to distribute to everyone you meet, practicing your elevator speech and making sure that your appearance and demeanor will appropriately display your professionalism and personable nature. You want attendees to feel comfortable in your presence, to want to know more about you and your services, and to quickly become confident in your ability to provide professional, reliable meeting or event planning services.

Aside from planning ahead for the event, you should also plan tasks for the days following the event. These tasks should include following up with everyone you spoke to with an email or handwritten card expressing how pleased you were to meet them, scheduling lunches with people who might be particularly helpful to you and visiting the websites of attendees to learn more about them.

Joining local business organizations and attending networking meetings or socials are essential tasks for meeting planners trying to break into the business or expand their current client base. Networking functions are an excellent way to meet potential clients, connect with local vendors, find new staff members as your business grows and get your name out there as a meeting or event planner who is accepting new clients. Networking socials and meetings are also a great way for shy or reserved folks to practice speaking about their business to strangers and to work on their people skills, which are particularly important to meeting planners.

Of course, it is not enough to simply attend networking functions and introduce yourself around. Following up with the folks you meet is just as important as making that initial contact. While you may have handed out your business cards and spoke about your meeting or event planning services, you must keep in mind that each attendee met plenty of other people as well; therefore, you must take extra steps to ensure that they remember you and that you will be in the back of their minds when they are need of planning services or when one of their friends or colleagues asks if they happen to know a good event planner.

Newly launched Seasite.com provides 24/7 access to all cruise brands, and the most content-rich and searchable database for the cruise industry.

Miami, FL (Vocus/PRWEB ) January 21, 2010 — Planning a group cruise requires searching for detailed ship information and not always finding what you need – even on the cruise lines’ own web sites. Now, with Seasite.com, the first cruise portal for meetings and events, group organizers can find all the ship data they need in one place – at no cost.

I’ve bookmarked Seasite.com – it’s invaluable in selecting the right ship for a group and to verify it’s a good fit before I present it to my client. And for operational planning, it has all the info I need – which isn’t on cruise line web sites.

"I’ve bookmarked Seasite.com – it’s invaluable in selecting the right ship for a group and to verify it’s a good fit before I present it to my client,” said Millie Evans, President/CEO Alliance Incentives and Meetings. "And for operational planning, it has all the info I need – which isn’t on cruise line web sites.”

Seasite.com provides 24/7 access to all cruise brands, and the most content-rich and searchable database for the cruise industry, so that planners can:

1.   Find ship data never before offered online or in print, such as:
   - Meeting/function room capacities
   - Dining room seating, and details for private group dining
   - Outdoor group function areas
   - A/V equipment lists
   
2-   Search, compare, and save favorite cruises; then create one RFP and submit it to multiple cruise lines. (Group pricing is the same as booking direct.)

3-   See the cruise lines most committed to groups, and search their mini-sites (all laid out the same — when you’re familiar with one, you’re familiar with all!)

4-   Search by ship name for a chronological list of future Itineraries and Basic Ship Information, and find it faster than a brochure.

5-   Search for a cruise anywhere in the world by any date range (as short as several days or as long as several months). Sort your results by meetings-specific criteria.

6-   Refer to the Knowledge Center to answer all your questions, including these:

7-   Discover a list of "Cruise Gems” – those rare, hard to find, short cruises.

"Everyone who plans group travel should take a good look, and bookmark Seasite.com if they want to simplify cruise sourcing and planning” said Jo Kling, CEO Seasite.com.

For more information on Seasite.com, A Landry & Kling Company, visit www.seasite.com or call 888-713-1371.

About Seasite.com/Landry & Kling
Seasite.com is designed for meeting and event planners who want more control in the cruise sourcing and planning process. It’s the fastest and easiest way for group organizers to master the world of cruising, building on all that’s been learned by Landry & Kling, who are credited with being the first distribution channel between the cruise industry and corporate America. Now, 28 years since their startup, they have responded to changing times by creating Seasite.com, with innovative cruise sourcing tools that enable meeting planners and other travel intermediaries to be more pro-active and confident in booking cruises. Seasite group pricing is the same as booking direct, with the advantage of impartial Cruise Advisors to assist as needed.

Having the best event that can be enjoyed by all is not always something easy to do.  You have to do a lot of hard work and research to try and make your event one that will be talked about by all your peers.  You want the meeting that you plan to have an all the things that you want and so much more.  This will be the equation that will end up getting you the most spectacular party that you can be proud of.

When you are looking to have your event stand out from all the rest, you want to do a few things first. You want to think of ways that you can bring some fun and excitement to your special occasion. You want to add some flair to the event so that you can take your guests by surprise. You want them to be thrilled by coming.  By adding some of the flair that you want, you will be bringing life to it for everyone. 

The most that you can do for your event to be special is to plan.  You will do more planning than you have ever done before because you want this time to be special. You want your event to be the most talked about time of the year. You want to put a lot of your heart and soul into this so that you are giving it your all and ending up with the best-finished product that you can have.  You will have something that you can be proud of and feel good about. Read more…

You probably have a Facebook or MySpace account, your company may have a blog and Web site, and there’s a good chance that you’ve probably “tweeted”. However, if you’re behind the curve on technology and haven’t begun to use the different social media outlets to help build your event planning business, you’re probably missing out. Following are some reasons why you should be taking advantage of the power of social media.

