Top Tips That Can Help You in Dealing With the Event Planning Process

If you are hosting a corporate event, seminar or workshop for your business enterprise, a professional event planning team can help you in making the event successful. However, you might be well aware of the ideas and strategies to plan an event, but opting for an event planning company with proven expertise, will offer a significant difference. Thus, while planning a team, you need to learn a number of tips that will help you in hosting a perfect event that you are expecting. Some of these tips are discussed below:

繚 Proper resource allocation:

Planning the resources and allocating them in a proper way is very essential within any planning process. You should know how to spend and use your resources smartly. In this way, you will be able to exploit the potentials of your resources without negotiating with the goals and objectives.

繚 Distribute tasks accordingly:

Assigning appropriate tasks within your team members will help in keeping the entire process, synchronized. Ensure that a specific task is assigned to a worker or member, who has expertise in the particular field. Always remember that the process should not depend on simple division of labor, it must be fully based on division of tasks to the respective members or workers.

繚 Advertise extensively:

Spend a certain amount of time in promoting and advertising your event. It is certainly an effective way of reaching out to your prospects. You can use the various media channels such as newspapers and televisions for drawing the attention of the audience and increase the attendee list.

繚 Take the process online:

With the emerging trend in Internet technology, setting up an online presence will be effective, where an increasing number of people are depending on internet for information. It is a wise and intelligent idea of establishing an online presence by creating a website for event campaign purpose. Apart from this, you can also add up promotional information in your website using the internet. As the new media is getting dynamic with the passing times; the feasible tool can help in processing the event registration and make all transactions online, within few minutes.

繚 Build new connections:

Networking and getting connected both offline as well as online is a proven way to promote your show. Getting connected offline involves actively attending social events for making networks and new contacts. Online networking is also possible by joining the various social sites such as Facebook and Twitter where the number of communities and people are growing at an increasing rate.

The above mentioned tips are the proven ones and can help you to plan event in a smooth manner.

Custom Bobble Heads - Using Them For Corporate Events

We all know what a bobble head doll is for. It's a great display and toy because it's fun and entertaining. This is the reason why a lot of companies use them. They know the power that custom bobble heads have and they use this to their advantage. But what do they gain from it? With its popularity, they use it to promote their product or service. So if you're an individual or business looking to promote effectively and efficiently, you may want to make your own bobble head strategy to gain the exposure needed.

But their usefulness is not reserved for promotions only. Custom toys are known to be very versatile as far as their uses are concerned. In fact, custom toys benefit companies in a lot of ways. While promotion is a given benefit, you can also make your own bobble head strategy that you can use internally. You can use this strategy for your corporate events.

But how can it benefit you as a part of the company? You have to think outside the box. Of course, its primary role is not promotions because you'll be in the company of your employees and their families. Although you can be sure that it will be indirectly promoting for you even months after the event. It's important to know how so you can take that into consideration when you make your own bobble head strategy. You have to understand that no one's going to throw them away. Your employees will display them in the office or even better, at their homes. They'll display it where a lot of people can see it and it will be free promotions for you.

I recommend custom bobble head dolls because they're relatively one of the more inexpensive custom toys you could have made to represent your company to the public, and especially to your employees. With companies always looking for ways to tighten budgets, these custom dolls will really get you the most fun and exposure for the least amount of money.

If you're going to use the bobble head dolls for your corporate events, you can be sure that it will improve the morale of your employees. You can give them away as awards for top performers. The custom dolls will be like trophies, only better. Trophies will gather dust in the attic while the bobble heads will be displayed prominently for everyone to see. Just try to gather dust on top of that wobbling head! It can't be done; they're too much fun! You can make your own custom design with the words "Top Salesman" on it and it will surely boost everyone's morale. It may even motivate the others to be more productive, and isn't that the ultimate goal? You can even hold games at these events and give them out as prices. You can then watch how the fun doubles because of the fun prize.

You can give them to your interns and they will take the custom mementos with them into the world, to their dorm room, to their next placement, and with it tales of your company and how much they loved working with everyone there.

If you're going to use custom toys or dolls, make sure to contact a reliable manufacturer. The custom bobble heads should show professionalism and personalized flair because it will reflect your company. You can only achieve that with great quality. Just make your own bobble head design and strategy and you can use this fresh idea at the next corporate event.

Effective Cancer Awareness Giveaways Maximize Budgets

Organizations that support research and fundraising for causes such as breast cancer, leukemia, prostate cancer and other initiatives use events such as walks and runs to raise awareness and funds. Usually working on a limited budget, event planners are forced to scrutinize every dollar spent. Between venue costs, insurance and public relations, the budget can be strapped when it comes to distributing thank you gifts to participants and awareness reminders to attendees. Custom printed promotional products allow planners to maximize their budgets, making the most out of the allocated resources. The value of promotional products is based on a number of factors; sponsor advertising, viral marketing and donor reward.

Sponsor Advertising - Promotional items used for cancer awareness events can be custom printed with slogans, logos and most important of all, sponsor advertisements. Organizers can supplement the purchase of items such as t-shirts, tote bags and other large format promotions by selling off portions of the imprint area to sponsors. The revenue generated may even surpass the cost of the promotional giveaways, creating additional budget for the event or enhance the contribution from the donors.

Create Billboards - Custom promotional products can carry a design that can elevate them into trendy accessories. Themes such as cancer awareness ribbons and slogans such as "Fight Like a Girl" are popular visuals in popular culture, making a simple promotional gift into a well used item. These "billboards" can become viral, piquing the interest of others who see them and inspiring them to inquire as to where they can get them. The popularity of items such as fashion tote bags, t-shirts and umbrellas featuring an awareness organization logo can find its way into celebrity events, red carpet interviews and other public appearances, resulting in the cause gaining viral mobility.

Reward Donors & Volunteers - Event though the participants and donors contribute to a cause for philanthropic reasons, it is a nice gesture for organizations to say thanks with a small gift of appreciation. This gift can be a low cost promotional product that becomes a cherished souvenir of the awareness event. Custom printed jackets, polo shirts and key tags will live on long after the event as a constant reminder of their generosity and good will. Although these volunteers and contributors do not look for anything in return for their efforts, a budget friendly promotional giveaway will be appreciated with pride.

Investing in promotional products may seem to an organization as a needless expense, but when the positive impact of these giveaways is weighed into the equation, they far surpass the cost. Custom printing an awareness ribbon or logo design on a giveaway creates a far reaching impact that will make the event even more effective, spreading the message and inspiring others to get involved.

Reduce Your Event Budget - Hire a Freelancer!

Planning events can be a costly business, with one of the largest costs being the people to run it! If you are planning an event a great way to spend lots of money is to employ someone to organise it. It will often be more cost effective to hire a freelance event manager to manage your event - not to mention that they will often have a lot of experience and be able to bring a lot of fresh ideas to your event.

The first thing that often scares an event organiser is the daily cost of a freelance event manager. A good freelancer will cost somewhere between £150 and £250 a day, with more specialist roles (such as health & safety consultants, content producers or specialist technicians) being made considerably more.

Although the daily cost is often quite high, when you consider the bigger picture, hiring a freelancer will be cheaper. For example, if you hire a freelancer to organise your event, they won't be 'employed' directly by your company, but will be self employed or even employed by their own company. This means that you won't have to pay their tax, national insurance contributions or payroll fees on their behalf. And because they are separate to your organisation, you should expect them to provide their own equipment and tools. This should be everything from their own email accounts, mobile phones, computers and equipment.

Often freelancers won't even work at your office location, but will work remotely, so you don't need to pay for their desk space, tea and coffee, or even their desk! The best is that they will only bill you for the hours that they are working on your project, so you don't have to pay them for days off, checking their own emails, holiday or sick pay.

So when you are looking for a resource for your next project, consider a freelance event manager.

The Secret of Great Team Building - Use Corporate Entertainment Events

Corporate team building as a concept has been around for decades, but it has moved on a long way from the early days. Ask a middle aged person what the phrase 'team building' brings to mind; they will almost certainly cold and wet outdoor activities in Wales or Scotland lasting for a weekend. Or possibly they will talk about problem solving tasks involving planks of wood, old tyres, milk crates and a few empty oil drums.

Ask a twenty something the same question and they will probably describe something quite different.

Why? Because smart team builders realised that their craft needed to move on. So they came up with a whole host of far more interesting events, often taking corporate entertainment events as a starting point, modifying them to create a team building situation.

How? The principles of team building have remained the same. The following sequence was coined way back when certain people were setting themselves up as gurus of team building ...

Forming - Storming - Norming - Performing

But all this boils down to in plain English is that the team members need to get to know each other. They need to gain confidence in each other and need to learn to work together, efficiently as a unit in order to solve problems. Hence the simple 'stick and string' problem solving challenges using cheap and cheerful materials in the early days. Yes, sure, that worked, but there were two flaws. Firstly, the activities all needed similar skills, involving lateral thinking, communication skills, manipulative skills and team work I.e. quite a narrow and rigid set; secondly, people today tend to have more sophisticated tastes.

So that's where the corporate entertainment comes in. Take a purely entertainment based activity, add some challenge to it and there you have it - a fun team building exercise. One which staff will enjoy but still bond, develop trust and lateral thinking. Team building by stealth.

