Next Generation Event

All the Top Web Conferencing News

Alltop has just created a whole section for web conferencing blogs. Some I already follow, but others were new to me. It's definitely worth a look.

Follow-Up on Donating Leftover Food

After I posted for Blog Action Day and recommended giving your leftover food away, green meeting expert Nancy Wilson happened to post more information on the law, the Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act, that makes this donation possible.

So next time you're told "it can't be done," you'll know better.

Some Tips for Cruising Through the Economic Downturn

Image by swamibu

Are you feeling the crunch of the current economic climate? If not, you're either very lucky or you're not paying attention. Most businesses are looking for ways to cut costs and many are quick to cut corners they should leave intact.

Last week, I listened to a recent episode of Startup Nation, which included an interview with Scott Aughtman, author of How Your Business Can Survive and Prosper in a Recession.

I thought much of the advice Aughtman gave was also great advice for organizations in the events industry.

I captured a snapshot below, but if you want to hear more you should take a listen.

1. You're sitting on an "acre of diamonds" and those diamonds are your customers. Don't go looking elsewhere if you don't have to.

2. Stopping marketing to save money is like stopping your wristwatch to save time. (this was my favorite)

3. Focus on what your customers need and you won't go wrong.

4. Cultivate your relationship with your clients during this rough patch by giving them information and tools that will help them.

5. Consider joint ventures with other companies you respect.

6. Give away free samples and trials. If your product is worthwhile, they'll remember you when things pick up.

10 Ways to Build Poverty Awareness in Your Events - Blog Action Day

Image by jamesfischer

Back in June, I interviewed Tamara Kennedy-Hill, the Executive Director of the Green Meeting Industry Council, and something she said has stuck with me:

“Profit is good—but it’s also about the environment and your impact on the community. Have you left the community you were in better off or worse off?”

When I decided to do a post for Blog Action Day, this idea of leaving a place better off really jumped out. As event planners, we often breeze in and out of luxurious venues without thinking about the social problems, like poverty, that surround the high-rise hotels we occupy.

So I started a list of things we can do to leave cities just a little better off. Some of the actions are small and some are big, but I think they all remind us to think a little more about the community that we make our home for the duration of the event.

1. Donate uneaten food to a nearby shelter. Note: There is an urban legend in the events industry that this is illegal due to food safety concerns. I can't account for all locations, but I have yet to see proof of this (and we just did it at an event in Denver). You can always ask your venue in advance if it allows this.

2. Build a service opportunity into the event, like a group project at a shelter. If you've ever volunteered as a group, you'll know this is also a great networking opportunity for attendees.

3. Organize a golf tournament to raise money for a local cause. If they're going to be golfing anyway, make it meaningful.

4. Offer a daily attendee fitness class (yoga, boot camp, hike, run, etc.) for an extra fee and put a portion of the fee toward a local cause. Why run on an old treadmill in the hotel basement when you can work it out with fellow attendees and help the city out?

5. Work with a local playhouse or entertainment group to organize a fun night out with a portion of the ticket price to go to a local cause. If everyone is going out on the town, anyway, right?

6. Host a reception and make the "price of entry" an old suit or other professional clothing to donate to a local group that provides people with the clothes they need to start a career. Bonus: Your attendees will have a little extra space in their suitcases to take home all those event materials.

7. Auction or raffle off a dinner with the event's VIP or keynote presenter with proceeds directed to a local cause. A little extra time with the big name on the agenda is worth a lot.

8. Organize the donation of industry-specific goods. Does your group design software? Offer it to local non-profits or to inner-city schools.

9. If the topic is right, coordinate to have the keynote presenter speak to a local, under-privileged school while he or she is in town. The right keynote might even see the benefit of doing this at no extra charge to you.

10. Offer a number of free tickets to a local organization that works to find people better employment opportunities. Register local, low-income people who are trying to build a career in the industry your event targets.

If none of these ideas will fit in with the character of your event, you can always simply commit to give a percentage of each conference registration.

What do you think? I know there are many more great ideas out there.

Denver-Area Event Planners -- Meetup Tuesday!

