5 Tips to Choosing the Perfect Purse for Any Event

Choosing the perfect purse can sometimes be as difficult as choosing the outfit itself. To make your selection (and life) easier, I've listed a few tips to make shopping a breeze.

1. Purpose

When choosing a purse, always think of the type of event that you will be attending. For weddings, dinners, and proms, your requirements will be different from that for a conference, meeting, or lunch with a client. It is important to always shop with a purpose in mind to ensure your selection is suitable to your event.

2. Size

The size of your purse is extremely important depending on the event you're attending. A tote might be more appropriate for a day out with girlfriends, while a small clutch is more suitable for a wedding or evening event. Will you be dancing all night? Then smaller is always better.

3. Colour

Choosing a purse colour is fairly easy if your outfit is already selected. If this is not the case, then go for neutral colours. These go great with almost anything, and will blend flawlessly with the rest of your closet. If your event is on the fancier side something shiny or sparkly never hurts. Gold and silver are perfect accents to little black dresses; Just think red carpet! While all these are true, let's not forget the real star here; Colour. For the ladies who like to take it up a notch, selecting a purse with a pop of colour is guaranteed to keep all eyes on you. Spot a fuchsia clutch that is just begging to be bought? Go for it! Bright colours are great for spring and summer, and pairs well with neutral toned clothing.

4. Compartments

Personally a purse with at least one small interior pocket is a must-have. It is the perfect place for storing business cards and contact numbers I collect during my daily interactions. Select a purse that is functional for your event. Think of what items you will be taking with you, and if your selection will be able to store all these items. For example, if you are a busy event planner, a small purse with one compartment would not be your best selection for an event you're hosting.

5. Details

Pay attention to external details on purses when shopping. A purse with lots of external hardware might not work well for a clean, classy, business look, but pairs well with jeans and a blazer for a casual lunch. Take note of the extras!

Remember, an outfit is as perfect as its accessories, so do not be shy to experiment.

Until next time Purse-a-holics!

From my purse to yours...
Jody-Ann

Temporary Shelters for Events

Whether for a wedding or for a corporate event, temporary shelters are highly useful and something that anyone should look into. There are many things that make portable shelters particularly useful and practical, and in many ways they offer benefits that you can't get from a brick and mortar property. Here we will look at just why temporary shelters are so useful and how to get the most of them.

First of all, if you are looking to host an event somewhere that doesn't cater for guests - such as in a field or another open outdoor area, then you wouldn't normally be able to host an event here because you'd have no way to keep things organized and to protect the event from weather.

However by using portable shelters it's possible to erect a shelter wherever you want it and that then means that there is no longer any limit on where you can host an event.

This is one reason that wedding tents are so popular - because they allow you to turn any area that you have a connection to or that you find romantic into somewhere that you can decorate and host a party.

At the same time by using temporary shelters you can also transform a garden or another area into a venue, and for those with large gardens having portable shelters is an ideal way to be able to host events to a better degree etc.

There is more still that you can get from temporary shelters though. In particular these give you the ability to benefit from all the advantages of an event held outdoors and all the benefits that you would get from hosting an event indoors. In other words you get to feel a cool breeze and you get to spill out into the sun and take pictures, but at the same time there is no worry that a sudden downpour will turn your wedding cake into wedding paste. At the same time you don't need to worry about your presents blowing away, and you don't need to worry about wasps and other problems. Using wedding tents then is an ideal way to host the ideal wedding, and similarly you will also find that it is perfect for corporate and other events too.

Best of all, because the portable shelter is your own, and you are not renting out a venue, this then means that you can host a wedding in wedding tents for a lot less than you would pay to hire a venue. All you need is to find a patch of land and to buy or rent your shelter and you have created a perfect bespoke place to hold your event. And because the tent is yours in cases where you bought it, this also then means that you are able to do whatever you please to decorate it exactly as you would have wished meaning your event will probably actually look more beautiful and closer to how you imagine it as a result.

Event Management for Corporate

As a communication tool, the broad range of events that organizations have been known to use has made a tremendous impact on how information has been relayed to the range of stakeholders involved with their business, both internal and external.

Whilst there were many opportunities for willing-and-able enthusiastic employees to get involved when organizational events were laid on in their early days, businesses are now much better able to fund more professional ways to show themselves off. After all, an excellent event will flag the image that is required and that's where the experts come in.

As the demand for corporate event management has grown, so has a proliferation of event managers who have the skills to achieve exactly what is needed in every sense for corporate event management. From tiny budgets for small occasions to the major events for the well known brands, there is always a solution out there these days.

For unlimited budgets there will be a plethora of corporate event management teams who will fit the bill. Yet finance is not the only thing that matters. A core skill of experience, blended with an excellent organizing capability are probably the most valuable assets - and without them, positively memorable outcomes will be difficult.

The development of corporate event management organizations - from the smallest to the very big (corporate themselves!) businesses - will always entail a gradual stepping up of abilities and experiences. This will so often be restricted to those who are the true professionals and who develop as they go, rather than some of the less capable businesses out there who have evolved into the corporate market from party planning and weddings. So it's important to distinguish between the two.

Having clarity for the desired outcome is a mindset that any event manager needs to be successful. Some are capable of this and are able to meet the stringent needs of the most demanding client. With outcomes that deliver, repeat business will come from happy clients, a consequence that every event business seeks.

Whilst appreciating the need to understand the new technological innovations out there and providing ideas for corporate clients to consider, there is one element that event management companies need to have fixed in their sights. As in all service industries, the quality of customer service will directly relate to success - or otherwise - of any provider. It's always important to set sights for client satisfaction at the highest level.

The best at corporate event management are - above all - excellent communicators. It's about asking the right questions of a client, as well as being prepared to listen hard to them and then ask more again. Understanding the requirements of a client can't ever be too clear! By showing that you are interested upfront, you will show your client that you care, as well as being able to ensure that you get it right for them, whilst reducing the potential for costly misunderstandings as well.

Over the years, corporate event management has come of age. From years gone by where activities were almost entirely in-house, to today's media rich experiences, new expertise has had to evolve. The modern day event managers have the skills, creativity and logistics resourcefulness to deliver outstanding and memorable branded extravaganzas that identify organizations. More, they are able, through the use of technology, to leave a lasting impression where it matters and are well worth the investment for any corporate's future.

Planning a Corporate Dinner

The success of your corporate dinner depends on a number of things, but good planning is an important first step. A corporate dinner is so much more than an evening out as the success of the night can affect your business. New relationships can be forged between you and potential clients, large accounts can be won and even important business decisions can be solidified in this more relaxed environment. When planning your corporate dinner you need to think about the personalities of those attending and what type of evening they may enjoy. You also need to plan around the type of occasion you have in mind, for example, is it going to be a formal black tie gathering or is it a casual fun evening with a main goal of getting everyone to unwind. Once you have identified these main aspects of the evening you can then begin to plan the details, such as catering, entertainment, expected attire and whether there will be any presentations, such as speeches, audio visual production or even games.

Venue

Choosing and booking your venue will be the first thing you will need to do, if you don't have a space at your office. You will need to consider how many guests will be in attendance, so choose a venue that will accommodate everyone, and make sure once you have found the right place book early. Check that the venue has catering available and the right facilities for your particular event. You may need to choose a venue with a stage for presentations or for your entertainment to set up. Make sure the bathroom facilities are adequate and that the hire of the venue is within your companies budget.

Attire

Once you have decided on whether your evening will be a formal occasion or a more casual get together you can decide on the dress standard for the evening. Black tie always makes for a good evening, particularly if you need to create a sense of occasion, and people like to dress up for a night out. You may decide to have a themed night, where people come in costume, or more casual attire may be appropriate.

Entertainment

As well as keeping within the tone of the evening, choose entertainment that you know will appeal to most people. If your guest list is more on the conservative side then hiring a rock band may not go down so well. Perhaps a jazz band may be more appropriate. There are lots of different musical groups available for hire or you could stick with a DJ. It also might not be the type of event where a band is needed and you only are required to organise background music.

Equipment

You will have to make sure there are enough tables, chairs and tableware, although hopefully catering will have this under control, but you may also need to organise a microphone, sound system, audio visual equipment and a projection screen. You can hire this type of equipment from an audio visual production company.

4 Keys Aspects to Organizing Successful Events

Events are always hosted keeping in mind that they will successfully meet the needs of the attendees as well as the organizers. Attendees participate in events to learn the answers to their queries and also to know more about the company and its products. Event planners organize an event to satisfy and retain their client base and also in the process generate more sales and earn higher profits. Organizing successful events is not matter of joke. You have to have the right kind of people, choose the right venue, and attract the target audience.

Let's see how you can arrange a great event with minimal effort and a short time span.

