Meeting Planner Careers

More and more event planners are relying on their smart phones and tablets to conduct their business.  With the thousands of applications available for a variety of phones, it’s easy to see why.  The question becomes which ones to use and why.  Sorting through the countless apps can be a task in of itself so we’ve compiled a top 5 list that no Event/Meeting Planner should be without. 

Super Planner

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/super-planner-event-planning/id383727111?mt=8

A comprehensive event planning app includes a Capacity Calculator for estimating seating configurations for meeting venues, Food and Beverage Calculator to accurately estimate how much to serve, as well as Staffing and Audio Visual; making this the ideal app for all your event planning needs. ($9.99)

Mint

http://www.mint.com/

Never lose track of your expenses again with this app that consolidates all your financial data in one place.  This application will help you create a budget and keep tabs on your event expenditures so you know how much money you have left to spend.  All of your transaction history is also stored so you can analyze and create reporting using easy-to- use graphs and charts.  (FREE)

Bump

www.bumptechnologies.com

Technology meets networking in this modern spin on exchanging business cards.  Avoid having a stack of business cards after an event by simply “bumping” your contact.  By simply tapping your smartphones together, you can seamlessly transfer all your contact information to each other and never fumble for another pen again.  (FREE)

Skype

www.skype.com

The same skype service you utilize for web chatting is available as an app too!  Save your cell minutes and use skype to make free phones and web chat over a Wi-Fi connection.   This handy app also allows you to send text message and check voicemails.  (FREE)

WeatherBug

http://weather.weatherbug.com/mobile/weatherbug-for-iphone.html

Nothing ruins an event like a rain storm.  Get the upper hand on mother nature and plan ahead.  The WeatherBug app gives up up-to-date and accurate weather forecasts so you can be aware of any inclement weather threatening your special event and have time to activate your contingency plans.  (FREE)

Meeting planners wear many hats, and they have many responsibilities to which they must attend. The success or failure of the event is on the meeting planner's shoulders; therefore, they must work diligently to ensure the meeting goes as planned. While there are many aspects of the event that must be taken into consideration and given high priority, one of the most important elements of a meeting or event is the site location. Meeting planners should be sure that the site location is ideal for the type of event as well as the number of attendees.

There are a few things that meeting planners should keep in mind when considering prospective site locations. Meeting planners need to consider who the prospective attendees are. The location should be chosen based on the groups needs and expectations. Meeting planners also need to consider how the attendees will get to the meeting. For this reason, many meeting planners reserve site locations that are near a major airport. Meeting planners need to ensure the site location is attractive. The value of aesthetic appeal should not be minimized. Finally, meeting planners need to consider the number of attendees. It will be important for the site location to be spacious enough for meeting participants.

If you are looking for an interesting career that will literally take you places, then you should consider being a cruise event planner. A cruise event planner may work for a cruise company, a travel organization, a concierge service that handles event planning, a hotel or a company that owns at least one chain of hotels and/or cruise ships, a large corporation, or even be self-employed. Here is what the job entails:

The ability to multitask on a large scale – Every little detail needs to be perfect for each and every event, and that is a lot of details to handle! Don’t worry though, after a few months perfection will all become routine.

An eye for detail – Being able to spot a very small problem before it becomes something a customer notices is a valuable asset to any cruise event planner.

A creative mind – Parties and events always need a touch of creativity.

A willingness to socialize and work hard – Working hard and playing hard are part of the job description. You just need to know when and where to draw the line.

A bank account – You are going to be earning a salary that salary.com, indeed.com, and other sites suggest start at nearly $43,000 a year!

Learn how you can easily plan successful cruise events at Seasite.com, your one stop for planning meetings at sea, and any type of group cruise. With just one electronic RFP you can source a group cruise across all cruise line brands. Why not take a look now and see all of the tools and resources available to cruise event planners.

