Here is what we’ve added in January by category:
Marketing/Promotion
Six Deadly Marketing Myths Busted – Using real data and science, learn to protect yourself from these superstitious bits of bad advice and become a better inbound marketer…
Site Selection
The RFP - From Accommodations to Food and Venues to Transportation, Learn How to Write an Effective RFP…
Contracts
Defensive Contract Negotiations – Risk management tips and strategies help your organization avoid disputes and losses…
Retreats/Meetings
Concentrate on Content – The primary reason most people attend conferences is the educational content…
Meeting Planners
The Great Shift - Meetings and events enter the world of academia…
I hope you find these helpful and remember we have many more than might interest you in the Meeting Planner Resources section of the blog.
Retreats and meetings matter. Whether you are booking a staff retreat or your organization’s annual conference, remember these 8 quick tips to help you create a successful event:
- Pick a destination where your attendees WANT to go. While you would hope they want to attend because you’ve planned a great agenda, it doesn’t hurt to hold the meeting in a location where people want to go.
- Create a sense of anticipation. Help them see this is a retreat or conference they simply don’t want to miss.
- Enhance your evening gathering by creating a theme to provide a unique experience. Try to give them something they will remember when they get home.
- Build a little free time in the schedule. Hopefully you’ve chosen an interesting location so be sure to give them some time to enjoy the local area. It amazes me how some groups that come to Ridgecrest don’t allow time for their folks to enjoy all the areas of Asheville and Black Mountain have to offer.
- Use technology to your advantage. Look for ways to provide information and allow registration via technology. Many of your attendees are packing smart phones and want to use them. Let ‘em!
- Don’t plan every meal. Give your attendees some private time and opportunity to check out the local dining scene. It will save you money too!
- Give attendees easy to read information. Be sure to tell them the who, what, where, when and how.
- Offer a variety of activities to better meet the varied interests of your attendees. Not everyone enjoys a screaming run down the zip line!
What about you? What are some tips that have worked for you? Please feel free to share them with our readers. Thanks!
by
Byron Hill at
2:58 pm
0 comments
tagged as
Anticipation, Asheville NC, Black Mountain NC, Christian Meeting Planning, Meeting Destinations, Meeting Technology Advantage, Meetings Free Time, Meetings matter, Retreats matter, Ridgecrest, Ridgecrest Conference Center, Unique Meeting Experience, Variety |
Christian Event Planning, Christian Meeting Planning, Christian Retreat Planning, Christian meeting planners, Meeting Planners
OK, I know. This is supposed to be a blog focused on Christian meeting planners so you may be wondering why is he writing about the flu?
Good question, but it’s actually quite simple. As someone responsible for bringing groups of people together, you can also help prevent the spread of flu (and other illness) among your attendees. After all, it’s pretty hard for someone to get much out of your great conference if they’re sick and stuck in their room.
With a little help from the CDC, here are 3 things you can do to help keep the flu from wrecking your event!
- Talk about flu prevention - Educate your planning team and others about all they can be doing to help prevent the spread of the virus. Things such as covering your mouth when you cough, not touching your eyes, nose or mouth, washing your hands with soap and water, etc.
- Protect yourself and your planning team - Encourage everyone, including yourself, to get a flu shot. As they say, an ounce of prevention…
- Provide hand sanitizers - Talk to the facility hosting your event and insist they provide hand-sanitizer stations for your meeting or retreat. At Ridgecrest we provide these at various locations throughout campus.
Curious…how many times have you come home from a conference sick? Unfortunately it happens more than we’d like to admit. All the more reason to do all we can to prevent it.
I know, hard to believe, but 2011 has come and gone and ready or not, 2012 is here!
As you prepare for what God has in store for your ministry in 2012, I thought the following 2 articles might be of some help as you plan your retreat, meetings or conferences.
Meeting Trends for 2012 – Here are a couple of the projected trends that really jumped out at me:
- Meetings are moving towards being more interactive, with less dependence on talking heads. This gives attendees more opportunity to share their knowledge and experiences with an expert/facilitator.
- Moving away from standardized activities. Instead, more groups are looking to take advantage of unique, lcoation specific options. Even better if the activity incorporates in a learning component.
- A renewed interest in simple, fresh food with a creative local twist.
5 things meeting planners will have to do this year – These 3 things are all related:
- Bandwidth – It may not be enough just to make sure your event venue provides WiFi. If there’s not enough bandwidth, your attendees are not going to be happy with slow, slow speed. Even if it’s free!