Choose the Right Kind of People

Organizing a corporate event is not actually the same as organizing your kid's birthday party. Your company's reputation to a great extent depends on how well you have prepared for the event. For that, you need to choose the right team of people or volunteers to be part of the working committee. Recruit individuals who are enthusiastic towards work and are prepared to labor overtime if required. You should also keep some extra people in hand to volunteer in case someone doesn't turn up on the big day.

Run Your Event like a Business

Try to take your event as seriously as possible. Prepare a checklist to manage various administrative tasks in a streamlined fashion. Allocate the event budget to see all items have been accounted for without spending being overtly extravagant. Prioritize the most important work first. For example, choose a suitable event venue before printing the invitations. Promote your events in as many onsite and online platforms as possible. Print adverts on newspapers and business magazines; post your event details on social media websites, your business website, company blog, etc. Avoid any pitfalls by taking precautionary measures beforehand. For example, in case of an outdoor event, have a backup ready in case there is unexpected rain or snowfall.

Reward Your Attendees and Say 'Thank You'

You should willfully reward and recognize your event attendees who have taken the pain to attend your event keeping aside their personal or such other tasks. For example, present your guests with a small potted plant with his or her name tag attached. It is a great way of personally valuing your guests' presence as well as creating awareness towards planting more trees to reduce the carbon footprint on earth. You can even handover a personal 'Thank You' note or simply send a 'Thank You' email after an event. It is bound to create a positive impact and help in building up a long-term relationship with customers.

Measure the Success of Your Events

It should be a mandatory task for every event organizer to measure the success or failure of an event. What did the guests like or dislike; the reason behind the same. Did your event receive adequate media coverage? How many new customers did you add to your list? All these should be carefully analyzed to rate the success of your event and improve upon the next one.

The Importance of Public Relations and Crisis Management Planning To Your Business

Are public relations and crisis management planning important to your business? The answer is simple and direct. Public relations and crisis management planning are not only important to your business, they are both CRUCIAL to your business, regardless of your type of business. In today's fast-paced and ever-changing world, business is news. Plant closings, mergers and acquisitions, unemployment, strikes, labor negotiations, company expansions, building projects, construction-related accidents and catastrophes are often the lead story on the front page or the six o'clock news. Yet many organizations are totally unprepared or at least ill-prepared to handle the public relations and crisis management aspects of these events. This unpreparedness can lead to many negative and undesirable results for you, your employees, your clients and customers, your company and your business and industry sector.

Many businesses always have been and always will be in a highly visible position to the general public and the media. For example, the building and construction industry is important to the economy, as well as the overall health, safety & welfare of the public. The media are very interested in the building and construction industry because of the potential "high interest" stories it can generate, both positive and negative. To succeed in today's business world, all businesses must learn to manage rapid change and crises and work diligently to develop strong public relations and crisis management plans.

A general public relations program is important to your business to: complement advertising; provide research capabilities for marketing efforts; provide capabilities for special events to increase company & industry visibility; monitor governmental organizations; to communicate the state-of-the-industry to the public, including views on legislation, regulations, economic conditions, and other factors and events impacting your business; and to communicate with past and existing clients. A crisis management plan, including public relations aspects, is absolutely essential to maintain a company's credibility and positive image in the face of adversity. The company's customers, employees, management, financial supporters, industry associates, the general public and the media need to feel that you are well organized and have the ability to handle a crisis in a very professional manner. Crises do not afford the luxury of time to pause and think thoroughly through the specific problem. Therefore, there is a need to be prepared for every type of emergency most likely to happen.I believe that many crises in business, just as in our daily lives, are often foreseeable. These crises can be managed and can provide unprecedented opportunities for positive public relations. A majority of businesses are reluctant to prepare for adversity because they do not want to admit that their business organization could ever be guilty of poor performance or mistakes.

A company which does not prepare for the possibility that some plan may not work or that conditions of business may change quickly - including changes beyond their control - will soon find itself unable to deal with a crisis and therefore will suffer severe negative effects on the business and its image to the public and its clients.

The most critical time for your business, when it comes to public relations, is when a catastrophe, scandal, or some other negative event occurs which involves your business or industry sector at large. Things can and do go wrong in the best managed companies and organizations. Therefore, by accepting this fact and anticipating certain crises, the potential damage from the crises may be minimized. Contingency planning for crises is not only a good management practice in any organization but, in my view, it is a mandatory practice for any business.

Many businesses today have high risk, high visibility, high impact on the public and our everyday lives, and high exposure to potential crises. Because of these characteristics, the potential damage from a crisis can be greatly multiplied. An unprepared, misinformed, or ill-at-ease company spokesperson; a disgruntled employee; and a victim of a tragedy at a building site have the potential of doing inestimable damage to your business or industry by their remarks to the media. Yet there are countless times when a company representative is thrust into the spotlight as an official "spokesperson" with little or no training in dealing with the media, especially in a crisis situation. In fact, when it comes to dealing with the media, most people would rather "be excused" from the task, because they are ill-prepared psychologically and professionally to deal with the media. In today's world, you must become prepared psychologically and professionally.

Conducting public relations activities without a plan would be the same as someone trying to build a quality building project without plans and specifications or a business trying to manage the growth of their business without any plans. Conducting crisis communications and public relations during emergencies without a plan and training could be about the same as committing suicide or at least "shooting yourself in the foot," because of the potential damage that could result to your company's image, business, employees, management, etc. and to the image and impact on your industry.

If you don't believe the potential damage that can result from what I have written above, think about the effect of poor public relations efforts during the TMI accident, NASA's Challenger tragedy, the EXXON Valdez oil spill event, or during the last major building site accident and the impact of the negative image on the companies and their industries. Or think about the effect of good public relations efforts during the Tylenol incident; during the odometer rollback incident at Chrysler; or during the last successful rescue at a construction site accident and the impact of the positive image on these companies and their industries.

It is time to truly recognize the importance of public relations and crisis management and their potential impact on your business. It is also time to do something about it! There is no better place to start than within your own organization and industry and professional associations by developing public relations plans, that include crisis management plans, and by training key employees on how to deal with the media. With the risks as high as they are in your business, don't leave public relations and crisis management to chance or to a "seat of the pants" approach. Make a commitment and start planning for your future public relations and crisis management efforts today. The futures of your company and to your industry are at risk. With a strong commitment to good public relations and crisis management planning, the results can be tremendous. Without a strong commitment, the results can be disastrous.

Charity Event Tips: Motivating People to Attend Charity Events

In a recent poll, in which charity event attendees were asked how they chose which charity events to attend, they ranked the following factors from most to least important: a personal connection to the charity or cause of an event, a friend on the event's organizational committee, a chance to network or have dating possibilities, and a celebrity sighting. So, here are a few tips to keep in mind when creating your advertising campaigns and trying to sell those event tickets!

First, try to search out new ways to reach people who are affected by your charity's work. In fact, make this one of your event planning board's top priorities. In the short term, it yields higher ticket sales. In the long term, it sows seeds for a stronger, more durable network. Then, be selective about choosing your event planning committee. It's not enough to have committee members with lots of contacts. The only effective committee members are the ones who are willing to reach out and actively campaign to have their contacts attend the function. Also, don't hesitate to sell this year's event using images from a previous event by posting them on event invitations or reminder emails. Choose images of people who are having the time of their life to appeal to the attendees looking for networking or dating possibilities. Finally, realize that unless a celebrity is "B-list" or higher, that there is no point in spending time and effort enticing them to attend the event, because it's the least influential factor in drawing a crowd.

Concentrate on the factors outlined above, target your marketing campaign and advertising budgets accordingly, and your event should be a great success! Remember that your constituency base grows slowly over time by incorporating marginal elements - for instance, friends of friends who attend your event two or three years in a row. Online ticketing and useful charity event calendars are tools that philanthropists seek to purchase tickets to charity events, too. Remember, using these strategies will help you plan for long term development rather than short term success.

Finding an Event Planning Agent for International Events

Staging an international event is not an easy job to fulfill. It covers lots of tasks to accomplish and challenges to overcome - from creative design and technical equipment to keynote speech as well as the logistic constraints. Therefore, if your company is planning to stage an international event, you and your team should underscore the importance of careful event planning. Your team might be good in executing local events but you have to realize that the level of challenge is higher when we talk of international events.

Finding an event planning agent...

Having an event planning agent(s) as part of your team can be a great help for the successful execution of your international event. Thus, it is necessary to carefully and intelligently choose the right agent that can be trusted to do some important tasks for your event. Because it is an international event - usually held overseas - there are certain qualifications you may need to include as you select an agent and these are the following:

• Multi-lingual skills - this is a very important consideration when hiring an agent as part of your international event planning team. It is of great advantage that an agent you hire knows both the local language (where your event is to be held) and your language. It should be understood that language barrier, when not addressed properly, is one problem that can ruin an international event, which can occur even during the planning stage.


• Has enough knowledge in local - an event planning agent greatly covers local-based tasks, which involve tasks like coordinating with local people (local culture), local staff, local participants, local logistics, event venue, media coordination, etc. The more your agent is familiar with the points stated above, the better.