Businesses that are successful almost always find themselves at a point where they need to start organizing events. These events could be company gatherings, sales promotions, seminars to inform certain members of the press and/or industry-insiders about new products/services, or something else entirely. It does not necessarily matter why a company eventually needs to have meeting/events planners, but it is almost a certainty that such a position will need to be filled at some point in time. Here is how to hire a meeting planner:

Meeting planners should be outgoing, honest, and self-motivated – After all, the business needs to get on with whatever it is doing and be able to trust that meetings and events are being scheduled.

A meeting planner will need tools – A meeting planner will need access to a phone (preferably a cellular/mobile smartphone), a computer with access to the Internet. A desk to work from is also helpful, and a laptop or netbook should also be considered.

A budget – Meeting planners need realistic budgets to work with.  While a good meeting or event planner can usually pay for herself, you need to have funds available for those events.  Be sure to track your ROI on meetings and events to justify the plan, but do not hire a meeting planner without the ability to give them a budget.

Trial basis – It might be a good idea to start a meeting planner on a temporary or part-time basis just to see how things work out.

When one thinks of meeting planners they may be thinking of an office job where answering phones and entering information into a computer is all that happens. This might be true of some meeting planner jobs, but certainly not for all of them. Some meeting or event planning positions might involve a significant amount of travel, often to very interesting destinations. In short, the amount of travel involved will often depend greatly upon where one works as a meeting planner and the needs of that company/industry.

High powered executives are usually looking for meeting planners that have a flair for the dramatic or interesting. This will often entail higher salaries and/or benefit packages, but it will also mean more travel and interesting destinations. The workload may not be substantially different than that of a meeting planner for a more modest company, but the competition for such top-echelon meeting planner positions is likely to be fierce indeed. This competition is certainly justified by the compensation packages and travel opportunities, but there is also an option for homebodies who just want money: freelance meeting/event planning.

Freelance meeting planners do not always get to travel with their clientele, but it is not unheard of. Luckily, freelance meeting planners are free to collect as many clients as they can handle, and that means that there is no limit on their earning potential.

Meeting planners draw reasonable salaries when they work for companies, usually on par with a college graduate or better despite not the fact that many meeting planners lack degrees. Freelance meeting and/or event planners can make even more, especially if they can remember one thing: meetings are about people, not the issues. Some people believe that meetings are about issues, but the fact is that people create the issues and cause them to exist and not the other way around.

John Rockefeller may have said it best when he said that he would pay more for employees with people skills than any other resource or commodity under the sun, and he was one-hundred percent correct; people-skills are more important than anything else, especially for a meeting planner. This does not mean that diligence and attention to detail are not required. Instead, it means that anyone who has basic time management skills and modicum of organization can become an all-star meeting planner if they have people skills.

A meeting planner can expect to make upwards of $40,000 their first year, and they almost always enjoy substantial benefits. One of the best benefits is often going to meetings in exotic or interesting locations on the company dime, but meeting interesting people can be a boon as well.

Conferences, conventions, trade shows and expositions bring the equivalent of a small town together to work behind the scenes. Somewhat like the traveling productions of Broadway shows, these events are limited in duration, the act can’t be repeated, and lighting, the orchestra, and the ticket-takers must know their business! Similarly, there are a host of professionals working behind your event.

For conferences providing space for exhibitors, there are decorators to set up displays and labor to tear them down, electricians. utilities like A/V, telecommunications and plumbing, florists, photographers, bartenders, and entertainment.

Most associations who put on a trade show use a show management company http://www.conventions.net who have vetted the services included in the show packet for their event planners and/or exhibitors. In a venue like McCormick Place in Chicago, for example, utilities like electrical, telecommunications, and plumbing are provided exclusively by the center, but a separate show management firm will select outside contractors to provide room set up, flowers, photography, entertainment, and an array of other services.

Any way you slice it, literally hundreds of people are employed behind the scenes at these events. Consider that the Official Star Trek Convention attracts over 15,000 attendees annually. That’s a lot of support services!

Next, we will place you, the meeting planner in the center of a big “village.”

MIAMI–(EON: Enhanced Online News)–Cruise event specialists Landry & Kling Inc. have announced a strategic partnership between their company Seasite.com, the first cruise portal for meetings and events, and i-Meet.com, the professional and social network for meeting and event planners and suppliers.

“Facebook and Twitter are important to our overall social media strategy, but with our new Seasite online community, we’re giving our customers and users an expanded experience in i-Meet’s global community”

The partnership introduces a unique, online community on i-Meet.com for Seasite.com users and prospects worldwide. Leveraging i-Meet’s fast-growing network and social media platform, Seasite’s online community will feature industry leading technology, group special interest “hot spots”, and provide a way for people to connect and interact with over 20,000 industry professionals around the world.

“Our customers have expressed an interest in a community-based social platform to complement Seasite’s cruise sourcing and planning tools,” said Jo Kling, CEO of Seasite.com. “We are excited to be partnering with i-Meet and its meetings industry-specific social network approach; we can now deliver a unique experience to our customers that’s in line with the way people do business today.”

“It’s really a very natural progression to introduce social networking to cruise meetings customers,” said John Pino, i-Meet’s Founder and CEO, “and marrying Seasite’s cruise sourcing technology with an online communications and collaboration channel enabled through i-Meet’s global community of planners, buyers and suppliers will create advantages for everyone.”

“Facebook and Twitter are important to our overall social media strategy, but with our new Seasite online community, we’re giving our customers and users an expanded experience in i-Meet’s global community,” said Jo Kling “This is an industry first that will allow our users to network with other professionals and communicate what’s on their minds.”

The partnership will allow the growth of active mini-communities for i-Meet and Seasite.com members based on their areas of interest. The groups will be hosted and administered by Seasite’s expert cruise industry professionals. “Friend-ing” others, “following” suppliers, and subscribing to and publishing blogs will round out the experience.

About Landry & Kling and Seasite.com

Landry & Kling Inc., cruise event specialists since 1982, recently introduced Seasite.com, the first online cruise platform for meeting professionals. Seasite is an industry sourcing tool to search, select and plan group cruises, with access to 35 cruise lines in one site, meeting-friendly search criteria, e-RFP’s, meeting/function room capacities, dining details and other unique tools available nowhere else. Visit www.seasite.com or www.landrykling.com.

About i-Meet

Created by the Founder of StarCite, www.i-Meet.com is focused on building the industry’s most relevant worldwide online community for the meeting and event industry. With 20,000 members from 130 countries around the world to date, i-Meet brings social networking, web 2.0 tools, work flow and relationship opportunities, and industry intelligence to its members and suppliers. Visit i-meet.com.

Architecturally astounding and implicitly beautiful, W Fort Lauderdale is the newest and hottest destination for relaxation or event planning in Fort Lauderdale. With over 12,000 square feet of ballroom and meeting space, there are very few events that couldn’t be handled at this hotel. W Fort Lauderdale boasts 517 guest rooms and suites and 5,500 square feet of additional outdoor meeting space.

Whether you’re hosting a board meeting or planning a world-class event, W Fort Lauderdale will accommodate your needs with a helpful staff of professionals. The hotel also features exclusive offers for meeting and event planners such as a complimentary room for each 25 rooms that are booked, 4% credit to master and a complimentary airline ticked for every 25 tickets booked.

W Fort Lauderdale is conveniently located only 7 miles from Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International airport, 32 miles from Miami International and only 46 miles from Palm Beach International airport. If you add in the convenience of W’s signature Whatever/Whenever® service, you’ll never have to worry about finessing the details.

W Fort Lauderdale truly goes above and beyond for corporate planning or events and provides an atmosphere that is both relaxing and attractive.

For more information or to make reservations, contact Paula Walker-Carlson at (954) 414-8202 or e-mail her at: paula.carlson@whotels.com.

Exclusive offers source: http://specialoffers.starwoodhotels.com/W_Fort_Lauderdale/mp.htm