- Mobile – With as many as 85% of smartphones able to access the Internet, does it make sense for your conference to be accessible via the Internet? Be it an app, or a mobile-friendly conference website, chances are your attendees want to be able to get it on their phone.
- Tech-free zones – I know, I know. After the first 2 this one may not make a lot of sense. However, people can get connection overload and providing time to disconnect allows people to connect the old fashioned way…face to face.
What about your thoughts? Where do you see retreats and conferences going in 2012? Are you planning to make any changes in how your church or ministry connects with people?
On Wednesday, January 18, our friends at Collinson Publishing/Rejuvenate are hosting a live one hour webinar for meeting planners. The webinar is FREE and promises to provide listeners with at least 106 budget saving tips. Even if you only take way a couple of ideas that work for your church or ministry, it could still be time well spent. We encourage you to check it out before it’s too late.
The webinar is scheduled to begin at 2:00 PM EST. For more information, click here. To register, click here.
Rejuvenate Magazine is another great resource for Christian meeting planners and in a recent issue, they published “The all out no holds barred straight forward fundamental carefully chosen feverishly compiled complete list of useful meeting planning advice”, I know it’s a mouth full but great advice none the less. I thought I would break it down by area and we’ll take a few months to get thru all of it and maybe even add some of our own. For those of you who can’t wait, click here.
Communication
- Don’t be afraid to stay in communication. Be willing to ask basic questions like ‘How do you like to keep in touch?’ Some people are phone people and others prefer e-mails. - Pat Davis, The Protestant Women of the Chapel
- Remember the old real estate axiom – location, location, location? Well, think instead: communication, communication, communication. - Rachel Swartzendruber Miller, Mennonite Church USA
- It seems obvious to do a site visit for an event, but sometimes there isn’t adequate funding – especially for new events – to travel and see the facility beforehand. This can cause major issues. To lessen those problems, communicate all your needs to the host location and facility beforehand, especially if you don’t see the site in advance. - Will Engle, American Volleyball Coaches Association
Inspiration
- Enjoy the journey, and know where you are going and leading. You can’t do it alone; travel in the direction that God leads you. - Larry D. Collins, North American Christian Convention
- If you believe in what you’re doing, just keep on pushing forward toward it. Look at your marketing and pray for ideas that don’t cost a dime. - Amy Cato, Lifeway
- We need to shift our thinking from building programs to building relationships with kids. - Hank Hilliard, Young People’s Ministries
- We all wish to be good stewards. If we really take seriously what we understand as our role as humans responsible for God’s creation, then there is a moral and theological obligation for people of faith to take care of what we have been given. - David Melton, North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church
What do you think? Do you have any additional advice on Communication & Inspiration you’d like to share? We would love to hear from you.
Advice reprinted with permission from Collinson Media and Events – http://www.rejuvenatemeetings.com/.
When considering options for function room setups, the most important factor is to understand the meeting’s objectives. The design is crucial to making sure goals are met. With goals and objectives at the forefront, next look at audiovisual requirements, speaker needs and traffic flow, taking into consideration participant safety, comfort and accommodation for people with disabilities.
Here are the standard meeting room set-ups to consider for your next function:
Theater Style
This is the best setup for a large group where writing is not necessary and food is not served. Chairs are set in rows facing the speaker, stage or focal point of the room.
Classroom Style
This setup is best for meetings where attendees need to write or use a computer. It allows for minimal interaction between attendees and is best used for lectures and training meetings. Chairs are set at 6-foot or 8-foot tables facing the presenter.
Conference Style
This format is ideal for smaller groups where attendee interaction is a main objective. Seated around tables, participants have a direct view of their colleagues to facilitate discussions. Specify what type of table arrangements you need based on the objectives of your meeting:
Boardroom: One solid, rectangular table that can be an existing table in a hotel meeting room or created by putting together 30-inch-wide tables. This setup is best for a board of directors meeting with heavy discussions as participants are in closest reach to each other.
U-Shape: Tables are arranged in a horseshoe, which is ideal for meetings that need to facilitate discussion between attendees but also include an audiovisual presentation set at the opening of the “U.”
T-Shape: Best for a panel, presenters or lead management that needs to sit at the top of the “T” and direct the discussion down the length of the tables.
Hollow Square: Best for meetings that do not require an audiovisual presentation. If the hotel has serpentine tables, request a rounded hollow square setup to maximize seating on the ends. If these are not available, straight tables can be placed at an angle creating an angled hollow square setup.