• Certifications/License - an event planning agent who has the necessary certification is usually more qualified that the one who does not have. A certification obtained from a reputable giving body or institution (like a federal entity) suggests that such person has passed the necessary requirements to do the practice. In addition to that, you must also know about agent's experience in this profession - is he/she doing it for more than a decade? Or is he just new to the business?


• Freelance or company-employed event planning agent - you can opt-to hire a freelance agent or hire from an event planning company. What's the advantage of getting an agent from an event agency? First, there are lots of options to choose from; second, you are getting a company-scaled support rather than just a single individual.

6 Criteria to Be Followed When Selecting a Venue for Green Events

The impact of green wave has encouraged a growing number of event organizers to opt for ways that help them to reduce the carbon footprints and help the planet. Recently, it has been found that every 80 million people across the globe attend meetings, trade shows and exhibitions; therefore event organizers play a great role in contributing towards environmental sustainability. Informed decision making and implementation will not only help them to do their bit but will also leave a positive impact on the natural environment and the local community. However, the most challenging task in hosting a green event remains in effective venue selection. Read this article to know some of the criteria that you should look into while selecting a venue:

Checking For Environmental Certifications

You must first check whether the venue has an Environmental Management System along with an ISO 14000 certification or accreditation. Nowadays, there are many venues that come with a LEED certification. Such an official recognition is allotted when a particular venue has plumbing fixture efficiency, alternative transportation access, better recycling and ventilation rates, etc. These venues are the perfect choice for hosting your green events without even a second thought.

Looking For an Eco Procurement Policy

This kind of a policy for a venue gives preference to sourcing and purchasing of environmentally friendly products and services. When you are hosting a green event, it is important to take care of the menu that is to be served at your event. Organic foods should mostly be preferred when you are planning to go green. Also, ensure that the venue uses local produce as opposed to importing food products and ingredients internationally.

Keeping a Check on Energy Efficiency

You must also keep a check on the energy efficiency quotient. Your venue should have natural lighting facilities and ventilation. In case it doesn't, then it should be compensated by high energy efficient lights like CFL or LED. Usage of solar power is also an energy criterion to be kept in mind.

Impact on Emission Reduction

While selecting a venue it is necessary to consider its contribution towards carbon reduction. Ask the venue manager whether the venue has any renewable source of energy to offset carbon emissions. Along with that also check out the location so that delegates required to travel can lead to reduced carbon emissions in terms of the modes of transportation used.

Facilities for Waste Minimization

Look out for venues that support a recycling program. This helps in reprocessing various waste products like glass, paper, plastics, etc. Also check whether the venue has facilities for composting the food waste. This will help in reducing environmental burdens to a larger extent.

Impact on Social and Community Development

You organize a green event to put across a message to the mass. While selecting the venue you must also confirm whether it lives up to your goal. Make sure whether the venue supports any corporate social investment program or any developmental project to promote local development. This will help you to understand how your event can contribute to such a program.

These are some of the basic criteria which you can follow if you are planning to go green for your next event.

What An Event Professional Does For You

Many organizations end up turning to event professionals, often reluctantly, because they finally come to the somewhat obvious conclusion that their events need upgrading in at least certain aspects. They realize this because of indications such as dwindling attendance numbers, skyrocketing pricing, negotiation inefficiencies, lack of preparedness for the inevitable contingencies, onsite challenges, marketing and promotion errors, etc. At that point, many organizations who have attempted, some quite successfully in the past, to run these themselves in- house, decide to take the leap, and consult with professionals. It is important, however, for these groups to realize that all event planners and professionals are not equal, and often do much different things, have varying specialties, etc. Organizations must realize that there is far more to effective and professional event planning than simply being a glorified party planner.

1. A professional should make the entire process easier. He should be able to meet with the organization's event committee, and fact- find to discover exactly what the purpose of the event is. A true planner does not use a one size fits all system, but rather customizes his planning to the needs of the organization.

2. Before a planner begins, he must know and understand the group, its needs, requirements, and create an organizational flow sheet to assure all details are planned optimally.

3. One of the biggest challenges to many events potential success is the degree of thorough and professional negotiations. A truly professional event planner must be a superb negotiator, and have the ability to maximize the results of negotiations to the needs of an organization. He must have the ability, and be willing, to do necessary research and homework to create a win- win negotiations plan that achieves the best possible pricing while also maintaining perceived value, and thus enticing attendees.

4. The planner must be able to create a number of flow sheets, one used for marketing, one as an internal document, and one with assignments and timetable requirements. Planning must maintain the integrity of the event, while creating some sizzle to differentiate the event from the rest of the pack. I recommend that events be promoted on the basis of being value oriented and enticing.

5. The professional planner must be willing to offer an organization a no net cost guarantee. That means that regardless of the planner's fee and charges, the organization receives benefits, savings and verifiable advantages that far more than offset any expenses. If a planner is indeed professional, he should be more than willing to offer this guarantee. Doing this offers the group peace of mind, while proving that the event planner is confident in his skills and abilities.

6. Event planners must have predetermined and expert contingency or backup plans. The reality is that something generally does not go exactly as anticipated or planned, and often the difference between success and failure is contingency planning.

7. An event planner must create a marketing plan, and have the group organizers agree to it, in advance. This plan must rely on numerous ways to market an event, and not to over- depend on one form or medium. Too many organizations today have come to over- rely on digital or electronic marketing, and that over- reliance often has detrimental impacts on the marketing efforts.

8. A true event planner should be available on- site when the event takes place, to assure that everything runs smoothly, and that everything agreed upon is in fact received.

There are quality event planners out there, but an organization should use the above needs as a preliminary guideline to assure it receives what it needs. Some groups do not need all these services, while others need even more. Make sure that the event planner listens carefully to both your needs and the organization's heritage, before it offers you a recommendation. True event planning must always be customized.

Make Your Christmas Party a Team Building Opportunity

With Christmas being only a few weeks away, there's still time to plan an "out of the box" Christmas get-together for your colleagues at work. Why not use this platform as an opportunity to create greater understanding between various teams and departments? Float the idea to your Management; they will surely go along with it. As an incentive, make the occasion a paid affair so that the Management does not really get an opportunity to complain about the budget and its related expenditures.

However, with only a few weeks away supervising the entire process of which employees will be interested in going along with collecting the funds manually is going to be a nightmare. Hence, move on to the 21st century and take a look at what technology based solutions do you have at your disposal. With a little bit of research and digging in, choose the solution that will best suit your purpose; maybe a software that is available for a free download. Avail of a Cloud-based, online event management solution and all your back-end operations will be taken care of.

Use the platform to progress to an online event registration service. Design a short form along with an e-mailer to float the ideas that you have for the holiday party. A fishing expedition, a go-karting event or even paintball are fantastic team building activities and works out as innovative holiday party experiences. Most of these event management solutions have pre-built marketing and productivity tools. Hence; the emailing tool is once such feature that comes free of cost, when you download this software. Get your employees to vote on which idea they like best; make the vote valid if the employee does it through submitting the form link sent by you. This automatically captures their basic information that you store the system's centralized database.

Select the idea that receives the majority votes and send out a "Save the Date" email to everyone who's shown an interest to participate. Proceed on to collecting the required funds to make this experience a reality. The Cloud-based, event registration system comes embedded with an online payment management interface. It is certainly a much more streamlined way to go about this exercise where there is no need to deal with hard cash. Employees will have access to a consistent platform through which they can proceed on to making their payments via number of modes available like credit cards, wire transfers or even use PayPal. The payment platform has the highest level of security in place; it is PCI compliant and SSL certified. Therefore, employees in your organization have nothing to worry about with regards to their personal and financial details being divulged to any third party agencies.

With all the back-end operations under control through expert supervision, ensure that you have made the required bookings with the agency for the Christmas holiday party. Work with your immediate team on the menu you think will fit best with the day's team building activities, keeping the Christmas spirit alive. Post event, remember to run a survey; this productivity tool again is available with the online event management solution, free of charge. Gather the feedback and make sure that you filter it town to the relevant organizing teams and have them incorporate relevant changes for future parties of this nature.

Balloon Decorating Ideas For Corporate Events

Corporate events and other special occasions using branded balloons and themed props have become a big part of successful parties. Balloons and event props are products that can be effectively used for enhancing the atmosphere of a party. Arranging the balloons in an appealing manner is an art in itself, which is best done by professional balloon decorators. Some of the balloon decorating ideas that we mention here, will go a long way in helping you to attain the wow factor at your next event or wedding reception.

On a special occasion, event decoration can include printed balloons (ideal for corporate branding) filled with helium gas - ideal for advertising your logo at an event. You can also use the balloon decorating idea of flying a helium filled blimp or blimps on the top of your building so that visitors can locate your premises even from a distance. One of the best advantages of using helium balloon is that they will remain in their original shape for a longer period of time. They can also fly high for a long time unperturbed by strong winds and hot sun.