Facebook – Facebook is the Grand Central Station of the Internet for contacting, finding and grouping people. This amazing social tool also allows you to measure different metrics within groups that you establish. Consider setting up a Facebook fan page for people interested in the events that you’re planning for your area. Post information about the events that is relevant and current and watch your group grow. If you want to measure the different metrics of your group, Facebook provides an online application called “Insights”, which allows you to measure interactions, likes, comments, wall posts and gender among other things.

Twitter – Why “tweet”? Why not? Twitter is the perfect texting platform. When you consider that you have 140 characters to produce a micro-blog post, you realize that millions of people on their Blackberries and iPhones will really appreciate the updates.

These two social media venues are just a taste of what is available (for free!) on the Internet. Dedicate some time each day to utilizing these tools and you’ll see the benefits firsthand.

Okay, you may not party like a rock star, but you can certainly plan a meeting or event with some rock-n-roll flare. The Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino is South Florida’s ultimate casino experience. It offers over 2,000 Vegas-style slot machines and games like Blackjack, Baccarat and Texas Hold ‘Em at over 100 tables.

Of course, your meeting guests are there for business as well as play and the Hard Rock doesn’t disappoint. This 4-diamond hotel features 500 elegant guest rooms and over 40,000 square feet of meeting space. Complimentary Wi-Fi is available throughout the entire hotel and if you’re hungry, there are 17 restaurants. For the shoppers in your event group there are 22 retail shops in Seminole Paradise and when the day is over, you can kick back in any of the 11 nightclubs on the property.

The Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino is also the first hotel/casino in Florida to be awarded the Green Lodging Program One Palm designation. This designation is given by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and signifies that the recipient is upholding environmentally friendly policies on its property.

The hotel is within 7 miles of the airport and booking information can be requested from Mark Tascione via e-mail: mark.tascione@seminolehardrock.com, or by calling (800) 937-0156.

Near the northernmost tip of Key Largo, there is a secluded spot that is home to the Ocean Reef Club. This exclusive club is housed on 2,500 sub-tropical acres of secure land. In general, this club only plays host to members and their guests. However, the Club does offer certain groups a chance to see this way of life firsthand.

Within the gated community there is a private airport that allows members unfettered travel. Along the shoreline, a 175-slip marina opens up onto some of the best fishing areas in the world. For those who are interested, this area is also perfect for SCUBA and snorkeling. The property is home to 36-holes of championship level golf, nine tennis courts, a full-service spa and two oceanfront pools.

Each guest is provided with first-class accommodations that include flat screen televisions and marble floors. The property includes 30,000 square feet of interior meeting space, 300 deluxe rooms and suites, as well as villas and homes. In addition to the interior meeting space, the property also features outdoor venues for small or large groups. Aside from the private airport, the Club is within an hour of Miami International Airport.

For a truly memorable meeting or event, the Ocean Reef Club is the perfect setting and provides guests with a glimpse of the high society lifestyle.

Contact: Richard Weinstein, rweinstein@oceanreef.com

InterContinental Hotels Group is an event or meeting planner’s dream. They provide first-class service and specialized meetings that are spiced with the authentic flavors of Argentina.

The historic Montserrat neighborhood provides the perfect backdrop for the InterContinental Buenos Aires. This area provides a 1930s atmosphere set to a tango-laced soundtrack. Coffee shops, a futbol stadium and several theaters are scattered within walking distance of the hotel. With 309 guest rooms, 10 suites and 11 meeting rooms that occupy 13,181 square feet of space, the Intercontinental Buenos Aires provides ample space for any event or meeting.

The Crowne Plaza Cordoba San Miguel is a bit smaller, but provides guests with 74 rooms and 4 suites. The hotel features 6,080 square feet of meeting space and is within 37 miles of the airport. The Crowne Plaza sits snugly among the Sierras Chicas mountain range and offers a full-service spa and fitness center. It also features a beautiful 18-hole golf course.

These are just two of the InterContinental Hotels Group properties. The group also owns the Holiday Inn Cordoba and is opening two new properties in 2010: The InterContinental Mendoza is scheduled to open in early 2010 and the InterContinental Nordelta Buenos Aires is scheduled to open in late 2010.

Contact:
Intercontinental Buenos Aires – Sebastian Roces, sebastian.roces@ihg.com

Crowne Plaza Cordoba San Miguel – Natalia Di Giovambattista, commercial@cplazacordoba.com

Holiday Inn Cordoba – Jimena Nattero, jnattero@holidayinncba.com

In the meeting and events industry, innovative ideas are the key to success. However, it’s imperative to protect your ideas if it becomes necessary to showcase them to a client prior to signing a contract. A nondisclosure agreement is an excellent way to do just that.

Nondisclosure, the Nuts and Bolts
Nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) generally include elements that prohibit the disclosure of specific information and a description of the information that the agreement covers. NDAs also contain a requirement that the party receiving the information must take every available step in order to prevent unauthorized disclosure of the information. They also generally provide limitations on who the information may be shared with and limitations on the use of that information. NDAs also include measures that may be taken if the agreement is broken.

When to Sign an NDA
If you have confidential information or materials that need to be protected, an NDA should be used very early within the RFP process. It’s even a good practice to have your recipient sign a nondisclosure prior to any conversations or disclosure of any information. You should also consider creating nondisclosure for specific documents or sections of documents, even if an NDA has been previously signed.

As with any document, you should exercise due diligence and work with an attorney that specializes in nondisclosure agreements.

Disclaimer: The author of this article is not an attorney and the views stated within the article are not legal advice. When entering into any agreement, parties to the agreement should exercise due diligence and consult with their own attorneys.