PR 317 Ch. 15 Notes -
Summary of Promotional Events -
- A celebrity at your promotional event will attract crowds and media attention, but appearance fees can be costly. - A promotional event may be a "grand opening" of a facility or a 10K run sponsored by a charitable organization. It is important to consider such factors as city permits, security, and liability insurance.
Summary Banquets -
- Banquets are elaborate affairs that require extensive advance planning. In addition to the factors necessary for a weekly or monthly club meeting, you have to consider decorations, entertainment, audiovisual facilities, speaker fees, and seating charts. - It's often necessary to follow up on invitations because people don't respond to RSVP requests.
Receptions and Cocktail Parties (15.5) -
- Banquets are often preceded by a "cocktail hour" before people sit down for dinner. - A reception, however, is a stand-alone event primarily organized for people to talk and "network" over drinks and appetizers. ----> It's a cost-effective way to celebrate an organization's or individual's achievement, to introduce a new chief executive to the employees and the community, or simply to allow college alumni to get together. - In any event, the focus is on interaction, not speeches. - If there is a ceremony or speech, it should last a maximum of 5 to 10 minutes. - A reception can last up to 2 hours, and the typical format is a large room where most people will stand instead of sit. ----> This facilitates social interaction and allows people to move freely around the room. - Such gatherings, like any other event, require advance planning and logistics. - It is important, for example, that food be served in the form of appetizers, sandwiches, cheese trays, nuts, and chips. ----> People get hungry, and food helps offset some of the effects of drinking. - The bar is the centerpiece of any reception, but you should make sure there are plenty of nonalcoholic beverages available, too. - Urns of coffee, punch, and tea should be readily available in other locations around the room. - There are two kinds of cocktail parties. 1) One is the no-host bar, which means that guests buy their own drinks and the host provides the room, any decorations, and the appetizers. - A variation on the no-host bar is to provide attendees one or two drink coupons, but they buy any additional refreshments. 2) Most receptions, however, have a hosted bar, meaning that drinks are free. This is the norm when an organization is having a cocktail party or reception for journalists, customers, or community leaders. - A reception, like a meal function, requires you to talk with the catering manager to order finger food and vegetable or cheese trays. ----> If you have a reception over the traditional dinner hour, you should also order heavier hors d'oeuvres such as shrimp, sausages, or even petite lamb chops, because many attendees will also make it their dinner. - As a rule of thumb, there should be one bartender per 75 people. - For large events, bars are situated in several locations around the room to disperse the crowd and shorten lines. - It is also important to find out how the facility will bill you for beverages consumed. ----> If the arrangement is by the bottle, this often leads to the problem of bartenders being very generous in pouring drinks, because more empty bottles means higher profits for the caterer. - Starting a cocktail party is easy—just open the bar at the announced time. - Closing a party is not so easy. ----> The only practical way is to close the bar. - The invitation may indicate a definite time for the reception to end, but don't rely on this. - A vocal announcement will do the job of closing the party. ----> The smoothest way is to say, "The bar will close in 10 minutes." -this gives guests a chance to get one more drink.
Summary of Staff and Committee Meetings -
- Before scheduling a staff or committee meeting, ask, "Is this meeting really necessary?" - You can make meetings more effective if you distribute an agenda in advance, adhere to a schedule, and keep people from going off on tangents.
Summary of Larger Group Meetings -
- Club or association meetings, workshops, and seminars require you to consider such factors as time, location, seating, facilities, invitations, name tags, menu, speakers, registration, and costs.
Summary Receptionist and Cocktail Parties -
- Cocktail parties and receptions require precautions about the amount of alcohol consumed and the availability of food and nonalcoholic drinks. - There are two types of cocktail parties. One is the "hosted" one often paid for by the organization. The second kind is the "no-host" gathering where the guests buy their own drinks and the host just provides the facility and some finger food.
Summary of Conventions -
- Conventions and conferences require the skills of professional event managers who can juggle multiple activities over a period of several days. A convention may include large meetings, cocktail parties, receptions, tours, and banquets. - Event planners often work years in advance in terms of selecting a desirable location, booking hotel space, and ensuring that the facility has sufficient bandwidth to accommodate the needs of attendees. - Cost is a major concern for all event planners. Budgets must be realistic in terms of projected revenues from registered attendees. - Speakers for a convention should be confirmed months in advance.
A World Filled with Meetings and Events (15.1) -
- It's been estimated that more than 25 million workplace meetings are held every day in the United States, and that doesn't even include the millions of other daily events such as banquets, cocktail parties, receptions, and professional seminars that bring people together. - Meetings and events are vital public relations tools because they bring people together face-to-face, in real time. - In this era of virtual communication and information overload, there is still a basic human need to gather, socialize, and be part of a group activity. - Individuals attending a meeting or event use all five of their senses— 1) hearing, 2) sight, 3) touch, 4) smell, and 5) taste— so they become more emotionally involved in the process. - Marketing and public relations professionals, for example, often use events to foster more brand awareness and loyalty. - Meetings and events come in all shapes and sizes: -- A committee meeting of a civic club or an office staff may only include four or five people. -- Corporate seminars may be for 50 to 250 people. - At the other end of the scale is a Trade Show, such as the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, which attracts 130,000 attendees over a 3-day period. -- Promotional events to launch a new product or to increase brand awareness of a current product or service are also done on a frequent basis. EX. Riesling & Co., for example, promoted the wines of Germany by putting a wine bar on wheels and hosted a series of tastings and consumer dinners from Florida to New York. - However, effective meetings and events don't just happen. ----> Detailed planning and logistics are essential to ensure that defined objectives are achieved, whether you're organizing a committee meeting or a national conference. - Cost is always a major consideration in the planning of any event - Public relations personnel are often involved in the planning and execution of meetings and events as part of a program or campaign, but many individuals primarily work as professional event planners.
Summary of a World Filled with Meetings and Events -
- Meetings are an important tool in public relations because they let the audience participate and interact in real time, using all five senses—hearing, sight, touch, smell, and taste. - Events and meetings don't just happen. They must be planned with attention to every detail. Nothing can be left to chance.
Summary of Open Houses and Plant Tours -
- Open houses and plant tours require meticulous planning and routing, careful handling of visitors, and thorough training of all personnel who will be in contact with the visitors. - There must be planning for parking, portable potties, and places for people to sit down.