Multi-Sided Shapes: Multi-sided shapes such as a diamond or octagonal are best for larger groups of 20 or more. They comfortably seat nearly every attendee at the end of a table and provide direct sight and voice communication to
participants.
Banquet Style
This setup works best for meetings that require food and beverage service and where participants are asked to break out into small groups. Setup includes 60-, 66- or 72-inch round tables with chairs around the entire table or only on one side.
Have you used another type of set-up, how did it work for you? Please share your ideas in the comments.
by
Melissa Inman at
10:00 am
0 comments
tagged as
Banquet Style, Boardroom Set-up, Classroom Style, Conference Style, hollow square, Meeting Room Set-ups, T-Shape set-up, Theater Style, U-Shape Set-up |
Christian Event Planning, Christian Meeting Planning, Christian Retreat Planning
I read a great article today in the Connect Magazine for meeting planners. I thought I would share it with you here.
Becoming A Better Leader
Companies today often operate with skeleton staffs where employees are asked to juggle multiple jobs with less pay—a recipe for burnout. Whether you manage a staff around you while planning meetings or you started your own events business decades ago, it’s your job to keep the people around you—and yourself—happy. If there is discontent on your team, maybe you need to become a better boss.
Be the Leader You Would Follow
Begin by knowing and understanding yourself. “Know your strengths and weaknesses, your vulnerabilities and your blind spots,” says Jennifer B. Kahnweiler, Ph.D., executive coach and author of “The Introverted Leader.” “Self-awareness helps you to be more effective because you’re able to supplement your team with the people that complement your strengths and weaknesses.”
John Brubaker, performance consultant, speaker and author of “Overtime Victory: Success Strategies from the Locker Room to the Board Room,” says higher-ups should ask themselves one question: What characteristics would I like to see in my people, and how would I like to see them change? Maybe the answer is a positive attitude, greater resilience or servant leadership. Perhaps it’s communication or relationship-building skills. Then cultivate those traits in yourself. “Great companies [have a] person at the top [who] is modeling what he wants from his sales managers, his VP and his customer service representatives,” says Brubaker. “No one is going to buy anything you’re selling unless you own it yourself first.”
Get Personal
Regularly connect with each team member on an individual level. “Get to know the people behind the jobs: what their personalities are like, what their interests are, what makes them tick,” says Kahnweiler. “Know what drives [them] and makes them want to stay and work harder. All effective leaders are great listeners. When they listen they not only build trust and credibility with their teams, but they also, usually, elicit terrific ideas.”
Brubaker points to a real-life example of servant leadership at CleanBrands, where CEO Gary Goldberg does something similar to a physician’s rounds in a hospital. Goldberg goes through the sales department asking, “What’s the one thing I can do right now to help you with what you’re working on?” Every day, he checks in on his employees. “You’re making an investment of your personal time and your willingness to put down what you’re doing, to make sure you help other people,” says Brubaker.
Maximize Your Human Resources
Brubaker and Kahnweiler agree: Great bosses make their people look good. They tune in to their employees’ talents, play up those strengths and maximize each individual’s ability to succeed.
By getting to know, and listening to, your team, you’ll know what motivates them, says Kahnweiler. “For one person, it may be getting to go to a new training course that’s going to ramp up his skills, where [for another person] it might be getting to have some time off so she can be with her kids more. You can then recognize and reward people with what matters to them.”
Kahnweiler encourages deliberate job-design to play up individual strengths. A planner should know, for example, that more introverted team members shouldn’t be placed on a trade-show floor to interact with sponsors and attendees. Rather, that person may be better suited to go behind the scenes and help with logistical planning, office duties and housing issues. “People are motivated when they can use what they already do well.”
Brubaker calls this strategy “the power of one”: the ability to identify and maximize the one thing that a particular employee does better than anybody else. “If you can put each of your people in a role that maximizes [his or her] ability to succeed, you’ll have the right people in the right roles, with the right goals…the basis for a successful team or department,” says Brubaker. “A leader who can help their people discover their unique talents, and channel those into their work, can have unparalleled results.”
By Maria Carter
I hope you found this as helpful as I did.
Rejuvenate Magazine is another great resource for Christian meeting planners and in a recent issue, they published “The all out no holds barred straight forward fundamental carefully chosen feverishly compiled complete list of useful meeting planning advice”, I know it’s a mouth full but great advice none the less. I thought I would break it down by area and we’ll take a few months to get thru all of it and maybe even add some of our own. For those of you who can’t wait, click here.