OK, some examples to help you on the way.

The treasure hunt started as an office social event when a couple of people (or social committee if your company was lucky enough to have one) got together, spend several weekends driving round the local area, writing clues and organising a buffet or disco afterwards. That has now evolved, there are many corporate entertainment companies who have taken the treasure hunt a step further. They not only provide all the clues in a ready made package, they supply a variety of challenges such as word games and shopping lists. Plus they provide a professional event manager to ensure the hunt runs smoothly. The added challenges require high levels of team work plus organisational skills in order to achieve success thus developing the essential skills needed for a successful team - cooperation, lateral thinking, negotiation, problem solving ... all in a fun atmosphere. Learning in a fun atmosphere is always more efficient, at least for the majority of people as they are more receptive.

Themed days or half days are another popular corporate-entertainment-cum-team-building idea. There are a whole host of these such as spy themed events where your employees will work together on espionage themed tasks such as surveillance, weapons handling, identification, crossing a room full of laser light etc. Or at the opposite end of the time scale, you can find medieval themed events that include jousting, archery, building a trebuchet, storming a castle and more.

So how do you decide on which event is the best for you? Look for one that offers challenges that need a wide range of skills in order to achieve success; look for events that will be inclusive; it is easy to alienate staff by pushing them way out of their physical comfort zone (remember, that's why the wet weekend away raises groans and dissent!) and also look for companies that offer novel and interesting themes. To find these events is now fairly easy, search Google (or your favourite internet search engine) for corporate treasure hunt, spy themed corporate entertainment, medieval themed corporate event and so on and you will be sure to find plenty of alternatives.

So good luck with developing YOUR team!

Planning Ideas For a Corporate Christmas Party

The corporate Christmas party can be similar to a simple office party depending on how much time and money the corporate heads wish to invest into the event. In most cases a party on the corporate level is more lavish and even though it includes everyone within the corporation it may also include a number of honored guests such as VIPs from other businesses or departments or important suppliers, customers and even competitors.

There is more of a tendency to incorporate a theme into the corporate party not just because there is a larger audience but because there is more of a need to impress.

Depending on the theme you choose for your corporate Christmas party you can choose a very elaborate or simple. One suggestion is to choose a good hotel where guests can stay afterwards if they can't or don't want to risk driving home. Hire one of the banquet rooms for your event, to include cocktails, dinner and then dancing with either a band of dj.

Guests will be free to stay at the hotel after the party at the expense of the company or within the budget of the event, whichever method is chosen. Make sure your guests have at least two menu items from which to choose since not everyone will like the same thing. It's best to stay away from fish since many people are allergic to it perhaps Chicken or beef would be good choices for a main dish.

If you want to do something more lavish you could choose a casino or trendy bar and make an evening of the event. You can hire the entire venue for the course of the event, but the problem with doing this is the venue may wish you to guarantee a minimum spend because they will be losing money by closing their doors to the general public for the time of the corporate Christmas party.

The corporate Christmas party can also extend into the theatre scene allowing guests to attend a Christmas production such as those you can see in the West End in London. Dinner might be planned before or after the event depending upon the time of the show. Another option is the opera or symphony if there is a Christmas production in progress.

CSR Is Corporate Social Responsibility - A New Trend in Team Building

CSR - Corporate social responsibility and team building

In its narrowest sense, corporate social responsibility refers to activities through which a company or a business gives back to the society. In its fullest sense though, corporate social responsibility means not just what the company does with its profits but also how the money is made. It is much more than philanthropy because it focuses on appropriate management of the economic, social and environmental effects of the activities of the company on the workplace, the market, the clients, supply chain and the community as a whole. In short, CSR is an awareness of the whole over and beyond the individual self and an attempt to make a meaningful contribution towards the well-being of the whole.

The corporate practice of a giving back to the community has been gaining a lot of popularity with people like Warren Buffet and Bill Gates coming out strongly in favor of such practices. However, in many companies, a large majority of employees watch these practices from the sidelines. They are just not given a chance to be a part of corporate social responsibility.

However, in the years following the recession, CSR has grown in a big way, so much so that many businesses are purposely reversing existing trends where philanthropy is deemed as the forte of the people who have the last say. There are many reasons for this volte-face.

Many companies have been faced with layoffs, dwindling profit margins and shrinking budgets. Team building events are generally quite expensive. Grappling with a weak economic outlook, it is hard to cough up a high budget event that can engage, entertain and educate employees. When a company spends money that combines training with charity, they are able to optimal use of their budgets. By combining CSR with developmental and training goals, companies get a chance to tick more boxes in their list of priorities!

Many progressive businesses are actively looking out for opportunities to embed corporate social responsibility into various aspects of the corporate culture. Thus, CSR is ingrained into different activities carried out by the organization.

Many companies are deeply aware of their social responsibilities and feel the need to demonstrate this awareness to employees as well as give them a chance to do something to help.

As a result, organizations are now beginning to hold community-based, aid-based team building events for their employees, so that employees too get an opportunity to demonstrate their sense of social responsibility. Charity events are gaining more popularity over activities such as taking attendees to the mountains for rock climbing and so on.

A number of factors must be operational to make charity events achieve everything they should.

1. The cause that is chosen by the company must inspire strong vibes in team members, or must at least be in line with the organizational culture. Fortunately, there are hundreds of programs to choose from and employers may easily find the event that employees appreciate.


2. The event must include all the attendees and encourage them to engage meaningfully in the activity instead of sitting and watching from the sidelines. When this happens, the event not only helps the community but also boosts the morale of participants and forges a strong bond between them.


3. The event must feel worthwhile so that the activity becomes a life enriching experience that leaves an impact for a long period of time. Therefore, instead of choosing a soft training option, managers must allow attendees a chance to work with real clients on projects that really make a difference.

CSR corporate social responsibility team building events could range from planting trees to exploring eco-friendly travel options, recycling, green tips, carpooling ideas and so on.

So, the next time your organization thinks of conducting team building events, make it an event that can make a difference, to the team as well as the community you are in.

Use Cutting-Edge Event Management Solution to Manage Your Training Sessions

At present, class management tools are widely used by class coordinators and training organizers to streamline their core functions of managing a class. Effective management of a class is extremely important for its successful execution. However, this task is not as simple as it sounds. A competitive event management software takes care of all the back-office jobs and ensures success of your training sessions in a more effective way.

The feature-rich class management solution is Cloud-based. As a result, organizers are not required to invest on any expensive hardware device or download any software program. It helps them manage their classes effectively, without investing a great deal of time and money. Let's take a look at how a class management and registration solution helps in managing an event with utmost efficiency.

Seamless Registration 24x7

In large-scale training sessions and classes, attendee registration is one of the most important functions. The software eases out all the hassles of registration process by taking it online. It helps the attendees to register 24x7 from any location. Moreover, it also supports group registration for multiple events. Attendees no longer need to fill up separate registration forms for this purpose.

Access Important Data 24x7

The event registration software lets you access important data from your database 24x7. You must be aware of the hassles involved in making relevant information available to your registrants. The software comes with a host of features that helps you create an event page with complete information. It helps you schedule your classes and co-coordinate your courses accordingly.

Create Customizable Registration Pages

A customized event registration page gives you extensive market presence. With the help of this software, you can create a customized event page to make a positive impression on your audience. You can add several unique features, such as calendaring tool, ticketing option, online registration, and so on to your event website to make your page highly customized. Such conveniences will attract a large number of attendees to sign up for your classes and training sessions.

Promote Your Classes Online

The software also helps you create a buzz of your event by making extensive promotion. Without a proper marketing strategy, it is hardly possible to achieve success from your promotional campaign. Keeping this fact in mind, the customized event registration software is designed with a host of marketing tools that help you access social media sites for promoting your events in no time. Apart from this, you can use Email and other Communication tools to send email notification and RSVPs to the prospective attendees.

Evaluate Event's Performances with Reporting Features

The software allows you to evaluate event's performance with a series of reporting tools. It helps you generate post-class certifications and offer credit records to each student. Moreover, it helps you conduct an online survey to evaluate the attendee satisfactions rate. It is likely to help you make improvements in class management techniques in future.

Promotional Office Gifts For Corporate Events

Corporate events are the now the norm of the day, what with product launches and signing of deals or mergers. It becomes very important for companies and organizations to market their products in the correct manner for maximum profits, and this includes the awareness among the clients or your partners to know what your organization is all about. On the other hand, just distributing free samples of your company product is not a very good move either since your marketing strategies may look too desperate, turning your clients wary. On such occasions, proper promotional gifts play a key role.

Below, some popular promotional gifts are discussed:

Business Card Cases: They are perfect promotional office gifts for both male and female clients. These are a necessary item, and often one uses a two or three sets of business cards as the locations of different head offices may differ, especially if the company is huge with branches spread over more than one country.They come in leather and metal finish, and both are very sleek in designing. You can also choose one with a calculator combo. Another is the Automatic Expanding Case, which is a bit expensive but you can operate this with just a touch of a button.

Travel Electronics and Adapters: Wireless MP3 with Internet Stereo Speaker and Headset is very good for those who are on the move and travel long distances for business purposes. It's an excellent way to keep oneself engaged. Same goes for Noise Cancellation Headphones. Another is the Airline and Auto Power Adaptor or the Universal Travel Adaptor to keep your cell and laptop always charged while on the move. Luggage Security Proximeters keeps luggage safe with their in-built alarm system.

