Meeting Planner Careers

Meeting planning for meetings at sea and/or events at sea are a lot easier than planning for a comparable meeting schedule or event on land. Why? Because there is a helpful concierge to help make decisions and handle a lot of the work for you. The result is not only saved money, but saved time as well. The question is what to do with that spare time. Some tell their bosses that they are done early, but there may be other ideas worth considering:

• Catching up on other paperwork or office chores – Getting caught up is equally impressive, or possibly more impressive than, finishing early.
• Preparing everything for next week – In the same train of thought, it would probably be a good idea to finish all of next week’s work ahead of time and then be back in this same decision making process next week. If only all choices were so easy!
• Check for new ideas on how to conduct meetings or plan events online. There is plenty of networking to be done, and that networking could result in new associations, deals, or ways of doing things. Call it dedicating time to self improvement.
• Learn some local phrases or culture – Is your meeting going someplace where the locals have a unique culture or language you don’t speak? Start learning online now and consider printing out a basic list of phrases and dos/don’ts for everyone attending.

Whatever you decide to do, do not consider browsing the Internet or otherwise wasting time. Being productive is important to any business and that is especially true of businesses paying meeting a premium for a quality meeting planner.

Everyone in the office has some levels of responsibility when it comes to ensuring the collective well-being of the office. Part of that well-being is ensuring that there are plenty of incentives for workers to remain loyal and perform at or above expectations.

While the majority of what motivates workers tends to be financial or related to benefits, there are some things that meeting planners can do to influence motivation. Some offices may give meeting planners the freedom to implement these ideas on their own, while others may require running the following ideas by the powers that be. Use your own discretion when deciding how to go about implementing any or all of the following ideas:

• Special coffees – Many coffee vendors offer special flavors at prices that are only marginally more expensive than non-flavored coffee. For a few dollars a month the powers that be could win a lot of hearts and minds. There’s little like vanilla or hazelnut coffee in the morning.
• Seating arrangements – Some people have peculiar desires when it comes to seating, while others have more obvious desires. Some want to be next to the boss so they can have their ideas heard, others might want to be seated next to that attractive new receptionist, and just about everyone wants to be seated as far away from Flatulent Freddy from finance. Find a fair way to determine who gets to sit where when competition arises and see how inspirational meeting planning can be.

Meeting planners have long since been in charge of arranging events and planning meetings both on and off-site, but cruise meetings might be something new and unexpected. There are some perks to planning cruise meetings that not everyone knows, and some might be best to keep under your hat. For example:

• The concierge service – The concierge service can actually do most of the organization work for you! Don’t tell the boss, but be sure to offer lavish compliments upon the concierge and let their boss know just how much you appreciate them taking the work off your plate.
• Catering options galore – While most meeting planners have to organize catering before the event, most cruise ships have plenty of on the fly catering options. Catering can (and probably should) still be arranged before leaving port, but the concierge service can make everything a snap.
• Travel networks and discounts – One of the best aspects about hosting meetings at sea is that cruise lines tend to have affiliations with airlines. This is not always the case so be sure to ask, but in most cases the product is nothing short of savings!
• Who needs Kinkos? Most business trips and meetings at sea can come with fully prepared documents, binders, and virtually anything else at a price that is hard to compete with. No more runs to Kinkos to get presentations prepared!

If you just got out of a meeting with the boss who just happens to want the company’s first cruise event planned, then you might be a little panicked. All that time making friends with the powers that be at the local hotels and conference halls cannot prepare you for this. Don’t worry!

Here are some simple steps to planning the perfect cruise event:

Start by trying to get a good handle on how many people will be attending.

Will any (or all) of the participants need you to schedule additional travel?

Are there special needs that any of these people have that need to be addressed? Examples include dietary needs, special access requirements, and even placement on the ship.

Determine a suitable meeting schedule and create a few backup schedules that may or may not happen depending upon conditions and attendees.

Try to think of unique events that can be used to help people unwind and relax while on the cruise. Some of these ideas can be translated into really unique meeting ideas.

Go to Seasite.com to plan a group cruise.  They will take the workload off of you with unparalleled group cruise planning tools and resources.  One electronic RFP will get you the quotes you need.

At this point there should be a lot less work on your plate! Congratulations, this cruise event is going to be a success!

When you get out into the world, you may be handed an assignment to plan an event outside your city. For the sake of illustration, your boss or client may say, “We need to hold a meeting, but we want it to be in Las Vegas so we can have some fun, too.”

TARP notwithstanding, you imagine yourself trying to coordinate everything from your small office in New York city, destined to work from 1:00 a.m. until midnight every day for the next two months. However, it will not be that way because you will have a destination management company on the other end.

Destination management companies specialize in organizing meetings on the other end. You will be calling on this company to help you work out the logistics of travel, accommodations, conference centers, and other details long before the event’s doors open.

Destination management can be one of your best friends as a planner, especially if you are just starting your career. If you have been in it awhile and have just been handed your first off-shore assignment, they will be even more important–you have to deal with travel restrictions, alerts, possible language and culture barriers, and unanticipated passport/visa entry restrictions.

Sometimes a good way to find your perfect best friend is to ask around. Get some references and word-of-mouth advertising, which is something we all rely on to help us get the word out.