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/.