PDA Cases and Wallets: There are loads of designs and materials to choose from in this category. There are the conventional leather ones and the sleek ones with metal finish. They are multifunctional and you can choose from a number of brands and looks to suit the mood of the occasion and the profile of the clients. The same goes for folders and electronic notepads.

Computer Accessories: These can be quite expensive, but are the ultimate tech gadgets and perfect for promotional items. One of them is a webcam with internet phone set in EVA zipped travel pouch. This comes in very handy for communication while on the move and you can also carry on video-conferences for a limited time period. Another is the internet phone with hands-free facilities. Another perfect item would be the optical mouse with a transparent case, enabling the user to personalize it according to his choice.

Corporate events hold a lot of significance for any business organization, and the right gift can work wonders for its advancement.

Plan Your Event Management for 2011

If you are involved in planning event management for your company, you must already have started looking around for your next year hopefuls. The hospitality calendar tends to fill up pretty quick at this time of year, so you will need to have all of your dates ready to go if you do not want someone else to snap up all the best places at all the best events.

For the best corporate hospitality events next year, of course, you really need to place the fate of your nights out and weekends away in the hands of an independent event management company. Independent companies are the only ones you can really trust, because they do not choose and promote events on the basis of sponsorship, affiliation or commission. Using an independent company to co ordinate your corporate hospitality for the year ahead means getting the top picks of all hospitality events available to UK companies: without ever having to worry that some of these events are being offered to honour a contractual relationship between the event management company and the company or companies putting the event on.

There are some stellar happenings waiting for all British companies next year. Not least of which is the Monaco Grand Prix - always a winner, and this year there are plenty of track side rumours about independent corporate hospitality companies that have managed to gain unprecedented access to drivers' night clubs, celebrity parties and after race bars. No client can fail to be wowed by getting the true VIP treatment at one of the most exclusive sporting events in the world. So if your event management company is lagging behind on the starting grid a little: think some more about changing to an independent organisation, which will be capable of getting your all important guests in where they want to be.

See, one of the things about corporate hospitality - the main thing, in fact, about corporate hospitality - is this. It is basically all about impressing clients so they feel disposed to spend a bunch of money with your company. As such, you cannot really afford to let your hospitality events be anything other than top of the class. That means finding an event management company that is capable of getting your guests in where they need and want to be. You are, after all, spending the money in order to make money - and you will not make any money if you do not make the right impression. Your clients are looking for the best and they will notice if what they actually get is just a little less than it could have been; particularly when they meet participants from other corporate junkets at the same place, whose own event companies have got them access to the places everyone else wants to be.

Remember that and you will be well served. Other companies have other event management assistance. If your event organiser is not up to the task then your customers are going to find out that pretty quickly.

How Event Software Can Benefit Your Delegates

Event management software can be a fantastic tool for event planners - helping them to manage more successful, efficient events. But there are other benefits, other than the time and cost savings; delegates will often benefit directly from attending events that are managed using event software.

Website Integration: Event management software lets you publicise and promote your event on your own website. With 8 out of 10 people researching events online, it's vital that prospect delegates can find information they need on websites. When the solution is integrated into the corporate website, it means that information regarding the event can be promoted with the same 'look and feel' and on the same domain, providing a sense of trust to the delegate.

Online Registration: Once the prospect delegate has found an event on the Internet, giving them the ability to register online is a great benefit. People are increasingly used to being able to carry out activities and transactions online and letting them register there and then is not only convenient for delegates, but will also increase registration rates.

Letting delegates register online also reduces errors with regards to delegate details - things like name, address and contact information are more likely to be entered correctly if provided by the delegate themselves. This reduces problems later on down the line.

Online Payment: As the UK Office for National Statistics (ONS) stated in July 2010: "E-commerce is having a huge impact on the way we do business. It can lead to dramatic growth in trade, increase markets, improve efficiency and effectiveness and can transform business processes." So the benefits of taking online payments is clear - both to the event holders and the delegates. For delegates, paying online is a fast and easy way to secure their position at the event. Event software offers a facility which allows delegates to choose their preferred method of payment using a variety of leading online payment engines, such as' Worldpay, Protix, Google pay, Paypal etc, via a secure website. Using event software will also provide a level of trust to delegates, as it will not record or retain any sensitive payment details.

For the event manager, taking payments online reduces paper work and helps to improve cash flow. It eliminates any late payments and reduces admin as invoices and other documents do not need to be manually created and sent out. After taking payment online, the software can automatically update the finance system and issue a receipt to the delegate.

Improved Communication: Event software will come with various methods of communication that event planners can use to contact delegates. At the point of registration, delegates can select the method that they would most prefer to be contacted by; email, post, telephone, SMS, social media etc. Good quality event management software solutions will come with fully integrated communication tools to enable a variety of options to be used:

• Email: Integrated email tools means that event managers can send out targeted emails to specific groups of delegates. These email tools let event managers split delegates into groups based on various criteria so that communication is as focused as possible. Full reporting tools ensure you can track email opens, click and overall success rate


• SMS: Planners can use their event management software to send out text messages to delegates, easily and efficiently. If this is the chosen method of communication of delegates, this can be managed and tracked with ease via the software


• Social Media: Event software can be integrated with a host of social media networks. Managing your Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn account from one central platform makes it easy to communicate with delegates - keeping them instantly abreast of all event news and updates.

Fewer Errors: Managing an event with event software makes it far less likely that errors will occur on the day. Event software will include a 'Resource Module' or something similar that will help you track all the elements of an event - from the suppliers, delegate numbers, badge printing, presenters and more. Many of the elements that previously were manual and time consuming can be automated via the software - activities like the printing of delegate badges. Although a small part of an event, if a delegate arrives and there is no badge printed for them, it can cause issues for both the delegate and you. Having a smooth running event will increase delegate satisfaction and will result in an improved level of feedback and repeat attendance.

Supplier Management: Most events will work with suppliers at some point - whether it's the venue, catering, transport or material production. It's important that suppliers are managed tightly and that communication between delegates, event mangers and supplier is smooth. For example, during the registration process, delegates can state if they have any dietary requirements. Using the event software, catering suppliers can be given their own logon, giving them direct access to all delegate numbers and all their dietary requirements. Eliminating the event manger from this stage not frees up the event manger to focus on more productive tasks, but also reduces the risk of errors being made as the communication is passed down the line.

Access to Data: Event software can be hosted online, which means you can gain access to all the information regarding the event at any time and from any place (internet access required). On the day of the event, if there are any issues or problems, you can easily resolve these, since they can access all the data relating to the event.

Investing in event management software is an effective way of running professional, successful events, where both you and your delegates can benefit from improved communication and an improved event experience.

Brand Activation Process - Give Your Brand a New Life

An event management company is engaged in planning, managing, organizing and implementing Business events and Entertainment events, brand activation and promotional events for consumer goods and services. Whether you want to motivate, entertain or innovate, they offer outstanding outcome, which will take your event to a next high level. Events planned by these companies are meticulously planned, creative, efficient and successfully implemented.

Brand Activation, which is nothing but giving your brand to life or in other words it is the evolution of the brands. A trustworthy company understands the importance of your brand's needs and requirements. Our basic aim is to take your brand into an unexceptional level and give your brand to life. In today's world, merely offering the product features is not sufficient. Today everybody is extremely competitive, and each individual brings competence with valuable and creative ideas for every kind of commercial business. Developing and maintaining unique product features has become hard and costly. Technical progress does not assure commercial success or competitive advantage.

An Event Management company keeps this thing in mind and accordingly plan out things. They have a unique insight into the market. They realize that merely campaigning is not sufficient, and the team does the brand activation that actually brings the brand to your life by translating the concept into the on-site reality. They have access to hundreds of outdoor events who are eager to have your brand associated with their event. They make sure your brand gets maximum visibility with the help of our highly experienced and professional team. A reputed company will provide you with an in-depth analysis of post event sales and trends, which will help, you understand the effect of Brand Activation.

To bring the brand to your life, they promote it in all possible ways. They realize how valuable Brand Activation is for you and so they take all possible measures to bring life to your brand. They launch, implement, plan, Communicate and promote your products and services. The company believes in bringing meaning to your brand. Whether the project requires mobile marketing, street promotion or sponsorship activation, they are equipped to do it all. The dedicated efforts backed by innovative concepts, visionary approach, and ideas will result in the promotion of the product. Under Brand Activation, they provide a complete solution from conceptualization to execution. They are experts and have built a reputation for providing first class creative brand activation. Come to a reputed company for brand activation and they will literally bring the brand to your life.

Computer Kiosk - The Cool Interactive Technology Tool

A computer kiosk rental is a stand-alone PC that contains a locked integrated housing unit. This type of terminal usually contains a monitor and keyboard or pointing device, unless it is touch-screen operated.

A computer kiosk is designed to be a "self-service" unit. This means users do not have to know anything about the computer itself or the applications that run on it. The event meeting services organization should make certain that all applications on the computer kiosk are highly intuitive. The best way to test this is to have someone who is afraid or unfamiliar with computers try out the various applications.

