Program resume. Program guide. Event script. Show flow. Event guide. Meeting report. Event bible.
Whatever you call it, your program resume is the single most valuable document to you and everyone involved in creating the event. It is the central repository for every last detail that anyone could possibly ever need to know about the event and it is the document that will keep everyone on the same page and eliminate any surprises.
It’s an easy trap to fall into: you see the event start date on the calendar and that is the date ingrained in your head by which everything has to be done.
Don’t fall into that trap!
Is there that big of a difference between 999 and 1,000 attendees?
Sure it’s technically only one extra person, but when you are planning a meeting or conference where your attendees will be in the thousands and not the hundreds, things change and there is a brand-new layer of complexity that has to be factored into all of your planning.
As much as I love my meeting binders and my neatly printed resumes (where I can make organized notes with one of my many gel pens!), tech tools, goodies, and gadgets really do make getting through a complex event much easier. Whether it’s jump-starting some brainstorming, tracking a VIP, or collaborating with a large and disperse team, we really are reliant
Many planners have experienced being called a magician by a client. We can often make things happen in mere seconds or make things appear almost instantaneously. But, I have yet to meet a planner who can make a bus that is still 45 minutes away arrive any faster or clear the traffic jam that has claimed our VIP’s ride to the airport.
Vehicles and traffic are immune to the superpowers that planners possess. Well, mostly immune. We do have some tricks at our disposal that will usually help us triumph.
The “25 Cost-Savers” Feature in Meetings & Conventions this week caught our eye, as we are always looking new cost-savings ideas to help our clients maximize their budgets. We employ a lot of these ideas already (like the signature cocktail with beer and wine instead of a full open bar, using house props or fruit as centerpieces, and small size display platters) and love that we found a few new ideas to try too.
Have you noticed the back to school displays that are just chock full of brand new school and office supplies?
Yes, we know they’ve been there since right around when school ended a few months ago. We chose to ignore them until now.
There is just something about a brand new pencil or a never before opened pack of highlighters that brings us joy.
Back-to-school time is a perfect time to re-evaluate what has a home in the office supply bins that you keep stocked, packed and ready to go on-site to an event at a moment’s notice.
You outlined your goals.
You did your research.
You interviewed countless speakers.
You made your short list and traveled to events to see them in action.
You weighed all pros and cons.
You selected your speaker!
Congratulations. Is now a good time to mention that selecting and booking the speaker is only the tip of the iceburg?
Yes, really.
We are seeing a new trend in the events industry: very short lead times! Sure, we have some clients that typically have 12-18 month planning cycles (we love that!), but we are now seeing most events with a 90 to 120 day lead time. Every meeting planner we know will freely admit to loving the long planning cycles and loathing the short lead times, but we know (secretly, of course!) that most of us also thrive on the intensity and challenge of planning those quick-turn events too.
Planning an event when the first time you’ll see your selected site is when you step through the doors to deliver the program? That’s enough to trigger panic and a cold sweat in planners.
But it happens. A lot.
It happened to Perfection Events a few months back.