Planning Large Group Meetings (15.3.1) -
The size and purpose of the meeting dictate the plan. - Every plan must consider these questions: - How many will attend? - Who will attend? - When and where will it be held? - How long will it last? - Who will speak? - What topics will be covered? - What facilities will be needed? - Who will run it? - What is its purpose? - How do we get people to attend?
Event Planning and Logistics (15.8.2) -
You should be concerned about traffic flow, adequate restroom facilities, signage, and security. - Professionally trained security personnel should also be arranged to handle crowd control, protect celebrities or government officials from being hassled, and make sure no other disruptions occur that would mar the event. EX. Apple, for example, experienced security and crowd control problems in Beijing when it offered the iPad2 at its local store. People lined up for hours to purchase the new product, but scalpers tried to break the line and Apple decided to close the store. The people in line were outraged, and a melee started that caused injuries to a number of people. - Liability insurance is a necessity, too. ---> Any public event sponsored by an organization should be insured, just in case there is an accident and a subsequent lawsuit charging negligence. - If your organization doesn't already have a blanket liability policy, you should get one for the event. - Charitable organizations also need liability insurance if they are running an event to raise money. - This is particularly relevant if your organization is sponsoring an event that requires physical exertion, such as a 10K run, a bicycle race, or even a hot-air balloon race. ----> Participants should sign a release form that protects the organization if someone suffers a heart attack or another kind of accident. EX. One organization, which was sponsoring a 5K "fun run," had all participants sign a statement that read, in part: "I know that a road race is a potentially hazardous activity... . I assume all risk associated with running in this event, including, but not limited to, falls, contact with other participants, the effects of the weather, including high heat/or humidity, traffic and the conditions of the road." - Promotional events that use public streets and parks also need permits from various city departments. ----> If you are sponsoring a run, you need to get a permit from the police or public safety department to block off streets, and you need to hire off-duty police to handle traffic control. EX. Permits for the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer, for example, are arranged months in advance, because there are many requests for "runs" and cities have imposed a limit on how many will be permitted each year. - A food event, such as a chili cook-off or a German "Oktoberfest," requires permits from the public health department and, if liquor is served, a permit from the state alcohol board. ----> If the event is held inside a building, a permit is often required from the fire inspector. - You must also deal with the logistics of arranging cleanup, providing basic services such as water and medical aid, registering craft and food vendors, and posting signs. - Promotion of an event can often be accomplished by having a radio station or local newspaper cosponsor the event.
Promotional Events (15.8) -
- Promotional events are planned primarily to launch a new product, increase organizational visibility, make friends, and raise money for a charitable cause. ----> They also include the category of event sponsorship in which a corporation becomes a sponsor of a major event such as the Olympics, a country music festival, or even the Avon Cancer Walk. ----> Such sponsorships are a strategic decision by the corporation based on a number of factors. - The one essential skill for organizing promotional events is creativity. - In every city, multiple "ho-hum" events compete for media attention and attendance, so it behooves you to come up with something "different" that creates buzz and interest. - Grand openings of stores or hotels, for example, can be pretty dull and generate a collective yawn from almost every journalist in town, let alone all the chamber of commerce types that attend such functions. ----> So how do you come up with something new and different for the same old thing? 1) First, you throw out the old idea of having a ribbon cutting. 2) Second, you start thinking about a theme or idea that fits the situation and is out of the ordinary. EX. The reopening of the Morgan Hotel in San Antonio is a good example. - The hotel featured a new restaurant named Oro (meaning "gold" in Spanish), so the theme for the opening night reception was gold—complete with gold flowers, gold curtains, and even bikini-clad women who were coated with gold paint and served as living mannequins.
Summary of Trade Shows -
- Trade shows are the ultimate marketing events and attract millions of attendees annually. Exhibit booths may cost from $50,000 to $1 million. - An essential component of a trade show is a newsroom or a pressroom where journalists have access to computers, telephones, and phones.
Using Celebrities to Boost Attendance (15.8.1) -
- You can also increase attendance at a promotional event by using a television or film personality. - The creative part is figuring out which personality fits the particular product or situation. EX. A national conference on aging for policymakers, government officials, and health care experts attracted attendees because former senator and astronaut John Glenn was a major speaker. EX2. Unilever wanted to reach a Hispanic audience through a series of events promoting its Suave and Caress brands, so it tapped famous stylists Leonardo Rocco and Fernando Navarro, who gave hair and beauty advice to women attending the events. EX3. The Avon Walk for Breast Cancer uses actress Reese Witherspoon as its global ambassador. - A celebrity, or "personality" as such a person is called in the trade, is not exactly the most creative solution to every situation, but it's a time-honored way to increase the odds that the media will cover your event, because "prominence" is considered a basic news value. - A personality, however, can be a major budget item. EX. Stars such as Oprah Winfrey, Jennifer Lopez, and Jon Stewart typically charge $100,000 for an appearance. ----> If you don't have that kind of budget, you'll have to make do with what the business calls the "up and coming" or the "down and going." - Claire Atkinson, writing in PRWeek, explains: "For $5,000 to $10,000, you'll get young TV stars. For $10,000, you can get Ivana Trump to open your restaurant. The cost of a personal appearance by Shirley MacLaine is $50,000. Members of the cast of Friends charge $25,000. Supermodels Claudia Schiffer and Naomi Campbell command between $10,000 and $15,000 per appearance. And soap opera stars tend to get between $5,000 and $10,000, as do lesser TV stars...." - On occasion, if the event is for a charity that the celebrity supports as a personal cause, he or she will reduce or waive an appearance fee. - You should note, however, that the organization is often expected to pay for the celebrity's transportation (first-class, of course), hotel suite, and room service. ----> In addition, an organization also pays the cost of assistants, hairstylists, valets, and other accompanying personnel. ----> Such arrangements can greatly increase your costs, even if the celebrity is "free." - One source for finding celebrities for promotional events is the Celebrity Source. ----> It matches requests with the 4,500 names in its database and handles all the details of negotiating fees, expenses, and transportation logistics for your organization. - The value of a firm such as Celebrity Source or Celebrity Access is that it has regular contact with a celebrity's business agent and publicist. ----> An organization trying to figure out whom to contact for a particular celebrity, let alone how, may have less success. - On its website, Celebrity Source gives some tips on what the firm needs to know in order to select the right celebrity for your event. The following is a good checklist for you if you are thinking about using a celebrity: - What exactly do you want the celebrity to do? - Whom do you want to appeal to by having a celebrity? Is it the public, the media, or the sponsors? - What do you want to accomplish by having a celebrity participate? Sell tickets or add glamour? - What are the demographics of your audience or attendees? - What is your budget? - What is the maximum that you're willing to spend for the right celebrity? - Are you prepared to pay for first-class expenses for the celebrity and at least one staff person? - Do you have access to any perks or gifts that will help motivate the celebrity to say "yes"?