A number of kiosk rentals could be placed in a variety of locations throughout a large conference or event. Many touch panel kiosks could be running the same application, but a few may be running different applications. The main intention of utilizing a computer kiosk is to allow for more fluid movement of the attendees and to allow the conference services organization to employ fewer employees to manage the event.

Here are some great applications for kiosk rentals at your next event or conference: a welcome message, information about the agenda, speakers, and/or Conference Room directions, short videos on speakers, launches, and/or entertainment, check-in to event for those pre-registered, walk-in self-registration with credit card, "Who to Call" for support or questions, or a photo booth.

Kiosks can also provide neighborhood maps with the following information: local restaurant listings, entertainment, and walking or running paths.

When departing the event, use a kiosk for check-out with a survey, or to provide Internet access for flight information, weather, or traffic updates.

Consider contacting a meeting services company when you are thinking of computer kiosks or any interactive technology tool rentals. Their technology experts can recommend the best touch panel kiosk for your next conference or event.

Hire a Catering Company to Add the Final Touch on Your Event

If you have been looking for a way to add more pizazz to your party and you want to make it an event that no one will forget, you need to hire a catering company. You want to have the kind of food that will leave your guests breathless and speechless in a good way. You may be a chef in your kitchen, but it will be much easier for you to hire a great catering company instead.

If you can, try to cater to the tastes of your guests. Be mindful of food allergies, especially those concerning shellfish and nuts. This means that you should make sure that any company you hire cooks things separately and does not cross contaminate the foods. This may result in you having to go with the higher end catering companies, but your guests' health will thank you and make it so that they are willing to come to any event you plan to have in the future.

Some companies will simply prepare the food and drop it off, others have a staff that they employ to provide a more polished touch and serve it to your guests. Decide which type of company you want to use. If your event is a classy and elegant affair, you may want to go with the company that provides serving staff. Make sure that before your event is scheduled to happen, you discuss any wardrobe or uniform requirements to keep everything looking professional.

Take into consideration what type of foods you want to provide at your event. Depending on the complexity of the dish, you may be looking at a higher cost. Make sure that before you contract with any catering company, you know all of the ins and outs of what their limitations are and what their prices are. This will help you to plan the perfect menu for your party.

No one has to know what lengths you went to for the perfect company. By the time your party takes place, you want everything to appear as if it were happening flawlessly and as if it didn't take much for you to put together. As long as you keep your cool during the whole planning process, you don't have to worry about looking frazzled or being a control freak by the time the execution of your plans comes to fruition.

Don't rush when you are putting together the perfect social event get together. You need to keep a level head and have a backup plan in place just in case your primary ones fall through. The key to having a great event is to plan it so that all of your guests enjoy themselves. This means that you shouldn't plan everything according to what you would want to happen at a party, you need to have a variety and selection of entertainment and amenities that caters to the majority of your guests interests. Start with catering, and things should fall in place from there.

Getting the Most From Your Motivational Speaker - Eight Tips For Event Planners

A top-notch event planner is a talented illusionist, transforming months of planning and stressful heat-of-the-moment decision-making into what seems like a seamless and effortless event. The right motivational speaker is a magician of sorts, too, casting a lasting spell over audience members and making them see the world--and their capacity to change it--with new eyes.

The end result may be magic, but the steps to get there are pretty practical, says Rich Libner, president of MCP Speakers. Having spent more than 20 years arranging appearances of motivational speakers across Canada and the U.S., Libner knows from experience that the key to creating a magical event is careful planning, expert guidance and clear communication.

Looking to make some magic at your next motivational speaker event? Cast your own spell with these eight steps.

1) Start early
The sooner you start your motivational speaker search, the more likely you are to find a speaker who is available and fits your bill, both in terms of quality and price. Ideally, you should start your planning 12 to 18 months before the big day, but successful events can be run with six months of lead time. Depending on the size and structure of your organization, you may need to allocate time to internal approval of your speaker choice--make sure you build this step into your timeline.

2) Do your homework
Before starting your search for a speaker, make sure you lay the groundwork for success. Assemble a knowledgeable team. Establish clear goals for the event. Ensure you have buy-in from the top levels of your organization. Know your budget. And identify the qualities you're looking for in a motivational speaker. MCP Speakers, for example, represents adversity speakers, creativity and innovation speakers, goals and achievement speakers, success speakers, life balance speakers and more. Use a consultative approach that will result in concrete expectations for the event as a whole and the role of your motivational speaker in particular.

3) Seek expert advice
A speakers bureau is a key partner for event planners, says Libner. "We both want the same outcome--a standing ovation."

Look for a speakers bureau with years of experience and a diverse selection of speakers who specialize in motivating audiences. MCP Speakers, for example, represents two-time Olympian and four-time Paralympian Jeff Adams, who tailors his message about overcoming adversity in sports to audiences ranging from business executives to youth. Libner also represents Susan Ershler, motivational speaker and co-author of Together on Top of the World: The Remarkable Story of the First Couple to Climb the Fabled Seven Summits. Ershler inspires audiences with her success as an executive at Fortune 500 companies and as a mountain climber who trained on her lunch hours by climbing stairs with a 40-pound pack on her back.

A speakers bureau will help you select an appropriate speaker based on your desired outcomes and within your budget. You will have access to speaker bios, reviews and videos of performances, as well as the bureau's direct experience of working with different performers.

No event planner likes surprises. The bureau becomes an important part of your event planning team, providing support once the speaker has been booked--including travel and audio-visual requirements--and even on the day of the event, if a speaker is forced to cancel due to illness or travel delays. According to Libner, a good speakers bureau always has a backup plan.

4) Communicate directly with the speaker
A credible speakers bureau will facilitate your early interactions with your motivational speaker. Tell your speaker about your expectations and goals. What do you want the motivational speaker to contribute? What are the key messages you want emphasized? What do you know of the audience? What else is happening at the event and how does the motivational speaker fit into the plan?

5) Get it in writing
Make sure everyone is literally on the same page--confirm your understandings with the executive team of your organization, the speakers bureau and the speaker in written form. Summarize important points, dates, deadlines and other information. Get confirmation that everyone has seen the document and agrees with its contents. This is where a speakers bureau can help, adds Libner. MCP Speakers, for example, gets all parties to sign a formal contract.

6) Treat your speaker well
A happy speaker is a helpful speaker, so treat your motivational speaker with respect and kindness. No one likes to feel like a hot potato so identify someone from your event planning team early in your process to be your speaker liaison, responsible for communicating with the speaker and greeting her when she arrives.

Keep your speaker in the loop about any changes to the event program or venue. Let her proof her bio and synopsis if you've altered it. Little touches can make a big difference. For example, leave a small gift and all the details about the event in the speaker's hotel room if she will be arriving a day early. Arrange for the speaker's transportation to the venue or provide detailed instructions and a designated place to park. Ask well in advance about the speaker's expectations and requirements for the venue. Is a "green room" required? If so, what amenities are needed? At a minimum there should be refreshments, a mirror and a copy of the event program.

7) Be prepared
Generate a checklist of phone numbers, including your speakers bureau, and circulate it to all members of the event team ahead of time. Ensure you have functioning A/V equipment and a technician. Arrive early at the event to troubleshoot any issues that may arise.

8) Evaluate the outcomes
There's always something valuable to learn from an event, so make sure you do some form of post-event evaluation. You can speak informally with key people who were involved, including your motivational speaker, to determine what went well and what could be improved in the future. You can also create a formal speaker evaluation sheet which you collect from the audience following the event. Compile the results of your evaluation in a report so that you or another event planner can access the recommendations in the future. After all, you want to ensure the magic happens next time around, too.

Alternative Options for Flower Arrangement Pictures Online and Services Reduces Wedding Frustrations

Gatherings like weddings, anniversaries, and birthdays are common events for the typical person, and while these events are celebrations of life, love, and a lot of fun, for those with the job of planning and organizing these events, there is an intricate web of details that can have a domino effect if any one particular aspect goes awry. The disastrous wedding fiasco or birthday celebration may be funny to watch on television, in real life, no one wants their gathering remembered in such a way.

Fortunately, with some careful planning and some research online, most of the common problems can be avoided by using tips from others that have been through the same experiences. The power and reach of the world wide web enables anyone to use the expertise and advice from professional event planners to private individuals with their own unique ideas. Religious and cultural themes are easy to incorporate into just about any event, with many retailers now specializing in particular fashions, decorations, and gift ideas to match almost any belief or background, and not just for weddings. Many online sources are providing more and more options for personal and private life from online Sunday school lessons to dating and finances.

An Hour on the Internet Can Prevent Hours of Disappointment

There are numerous ways to use the Internet to help enhance any celebration from gift ideas to custom greetings and decorations, but the web is also a very useful tool in planning the logistical needs and having a back-up plan for the more common trouble spots like fashions, deliveries, floral arrangements, and even the directions to the event. Shopping a variety of floral options through flower arrangement pictures online can save hours in the selection process alone and often results in finding the most cost effective arrangement as well. Planning services like transportation and catering, which traditionally take up a great deal of time and resources, can be conceived, implemented, and even paid for completely online, freeing up valuable time for other needs.

