Meeting Planner Careers

Social media is the wave of the future, and businesses and organizations should be prepared to include social media in their business travel plans. Many meeting planners believe that social media will be an important aspect of conferences and other types of organizational meetings. There are several types of social media that many employees utilize on a daily basis for things such as networking and planning. Because social media is important, it will be essential for businesses to ensure that their meeting venue has all of the capabilities necessary to employ social media in their meetings and presentations.

Not only will hotels and resorts have the technological capabilities necessary for social media interaction, but a ship charter will also have these capabilities as well. An incentive cruise is just another option that organizations have when planning things such as business travel. Even while on the seas employees will have the ability to remain connected to their social media accounts. As a meeting planner, it will be imperative that organizations are aware of the types of technology available to them regardless of the type of incentive travel they choose. Reassuring them that they will have access to various types of social media will be crucial.

Most meeting planners are offered not only a generous salary, but other incentives to keep them interested and working hard. This is true in almost any industry that uses meeting planners, but what might vary from one industry to the next is the type of incentives offered to meeting planners. Some industries have special individual and/or group incentives, depending upon how their meeting planners operate. These incentives are typically goal-based, such as reaching a certain level of performance.

Most corporate and business-level meeting planners receive health benefits, and many receive a combination of retirement and/or educational benefits as well. These might seem like great perks for some, but freelance meeting planners have their own incentives: the opportunity for as much work as they can handle.

Extra work means extra pay, and it is entirely possible for highly skilled freelance meeting planners to make well over twice the salary of their office-bound counterparts. This does come with a price in terms of establishing connections and hard work, but nothing is free.

Whether one decides to work as a freelance meeting planner or get a job in the corporate towers downtown, one of the biggest perks of the job is always the relationships that are built. Meeting planners get to rub shoulders with important people on a daily basis, and that alone is enough excitement for some to consider becoming a meeting planner.

The life of a meeting planner is fast-paced and hectic, and there always seem to be a million things to order, reserve, follow up on, confirm or plan on a daily basis. With a full schedule and a mile-long to-do list, planners can easily find that their mind is constantly racing ahead to the next task – and the one after that – making it difficult to remain focused on the task at hand. When they are meeting with one client, they suddenly find themselves thinking about the caterer they need to call that afternoon or coming up with venue ideas for a coming event, while the client sitting in front of them is trying to explain the type of event they need them to plan.

While it can be difficult to train yourself to focus on the present, it is incredibly important that you do. When you allow your mind to wander while completing tasks, you can easily miss something or have to go back and double-check your list to make sure you did not forget something while your mind was wandering. At best, this wastes time. At worst, it results in missing things that will later cost you money or, possibly, your reputation. The same goes for client meetings: When you do not stay focused when meeting with a client, you are bound to miss important details, and the last thing you want to do is have to call your client to ask them about information they already gave you face-to-face.

To help you focus on the task at hand, keep a to-do list nearby where you can jot down a quick note or reminder. This will allow you to comfortably continue with your current task without worrying about remembering what you need to do next.

Most events planners might scoff at the idea of Disneyland Resorts as a meeting destination for hardcore business groups, but Paul Garcia would like event planners to think a bit more magically.

“What sets the Disneyland Resort apart as a meeting destination is that it’s an inspiring, iconic place. We want groups to be inspired,” says Garcia.

And inspiring it is. With roughly $1 billion worth of inspiration being poured into this concept, Disneyland resorts is determined to become a meeting and events destination.

One such feature is the Disney Institute, which is Disney’s professional development company. While this institute isn’t new, the program that is at the heart of it has been revamped with a new emphasis on innovation and learning. The institute gives attendees an insider view of how the Disneyland Resort works on a daily basis. In essence, they want people to see the “magic”.

Obviously, $1 billion is a lot of money to spend and not all of it is going toward the Disney Institute. In fact, much of the money is being spent on expansion of the resort, itself. The expansion will add 200 new rooms and 50 villas for vacationers at the Grand Californian Hotel.

Overall, the future looks more than bright for Disneyland resorts. In fact, it appears to be magical.