If you're in or near Denver, remember to join us Tuesday at The Corner Office from 5:30 - 7:00pm.

This will be a great opportunity to get to know other event professionals in the Denver-area.

A big thank you to Spicy Networking for sponsoring the event.

Get more information and RSVP!

Are you LinkedIn to the Industry Questions of the Day?

As you probably know, one of the largest professional online networks out there is LinkedIn (you can reach my profile by clicking the LinkedIn button under my photo to the left). As a social networking tool, it is often criticized because it doesn't allow as much interaction as other sites, but you can't beat it for its professionalism, and the interaction it does offer, most prominently in its Q&A section, is actually pretty great if you use it right.

LinkedIn members can post questions and assign them to a particular topic. Other LinkedIn members answer. Easy enough.

This is relevant to event professionals everywhere because they have a full section devoted to events and broken down into "Conference Planning," "Conference Venues," and "Event Marketing and Promotions." Even if you never ask a question, you can learn a lot from the questions asked by others.

For example, take a look at this question on using social networking and viral marketing for events. Or this one on the future of live conferences and workshops.

Don't want to have to go to LinkedIn everyday to check for new questions? Me neither--that's why I subscribe to the feed using my RSS reader.

So Many Tools, So Little Time

Image by Jungle Jim's International Market

I've recently taken a look at a number of tools designed to make the lives of event planners just a little bit easier.

There are a lot of tools out there and it can be overwhelming to pick the ones you want to try. I'll try to make it a little easier.

1. For the bride or the perennial party planner: PerfectTablePlan

This tool bills itself as "the easiest way to create a table seating plan for your wedding, celebration, or event." I haven't tried another tool for this so I can't compare, but I can assure you that it is much easier than trying to tackle this task manually.

The program, which can be downloaded for a fee (US$34.95), is essentially a contact manager for your event (and, yes--you can import data from Outlook) that lets you track meal choices or dietary constraints, RSVPs, and seating preferences. You can group attendees as couples, families, or groups, and once you've done that, you can specify whether various guests should be close to (or far from) other guests. Play with your table options (size and shape), click "auto assign," and voila--you're done. You can select to do the seating arrangement manually, as well, but why would you?

2. For the poor soul who organizes small meetings for the busiest people on the planet: GatherGrid

This free tool allows an organizer to find out what times work for multiple people when setting a date. It is probably best used for smaller events, meetings or teleconferences, or for events where you want everyone to be able to make it or where you need a certain number to attend (for example, if a quorum is required for a meeting). We've all had the headache of trying to pull together people's schedules from various phone calls and emails. GatherGrid is our Aspirin. 

3. For the event planner who wants a one-stop shop: Cvent

Cvent has been offering event management solutions for 10 years and currently has about 10,000 event planning clients. It offers services that take a planner from venue selection through survey results, with a database of venues (including meeting rooms and descriptions) and e-RFPs, full-scale online registration and event website management, and electronic suvey creation and evaluation. Fees vary for the different services, but you can browse the venues and submit your e-RFP for free.

4. For the event planner who wants her attendees to share and spread the word: Amiando

Disclosure: This company is, of course, the sponsor for an upcoming event I organized for the Event Planning and Management LinkedIn Group, but its product also has some sharing features I would like either way.

Have a great event? The kind people will recommend and talk about? Amiando helps you harness that word-of-mouth energy. The invite page prominently features a "Share" button and, if your event has a fee, attendees can be given a specified number of discounted tickets to share with others. One thing I would love to see Amiando add is the ability to track how people come to the invite (and eventually purchase a registration) so we can better evaluate how various marketing and social media efforts are influencing registration.

The service is free for free events. For all other events, they charge 1.5% for each registration.

Know of any other great tools? Leave them in the comments or send the info my way.

Related post: Get a Jump Start on All that Networking with EventVue

Thanks to Meetings & Conventions Magazine

It's always great to be recognized, but it's especially great when you're recognized by others in your own industry. Meetings & Conventions Magazine just published a list of event planning blogs to watch and Next Generation Event was among them.

Click here to see who else made the list.