Conventions (15.6) -
A convention or a conference is a series of meetings, usually spread over 2 or more days. - The purpose is to gather and exchange information, meet other people with similar interests, discuss and act on common problems, and enjoy recreation and social networking. - Most conventions are held by national membership groups and trade associations such as the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) or even the National Association of Realtors. ----> Because the membership is widespread, a convention is nearly always "out of town" for many attendees, so convention arrangements must give consideration to this.
Convention Program (15.6.2) -
A convention program usually has a basic theme. - Aside from transacting the necessary organizational business, most of the speeches and other sessions will be devoted to various aspects of the theme. - Themes can range from the specific, such as "New Developments in AIDS Research," to the more general, as in "Quality Management and Productivity." ----> Some groups use an even broader theme, such as "Connections" or "At the Crossroads." - With a theme chosen, the developer of the program looks for prominent speakers who have something significant to say on a particular topic. ----> In addition, there may be a need for discussions, workshops, and other sessions focusing on particular aspects of the general theme. - Large conventions often schedule different sessions at the same time, and attendees choose which session they prefer to attend. - The printed program for the convention is a schedule. ----> It tells the exact room, time, topic, and speakers for every session. - Large, bulky programs may look impressive, but they are cumbersome to carry and expensive to produce. ----> A better approach is to design a program schedule small enough to fit in a pocket or handbag. ----> Another innovative approach is to have an oversized plastic name tag that includes a condensed timeline of events that is placed behind the person's name. - In recent years, the traditional printed program has gone digital. Organizers are now using apps to list all the program details so attendees can conveniently access all the information they need via their smartphones or tablets. ----> Flash drives and microsites are also used to distribute information about sessions, special events, speaker bios, PowerPoint presentations, and even lists of restaurants near the convention center. - It is important to realize, however, that not all convention attendees have gone digital and not everyone has a smartphone or a tablet. ----> Consequently, it's still prudent to make summarized versions of program details in hard copy for those who want them. RECREATION - - Recreation is a feature of practically all conventions. ------> This may range from informal get-togethers to formal dances, cocktail parties, golf tournaments, sightseeing tours, and shopping. - Sometimes recreational events are planned to coincide with regular program sessions. ----> These are patronized by spouses and by delegates who would rather relax than listen to a speaker. - Evening receptions and dinners at interesting venues such as an art gallery or museum are often planned for both attendees and their significant others.
Exhibit Booths (15.7.1) -
Although food and entertainment costs are high, the major expense at a trade show is the exhibit booth. - At national trade shows, it is not unusual for a basic booth to start at $50,000, including design, construction, transportation, and space rental fees. - Larger, more elaborate booths can easily cost between $500,000 and $1 million. - Any booth or exhibit should be designed for maximum visibility. - Experts say you have about 10 seconds to attract a visitor as he or she walks down an aisle of booths. ----> Consequently, companies try to out dazzle each other in booth designs. - Another tactic that attracts attention, of course, is to have a celebrity. EX. Intel, for example, hired soccer star Mia Hamm to demonstrate features of its new processors by working out on an Intel-equipped fitness machine. EX2. Polaroid did one better by appointing Lady Gaga a creative director and having her demonstrate some of the company's new imaging products at its booth on the first day of CES. - Her appearance, of course, stole the show and generated reams of media coverage for Polaroid. ----> Companies compete to attract visitors to their trade show booths, and Polaroid pulled out all the stops by having Lady Gaga appear to demonstrate products at the CES meeting in Las Vegas. ----> The company stole the show on opening day and generated considerable media coverage. - Not every company has the resources to hire Lady Gaga, but here are some points to keep in mind if you get involved in planning an exhibit booth: - Select the appropriate trade shows that have the best potential for developing contacts and generating future sales. - Start planning and developing your exhibit 6 to 12 months in advance. Exhibit designers and builders need time to develop a booth. - Make the display or booth visually attractive. Use bright colors, large signs, and working models of products. - Think about putting action in your display. Have a video or slide presentation running all the time. - Use involvement techniques. Have a contest or raffle in which visitors can win a prize. An exhibitor at one show even offered free foot massages. - Give people an opportunity to operate equipment or do something. - Have knowledgeable, personable representatives on duty to answer questions and collect visitor business cards for follow-up. - Offer useful souvenirs, often called "swag." A key chain, a shopping bag, a luggage tag, or even a copy of a popular newspaper or magazine will attract traffic. - Promote your exhibit in advance. Send announcements to potential customers and media kits to selected journalists and influential bloggers 4 to 6 weeks before the trade show. - Most organizations feel that the large investment in a booth at a trade show is worthwhile for two reasons. 1) First, a trade show facilitates one-on-one communication with potential customers and helps generate sales leads. - It also attracts many journalists, so it is easier and more efficient to provide press materials, arrange one-on-one interviews, and demonstrate what makes the product worth a story. 2) Second, a booth allows an exhibitor to demonstrate how its products differ from the competition. - This is more effective than just sending prospects a color brochure. It also is more cost-effective than making individual sales calls. HOSPITALITY SUITES - Hospitality suites are an adjunct to the exhibit booth. - Organizations use them to entertain key prospects, give more in-depth presentations, and talk about business deals. ----> The idea is that serious customers will stay in a hospitality suite long enough to hear an entire presentation, whereas they are likely to stop at an exhibit hall booth for only a few minutes. - Although goodwill can be gained from free concerts and cocktail parties, the primary purpose of a hospitality suite is to generate leads that ultimately result in product sales.
Meeting Program -
At any meeting, the word "program" has two meanings. 1) It is what goes on at the meeting, and 2) it is the printed listing of what goes on. - The meeting must have a purpose. ----> To serve that purpose, it is necessary to have a chairperson who controls and directs the meeting, introduces the speakers, and keeps discussions from wandering. - It is necessary to have speakers who will inform, persuade, or motivate the listeners to take action. - The printed program that is handed out to the audience in a workshop or seminar tells them what is going to happen, when, and where. ----> It lists all the speakers, the time they will speak, coffee breaks, lunch breaks, and any other facts attendees should know about the meeting. - Because speakers may have last-minute changes in their plans, the programs should not be printed until the last possible moment. - An innovative way of giving a summary of the program is to have a plastic holder for the name tag that is large enough to have a condensed schedule inserted behind the attendee's name. SPEAKERS - - Speakers should be selected early—several months in advance, if possible. ----> They should be chosen because of their expertise, their crowd-drawing capacity, and their speaking ability. - It is a good idea to listen to any prospective speaker before tendering an invitation, or at least to discuss your intention with someone who has heard the person speak before. - Many prominent people are not effective speakers. When a speaker has agreed to give a talk, it is essential to make sure that he or she has all the information needed to prepare remarks and get to the meeting. - Barbara Nichols, owner of a hospitality management firm in New York City, gave this comprehensive checklist to Meeting News regarding what speakers should be told about your meeting: - The meeting's sponsor and who is expected to attend - Meeting purpose and objectives - Presentation location, including meeting room, date, -and hour - Topic and length of presentation - Anticipated size of the audience - Session format, including length of time allowed for audience questions - Names of those sharing the platform, if any, and their topics - Name of person who will make the introductions - Speaker fee or honorarium - Travel and housing arrangements - Meeting room setup and staging information - Audiovisual equipment needed - Dress code (business attire, resort wear, black tie) - Request to speaker for presentation outline, handout material - Signed release to record or videotape the remarks - Arrangements for spouse, if invited MEALS - Breakfast : - Club meetings and workshops often occur at a mealtime. In fact, many meetings include breakfast, lunch, or dinner. - Early morning breakfast meetings have the advantage of attracting people who cannot take the time during the day to attend such functions. ----> A full breakfast, served buffet style, is a popular choice, because it allows people to select what they normally eat for breakfast. - People attending a half-day or full-day workshop often partake of a self-served continental breakfast—rolls, juice, and coffee—during the registration period just prior to the start of the meeting. Lunches : - Luncheons are either sit-down affairs with a fixed menu or buffets. ----> A 30- to 45-minute cocktail period may precede a luncheon, usually during registration, as guests arrive. - A good schedule for a typical luncheon is registration, 11:30; luncheon, noon; adjournment, 1:30. ----> In rare instances, the adjournment can be as late as 2 p.m., but it should never be later than that. Dinner : - Dinner meetings are handled in much the same way as luncheons. ----> A typical schedule is registration and cocktails, 6 p.m.; dinner, 7 p.m.; speaker, 8 p.m.; adjournment, between 8:30 and 9 p.m. Speakers should talk for about 20 minutes. - You will need to have an accurate count of people who will attend a meal function. - The hotel or restaurant facility needs a count at least 24 hours in advance to prepare the food and set up table service. - The standard practice is for the organization to guarantee a certain number of meals, plus or minus 10 percent. ----> If fewer attendees than guaranteed show up, you still pay for all the meals. - For sit-down dinners such as banquets, planners say it's essential that you have confirmed and paid reservations in advance through the RSVP process.
Banquets -
Banquets, by definition, are fairly large and formal dinner functions. - They are held to honor an individual, raise money for a charitable organization, or celebrate an event, such as an organization's anniversary. - A banquet or even a reception may have 100 or 1,000 people in attendance, and staging a successful one takes a great deal of planning. - The budget, in particular, needs close attention. A banquet coordinator has to consider such costs as : (1) food, (2) room rental, (3) bartenders, (4) decorations and table centerpieces, (5) audiovisual requirements, (6) speaker fees, (7) entertainment, (8) photographers, (9) invitations, (10) tickets, and (11) marketing and promotion. ----> All of these components, of course, must be factored into establishing the per-ticket cost of the event. - You are not just paying $75 to $175 for the traditional rubber chicken dinner, but for the total cost of staging the event. - If the purpose is to raise money for a worthy charitable organization or a political candidate, tickets might go for $200 or more. ----> The actual price, of course, depends on how fancy the banquet is and how much you are paying for a speaker. - Featuring a well-known personality as a banquet speaker usually helps ticket sales, but it also is a major expense in your budget. - Karen Kendig, president of the Speaker's Network, told Public Relations Tactics that the going rate is $3,000 to $10,000 for "bread-and-butter" business-type talks, and $15,000 or more for motivational speakers and lesser-known entertainment and political personalities. - A number of firms, such as the Washington Speaker's Bureau in Alexandria, Virginia, and the Harry Walker Agency in New York, represent celebrity speakers who have fees ranging from $5,000 to $100,000+. ----> Such fees cannot be fully absorbed in the cost of an individual ticket so, in addition to sending out individual invitations, there usually is a committee that personally asks corporations and other businesses to sponsor the event or buy a table for employees, clients, or friends. EX. A corporate table of eight, for example, may go for $25,000 or more, depending on the prestige and purpose of the event.
Ten Tips for Tweeting at Conferences -
EasyBib, a software firm specializing in education, gives some guidelines for tweeting at a conference : 1) Follow keynote speakers and presenters ahead of time. 2) Tweet conference hashtags. 3) Use an app like TweetCaster to monitor them. 4) Attribute the speaker and use his or her Twitter handle (username) if available. 5) Create a Twitter list for the conference and add presenters and attendees. 6) Save space and shorten URL links using tools like Bit.ly or Ow.ly. 7) Posting photos and infographics can get more exposure. 8) Acknowledge tweets by others. 9) Always engage with people who interact with you. 10) Put a face to a handle and get together with your Twitter friends.
How to Plan a Meeting -
Every meeting requires its own specialized checklist, but here is a general "to-do" list for a local dinner meeting of a service club or professional association. IN ADVANCED = - What is the purpose of the meeting? Business? Social? Continuing education? Combination? - What date and time are best for maximum attendance? - What size audience do you realistically expect? Select the restaurant facility at least 4 to 6 weeks in advance. - Confirm the following in writing: date, time, menu, cocktails, seating plan, number of guaranteed reservations, and projected costs. - Enlist the speaker 4 to 6 weeks in advance. If the speaker is in high demand, make arrangements several months in advance. Discuss the nature of the talk, its projected length, and whether audiovisual aids will be used that require special equipment. - Publicize the meeting to the membership and other interested parties. This should be done a minimum of 3 weeks in advance. Provide complete information on speaker, date, time, location, meal costs, and reservation procedure. - Organize a phone committee to call members 72 hours before the event if reservations are lagging. A reminder phone call is often helpful in gaining last-minute reservations. ON THE MEETING DAY = - Get a final count on reservations, and make an educated guess as to how many people might arrive at the door without a reservation. - Check the speaker's travel plans and last-minute questions or requirements. - Give the catering manager a revised final count for meal service. In many instances, this might have to be done 24 to 72 hours in advance of the meeting day. - Check room arrangements 1 to 2 hours in advance of the meeting. Have enough tables been set up? Are tables arranged correctly for the meeting? Does the microphone system work? - Prepare a timetable for the evening's events. For example, cocktails may be scheduled from 6:15 to 7 p.m., with registration going on at the same time. Dinner may be from 7 to 8 p.m., followed by 10 minutes of announcements. At 8:10 p.m., the speaker will have 20 minutes to talk, followed by an additional 10 minutes for questions. Your organizational leaders, as well as the serving staff, should be aware of this schedule. The "program" of event may be an internal document for the organizers, or it could also be distributed to the attendees. - Set up a registration table just inside or outside the door. A typed list of reservations should be available, as well as name tags, meal tickets, and a cash box for making change. Personnel at the registration table should be briefed and in place at least 30 minutes before the announced time. - Decide on a seating plan for the head table, organize place cards, and tell VIPs as they arrive where they will be sitting. - Designate three or four members of the organization as a hospitality committee to meet and greet newcomers and guests. AFTER THE MEETING = - Settle accounts with the restaurant, or indicate where an itemized bill should be mailed. - Check the room to make sure no one forgot briefcases, handbags, eyeglasses, or other belongings. Send thank-you notes to the speaker and any committee members who helped plan or host the meeting. - Prepare a summary of the speaker's comments for the organization's newsletter.
Convention Facilities -
For every meeting or session of the convention, it is necessary to have a room of the right size and the equipment needed for whatever is to occur in that room. - The convention might start with a general meeting in a large ballroom, where seating is theater fashion and the equipment consists of a public address system and a speaker's platform with large video monitors. - After opening remarks, the convention might break into smaller groups that meet in different rooms with widely varying facilities. - Your responsibility is to ensure that the presenter in these sessions has the equipment needed. --> One speaker may require a computer projector and wireless access to the Internet. --> Another may just need a pad of paper on an easel, while someone else needs a DVD player. --> In one room the speaker may request round table seating, while another presenter wants theater seating. - To get everything right, you must know exactly what is to happen, who is going to participate, and when. - Event planners today must also ensure that any facility, whether it's a hotel or a convention center, has sufficient bandwidth to handle large groups of people all accessing the Internet at the same time. - A large percentage of attendees, while listening to speakers, are also checking their email, surfing the Web, and tweeting about what is being said. - Brad Weaber, the executive vice president for event services at Smith Bucklin, told the New York Times, "Today, you can't not have full connectivity for your attendees or they won't come." - Twitter, in particular, is popular among the younger generation of convention attendees. ----> They tweet to share what they have learned, quote keynote speakers, discuss and connect with other attendees, and give feedback to the event's organizers. - At many conferences, monitors are even set-up so the entire audience can see tweets as they are posted. EXHIBITS - - The makers and sellers of supplies and equipment that are used by people attending conventions frequently want to show their wares. ----> This means that the conference manager must provide space suitable for that purpose. - Most large convention centers have facilities that can accommodate anything from books to bulldozers. ----> There is a charge for the use of these rooms, and the exhibitors pay for the space they use. - The exhibit hall may be in the hotel where the convention is being held or in a separate building. EX. For example, McCormick Place is an enormous building on the Chicago lakefront. It is an easy taxi trip from the Loop, where conventions are usually based and where the visitors sleep. Eating facilities, ranging from hot dog stands to elaborate dining rooms, are to be found in almost any such building.
Convention Attendance -
Getting people to attend a convention requires two things: (1) an appealing program and (2) a concerted effort to persuade members to attend. - Announcements and invitations should go out several months in advance to allow attendees to make travel plans. - A second and even a third mailing or email blast is often done in the weeks preceding the convention. ----> Reply forms should be provided, accompanied by online hotel reservation forms. - Many corporations and organizations now use specialty firms such as Cvent that prepare digital invitations and provide event management tools. - Although email invitations are economical and efficient, they are most appropriate for business-related meetings and events. ----> It's still considered tacky to send an email invitation to your wedding or to a major fundraising dinner for a community cause. ----> In these instances, mailed invitations and replies are the norm. - If you use a mailed invitation, you can still provide an email address or phone number for people to respond if they don't want to fill out the reply card. ADMINISTRATION - - Managing a convention is a strenuous job. - The organization's staff is likely to see very little of the program and spend considerable time just dealing with the various logistical issues and glitches that occur on a daily basis when managing any large event. - Among the things that must be done are arranging for buses to convey delegates from the airport to the convention (if it is in a remote location) and to take them on tours. - Meeting speakers and getting them to the right place at the right time is another task. - People arriving at the convention in a large city must be met, registered, and provided with all the essentials (name tags, programs, and any other needed materials). - Special arrangements also need to be made for the media. - A small convention may interest only a few people from trade publications, but larger conventions may draw attention from the major media outlets. ----> In this case, a newsroom should be set up with telephones, computers, Internet access, tables, and other needed equipment, as discussed in the next section. ----> A refreshment area is also a good idea.
Larger Group Meetings (15.3) -
Having meetings seems to be part of human nature. - There are literally thousands of civic clubs, professional societies, trade associations, and hobby groups that have meetings that attract millions of people every year. - In addition, many of these organizations sponsor workshops and seminars on a regular basis.
How to Plan a Open House -
Here is a general "to-do" list for planning and conducting a successful open house : PREPLANNING - Initial Planning = - Select and research the date. - Set up your committees or areas of responsibility. - Determine your budget. Open House Announcement = - Notify employees and recruit their assistance. - Invite staff and families, if appropriate. - Develop your mailing list. - Design and print invitations. - Arrange advertising. - Prepare and distribute press releases/posters. - Create radio/TV spots. Food and Beverages = - Decide on the menu. - Arrange for catering or volunteer servers. - Arrange for cleanup. Equipment/Decorations = - Determine what equipment is available from your organization. - Arrange for necessary rentals, such as tables, chairs, or an outdoor tent. - Arrange for table linens, plates, and silverware. - Plan flowers in strategic locations. Specialty Advertising = - Arrange for giveaways that increase your organization's visibility, such as balloons, T-shirts, and mugs. Media Relations = - Invite the media personally and by mail. - Develop and distribute press releases announcing the event. - Arrange for media coverage on the day of the open house. - Arrange for a photographer to cover the event (photos can be used for publicity or internal communications). DAY OF RECEPTION - Reception = - Set up a staffed reception table with a sign-in book. - Distribute information on your organization and giveaways. - Have staff explain the activities to guests. Tours = (Some preparation required in planning process) Develop a floor plan for tours to ensure consistency. Arrange a regular tour schedule, such as every 30 minutes. Offer an incentive (such as a T-shirt) to those who complete the tour. Brief tour guides on the key points to cover and how to field questions. Arrange for visuals such as a display or demonstrations during the tour. Activities/Entertainment This depends on the nature of your event but could include: Health education displays or screenings. A road race. Games, a magician, or a storyteller for the children. A local band. A short questionnaire to evaluate community response to the event and issues related to your organization. Ceremony Arrange a focal point for your open house, such as a ribbon cutting, awards ceremony, music/dance performance, or brief message from the company president.
PR Casebook: Festivals Celebrate Everything from Garlic to Beer
Hundreds of towns and cities around the world sponsor festivals as a way to promote themselves, provide entertainment for local citizens, attract tourists, and often raise money for various local charities. - The planning and implementation of a festival require event planners to be experts in logistics and the ability to manage a thousand details. -The following is a snapshot of two annual festivals : THE GILROY GARLIC FESTIVAL - The farming community of Gilroy, California, is primarily known as the major producer of garlic in the United States. - This spawned the idea of having an annual Garlic Festival where everything from garlic fries to garlic ice cream would be served. - Today, more than 100,000 people attend the Gilroy Garlic Festival from as far away as Asia and Europe, for 3 days of cook-off competitions, sample food prepared by celebrity chefs, and enjoying the smell of everything garlic. - A community non-profit group sponsors the festival and, in the past 35 years, has raised more than $9 million for local charitable groups. - An army of local volunteers staff the festival and oversee the consumption of about 2.5 tons of garlic, 10,000 loaves of French bread, 10,000 pounds of fries, 2,700 pounds of sausages, 5,000 pounds of squid, and 4,000 pounds of prawns. BELGRADE BEER FEST - A major event that promotes Serbia as a nation worth visiting is the Belgrade Beer Fest. - This 5-day festival attracts 500,000 visitors to drink 50 different brands of beer and listen to popular bands from the Balkans, and is also popular with locals as a form of entertainment in the hot days of August. - Planning for the annual event is a year-round process in terms of signing contracts with bands, negotiating with breweries for exhibit space, vetting food vendors, preparing promotional materials and news releases, and dealing with such logistics as the number of portable potties needed for all those beer drinkers. - Estimating the number of potties needed is somewhat of an art, but rental companies have established some general guidelines. The beer fest, lasting about 9 hours each day, required about 1,000 potties to accommodate the crowd of almost 100,000 every day. - The fest celebrated its 12th anniversary in 2014 with more than 1 million liters of beer consumed. Promotion of the event is through stories in the traditional media and in the social media, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. Dejan Grastic, general manager of the Belgrade Cultural Network (BCN) and sponsor of the beer fest, says, "The fest takes a lot of diligence and hard work, but it really helps Serbia's image as a tourist destination."
Meeting Registration (15.3.4) -
If everyone knows everyone else, registration can be somewhat informal. - In the case of a civic club that holds regular monthly meetings, the arrivals often sign in on a plain sheet of paper, and no one checks the membership roster. - If the group is large, however, it is customary to have a registration desk or table at the entrance. ----> Here the names of arrivals are checked against lists of those who have registered for the event and, in many cases, paid for it. GREETING - - A representative of the sponsoring organization should be at the entrance of the room. - If the number attending is not too large, a personal welcome is in order. - When hundreds of people are expected, this isn't possible, but the chairperson should greet the audience in his or her opening remarks. NAME TAGS - - Name tags are a good idea at almost any meeting. - You should use label-making software to prepare name tags for everyone with advance reservations. - Names should be printed in bold, large block letters so that they can be read easily from a distance of 4 feet. - If the person's affiliation is used, this can be in smaller bold letters. - For people showing up without advance registration, you can have felt-tip pens available for on-the-spot name tags. ----> However, a nice touch is to have someone at the registration desk make these tags so that they look neat and consistent. - Most tags are self-adhesive. - Plastic badges with clamps or a chain are popular for large meetings such as conventions. - A higher-tech name tag has magnetic clips. ----> These tags are relatively expensive, however, so it's better to use them at smaller events where guests can be asked to return them for future use.
Planning a Convention (15.6.1) -
It is necessary to begin planning far in advance of the actual event. - Planning for even the smallest convention should start months before the scheduled date; for large national conventions, it may begin several years ahead and require hundreds or thousands of hours of work. - The main components in planning a convention are : (1) timing, (2) location, (3) facilities, (4) exhibits, (5) program, (6) recreation, (7) attendance, and (8) administration - There's an entire industry of specialists in event planning, which may appeal to you as a career. TIMING - Timing must be convenient for the people who are expected to attend. - Avoid peak work periods. - Summer vacation is appropriate for educators, and after harvest is suitable for farmers. - Preholiday periods are bad for retailers, and midwinter is probably a poor time in the northern United States but may be very good in the South. ---> Here, as in every area dealing with the public, it is imperative to know your audience and to plan for their convenience. LOCATION - As real estate agents say, "it's location, location, location." - A national convention can be anywhere in the country, but one in Fairbanks, Alaska, would probably not be well attended. - A convention in Las Vegas or New Orleans could be a great success because the glamour of the location might outweigh the cost and time of travel. - Many organizations rotate their conventions from one part of the state, region, or country to another to equalize travel burdens. - Another factor in choosing a location is the availability of accommodations. - A suitable number of rooms must be available to house the attendees. ----> In addition, enough meeting rooms of the right size must also be available. - Timing enters into this, because many such accommodations are booked months, or even years, in advance. - Large cities usually have large convention facilities and numerous hotels, but early reservations are necessary for such popular cities as San Francisco, New York, New Orleans, Las Vegas, and San Diego. - Once a tentative location has been selected, you must find out if the convention can be handled at the time chosen. ----> Early action on this can forestall later changes. - Be sure to get a definite price on guest rooms as well as meeting rooms. - Small conventions are often held in resorts, but accessibility is a factor. ----> If the visitors have to change airlines several times or if the location is difficult to reach by car or a shuttle bus, the glamour may fail to compensate for the inconvenience.
Meeting Space Logistics (15.3.2) -
LOCATION - - If the meeting is to be held on the premises of the organization, the room can be reserved by contacting whoever is responsible for such arrangements. - If the meeting is to be held at some outside location, you will have to talk to the person in charge. - In a hotel or restaurant, that person is the catering manager. In a school, it may be the principal; in a church, the minister or priest. - The meeting room must be the right size for the expected audience. ----> If it is too large, the audience will feel that the meeting has failed to draw the expected attendance. ----> If it is too small, the audience will be uncomfortable. - Most hotels have a number of meeting rooms ranging in size from small to very large. - If you hold your meeting in a hotel or in a restaurant with many banquet rooms, make sure your meeting is listed on a board or sign so guests know where to find the meeting. SEATING - - A variety of seating arrangements can be used, depending on the purpose of the meeting. EX. A monthly club meeting, for example, often features a luncheon or dinner. --> In this case, attendees are usually seated at round tables of six or eight, where they first have a meal and then listen to a speaker. - Seminars, designed primarily for listening, usually have what is called "theater" seating. ----> Rows of seats are set up, all facing the speakers. - A workshop or a small seminar may use what is called "lunchroom" seating. ----> This uses long tables with chairs on one side so that attendees can take notes or set up laptop computers. - Occasionally, large meetings are broken into discussion groups. ----> Typically, the audience starts in one large room, where a speaker gives information and states a problem. - The audience then moves into another room, or set of rooms, where round tables seating 8 or 10 people are available. - A discussion leader is designated for each table. - After the problem has been discussed, the leaders gather the opinions and the audience returns to the first room, where reports from each group are given to the entire assembly. FACILITIES - - A small meeting may not need much in the way of facilities, whereas a large and formal one may require a considerable amount of equipment and furnishings. - The following are things that should be considered—and supplied if needed. You should check everything an hour or two before the meeting : MEETING IDENTIFICATION. Is it posted on the bulletin board near the building entrance? Are directional signs needed? LIGHTING. Is it adequate? Can it be controlled? Where are the controls? Who will handle them? SCREEN OR MONITORS. Are they large enough for the size of the audience? PROJECTORS AND VIDEO EQUIPMENT. Are they hooked up and working? Whom do you contact at the facility if you have technical difficulties? SEATING AND TABLES. Are there enough seats for the audience you are expecting? Are they arranged properly? SPEAKER'S PODIUM. Is it positioned properly? What about a reading light? Is there a PA system? Is it working? WI-FI. Can the room's wireless network support all the users who may be tweeting, checking their messages, or downloading material from various websites? CHARGING STATIONS. It's impractical to provide electrical outlets for all attendees in a meeting room, but "charging stations" are often provided in the foyer of the room. WATER AND GLASSES. For speakers? For audience? AUDIENCE AND SPEAKER AIDS. Are there programs or agendas? Will there be notepaper, pencils, and handout materials? NAME TAGS. For speakers? For all attendees?
Profile of an Event Planner -
Many students, particularly women, perceive event planning as a somewhat fun and even a glamorous career. Unfortunately the perception often doesn't match reality. Some occupation studies, for example, have ranked event coordinator as one of the top five most stressful jobs, just below being in the military. - Quickmobile, a software company specializing in mobile event apps, compiled data on the profile of the average event planner. They: - Go by many names: conference planner, meeting planner, event specialist, etc. - Plan an average of five to nine events annually. - Spend an average of 2 weeks on the road. - Get an average of 5 or 6 hours of sleep in the planning stage of an event. - Often work 15- to 20-hour days. - Worry a lot about technology challenges such as bandwidth availability at a convention or trade show. - Consider cost as the most important consideration in choosing a venue. The next most important are the location and then the range of culinary offerings available at the meeting venue. - Select Canada as the top international location (North American planners). - Believe they need one or two meetings a week with an employer or client to plan an event. - Consider the biggest challenge they face to be the increasing cost of food, hotels, and convention facilities. - For more information on becoming an event planner, a good source is the Event Planners Association (EPA) that offers resources and case studies of successful events. In addition, the EPA sponsors the Student Event - Planners Association (SEPA), which gives students a free subscription to its e-newsletter.