In addition to abilities like perusing flower arrangement pictures online, the web can be used for an insurance policy against those very same floral arrangements not being delivered, being the wrong kind, or any range of problems that can pop up with many different aspects of a typical gathering. Merely taking a few moments to record the contact information of alternative providers of the common services, like floral arrangements for example, can be an insurance policy against Murphy's Law. Directions are also a common problem with any event, and ideas like including them on the invitations themselves, as well as having alternative routes, is as simple as using one of the free design programs online for greetings.

Attendees and Guests Can Make an Impression With Custom Gifts and Greetings

Regardless of whether one's role is an attendee or a planner, using some of the free alternatives now available online can save time, money, and a great deal of frustration when it comes to gifts, greetings, or decor, and taking something as simple as an initial or a first name and incorporating it into a gift is enough to add more meaning than if it were made of gold.

The most meaningful and moving gifts or messages are those that are the most personal to the recipient, and now finding the perfect way to express those sentiments is just a few mouse clicks away.

How to Be an Effective Event Manager

Your company is planning an event in the coming month and you are tasked to be the event manager for this specific event. You are uncomfortable with the task since this is your first time in handling and leading the planning of an event. But you really don't need to worry; you were assigned this task since your superiors believe you have what it takes to plan the event they want.

Being an effective event manager is really not hard, but you have to be efficient with the things you need to do. In order to help you with being an event manager, here are some tips for you. First is to make a checklist of what you need to do. List down everything you will need to purchase, hire and people you will need to talk to. Having a checklist will help remind you about all the details needed in the event.

Second is to determine your budget. You cannot really start moving and looking for suppliers if you are still wishy-washy about your budget. Most of the details in the event will be based on your budget so you need to be sure about this and always stick to it. I doubt your superior would like it if you tell him/her that you have gone over budget with your event planning.

Third, scout for quality suppliers that offer good prices. Your primary supplier to think about is your food and beverage. You can ask close friends if they know a catering company that serves good food. Food is very important in any event and if your company is hosting it, you should be able to keep your guests satisfied all the way to dessert. Always put the bulk of your budget in food and beverages.

Next, pick the venue and go there yourself. The venue should be able to hold the capacity you want and should be accessible to everyone. It is always best to pick a venue ahead of time so you can make early reservations. Also make sure that the venue has a big parking lot for all your guests. Your venue should also have spacious doors as to not give the catering company a hard time setting up tables, chairs and the decorations.

Lastly, you can now look into the added aspects of the party like invitations, giveaways, host, and decorations. These are the less stressful parts of the party and you can easily do them. Before the event, you can check your checklist if you forgot about anything, and if you are good to go, the event is all set to go as well. Surely, at the end of the party, your superior will applaud your efforts for being an event manager in one of their most successful events.

Site Selection - Where to Have Your Event, Workshop Or Boot Camp

So you have decided to host your own event. It could be a workshop, a training intensive boot camp or even a multi speaker summit. After you have established your vision, objective and strategy, the next item to plan is your location. Here are some helpful tips for the site selection process.

The first thing to narrow down in the site selection process is the area. This will mainly depend on where the attendees are. If you are planning a local workshop, it is easy. You will want to stay in the town your customers are in, or close to it. If you are in a major metropolitan area and you want to draw from different areas of the city, you may want to do a series of workshops and advertise in the local community papers.

There are a variety of facilities to consider when you are planning a meeting. Each has their own strengths and purpose. Many beginning event planners immediately think of hotels, but there are also conference centers to consider. We will discuss the differences in hotels, conference centers, convention centers and unique venues and the purpose of each.

Hotels
There are many hotels that are geared towards the business and leisure traveler and have limited meeting space. Even with limited meeting space, they may work if you are hosting a small workshop. However, there are many hotels that have catering to business meetings as a large source of their revenue. You can find them in all different sizes and in the metropolitan and suburban areas, as well as near the airports.

Conference Centers
Conference Centers are specifically built for meetings. Many are smaller and are perfect to accommodate meetings for 30-75 people. However, there are some that can handle meetings that are substantially larger than that.

If you consider a conference center, you want to make sure that they are a member of, and accredited by IACC, the International Association of Conference Centers. The accredited centers have to meet stringent standards for business meetings, including dedicated conference rooms, ergonomic swivel chairs with arms, tables with hard writing surfaces and walls that are suitable for tacking up flipchart paper.

Conference centers also offer a Day Meeting Package, which includes your meeting room, standard AV, continuous break stations (snacks and drinks), as well as lunch. A Complete Meeting Package includes all of the above, plus a sleeping room and breakfast and dinner. This makes it easy to budget for your meeting.

Convention Centers
Convention Centers are designed for very large meetings, trade shows and conventions. They are typically owned by the city or by a public/private partnership. Although some also have smaller meeting rooms, you really only want to consider a convention center if you have a very large meeting, need quite a bit of exhibit space or need to have your meeting coincide with a tradeshow or meeting that is already booked at the convention center.

Unique Venues
For workshops you can also use a unique venue. These encompass everything from your local library, to restaurants, to community centers, banquet halls, museums and other event venues. If you have a short workshop and do not want to provide any food and beverages, a venue like a community center or library might do the trick. You do have to check what kind of facilities they have. Do they have enough tables and chairs? What is the environment like?

Remember your vision and your objective and keep your ideal attendee in mind. If you have a vision of comfortable and lush environment, you do not want to set up in the local elementary school cafeteria, no matter how much money you can save.

Event Planning Course - What Type Of Business Is Event Planning?

If I were asked this question, I would say that it is a very interesting and enjoyable business, many people would not agree with me because it depends on the nature and aptitude of the person. If you like event planning and you have experience of arranging small birthday parties or formal dinners at your place then you must know the basics of the subject, you just need to polish and groom your skills by event planning course to get into this business.

For entering into this business you have to be determined and need to have interest and aptitude for this business. Make up your mind and look for a good institution for event planning course. These good and well reputed institutions will give you better guidance and techniques to step into this business and tell you how to take the commitment seriously and arrange the event in the budget of the client.

If you are planning to step into event management business, you must get information about different places, hotels and restaurants. Keep check on the rates of these places. You need to find good dealers. Make your own network having good caterers, updated decorators, floweriest, lighting service and of course musicians for a successful business. If you are associated with well repute dealers, you can get confidence of the clients and boom your business and the other way, if you get projects of big and well repute companies, you can get services of the dealers on good offers as every one would want to project their brand in the business. Focus on all points which you are taught in event planning course.

When ever you start the business, avoid taking big project initially, it is better to start from a smaller event and watch the turn out. See your week points and find the solutions, groom yourself by arranging small and light events, when you think you are able to handle big events, then except the big orders.

Stay updated about the new trends and fashions. Explore different events on the inert net and learn by watching other's work as well. Watch that what kind of music is in? Or which band is more popular in the people.

Initially you have to work for long hours to set up the business but once you are connected with good dealers and make your own network then it would become very easy and interesting for you. So you can go for an event planning course to groom yourself to enter the world of event planning.

Make Money Right Now As an Event Planner

Let's face it, companies and individuals are always planning events. They have to for a number of reasons. First of all, individuals like to throw birthday parties, anniversary parties, and other events. Then you have the business that throws seminars, meetings, and other events to help them promote their product or their service.

No matter what the occasion, someone has to plan these events and it might as well be you. You can make a pretty penny doing this sort of thing. You can consult with the individuals in charge of the event and plan everything from start to finish. You can cover every single little detail, assign jobs to those involved, arrange for catering, and so much more.

As for how you can get this going on as your business, you have to market yourself. This means a website, newspaper ads, and so much more. You need to do a great job so that the businesses and individuals you do work for will refer you to other individuals and businesses. This is important so that you can keep the business coming in.

So if you have a knack for planning things and getting them done, this is perhaps the thing for you. You can really get into it, make things work as smoothly as possible, and so much more. The people you do the work for will be very appreciative of the fact that they don't have to really lift a finger. The only thing that they have to do is consult with you so that you know what they want.

What Are the 5 Critical Factors When Hosting a Successful Sales Training Seminar?

Sales training seminars help you tap into the potentiality of your sales team (including that of your sales managers, executives, and supervisors) to increase the company's profit margin. They need to understand well the various principles, procedures, and practices so that they can make the best use of available time and resources as provided to the sales force.

Planning

Plan your sales training seminar properly by creating a list of guests you wish to invite as well as choose the venue wisely with efficient transportation connectivity. Try and involve everyone in the administrative team to work on the event timeline. It is important to provide vital venue information to each individual guest to make it easier for them to locate the site. For example, you can attach a map with the email displaying the route from the official event accommodation. Most importantly, you need to formalize upon the budget to be spent on individual administrative tasks.

Promotion

Promote your sales seminar in the maximum possible ways to get high attendance. Besides inserting ads in newspapers and business magazines, why not utilize the various social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, etc. to reach out to the maximum number of people. Additionally, send emails to your prospective audience requesting them to be present on the event day.

Production

Once you are through with the promotion aspect of the event, you need to focus on the production campaign that includes daily tracking and monitoring attendee confirmation emails to the seminar. You also need to concentrate on the lightning and decoration aspects, seating arrangement, food and beverage menu, entertainment, etc. and see to it that everything is in place before the guests start to arrive.