Trade Shows
- Give out trinkets (pens, magnets, paperweights, etc.) with the date of next year’s event on it. - Susan Perry, The Perry Group
- When it comes to sponsorship, if you don’t have the time to invest in it or don’t have the skill set to organize it, outsource it. - Louise M. Felsher, CMP, meeting and event consultant
- This positive environment is composed of many small details. Putting down carpet, for example, creates a more comfortable environment. As a result, they may stay on the show floor two or three hours longer, making them more likely to spend more. - Susan Friedmann, “Meeting & Event Planning For Dummies”
Volunteers
- Try to get people within your organization to volunteer. If they have a reason to come and get something out of it, they will be more likely to be excited about volunteering. - Stephanie Hudson, Providence Events
- Just because someone is willing to step up to the plate doesn’t mean that he or she will be a productive volunteer. You want to know how they get along with people and work on a team. For big events, a selection team can help to weed out inappropriate candidates and let them down gently without having it seem personal. Just accepting someone who expresses interest in volunteering can sometimes do more harm than good if that person alienates or undermines others on the team. I would rather have eight really good volunteers than 25 I’m not sure about. – Hank Hilliard, Young People’s Ministries
- Rather than referring to them as volunteers, we call them conference assistants. The team of assistants dons staff vests for events. It is important to empower volunteers to offer quality and effective customer service. - Robin Kluever, International Network of Children’s Ministry
What do you think? Do you have any additional advice on Trade Shows & Volunteers you’d like to share? We would love to hear from you.
Advice reprinted with permission from Collinson Media and Events – http://www.rejuvenatemeetings.com/.
As if paying attention during our daily routine is not difficult enough, we thrust people into a condensed conference experience and demand they give us their undivided attention. We ask them to focus wholeheartedly to the topics and networking until they leave.
Here are some helpful tips when planning your conference to keep you attendees attention.
1. Brain Drain
Attention, learning and retaining memory drain the glucose levels of our brains. Our glucose drops considerably based on the task we are doing. Attendees that show up to a conference session with low blood sugar are likely to be tired, listless and inattentive. And an increasing number have diabetes which impairs the speed of cognitive performance.
Tip: Make sure you are providing the right foods for thought during breaks and meals.
2. Our Brain’s Surge Protectors
The physical process for learning begins within 15 minutes of exposure to new information. The biological process of building mental connections gets stronger within an hour and takes up to six hours to completely form. If the synapse strengthening process is disturbed, the memory is lost. In addition to that, our learning improves when there are adequate spacing and rest intervals instead of ongoing exposure to new material.
Tip: Presenting more content per minute guarantees that little will be learned or retained. Ask presenters to cut content and allow for more meaning-making.
3. Blocking Flow
During a conference, either you can have your attendees’ attention or they can be making meaning of the information. Unfortunately, both cannot occur at the same time. And for learning to occur, they must have time to make meaning.
Meaning is generated internally. It takes intentional effort and requires time. External input (offering more information) conflicts with the processing of prior information and meaning-making. It blocks the natural brain’s flow of learning.
Tip: Ask presenters to allow time during the presentation for participants to discuss, think about and reflect on their main points.
4. Safety First
Conference attendees pay attention to the content only when it is “safe” to do so. To your participants, outside influences such as calling on individuals unexpectedly to answer a question is like a potential predator. In risky environments, learners cannot focus on processing information.
Tip: Teach presenters to ask for volunteers to respond to questions. Create a safe environment where attendees feel calm and divergent views are welcomed.
5. Get Up
One of the brain’s primary fuels for attention is amines. Amines are the brain’s uppers. Amine levels increase and decrease naturally during the day. Low amine levels lead to inattention and fatigue.
Tip: Help presenters learn to read their attendees’ body language so they know when the amine level has dropped. They should look for bored stares, people having trouble keeping their eyes open, yawns, etc. To increase amine levels, presenters should give attendees a break and invite them to get up and walk around, go to the restroom, etc. Amine levels increase with movement.
6. Recycle This
For long-term memory to form, the brain needs to recycle the proteins within neurons. To recycle the proteins, the brain must have time to incubate or settle after receiving new information. This means learning improves with shorter times devoted to listening to content and more rest time (giving the brain a break from listening).
Tip: Encourage presenters to present 10-20 minutes of content and then give the audience time to reflect, think or discuss.
Conference organizers need to make some hard choices about what to offer. Adding more content to a conference schedule does not increase learning. Conference organizers should focus on quality content and brain friendly experiences instead of adding more, more, more.
What are some tips that you’ve used or experienced that help eliminate these barriers?
Here is what we’ve added in January by category:
