Meeting Planner Careers

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 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.

Everyone has their own private pet peeves, including your clients. Have you ever stopped to think about how or if you are driving them ‘round the bend? Learning a lesson from a client’s frustration with other meeting planners can save you a great deal of headache and earn your company new loyalty points.

Communication is a key factor. Almost every conflict between a meeting planner and his client can be traced back to a failure to communicate. Imagine you are booking a keynote speaker and have asked her to hold a date open. She is excited at the prospect of working with you and complies. Your workload piles up and you forget to tell her your client decided to go with a different speaker. When you don’t send that email releasing the date, resentment and frustration are the natural consequences.

Do you tailor your email mailing list to include only those people who need to know? Sending reminders to people who have complied with all your requests can ruffle a few feathers. It makes them feel that you just aren’t paying attention when, in fact, you’ve just taken the easy way out. Keeping track of the small stuff may be tedious; however, success is often in the small details.