Evaluation

After the completion of the seminar, the next big thing is to evaluate its performance. Did the attendees like your sales training seminar? What did they have to say about the presentation? Was your event profitable? You can distribute survey sheets amongst the guests requesting them to fill them up and submit in a glass box next to the exit gate.

Post Seminar Follow Up

You must follow up with your prospects interested in your company and its products. Over time, call them up or email them introducing yourself and the purpose behind the call. In this way, you can build up a long-lasting relationship with the attendees and accordingly set up appointments with them.

Thus, sales training seminars can help the sales professionals improve upon their performance over time. Many corporate organizations are now taking the help of online training and event management software's to conduct and manage meetings, conferences, seminars, and other similar types of events as they are simple, dependable and affordable!

What Is Cloud Computing and How Does It Benefit The Events Industry?

Cloud Computing is an application that is currently being adopted by the corporate biggies and small business alike, to reduce the hassles of installing software suites. To begin with, let me now unveil the idea of "Cloud". Just in case you are a complete stranger to this web based service, you will be surprised to know the host of advantages this platform offers to its users.

A Cloud service comes with three unique features that distinguish it from the other conventional services. This web based service is solely managed by the provider and is sold on the basis of minute or hourly demand. The application can be private or public. Public Cloud is sold to anyone over the Internet whereas private Cloud is basically a proprietary network or a data centre that offer hosted services to limited users. Besides, there are three types of Cloud; first is the 'Software-as-a-Service' (SaaS) Cloud model, 'Platform-as-a-Service' (PaaS) Cloud model and 'Infrastructure-as-a -service' (IaaS) Cloud model.

However, Cloud computing leads to a considerable shift in workload. For running applications, local computers no longer need to be stuffed with software. Instead, the network that makes up the Cloud handles everything. This system also reduces considerable demand for hardware and software installations and downloads. Besides, it can control everything from e-mail to word processing to complex data analysis programs from a remote location. If you are an e-mail account holder with web-based e-mail services like Hotmail, Yahoo Mail or Gmail then you have definitely experienced Cloud computing unconsciously.

In recent times, various companies have introduced a number of Cloud-based software products for easy management of events. If you are an event organizer and plan to hold your next event in a short while then why don't you opt for one of this software? Let me now give you a quick insight to some of the benefits of Cloud computing that will make this an easier choice for you.

Benefits of Cloud Computing

The web based hosting service gives you easy access from anywhere without any restriction. To use this service you simply need to remember your ID and password. The process is totally automated so if you plan to expand your business there is no need to make any additional hardware purchase or plug in downloads. Besides, Cloud computing provides you with the highest levels of interface and data security thereby reducing data loss and frauds to a large extent. The service also cuts down substantial cost by reducing the need for large computers and thus saving energy.

Cloud computing will give the events industry and its registration and payment system an altogether new dimension. Resort to any of the cloud computing software and ensure a fulfilling and satisfying event hosting experience.

How To Be A Great MC- Multiple Speaking Intelligences Part One

What are the secrets of being a great MC?

Being asked to MC an event can happen anytime. At a social setting, at work or for more formal occasions.

Because of my business as a professional speaker, I'm often called on to be a professional MC.

Take for example my recent experiences hosting the Real Estate Institute of WA's (REIWA) formal annual dinner, and the presentation of the Kevin Sullivan memorial Award, the Institute's highest accolade.

A professional MC can make or break an event.

What do people remember?

It's not the children's choir, the corporate video or the music. It's not even the venue or the food.

The secret to a great event is the person who brings all of these diverse elements together and then delivers them with personality, humour and charm.

Your choice of Master of Ceremonies will have a big impact on the success of your event.

And the fact is, high profile does not equal success. I've heard famous name MCs tell inappropriate jokes and get guests, organisers and sponsors immediately offside.

The MC (also known as Emcee) has a very unique role to play at an event. There are many duties to perform and not everyone can be organised and entertaining at the same time. It's a special skill.

But the good thing is, it is a learned skill.

Here is the first part of a series of articles on what I call the multiple speaking intelligences every aspiring or experienced leader needs.

In this first part, here are 10 Tips on how to be a great MC for every occasion.

1. Get A Good Briefing

Clarify with the event organiser beforehand what their expectations are and what they want exactly.

2. Work To A Running Sheet

There is a lot to remember and do as an MC. Make sure your event organiser provides a running sheet so you know what happens and when.

3. Run On Time

The major role of a good MC is to keep the event running on time. It is your role to make this happen. No one likes an event that runs over time.

You need to be firm on time. This is one element that is non-negotiable.

4. Be The Glue That Holds The Event Together

Your role as MC is to be the glue or cement that holds the event together.

You have to link, segue and make a transition directly from one section or theme to another during the entire event.

The best MCs do this seemlessly and effortlessly.

5. Focus On The Speakers and Performers

Remember the speakers or performers you are introducing are the stars of the show not the MC.

Don't grandstand, big note or let your ego get in the way.

Let the event elements, be they speakers, performers or award winners shine.

6. Rehearse

Spend time at the venue before hand getting used to the stage, lighting and sound system.

Practice your lines out loud. Warm up your voice. Get in the moment.

7. Research

Research the speakers or performers you are introducing.

As an absolute minimum do a Google search on them. Always request a formal introduction from speakers.

Most professional speakers will provide a prepared introduction.

8. Provide a Mix of Entertainment and Information

The key to a good MC is light and shade.

9. Let Your Personality Come Through and Be Yourself

Don't be overly wooden or scripted. Let your personality shine through.

10. Have Fun

If you are having fun so are the others speakers and the audience.

Relax and enjoy the moment.

Increase Meeting Attendance - Not Cost - With Online Event Marketing

Today's economy is tough on meeting and event professionals. Keeping attendance numbers high is especially a challenge, as attendees are finding it more and more difficult to factor your tradeshow or conference into their budget. Your resources are limited, too -- there simply isn't enough money to book in the most sought-after destination, source a five-star venue, or employ one of the other tactics you may have used in the past to successfully entice guests.

Don't resign to lower-than-ever registration numbers, yet. It is possible to maintain and even improve attendance without exhausting your budget by taking your event marketing online. No longer does event promotion require long hours dedicated to writing press releases or calling journalists. Nor do you need an ample budget for publicity. In today's digital world, it's fast and easy to reach a large audience of potential attendees at a low cost.

Here are a few ways meeting planners can successfully promote their event without breaking budget:

Start social networking. Social networking sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter are quickly becoming the go-to ways to connect to attendees. Such sites foster discussion among potential meeting-goers, who generate word-of-mouth advertising that's more valuable than any newspaper article or press release. Social networking sites create buzz leading up to your event, and in the future can serve as a great reference for attendees who want to see what your event was like last year.

Create an event website. Event websites have become the expectation, not the exception, for all types of meetings. In the past, organizations used websites for little more than posting basic event details and offering online registration. Though these features remain important, event websites today can do so much more to market your events. Post information such as speaker biographies and agenda session descriptions, or upload videos and pictures from last year's event. A clean, professional event website full of relevant content is a great tool for convincing your audience to attend.

Get listed. At event directory listing sites such as Zvents and Eventful, you can list your events and meetings for all to see. Sign up at no cost to start listing your event details, and make sure to provide a link to your event website. Once again, you'll reach a large audience searching for an event just like yours to attend.

Email invitations. Social networking and event directories are great strategies for marketing to a large, varied audience. A successful online event marketing strategy also requires you to directly target your existing set of meeting contacts. Do this effectively and economically by sending event invitations by email, the go-to form of communication for busy invitees. Email invitations can elicit more than double the response rate of paper campaigns, and they don't cut into your time and budget like direct mail does.

Though the economy is down, your event turnout doesn't have to be. Take your event marketing to the next level by going online. A minimal investment of time and money in web resources and technology will yield big results for your meeting attendance.

Tips on Hosting Successful Wine Tasting Events

You can organize a small and intimate wine tasting event to meet up with your old friends. Wineries from all around the world also keep on holding many such events to showcase their wine varieties. In these festivals, people get to enjoy liquors of various kinds, such as red wine, white wine, and so on. As an organizer, you can always make your liquor testing occasion all the more memorable and enjoyable an experience by keeping in mind some very simple, yet effective tips.

The most important task you need to do before organizing a wine tasting party is to determine the guest list. Send invitations or emails to all your guests stating them the time and venue of the party or event.

Designing a tasting card to invite your guests can leave a long-lasting impression on your friends. A card, beautifully designed and filled up with touchy words, is bound to make the guests happy. You can specify the wine names that they are going to taste as well as add a distinct aroma and flavor tinge to the cards.

Make your liquor tasting ceremony all the more exciting by arranging a game of "blind tasting". It means your attendees are going to be allowed to savor the drinks without knowing the names of the drinks. They will have to identify each type of wine in the glasses. On identifying each correct glass of wine, they will get points. Finally, the person with the highest number of points is going to get some prize. It can be a bottle of vintage wine or perhaps a book on the different varieties of wine found across the world.

Another tip of holding a successful wine tasting event is to decorate the venue with colorful flowers and ribbons. The wine glasses and bottles should be arranged neatly on the table. The tasting room should have an artistic by decorating the walls with old world paintings.