Another important balloon decorating idea that you can follow is to produce the balloons in bunches or clusters so that they will make a very table center or floor cluster arrangement. Exploding balloons, used at themed events can make a very exciting party, but you will need to have balloon decorations in Surrey or London installed by professionals. It will be an excellent idea if you tie the colored ribbons or strings on to the balloons, which will make it more attractive for the event or wedding.

The best option to find out more balloon decorating ideas is to do a browse in the search engines, where you can achieve lot of brilliant ideas for decorating your marquee or hotel suite with balloons and / balloon drops or themed decorations. There are lot of companies that offer balloon decorating services and event products and it is easy to find them in your locality by doing a search on the Internet. The professional balloon decorators or balloon suppliers will be having a lot of unique balloon event decorating ideas which can easily transform any themed events, Christmas or New years Eve party.

Things to Look For When Reading Event Management Tips

Not all event management tips found online are useful, although the search results often displayed may seem to be exactly what you're looking for. You'll frequently find results with intuitive titles such as "best event management tips" or something similar. You follow the link, skim through then read the whole article only to find that it hasn't helped much at all. Back in the results page, you follow another link, and the same thing happens again.

Before you waste your time on the nth search result, consider the following qualities that event management tips should or should not have. These characteristics are fairly easy to spot even when just browsing through.

. Unrealistic Content. Keep in mind that managing an event is not something you learn overnight. So, if you find event managing tips that promise to turn you into an expert, chances are they won't be of much practical help. Also, look for overly optimistic guarantees like "surefire success" and similar claims.

. The Right Knowledge. Different events call for different organizational techniques. If you come across these type of tips that claim to be "all-purpose," stop right then and there. You can't use the same methods for planning a social event that you would for a corporate event.

. Specific Details. Event management tips that are too general are useful for inspirational purposes only not for practical intent. How deeply do the tips delve into details? Can the details be translated into a specific course of action? For instance, good event managing tips discuss criteria for properly setting up tasks and timetables which can then be interpreted into workable, specific plans.

. Completeness. Event management tips should also include insights on execution and feedback. Remember that management is a process that extends beyond planning and organizing. Tips should also revolve around things like monitoring and control.

. Emphasis on Consulting Experts. Good event managing tips do not leave out the possibility of seeking the advice or guidance of qualified event handlers. Event planning is a science in its own right, and there are people and firms who specialize in the field.

All in all, the above is not a list of strict procedures, but simple common sense made plain. You can usually get these types of tips for free; that is why there's a catch. The important part is that you know what it is before diving in. Be wary because not all you see online can be of help to you.

How to Use Record Keeping As a Marketing Tool for Events?

Marketing an event well is as important as to create and manage it properly. If you cannot create awareness and spread the word out about your event, then be prepared to face lesser turnout at your event, despite the hard endeavors you have put in.

Event marketers are trying hard to come out with new ways to uphold their events. There are numerous ways to promote and create the buzz for your event, but do you know that record keeping can also help in intensifying your marketing endeavors. Proper record keeping is integral part of a successful event, and the captured information is vital to analyze the event's success and also as an effective marketing tool. Some tips are discussed below to help in effective record-keeping:

Tracking the Ticket Sales

There are numerous software available in the market that can track who the ticket was sold to, how they came to know about the event, payment method, and their feedback. Recording and reporting all these vital information would enrich the attendee data.

Using Every Sales Point to Market Your Event

Every Sales point, like the event ticketing website, can be used as an effective platform for marketing and feedback purpose. Engage your audience by asking interesting questions which would also ensure flow of valuable data. This would help to widen the reach and tailor the current and future events.

Marketing Right Through and After the Event

During the event, organizers or volunteers can walk through the crowd and engage in conversation about the event, their preferences and more. This research would be vital to know the overall outcome and also help in future planning. You should also follow-up with the ticket holder after the event and engage him for feedback, or even offer him a surprise gift. This would help in positive feedback about the event.

Valuable Financial Records

Records such as attendee numbers, sales report, payment, vendor payments, and media mentions act as a vital tool for developing an event, and are also used to shape future events, as well as getting future funds. Every person who is planning to attend, or attends an event is important. Any opportunity to engage in conversation should not be missed.

Record keeping is important in capturing valuable data for analysis of event health and future planning. Modern productivity tools and calendaring features takes off the load of manual data entry and record keeping.

How a Private Investigator Can Help Your Business

As an entrepreneur, you may already be aware of how valuable researchers are to the success of your enterprise. Some forecast market prices, whereas others conduct audits and customer surveys. The private investigator is one such researcher, except his specialty is to gather information of a suspicious nature. Because of this unique expertise, the typical P.I. is usually out in the field, yet behind the scenes, performing duties for clients of all walks of life. This gives his profession certain advantages with regard to your business and, therefore, should not be overlooked:

• Background Checks


• Asset Retrieval


• Counter Investigations


• Information Security

Background Checks

Although it is not common practice, many companies employ private investigators to discover details of their applicants that human-resource departments generally miss. This is especially the case when it comes to high-priority positions, such as management and supervisory roles, where decisions could affect a company's long-term goals. Aside from criminal histories, a P.I could also document personal relationships, habits and local reputations, all of which may be pertinent to each job's requirements.

Asset Retrieval

Every year, businesses lose billions of dollars worth of assets to theft, most of which is internal. In cooperation with law enforcement authorities, however, private investigators can help return stolen property to organizations and minimize costs. Moreover, their investigations can yield insights that could strengthen a firm's security and integrity.

Counter Investigations

Deceptive lawsuits and disability-insurance fraud can sometimes threaten to take a piece of one's financial success without any provocation. In situations like these, it often helps to consult the services of private investigators skilled in covert surveillance and trace-evidence analysis. Afterwards, their involvement can help dismiss groundless compensation claims and false allegations.

Information Security

Because they are experts in information gathering, private investigators have much to offer when it comes to securing trade secrets. In addition to data recovery, many are also experienced in communication encryption and codification. Others can even debug conference rooms and offices to prevent unwanted eavesdropping.

Conclusion

Like many researchers, the private investigator fills a small but important niche that helps businesses succeed in the marketplace. Taking advantage of their skills to screen out applicants, incriminate wrongdoers and minimize harm is clearly a strategy worth considering for your firm's longterm success. After all, every enterprise is bound to experience issues of crime and security at one point or another, which is why a P.I. is never too far to be found.

How to Start an Event Planning Business

Through the communication benefits, networking opportunities, and educational components of regular corporate events and conventions, it becomes quite evident that businesses and organizations rely on their regular events. Hosting and attending meetings and conventions is ingrained in our culture. It's just the way we do things.

So, how can you benefit from this as an event planner?

It's very evident that a great deal of organized planning must go into each and every event-no matter if it's large or even just a gathering of a few. The opportunity today is prime for those thinking about starting their own event planning businesses.

Consider the facts for a minute:

• Even in today's constricted economy, businesses and other organizations are still holding just as many meetings and conventions. The scale might be slightly toned-down, but the events are still taking place.

• So many conventions, dinners, banquets, and other events revolve around profits. There should be little surprise in the fact that businesses continue to host events of all scale for this very reason. Conventions make them money, hosting that dinner for clients increases customer loyalty-regardless of the concept, so often it's a profitable arrangement for those holding the event. They want to get it right and need someone to make it happen without a hitch!

• As so many corporations and organizations have downsized their roster of employees-and very often those in charge of organizing and planning events-they are now obliged to outsource their event planning needs.

• If you happen to be a recent victim of the layoffs or downsizing mentioned above, it's definitely worth considering all of the options available to you now. Things might seem discouraging at the present moment, but for those thinking about starting a small business-like an event planning business, for example-the time is actually pretty good to do so. After all, some of the most successful businesses of recent times have been launched during economic downturns.

How do you actually start an event planning business?

If you're the go-getter type-someone who is organized with great people skills-then launching a new event planning career could very well be right up your alley. The other really bright side of the road here is that there are practically no start up costs involved with starting an event planning business. As long as you have a phone, computer, transportation, and plenty of ambitious spirit, the barriers to entry are slim to none.

Where to begin? First and foremost, you'll need to learn the ropes about starting a business in your unique locality. Spend a weekend at the local library or bookstore doing a little background research on the requirements. Order some basic business cards online. Pick up an accounting ledger from your local office supply store. Just remember, keep it simple; it definitely doesn't have to be complicated.

There's no need to spend a fortune on fancy business software or make any other high ticket business expenditures right away. This is because the more time and energy you spend on actually making the phone calls, following up with leads, and actually making sales for your new event planning service, the less need you'll find for all of the extra stuff that just eats up your budget and time.