The event organizers should try to keep the ambiance casual. You can invite an orchestra to play some light music in the evening. It is a great way to engage your visitors and yet, make them feel relaxed at the end of the day.

One of the greatest ways to attract your target audience toward the wine tasting ceremony is to use the online communications tools, such as emails, reminders, and RSVPs. These tools, integrated within the online event management solutions, can be used to upload and manage unlimited number of your own custom email lists for marketing and invitations purpose.

How To Create A Party Guest List

The mood of a party is often dictated by the guests who attend the event. Therefore, it is important for you as the host to consider the chemistry of the people you are inviting over. Remember that it is going to be more like a social event and people need to interact with each other. While it is up to the host to decide who to invite and who to leave out, there are general rules that should be adhered to for the success of the whole event:

Do

- If you think of the party in the same way you would think of any other social event, you realize that it could be an opportunity for many like-minded people to mingle and socialize. It probably will involve a meeting of people who do not know each other but who are eager to meet new people.

- Thinking of the party as a get together event will help bring together friends that have not seen each other for a long time. These should be people who would love to visit but their schedules do not allow them to.

- While it may be viewed as a personal initiative, party planning needs support even from the guests. Invite people who will appreciate being invited and who will help in the success of the event.

Don't

- Refrain from inviting just one class of people either aligned to profession or interests. A room full of only journalists or only teachers beats the very essence of bringing people together

- There are some people that do not just fit in the guest list but you feel obligated to have them over. This should be totally avoided because apart from spoiling the general mood of the party they will also feel awkward in a crowd in which they do not fit.

- The greatest action to avoid when planning out the guest list, is inviting known enemies in the hope that they will make the party lively since they have to speak to each other.

While it is mainly a personal decision on who to invite and who to leave out, it may be helpful to keep in mind a few more tips when compiling the guest list. This has to do with what kinds of people to invite and why to do so:

- A banker should be on your list because they are always in the loop regarding industries, the stock market and investments, and can be very good in talking about what is happening in the economy.

- A journalist will always want to know about current issues and they are always collecting information. Getting one on the guest list will guarantee that people have someone to engage them in conversation.

- A F&B professional should not miss the guest list because everyone loves to talk about good food. People especially like talking to someone who can make their everyday chores simpler such as cooking.

- A marketing professional is good company for a party because they will have a say in everything that involves consumer trends.

Top 4 Corporate Hospitality Ideas and Possible Mistakes

Corporate entertainment or hospitality has become something essential in a hectic corporate life style. An outing or a gala event has become necessary for the employees to rejuvenate their productivity and burst their stress. There are many other reasons why corporate hospitality services have mushroomed up.

Such events help building teams and strengthening the relationships between the employees. It also forms a good launching pad for promoting new products to customers and potential clients. Hence, it helps build relations and make a good impression. It is a good change of pace from the hectic schedule and for those who cannot afford to take time off, this is like a jackpot gift holiday card.

Top 4 activities

Sports events

Outdoor sports events such as quad bikes, hover crafting, car driving, etc. are all time favorite corporate hospitality events. Outdoor activities are great for casual office outings. Sports tend to increase oneness among the members of the teams and this in turn can be diverted while working in the office for incredible results. Sports help people coordinate well.

Quiz

The young generation just loves quizzes. You can arrange for a company quiz or work related quiz to see who scores the max. Here again people can be divided into teams so that focus is on team rather than individual success.

Team building activities

Cooking classes and dancing are some of the rare forms of artistic team building activities and are perfect for a change in routine. Getting such an exposure lets people get a different perspective of things.

Entertainment activities

Activities such as fun casino, games, problem solving etc are not just entertainment but also give avenue for people to try their office skills at something different.

Top 4 Blunders

Repeating the same events time and again will take the charm out of that activity. Try to keep the ideas fresh and avoid monotony in the events.

The purpose is to make them come together. Stick to that fact and make sure everybody participates in the fun activities. The purpose is not just to be a spectator enjoying the food and music.

Choose ideas and activities that will be fun to most of the employees and will actually do something good to them. Challenge is an essential factor to be kept in mind while choosing. A mix of indoor and outdoor will give everybody a chance to show his or her talents.

Since you are spending, do not ruin it with a tiny budget. Make it big so that people can actually enjoy the events. A namesake party does not serve any purpose and it will just bring ill repute on your and company's name.

You can design your own event or choose one of the corporate hospitality packages offered by the event managing services depending on your budget, crowd and event.

Importance of Measuring Event Performance

Event managers are under considerable pressure to obtain metrics regarding their events and to ensure that they provide a return on investment. Being able to source these statistics and convert them into valuable information is something that many event managers struggle with. It can be difficult to know what to measure, how to measure it and then how to analyse the data.

The first stage in analysing an events performance is to understand why the event is being held in the first place. What are the goals and targets for the event? There are many reasons why companies host events:

繚 Build awareness of the company or product
繚 Generate sales
繚 Generate qualified sales leads
繚 Conduct market research
繚 To enter a new market
繚 To launch a new product or service
繚 To influence or build relationships with the press
繚 To educate or motivate partners and/or employees
繚 To help retain current customers
繚 To support the local community

It is a good idea to set one primary and one or two secondary objectives. Trying to set too many goals will dilute the main purpose of the event and will lead to mixed and confusing messages given to the delegates. Each event you hold may have different objectives, but it is important to understand exactly what this is, as without a clear objective you will not be able to identify and measure your event performance objectives.

Try and make your objectives and metrics as specific as possible. For example, if the primary objective is to create sales and the secondary objective is to generate qualified sales leads, some of the focused metrics will be:

繚 Revenue
繚 Number of transactions made
繚 Number of purchase orders received
繚 Expense to revenue ration (E:R)
繚 Return on investment ration (ROI)
繚 Number of new accounts/customers
繚 Volume of leads generated
繚 Quality of leads generated

Once you have identified the objectives and metrics, the next task is to obtain this information. This can be the hardest part of event performance analysis. It can be difficult to source this information, and difficult to convert it into valuable data.

Many event managers are turning to technology to help with this process. Event management software solutions aid event managers in the planning, management and analysis of events. They often come with build in reporting and analysis modules, making the measurement of event performance an easy task.

If generating leads is an important objective, event management software can help aid in the identification of lead quality and quantity. By understanding what makes a high quality lead, event managers can create tailored registration forms, capturing the delegate information that identifies poor and good quality opportunities.

Understanding the messaging that you're conveying to delegates is also a key metric that should often be measured, but one that can be difficult to obtain. By utilising information that has been collected on the day or post event, managers will be able to improve future events as well as enhancing customer relations with delegates. Again, event management software can aid in this metric measurement. By providing a comprehensive feedback management tool managers are able to produce surveys which delegates can complete on the day, or which can be emailed out after the events. The results from online surveys can be automatically populated into the event management solution, ready for instant analysis.

Understanding delegates and their responses to the event will also help managers to accurately quality the event leads. Event management software will provide analysis tools which will enable managers to quickly drill down to the data held on the system. Providing customised reports as well as standard management information reports will illustrate how well attended events are, how well booked they are and how successful the programme was.

It is generally recommended that managers use 5% of their budget on event measurement and analysis. By investing in a total end to end event management software solution, mangers can ensure that accurate results of the events are consistently produced. Not only do event management software tools aid in the analysis of events, but they also make the planning, management and promotion of events easier, more efficient and far more cost effective.

5 Tips to Organize a Smart Outdoor Event

Summer is here and so is the time to relax under the warm sun with family and friends. Every year, I make it a point to take some time out from my busy schedule to arrange a wonderful outdoor event with plenty of food and free flowing beer. This year too, I have planned to host a gala poolside party for my friends. However, for all those who are first timers in organizing an outdoor event, let's have a look at the top tips to make your parties a grand success.

Select a Venue

Outdoor events should be organized in areas that provide sufficient recreational opportunities. For example, there should be a playground for the kids, a pond or a stream where you can indulge in some natural swimming, etc. However, the biggest challenge to hosting an event outside can be unfriendly weather conditions that may spoil practically everything. The best alternatives to open-air parties are arranging them on midsized yachts, outdoor amphitheaters or by erecting tents. If these are not possible, choose a location which may have some sort of natural shelter nearby for your guests to run to in case it rains.

Proper Communication

Outdoor weddings or birthday parties or similar events such as these should not be arranged in an area that is far away from the locality. Guests who do not have private transportation of their own will be hassled just trying to reach the location on time. Moreover, ensure the venue has a spacious parking area, for those who do choose to drive their way to the location. Thus, you should look into these matters to offer a tension-free, comfortable experience to the guests.

Choose a Theme and Decoration

The theme should go hand in hand with the image of the event. For example, if you are planning a wedding, then you can combine rich textured patterns with colorful flowers to make the area look chic and glamorous. For a pool party like the one I host every year, you can decorate the area with some real sea shells and use bright colored table cloths.

Lighting

I have decided to use hanging strings of lights around the pool to give a special effect to the setting and decor. Nevertheless, you can use some more lighting concepts such as hanging lanterns if you have planned a garden party. You can also set out colorful candles on the tables provided the region doesn't face strong winds that will blow them out.