All you really need to drive a successful event planning business right now is yourself and the bare essentials. The extras (like expensive event planning software) can definitely come later after you've landed a few deals and covered a few inaugural events. You'll certainly appreciate having waited until you've had the opportunity to hash out exactly what you'll need.

Speaking of clients-what better place to start your business development than with your previous or existing colleagues and clients. If the time is right to do so, then by all means, get the good work out there that you are an event planning expert and that you are in business. Make some phone calls and spread the word. Your existing professional friends and contacts will likely be the catalyst that helps you drive your first few event planning gigs. And from there, it only gets easier.

What types of events should you specialize in?

The scope of events you can specialize in is practically unlimited. There's no need to stick exclusively with professional event opportunities. For example, these are all different occasions that could benefit from your event planning expertise:

• Birthday Parties
• Weddings
• Rehearsals
• Educational Conferences
• Civic Events
• Reunions
• Anniversary Celebrations
• Trade Shows
• Retirement Parties
• Political Rallies
• Dinners
• Social Mixers
• Theme Parties
• Fundraising Events
• The sky is the limit!

In today's overstressed world, for so many, the thought of trying to put together, plan, and host that next big event that's coming up is simply more than they can possibly take on right now. Fortunately, the help is out there-it's you! Starting an event planning business might just be your opportunity of a lifetime.

Customized Company T-Shirts For Your Corporate Events

Consultants who have studied businesses and corporations all have the same opinion - the better a company understands teamwork, the stronger that company will be. Having a sense of community is important to the growth, prosperity, and functionality of a company.

The core of "community" is "unity", and what better way to provide that sense of unity than to have symbols of that unity displayed by every employee? This is why company shirts for corporate events can be such an important part of corporate success.

Allowing your employees to wear the corporate logo on their apparel is a great way for them to show company pride. Coats and hats are good, other carryalls like luggage and key fobs are good too, but when it comes to standing out in a crowd, or showing a presence at a function or facility, nothing beats that huge sea of color that having all your employees' wearing the same shirt can provide. You are not only promoting a sense of unity to your employees, you are also showing that unity and solidarity to your clients and competitors.

With the economic situation that we are faced with today, finding inexpensive ways to promote unity and solidarity are challenging. Customized t-shirts are a very inexpensive way to promote that sense of community. Events planned on a tight budget are still capable of sharing success and making a truly memorable event. And as inexpensive as t-shirts are, any event can become an excuse to add to the employee's wardrobe with a corporate logo emblazoned on a t-shirt.

An added advantage of having a permanent memento of an even is that they can be useful long after the event has ended. Not only do they add to that sense of corporate unity during the event, but they are reminders of that unity and atmosphere long after the event has taken place. Memories are tied into that simple shirt whether the shirt is discovered in a drawer or hanging in a closet months after the event.

And let's not forget the benefits of the walk-around advertising those shirts provide. Employee's wearing these shirts outside of work are a great way to get the corporate name out there in the community. It also allows the employee to show their sense of pride in their job. T-shirts purchased for corporate events today will still be bringing in sales and inquiries next year and the year after.

So, why not add a few extra dollars to an event budget for t-shirts? Or move dollars ear-marked for entertainment or decorations and allow those dollars to become decorations for your employees and the entertainment of the distribution take the place of some other form? It is a great investment in your corporate community as well as an investment in the companies future. A very inexpensive investment that will reap rewards for years.

The Top 5 Advantages of Corporate Team Building Events For Your Organization

Corporations and businesses alike work in much the same fashion as sports teams. Every piece to the whole, every team member, every employee contributes his/her piece to the overall product or objective. Without a well-connected employee base that works in harmony with the overall goal of the corporation, the mission will be lost and success minimized far below the company's potential. This is why so many of the most successful, profit-yielding businesses and corporations take part in corporate team building seminars, retreats, and events.

These corporate team building events engage all of your employees in hands-on games, exercises, and problem-solving tasks that draw upon the strengths of your employees' talents, intellect, and experience as a whole. They help your employees learn how to depend upon and communicate with each other to maximize the efficiency, enthusiasm, and overall productivity of your company and its long and short term goals. More specifically, what does your company or organization, in particular, seek to gain by engaging in a corporate team building event? We offer the top five advantages below:

1. Employee Morale - By deciding to sign your employees up for the right corporate-building event, you will boost employee morale. Including them in an organized event to help them connect will make them feel appreciated and enthusiastic about not only the corporate event but also the short and long term goals of the company.

2. Productivity - Most corporate team building programs focus on every business owner's main concern- increased productivity. Everyone knows the shortest, albeit seemingly impossible, route to corporate profit is a creating a boost in productivity. Corporate team building events focus on achieving this boost through symbolic problem-solving exercises centered on team-oriented strategy and action.

3. Employee Vision - Though closely connected to affecting employee morale, corporate team building events can also open your employees' minds to a clearer idea of your company's short and long term goals. By inviting them to work towards a symbolic end through team games, you are also altering their vision of what they can achieve for your company. This, in turn, will inspire them to work harder and introduce more positive action and contribution to your company.

4. Organized Training - Corporate team building programs are also integral for training your employees how you want them to be trained. By engaging in regular events such as these, your employees will be organized by training to your company's objectives, and will be therefore more adaptable to your way of thinking and acting positively.

5. Employee Connectedness - By introducing your staff to corporate team building programs and events, you are also inviting them to get to know one another better, and break down stereotypes and perceptions they may have about each other. These retreats help your employees learn to trust and depend on one another for a common goal, and this helps them feel more connected. Feeling more connected to one another- as part of a corporate family- will help them break down communication barriers that would have previously held them back from collaborating together at work.

Reflexology Event Checklist

For Conferences, Corporate Events and Health Fairs

When building a reflexology practice, events are a great way to hone your skills and build your client base.

Offer your wonderful reflexology skills at a Conference, a Corporate Event or a Health Fair.

There are plenty of people at the event who will want your service, but you'll be wasting time if you don't plan ahead.

Early in my career, I did lots of these events, and I still have a handful of clients who have come to see me ever since.

It took me a lot of trial and error before I came up with the checklist I'm going to share with you here. If you forget any of these items, you do so at your own peril.

I gathered all the materials I needed and kept them in a "kit" by my door.

When the phone would ring, I'd just need to know the time and location. And, then when I was about to leave for the event, I'd grab my case knowing that I hadn't forgotten anything.

First, you need to talk to the event organizers to find out what they want you to do, whether it's: 10 minute, 15 minute or 30 minute (etc.) sessions. Find out how long you'll be working that day and then divide the session minutes by the length of the day and that's the maximum number of sessions you can do.

Rest up the night before, it might be a long day.

Here's my fail-safe "event check list":

1. Fill a small pump bottle with your favorite lotion - no need to take the jumbo size - unless you're working on a small army.

2. Take a set of rubber or latex gloves - the kind you can get at the drugstore - and put as many pairs as you think you'll have sessions. You'll need the gloves if there's no hand washing facilities nearby. There will always be a bathroom, but sometimes it's so far away, you won't have time for a hand washing break between each guest.

3. Have hand sanitizer in your pack. There are times when you'll want to use it, so have a small bottle ready.

4. Bring your business cards! Oh, how many times did I go without them? Too many. And, I would kick myself all the way home. You can print your own with on "Avery Business Card" paper (you can buy at any office supply store like Staples). Or, you can go to vistaprint.com and get 250 business cards for free. Just make sure you order these at least a week in advance... rush orders costly.

5. Have a sign in sheet. This is maybe the most important thing you pack! You want people to sign in so that, with permission, you can contact them. How do you get permission? Ask them. Tell them to call you if they have any questions or tell them "I'll give you a call or send you a card with some reflexology follow up information... if that's okay?"

6. Have some tissues and/or paper towels handy. You never know when you'll need to clean up a lotion spill, or remove some "sock bunnies" from the toes, or blow your nose. You might even offer a tissue to your client if your fabulous "sinus magic" techniques produce the desired effects.

7. Have a pillow-board or a small "boogie-board" (the small version of the kind of foam board you use for floating in the swimming pool). You'll need something to put over your knees - to support the feet - unless you want to lug a big table or chair there and back.

8. Carry a clip board and some pens. Make it easy for them to give you their contact information or for you to gather notes for your memoirs.

9. Have your schedule ready for additional sessions. It's always easier to book the next session at the end of the last one, rather than wait for a call. (And remember, now's the time to tell them what your cancellation policy is).

10. Don't forget to bring some gift certificates. One year I did more business with gift certificates than with follow-ups. Mention the next significant holiday...

Reflexology at Conferences and Events opens doors of opportunity, helps you get more publicity and don't forget to bring gift certificates for people to buy for the holidays - the perfect client gift. Not to mention that you'll be bringing reflexology and holistic health further into the world.

Wendy Coad 2008.

Creating a LinkedIn Group for Effective Event Management

Many organisations are looking for alternative, cost effective ways to market their events. This is why so many have been quick to latch onto social media. Sites like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn are all free to use and have great scope in terms of reaching a wide network of people.