Looking after the Comfort of your Guests

No one likes to sit on bare ground. It is therefore better to opt for modular sitting arrangements which is quite trendy plus is space-saving. Sanitation is one of the crucial elements to keep an eye on. The wedding or party area should have well-cleaned and hygienic restroom facilities with fresh towels, hand wash and tissue papers. You must not forget to keep one or more generators in case the power goes off during the event.

A Biltmore Wedding: Remember To Consider A Local Wedding or Event Planner To Maximize Your Budget

This time of year many new brides are considering where to have their dream wedding. One of the most popular wedding sites in the Southeast is the Biltmore Estate in Asheville North Carolina. While the estate itself is a wonderful venue, there are a great many choices of locations for the wedding and activities for your guests.

One thing that many brides don't consider until the last minute is guest activities. Your guests most likely will be traveling to attend your wedding. Planning some excursions and activities will make the trip even more memorable. Here are some options:

Outdoor Activities. The Biltmore Estate and Asheville area have a great selection of outdoor activities for your guests including bike rides and tours along estate trails, horseback riding, river float trips and carriage rides. For those who want an off-road driving adventure there is also the Land Rover Experience Driving School where, regardless of your skill level, you can drive the latest Land Rover vehicles on an off-road course.

Wine Tasting. Biltmore Estate has its own award-winning winery and wine tasting is a popular thing to do while at the Estate. Your guests will enjoy the guided tour of the Winery at Antler Hill Village. Originally a barn, this is one of the most popular 'to do' items on guests attending a wedding at Biltmore House.

Guided Tours. There are a number of guided tours available to those coming to Biltmore Estate such as:

Audio Guided Tour of Biltmore House. This tour allows guests to tour the house at their own pace with a digital audio guide that discusses many aspects of the main house.

Rooftop Tour. The rooftop tour takes guests to unrestored areas of the house as well as showcases unbelievable and vast views from the top of Biltmore House.

Behind-The-Scenes Tour. Your guests will learn the many facets of 'running' the largest single home in America including it's technologies, the Butler's Pantry and the roof that overlooks Winter Garden.

While the choices are many, any bride considering having a Biltmore wedding should consider using one of the local, Asheville-based, Biltmore and Asheville wedding planners. These professionals are expert at helping you maximize your budget while providing you a wonderful wedding complete with giving your guests an experience they will remember for a lifetime.

They have a proven list of various vendors including caterers, florists, musicians, photographers and other suppliers that are key to making your wedding the best that it can be.

Special Events Fundraising - Estimate Bigger Budget, Smaller Income When Planning

Special events are a great way to raise money. And a great way to lose money, too. So if you lack experience planning and hosting special events, or if your non-profit organization does not have a particularly high profile in your community, you should plan on your budget being big and your income being small. In other words, you should overestimate your costs and underestimate your income.

Special events are notorious for going over budget. Things get overlooked in the planning. Fees, taxes, service charges and other hidden expenses must be paid that were not accounted for. And then there is the simple, sheer cost of putting on the event: printing, postage, hall rental, lighting, sound, catering and more. Budget for more than you'll spend and you'll stay out of trouble.

If your special event is new, if it has never been tested to see how effective it is at raising net income, you should be conservative when predicting your income. You are excited about your event. And so are your volunteers. But will your guests and participants be just as excited? And if they are, will their excitement show up on your bottom line? In other words, will your motivated and passionate guests show their appreciation with their wallets?

Most special events that are repeated year after year take many years to prove themselves. You need many years of publicity, participation and word-of-mouth advertising before your event will attract the donors (and their donations) needed to raise a significant portion of your annual gift income. You also need to host the same event many times before you learn how to reduce your costs without reducing your income.

Regardless of how much you raise, special events create awareness of your organization and your cause, and they give you an opportunity to recognize your donors and volunteers and show appreciation. They do all these things even if you lose money. But if your goal is to raise money and not just raise awareness, then pessimisms is the way to go. Overestimate your expenses, and underestimate your income, and you can't go wrong.

Corporate Entertainment

The image of corporate entertainment has been damaged in the last couple of years. Reports of Government subsidised banks having expensive events entertaining clients, sticks in the throat for many people who have lost their jobs, or who are struggling to pay their mortgage. Hospitality tents at Wimbledon; half empty, but paid for in full, also annoy many people.

Yet in all cases, the banks booked and paid for the events before the financial crisis AND corporate entertainment is part of the process of developing relationships in business. Many businesses: particularly City companies are concerned about visibly entertaining clients given the current economic situation. They cannot be seen to be having 'jollies' even if they are entertaining existing and prospective clients. Of course, this has had an impact on the Events, Conference, Hospitality and Entertainment sector.

Simon Speller from Hillier Hopkins LLP Accountants said that the Event sector is a very good indicator of economic stability. Clients of his in this sector began to be hit at the beginning of 2008: before other sectors were affected, but, he optimistically said that his clients are now seeing increased activity in the latest quarter: suggesting that there is economic growth - or optimism.

Before the Credit Crunch, large or even limitless budgets were available for corporate entertainment, and lavish affairs were organised with no expense spared. Prices were high, and it was not unheard of for Event Companies to have huge mark ups on their suppliers prices, which they passed on to their clients. Now, however, the trend is for limited budgets and for fees to be negotiated and some entertaining to be cut.

One of our clients mentioned that they were no longer organising their regular hospitality events for all of their clients; instead of taking 100 clients for a corporate day at Twickenham, including watching an International; they were now taking 10 high earning clients to see the match and a curry: cutting the cost from 瞿700 per person to 瞿70. They were also going through their database; inviting people to fewer events and saving the best invitations to their highest earners only.

Another client, who works for a major supermarket that made record profits last year, said that all of the Christmas Office parties were cancelled last year as a cost cutting exercise. Normally her department of 20 would have had a budget of 瞿40,000, yet the company were reluctant to even organise an in house drinks party. Of course cancelling office parties impacts on staff morale and is not always the most effective cost saving measure!

So why do organisations entertain? Is it for fun, or to make them look good? Is it to show off or to reward their staff? There is a little of all these factors when organisations entertain, but it is generally for business purposes. Providing employees with a fantastic away day experience or Office Party is a good reward for loyalty and hard work - hence the demoralisation when these are cancelled. However, first and foremost it is to establish and maintain relationships with clients.

If you arrange to meet a high earning client in McDonalds for a coffee, it says little about how you value the client and their business to you, but if you take care with the venue you choose to meet for coffee: that it is private and quiet to have the opportunity to discuss business in a professional way - it says so much about how you value the business relationship. Likewise, a restaurant where the service and ambience is not good (even if it is expensive) will do little for the business relationship that a lovely family owned restaurant where the chef and front of house really care about their customers.

It is no longer necessary to lavishly entertain clients with high budget events. If you have a limited budget, it is fine to have an in house drinks party, but ensure you have arranged the finer details - such as a cloakroom for coats; clean glasses (yes: that isn't always the case with hired glasses!) and a few canap矇s: and organising who is going to serve the drinks and canap矇s.

We have offered clients who are organising in house events a CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) entertainer. The fee comes from their CSR fund, and the entertainer is a 'busker' who plays background music, and guests put money into his hat, raising money for a charity. The benefits are that there is a fundraising element to the event and the entertainment is paid from the CSR fund rather than from the budget, and the quality of the event is enhanced by live music.

If you are arranging entertainment at another venue, see what the venue events team offer with the package; for example, is entertainment included in the package; are they able to offer discounted accommodation? Is there an option for a cash bar? What is the difference in price between a buffet and served meal?

When adding the 'entertainment' element to an evening, here are my top tips for the perfect icing on the cake.

• We would always recommend going to a respected agency: someone you can talk to, rather than an internet based company. Friends of friends are not always reliable!

• A musician playing background music during the drinks reception and/or meal lifts the quality level of an event. A CSR funded musician adds value to the event, although this isn't always necessary. A harpist, string quartet, saxophonist, guitarist or pianist work very well in this situation.

• After a dinner, it is always good to have entertainment, to finish off the evening and enabling guests to leave happy. We have found Singing Waiters; Surprise Singing Guests and our Flamenco Guitarists and dancers particularly popular.

• After dinner speakers are a successful choice, although we recommend you are very specific in the contract as to what you would like them to speak about, and give them enough information about the expected guests, to ensure they tailor the speech for the audience.

• Stand up comedians are fun; however, many have material that might not be suitable for mixed audiences or specific groups. Personally I would avoid this option unless you are very confident of the comedian and know your audience well. Some events have been ruined by the choice of comedian.

• A singing act, such as our Romantic Tenor who sings Operatic Arias and Andrea Boccelli songs is very popular. As a rule, Tribute soloists and bands do not impress valued clients, so search for a good quality singer who will add value to your event. Make sure he or she has not set the sound levels too high, and if necessary, manage the sound checks to set the volume lower and request adjustments in the evening. A great evening has been spoilt by the entertainment being too loud - so manage the artiste!

• Get as much advice and help from the venue as possible. They are experts at their venue and might have some great ideas.

Corporate entertainment is an invaluable way of developing business relationships. At this time when people are cutting back, it is an ideal time to increase client hospitality to stand out from the crowd. Good entertainment is not about spending huge amounts of money, but taking care with the details, so that your clients have a positive experience and you, as a company, present yourself well. Good luck!