LinkedIn is becoming especially popular for businesses. Founded in 2003, it is a business orientated social networking site. Mainly used for professional networking, it has more than 60 million registered users across more than 200 countries worldwide.

With over 4 million users in the UK, events companies are beginning to understand the benefits it can bring to their event marketing. As well as networking with colleagues and peers, LinkedIn also allows members the opportunity to create and manage groups focused on a wide range of subjects. Many of these groups have hundreds of thousands of members and alone can rival many niche social networks outside of LinkedIn in terms of their size and activity. These groups can offer fantastic networking opportunities for members - who gain access to resources and information that can help their careers.

This article discusses how to create, manage and promote a LinkedIn group with the aim of building up a strong network - in which you can discuss key industry topics, learn from peers and promote your events.

Creating a LinkedIn Group

It's easy to create a LinkedIn Group. Simply go to 'Groups' then 'Create a Group'. You need to think carefully about what to name your group. Consider the keywords your target members will search for. It's most likely that people will join a group when it's based around an industry, so it's best to not name it after your company.

You'll also need to design a logo - this is quite a small logo (100x50 pixels) so don't try and add too much text to it. Keep it clean and simple, yet eye catching. Then add a short description that effectively tells LinkedIn members what your group focuses on and who it is for. Ensure that the box is ticked that says "Allow group members to display the logo on their profiles. Also, send my connections a Network Update that I have created this group. " This will give your group increased visibility within LinkedIn and will help to generate new members.

Promoting a LinkedIn Group

When you first create your group, you'll need to add some members - afterall, who wants to join a group with no members! So invite colleagues (past and present) and existing customers to join, and encourage them to start discussions.

Once you've started to build up a small membership base, promote the group on your website, email newsletter, blog and other social media networks. Make sure you're promoting your blog wherever possible and that people know how they can join. If you're already on Twitter and Facebook, consider creating new accounts to match your LinkedIn group. This enables members to network across all major social media platforms, yet all providing the same messaging, content and industry focus.

If you've got industry leaders attending or speaking at an event, ask them to join and engage with the community. They can start up threads based around agenda topics that can be discussed in the lead up to an event. They can also promote an event by explaining in more detail what their involvement is.

Remember to promote your LinkedIn group at your events - print details of the group on literature, ask speakers to mention it in their presentations and mention it when you're networking with delegates.

Managing a LinkedIn Group

You'll need to manage your group quite closely in order to maximise the benefits to both you and your Group members. Content must be provided on an ongoing basis in the form of discussions, news, events and jobs. The more opportunities for interaction you add to your group, the more value your members will gain from it.

It can often be the case that important information can get lost in a large discussion thread. As a way to overcome this, as a group manager you can use the 'featured discussions' feature. This highlights particular content, offers or events and will ensure that this thread is pinned at the top of the discussion board for as long as you want. This is a great way to promote your events - by opening a new thread giving information about the event and then making it a featured discussion, all your members will see it each time they log into the group

An additional way to promote particular information (such as key events) is to send announcements. Announcements are emails sent by you through LinkedIn to your group members. Because the emails are coming via LinkedIn they come with an increased deliverability rate as recipients and their ISPs are more likely to recognise and trust the LinkedIn name. Announcements will also get added as a discussion thread in your group, and again, as a group manager you have the option to pin this as a featured discussion to gain extra visibility.

As a way of integrating your other social channels, you can import your blog RSS feed and have your blog posts automatically feed into your group News section. If your blog is relevant to your group this can be a great way of providing additional content to the group as well as promoting your own site and your own events.?

LinkedIn groups can be extremely effective at generating a focused, engaged network of members. Once your group is established you can use it to promote events and offers; however this must be done without looking spammy. Members will not appreciate being marketed at constantly - the goal is to create a vibrant community, with a wide range of discussions based on the industry/topic in question. Promoting events and offers of your own events, as well as from other members is something that can have great dividends - but it must be handled tactfully.

The internet and technology is opening up all kinds of opportunities for event managers to market their events in a cost effective way. Tools like LinkedIn and other social media platforms, websites and email marketing are all part of a modern event manager's marketing plan. These marketing methods, when used in conjunction with a comprehensive event management solution can make event managers even more efficient. Sophisticated event management solutions include email marketing tools as well as website and social media integration and the ability to take online bookings and payment. They can help to increase delegate attendance and satisfaction as well as reducing costs and increasing event ROI (return on investment).

Benefits of Hiring an Event Coordinator

As businessmen you need to manage your business and plan events from time to time. You can't always take out time from your busy schedules and plan events at the same time. You can always hire an event coordinator to get the job done as and when required. These coordinators are skilled and execute corporate events to get optimal results. Instead of using one of your employees and adding to their workload you can simply hire an event coordinator and save a lot of amount on your investments as they charge fees according to your budget and requirement.

Event management companies are widely known for their services when it comes to corporate events. Corporate events should be planned and executed to look professional so that it creates a positive impact on the guest. These event coordinators plan and organize the event and also take up the job of sending invites to all the people mentioned in the guest list given by the clients. Corporate events include lunch, dinner, product launches, seminars etc.

They events are organized to suit the business purposes of the respective clients. If you are planning to organize a corporate event in San Francisco there are several coordinators whose services you can avail. Planning corporate events in San Francisco has never been easier.

Production companies don't only plan the event but they also ensure that the event is executed successfully. Once they are given all the necessary information by the client they do the job of planning the event without bothering the client. This way the client can relax and prepare themselves for the big day. Care should be taken while choosing an event production company so that the end results are satisfactory. They are just a phone call away and now you can check the different websites on the internet and hire an event coordinator by reading the different customer reviews posted on the websites.

The event production team is expertly trained to provide quality services to the clients and satisfying the client to the fullest is their main aim. They reduce the stress of the clients by doing exactly what they are asked to do and make the event a success. They have a professional approach towards the corporate events and make it as look as attractive as possible. Planning a corporate event yourself will not help you save but will in turn add to your expenses if anything goes wrong, so it is always better to hire a professional event coordinator. if you are looking for production companies in the Bay Area online, all you need to do is type the keyword and the results will be displayed.

A Corporate Video Guide - 5 Points To Hiring The Right Video Production Company

So your company has a video project that they'd like to see produced. Maybe it's web video content, possibly it's an internal video for sales training, or you want to capture an upcoming corporate event.

What's the best way to go about finding a reputable video production company to contract? Secondly...what should you be looking for?

Here are 5 pointers.

1. Naturally the easiest way to search for a video production company is to Google keywords relevant to your region and then add video production or videographer, post-production. Targeting your specific area of production is a good idea as well. You can include marketing or corporate video, or web video if that pertains to your needs. Another idea...don't forget about YouTube. YouTube is the 2nd largest search engine in the world and you'll be sure to find several video production companies in your area on YouTube simply by typing in the appropriate keywords in your search.

2. Make sure their experience is aligned with your project. Today there's a lot of video production companies in the communication business. Most companies target a specialty area they're comfortable with and build their experience in that niche. Never assume that just because a group is experienced in video production that they can automatically handle your project. For instance there are some companies that specialize in event videography...they make beautiful wedding videos. Do you want to hire them to produce your marketing video? No. That may seem like a no brainer...but there are horror stories out there where an organization made a poor choice and as a result they suffered from the experience. Narrow your choices down to 2 or 3 companies whose focus meets the type of work you need produced.

3. After you've determined the companies that match up with your needs, review their work. Every video production company should have video projects that you can view on their website. Analyze their strengths...what do you like about their work? Make a list and interview the companies. Ask who will be your point person for this project. Ask to talk to their clients.

4. Provide a scope of work for the companies you've narrowed your list down to. Ask for a budget. At this point the knowledgeable companies will emerge. They'll begin to ask pointed questions about the objective of your video, the target audience, the distribution of the video and your expectations. If they don't that should raise a flag.

5. When you're received the bids ask yourself who you feel most comfortable with. Who do you have the most trust in? Often times companies that promise too much or don't ask enough questions won't be able to deliver. Something else to consider are people skills. Naturally quality of work is important, but who communicated the best? Who do you feel most comfortable with especially if they're working on a project where senior management or the owner of the company is involved. Quality is important but so is integrity and reliability.

Follow these 5 key points and always trust your instincts. Producing a good video takes patience, creativity and good judgement. Best of luck!

The Advantages of Event Hire Companies

We always have different occasions to celebrate in life. In addition, for that we want to entertain our friends and spend some joyous moments with them. Birthdays, baptisms, weddings, anniversaries, graduations are few such events where the joys multiply manifold as all our near and dear ones wish us good luck in life. However, to organize such an event, like a party or a ceremony is often not possible when there are not enough people to take charge of the various aspects. In addition, this is where an Event Hire company comes in. They provide you with all the solutions and all the accessories to host a perfect event. Your friends leave praising you and you have all the wonderful memories to cherish.

Why should you call in an Event Hire Company?

It takes care of all the aspects regarding hosting a party. All you have to do is to notify them about the venue, the date and time when you want your party to be held. If you want it to be grand affair, then it would also be wise of you to inform them well in advance so that they can make all the preparations to the fullest. However, a good company will provide you with excellent service even at a short notice.

Moreover, as regarding the venue, they can also suggest you some good places as they are intricately connected to the party business and will obviously know about some very special venues, about which you may not have heard.

Once the date and time has been decided and the approximate number of guests to be catered for informed, the company will take care of all the details - starting from the marquee, lighting, decoration, cutlery, seating arrangements, food menu and the catering, wine and other welcoming refreshments, and any other thing connected to the party.

In fact, some of the event hire companies also work with collaboration of catering companies that serve excellent food, so you do not have to worry about it at all.

Moreover, they also have special budget packages, so if you think that you cannot spend much, they will still manage for you to have a proper party. This is of course a great incentive even for small families.

Often, most people do not even host parties just out of the fear of organizing them, and if you are one from that group, you know that how this type of company will be able to help you out. Therefore, the next time you are planning to host a party, leave all the worries to the Event Hire Company and sit back and enjoy!

Certified Meeting Planner

A Certified Meeting Planner (CMP) is also a Certified Meeting Professional CMP. The certification is offered by the Convention Industry Council. It is not easy to become a Certified Meeting Planner as the certification demands education as well as experience. The Certified Meeting Planner certification is the most prestigious certification of the meetings, conferences, symposiums and expositions industry. The certificate is awarded to only those people who have accomplished the highest level of proficiency in meeting planning. The Convention Industry Council launched the Certified Meeting Planner program in 1985.

What It Takes

As has been mentioned earlier, it is not easy to become a Certified Conference Planner. Every aspirant for the certificate has to be a high-performer and very knowledgeable not only about the meeting planning process but also about corporate matters in general. They also have to be eager to understand the nuances and the art and science of meeting planning and management and enthusiastic about upgrading their existing knowledge of meeting planning. Aspirants also have to be aware of best practices and ethics in the business of meeting management and must show keenness to devise newer methods for better meeting coordination and management. The aim of the Certified Meeting Professional Certification is to enable the Certified Meeting Planner to add value to the meeting-management process, to take strategic decisions, to act ethically, and to add a new stimulus to the meeting process.

The Certified Event Planner program or the certified event planner course encourages participants to continue with their education or jobs, augment their contribution to the industry, and achieve credit and recognition for their contribution across industries. The Certified Event or Meeting Planner credential is awarded on the basis of experience in industry and a tough written examination. Selection procedures are pretty rigorous. Presently, there are about 15,000 people placed in over 30 countries who have attained the Certified Meeting Planner certificate.

Essential Criteria for Becoming a Certified Conference Planner

A bachelor's degree is not compulsory for the certificate but it obviously improves your chances of becoming a Certified Meeting Planner apart from increasing your demand in the job market. Aspirants must have at least three years of experience at the industrial level. All candidates are screened by the Convention Industry Council before they are allowed to sit for the examination. Candidates must score a minimum of 90 out of 150 points to be eligible to sit for the examination. The points are awarded to the candidates according to how they fare in the following categories:

Management Responsibility has a maximum of 50 points allotted to it
Experience in Meeting Planning has a maximum of 35 points allotted to it
Professional Contribution towards Meeting Planning has a maximum of 30 points allotted to it
Education and Continuing Education has a maximum of 25 points allotted to it
Professional Association/Organization Memberships has a maximum of 10 points allotted to it

Management Responsibility and Experience in Meeting Planning have been given more weightage than Professional Contribution towards Meeting Planning, Education and Continuing Education and Professional Association/Organization Memberships because it is felt that these two aspects are the real indicators of whether or not a person is a capable meeting planner.

The examination for Certified conference planners or certified event planners is conducted twice a year by the Convention Industry Council. Conference planners who are keen to work with the government and keen to become Certified Government Meeting Planners should take the Certified Government Meeting Professional examinations that are conducted by the Society of Government Meeting Professionals.

Benefits of the Certification

A Certified Meeting Planner obviously enjoys several advantages. The Certified Meeting or Conference Planner certification brands the holder of the certificate as a professional with a lot of experience and who has displayed unique skills and who possesses a vast amount of knowledge. The certification testifies to the efficiency and authenticity of the holder. Consequently, the career prospects of a Certified Meeting or Event Planner are much better and brighter than those of ordinary meeting planners. Certified Meeting Planners have more scope to demonstrate their expertise in large symposiums and conferences as they have acquired the certified meeting planner training.

A Certified Meeting Planner is instantaneously recognized by other Certified Meeting or Conference Planners who belong to an association of certified planners and who are all dedicated to the progress of the meeting planning process. A Certified Meeting Planner can obviously charge more than ordinary meeting planners and event managers for his or her services. As the certification stands for a high degree of professionalism, business intelligence and skill, a Certified Meeting Planner is stamped throughout his or her life as an extremely goal-oriented professional.

7 Ways To Ensure Your Events Go As Planned!

1) Visualizing

You must learn to visualize exactly how your whole event will turn out. Spend some quiet time before you start planning for your next event to sketch the picture in your mind and picture it as a successful event.

Visualising is a powerful tool. It is difficult to create something before you can picture it in your head. Before anything is built, it is first a thought. So have that successful event in your mind first. Now, let's get on with the details...

2) Have A Programme Schedule

This is important so that you and everyone involved knows what is going to happen minute by minute of the event. The flow of the programme is determined by no one but you, so create a schedule to plan out the start of the event to the end. This will give you an idea of how much time to allocate for each item on the programme. How long should the CEO's welcome speech be, when and how long will the timing be for tea breaks and other meals. How long should you allocate for each exercise or games that you want your participants or guests to take part in.

3) Have An Event Task Force With Their Job Scope Spelt Out On Paper

Depending on the size of your event, you must know who and what support you need to make the event happen. If it is a 1000 pax 3-day conference involving 7 to 10 speakers per day, you may need a team to handle registration for delegates, usherer, a team to take care of the audio visuals, speakers liaison officers and media liaison officers and so on.

Know what their exact job responsibilities are and write it down. As the event planner or project manager, you must work with all of them and ensure that everyone knows what needs to be done and when to do them. Get it down on paper, allocate responsibilities and assign a team leader if need be.

4) Banquet Instructions To The Banquet Staff/Venue Manager

If you are organizing your event in a hotel or convention venue, you will be working with someone from the banquet department. No matter how many meetings and prior discussion you have with them, it is not enough just to instruct them verbally. They must be given clear instructions on how you want everything to be set up in writing. From the wordings on the signages and seating arrangements, what food to be served, where the banquet will be, stage and registration set up - you must write down a list of instructions to the banquet staff and venue manager.

5) Run Through Everything That You Planned The Day Before With Everyone Involved

This may sound like common sense but not everyone practice this. You must have a mini-rehearsal or at least an event briefing before the event starts. Go through the event schedule, event task force list, banquet instructions, with everyone that are involved. Ideally this should be done on the day before. If it is not a big event, two or three hours before the event starts should be sufficient bearing in mind that everyone already has a copy of the event schedule and the event task force list prior to the briefing.

6) At Your Event - Have a standby technician to help you with the Audio Visual

The number one thing that can go wrong at any event is the audio visual systems. Its always a "technical fault" Remember that when you do your events at hotels, they only provide a basic sound system. If you want your event to go smoothly, get a reputable sound system vendor - you may have to pay a bit more but it is worth it. What's more, you can get them to standby at the event to ensure that the AV system works and if it doesn't, they can rectify it immediately.

If you use the hotel's sound systems, their technician has to take care of other rooms in the hotel if there are other events going on. To get them to give you a new microphone if yours suddenly did not work can take ages and as you know some guests do not like to wait.

7) Anticipate! Anticipate! Anticipate!

As the event manager, even though everyone has been briefed on what must be done and when, you must be able to anticipate what is going to happen minute by minute of your event. For example, if the first item on the programme is the welcome speech and the CEO is already on stage speaking, you must always anticipate what is next on the agenda and ensure that whatever it is that must be there is already standing by.

The idea is to anticipate what must happen next. I can assure you that if you follow all these 7 tips, your next event will go smoothly and as planned!

Make Your Corporate Functions Meaningful and Charming With an Able Event Management Firm

Corporate functions are held with special purposes and involve various events at one go. The intensity level tends to be fairly high, as the event is supposed to see the arrival of high-profile guests. A professional planner or event management firm comprises ideas to make such events a super success with the help of one's years' long experience and creative knack for event management.

Product launches feature among the premier corporate events, and need special attention. There are set audience that has to be reached and stroked properly to solve the purpose. In product launches, the planner does try ultimate to gain consumer conviction at any cost, which is not that easy. There is an attempt to create brand value through use of innovative ideas, presentations and charms. Usually, a meeting or gathering is set up to launch the product with the best selection of graphic artists, writers and printers.

The planner consequently looks out to pick a perfect location for the convention besides arranging for food and entertainment. A step-by-step and tough regime is followed to make the event an overall success. Right from start to finish, there will be a fine tuning in activities to perk-up the attractions.

Being large affairs, there remains no margin for error in these events. Planning and execution will be spot-on to gain the set target. Even the minute details like lighting rental, staging rental, video production and lighting hire and rental are kept in full sight to strike the right chord.

The best event management planners even supply the staff to manage the activities related with product launches. Outsourcing the technical staffing needs turns out quite easier with such event organizers. Stages are ornamented and set to give you your launching pad for products. Audio or visual equipments are put in places to make ambience filled with professionalism and fun.

It's not easy to match up the standards of industry analysts, customers, partners and even reporters all at the same time, but planners make it possible with an ease. Local or national media do the task they are meant to do, and that's why the success of the event makes you happy.

To sum up, it's all about value creation through such corporate functions, and when there is something at stake, avoiding mistakes is good. Don't put you future in peril and hire professional event management planners to make things sparkle for your firm and product.

Common Event Planning Mistakes

There are so many different types of event held by so many different organizations for a variety of purposes. Some hire individuals who represent themselves as "event planners," but in most case are glorified room decorators. Some decide to do it themselves, with varying levels of success.

While there are some excellent event planners, who are truly professional and knowledgeable, the wide majority misrepresent their expertise and what they can and will do. There are also some individuals who are detailed, organized, have common sense, and work hard, who can and do run a successful event, but the majority of others do not have and/ or use those skills.

Some of the most common event planning mistakes are:

1. Not knowing upfront what your needs or requirements are. It is extremely difficult to effectively produce an event if you don't know what your goal is.


2. Many events are inadequately promoted. Event organizers must have a budgeted amount devoted for advertisement and promotion. Too many are totally dependent on e-mails and E-Blasts, which often is tantamount to failure. How is this event going to be described to "capture the imagination," and set it apart. If this event is a conference or convention, how much detail is going into the flow sheet/ schedule, to show potential attendees perceived value.


3. Many organizers lack negotiating expertise. Before agreeing to hold an event in a particular place, organizers should use Request for Proposals (RFP) to assure that the location can adequately meet the needs, and deliver at the needed price level.


4. Many organizers simply either do not know what to ask, or don't ask the right questions. Many events require considerable amounts of audio visual, and the costs can often be astronomical, if not negotiated properly.


5. There is a need to evaluate when to purchase something versus when to rent it. Often it costs far less to buy something than the rentals will cost.


6. Many organizers don't understand that almost everything is negotiable. A group does not have to go along with the pre-packaged food and beverage menus, nor believe that there is no flexibility in pricing.


7. Many planners do not spend enough time assuring that attendees first impression and contact with the event is a positive one. There must be a friendly and welcoming Welcome Committee, who are trained and willing to be "meeters and greeters." A smile goes a very long way.


8. One of the most common errors is spending too much time on menial or less important items, and insufficient time on the priorities. Event organizers must fully understand how and why to prioritize.


9. if using an Event Planner, it must be clearly spelled out what the expectations are, and what the planner's duties will be.


10. Perhaps, most importantly, an organization must clearly understand and identify what it wishes to achieve from this event.

Of course, these are just some very basic things that should go into the overall process to ensure optimal success from an organization's event.

Corporate Cooking and Team Building

Strong, connected and effective teams are a vital support in creating corporate success and many organisations have looked to traditional team building methods to assist them in bonding their staff together. However, recent research has suggested that such traditional methods of team building could be doing little towards improving group coherence.

A survey of 100 people who played team sports revealed that there was no link between how often the team activities took place and the bonds that they developed within their group. These findings suggest that traditional workplace team building strategies, which include such unusual activities as walking over hot coals or playing paintball, are of little or no value.

Dr Moira Lafferty, from the University of Chester, who led the study with colleagues from Liverpool Hope University, said: "Our findings suggest that, despite there being no positive relationship to team cohesion, team building activities... are still conducted. "

While the team activities investigated in this survey may seem to do little to improve cohesion it does not mean that all group bonding tasks are ineffective. A more unique and enjoyable, yet traditional, team building activity like cooking could be a much more effective relationship strengthening solution.

Cooking has long been known to bond groups of people together. Research in the US reveals the benefits cookery can bring to families who regularly share mealtimes. These can include better family relationships and improved academic performance. There are even greater benefits for those families that also include the children in the preparation and cooking of the family meal.

We can therefore see that cooking is great for bonding people together, teaching them new skills and giving each member of the group a better appreciation of what it means to work as one to create something fabulous.

Cookery is the ideal activity to strengthen bonds between those who need to communicate effectively in the working environment. There are now dedicated cookery schools available that offer short cooking courses and workshops to those interested in a team building activity that really does makes a difference.

Social and Corporate Event Planning

The key to a good planning strategy is planning in advance and avoiding as many uncertainties as you can. Of course, there is no way you can eradicate every single uncertainty since there are always going to be last minute problems and there is no perfect plan. The nearest you can get to perfect is planning in advance and creating a list of items that you are going to need for the event. A lot of planners often forget about a few things simply because of the stress they go through while planning. This is why it is important to make sure nothing gets overlooked.

Creating a list for all the stages of the event will keep things organized as well as help you complete every objective you have. Always keep your list with you so that you are able to make changes and keep a track of any adjustments in the timings. This important tool will make things more efficient as well as give you a higher probability of reaching your objectives.

After creating the checklist, it's time to set a budget. You will have to make a budget based on your list. But since there will be changes in the list, you will surely have changes in the budget. This is why you will need to continuously make changes to the budget. While calculating your budget, make sure you include all costs, i.e. hidden costs and extra fees. Your budget will determine the choices you make and therefore it is crucial to have a precise budget.

Obtaining supplies for the event is another hard and stressful task, requiring you to stick to your budget while buying them and making the best of choices. The quality of supplies you get should be determined by the caliber of the guests and the type of occasion. If you want to really save some money, it is better that you don't buy supplies that can be rented. Things such as chairs, tables, linen, sound equipment and light equipment can all be rented at reasonably low costs. But remember that you will be paying more if you plan to rent for a longer time. This is why you have to set a fixed and suitable event time.

Event timing is everything. It will decide the costs of obtaining all the supplies. About four hours is good for any event. Anything less than this will be a waste of money and anything more will cost more. If you are planning to have your event indoors then you will not need to worry about the weather conditions outside. However, if you are having an outdoor event, then you will need to consider a few things. An outdoor event in the day time will require some shade if you are having sunny weather. If it's an outdoor event held in the evening then you will require extra lighting. This is how timings affect your budget in a big way.

Lastly, you must consider hiring a successful and experienced Bay Area Event Planner. Hiring an event planning company will save you a lot of work and surely make things a lot easier. An event company that includes catering, lighting, entertainment, decor and venue location services will help you save a good amount of money since these companies are experienced in negotiating prices and choosing the best supplies and services for your event.

Hotel Negotiating - Flexibility in Sales Contracts is Always to Your Advantage

Would you be willing to be flexible to get better rates or a better room block pattern when you start negotiating with your hotel sales contact? The answer hopefully will be "Yes."

In meeting and event planning, flexibility can give you more options when dealing with a sales manager.

An example of this would be a meeting planner asking asking for 50 rooms in a specific month and date. He tells the sales manager that his Board of Directors wants rooms in Atlanta September 19 - 21. The sales manager is thinking to himself "I have 50 rooms left which is easy to sell. If this meeting planner can only book September 19 - 21, I won't have to offer a special rate." So, the sales manager offers 50 rooms and quotes a rate of $250.00. He knew the Board of Directors could not move their group to alternative dates where he might be able to offer special rates.

The meeting planner has just given up most of his negotiating power because he does not have the flexibility to change dates. He had strict orders from his Board of Directors to only negotiate for a set of dates that would fit the Board schedule.

Now, consider that just maybe the sales manager has the same block or pattern of rooms available a week or two later and would love to offer lower rates in order to get the business. What would it be worth for both parties to make this work?

However, the sales manager is happy because he fills up his hotel at the rate he wanted and the meeting planner has given his Board of Directors the dates they wanted. It's a partial win for both, but the attendees coming to the meeting will pay for it with higher room rates.

Flexibility can be everything when negotiating. If you have it, then you have the advantage and that advantage can mean better rates, more available rooms, a better room block pattern, more complimentary rooms, a comp suite or possibly better food prices.

To really become an event planner, always keep flexibility in mind. So, your answer to the question that was first mentioned should be "Yes". Be flexible, keep your options open and you will get a contract that is more in your favor.