Meeting Invitations (15.3.3)-
Members of clubs are usually notified somewhat informally through the organization's newsletter, webpage, or group e-mail. - It gets more complicated, however, when the invitation list for a meeting or special event includes individuals who may or may not be affiliated with the organization or individual hosting the event. ---> In this case, invitations should be sent by mail, email, or an online invitation service, depending on the nature of the event. EX. An invite to an informal cocktail party or reception, for example, may be conveyed through an online invitation service. - Mailed invitations, however, are required for banquets, major fundraisers, and even weddings. EX. A good example of a MAILED INVITATION is one by History San Jose- Invitations to banquets and fundraising events are usually sent by mail and have reply cards that collect such vital information as names, mailing addresses, email addresses, and credit card information. This invitation from History San Jose (CA) is well organized and provides all the information necessary about the event. The reply card, not shown, provided space for ordering an individual ticket or an entire table ($1,750), and the opportunity to either pay by check or credit card. Registrants were reminded, "Payment must accompany the reservation card." - The invitation should tell the time, day, date, place (including the name of the room), purpose, highlights of the program (including names of speakers), and a way for the person to RSVP. ----> This may be a telephone number, an email address, a reply card mailed back to the event's organizers, or even an online registration service that handles everything from making the reservation to processing the credit card information to pay for the event. - A map showing the location and parking facilities is advisable if the facility is large or not widely known. - Invitations, whatever the distribution method, should be sent 3 to 6 weeks before the meeting or event so invitees can fit it into their schedules. - A major stress for event planners, however, is that invitees often don't RSVP in a timely manner. EX. Ellen Byron, a reporter for the Wall Street Journal, wrote about the problem: "Even the calmest of organizers say they are increasingly frazzled over the bad manners of guests who don't comply with the request to 'répondez s'il vous plaît'. - Tardy responses or none at all create a ripple effect of party problems, including last minute haranguing by the host, overwhelmed party spaces, and food shortages." ----> To avoid such problems, event planners must spend considerable time contacting invitees by phone and email to get a reply. - According to the Emily Post Institute, "Ask directly and keep it simple and light. If an invitee hedges their reply, set a new deadline for them."
Open Houses and Plant Tours (15.9) -
Open houses and plant tours are another kind of special event. - They are conducted primarily to develop favorable public opinion about an organization. - Generally, Open Houses and Plant Tours show the facilities where the organization does its work and, in the case of plant tours, how the work is done. EX. A factory might have a plant tour to show how it turns raw materials into finished products. EX2. A hospital open house could show its emergency facilities, diagnostic equipment, operating rooms, and patient rooms. - Open houses are customarily one-day affairs. Attendance to open houses and plant tours are usually by invitation, but in other instances the event is announced in the media, and anyone who chooses to attend may do so. - If you're having a community open house, you also have to think about entertainment and activities for the attendees. - Many plants offer tours daily or regularly while the plant is in operation. ----> These tours are most common among producers of consumer goods such as beer, wine, food products, clothing, and small appliances. ----> The daily tours are geared to handle only a few people at any one time, whereas open houses generally have a large number of guests and normal operations are not feasible during the tour. - For an open house or a plant tour to present the organization in the best light, it must be carefully planned, thoroughly explained, and smoothly conducted. - The visitors must understand what they are seeing. ----> This requires careful routing, control to prevent congestion, signs, and guides. - All employees who will be present should understand the purpose of the event and be coached in their duties. - There are three major factors to consider when planning an open house: 1) DAY AND HOUR. The time must be convenient for both the organization and the guests. 2) GUESTS. These may be families of employees, customers, representatives of the community, suppliers and competitors, reporters, or others whose goodwill is desirable. 3) PUBLICITY AND INVITATIONS. These materials should be distributed at least a month before the event. ----> If a plant tour is offered on a daily basis, the availability of the tour should be announced by signs near the plant and possibly by advertising or publicity. - For any open house or plant tour, consider the following points: - VEHICLES. Parking must be available, and there should be a map on the invitation showing how to get there and where to park. - RECEPTION. A representative of the organization should meet and greet all arriving guests. If guests are important people, they should meet the top officials of the organization. - RESTROOMS. If you are expecting a large crowd, arrange for portable toilets to supplement the regular facilities that are available for the public. The American Restroom Association recommends that there be one portable potty for every 300 people, but portable potty companies often recommend at least four potties for a four-hour event with 500 people attending. More potties are needed, however, if alcoholic beverages are served. - SAFETY. Hazards should be conspicuously marked and well lighted. Dangerous equipment should be barricaded. - ROUTING. Routes should be well marked and logical (in a factory, the route should go from raw materials through production steps to the finished product). A map should be given to each visitor if the route is long or complicated. - GUIDES. Tours should be led by trained guides who have a thorough knowledge of the organization and can explain in detail what visitors are seeing on the tour. - EXPLANATION. Signs, charts, and diagrams may be necessary at any point to supplement the words of the guides. The guides must be coached to say exactly what the public should be told. Many experts can't explain what they do, so a prepared explanation is necessary. - HOUSEKEEPING AND ATTIRE. The premises should be as clean as possible. Attire should be clean and appropriate. A punch press operator doesn't wear a necktie, but his overalls need not be greasy. - EMERGENCIES. Accidents or illness may occur. All employees should know what to do and how to request appropriate medical assistance. ----> An open house requires an event planner to take an additional series of steps.
Banquet Logistics and Timing (15.4.2) -
Organizing a banquet requires considerable logistics, timing, and teamwork. - First, you have to establish a timeline for the entire process—from the contacting of catering managers to lining up a speaker and sending out invitations. - Second, you need a detailed timeline for the several days leading up to the day of the event, to ensure that everything is in place. - Third, you should have a timeline for the event itself, so that it begins and ends at a reasonable time. EX. a timeline prepared by the organizers of an awards banquet. Copies are distributed to the master of ceremonies and those scheduled to speak so they know exactly how long their introductions and short speeches should be, in order to keep the proceedings on schedule. To keep the audience engaged, banquets must be fast-paced and always end at a reasonable time. - In addition, you need to work out the logistics to ensure that registration lines are kept to a minimum and that everyone is assigned to a table. - Table numbers must be highly visible. \ ----> If the group is particularly large (1,000 or more), you should provide a large seating chart so people can locate where they are sitting. - Another more personalized approach is to have staff inside the hall directing people to their seats.
How to Do Media Relations at a Trade Show -
Sarah Skerik, director of trade show markets for PR Newswire, provides some additional tips for working with the media during a trade show: - Plan major product announcements to coincide with the show. - Include the name of the trade show in your news releases, so journalists searching databases can log on using the show as a keyword. - Include your booth number in all releases and announcements. - Make it easy for journalists to track down key spokespeople and experts connected with your product by including cell phone numbers, Twitter hashtags, and email addresses in your materials. - Have your spokespeople trained to make brief presentations and equip them with answers to the most likely questions to be asked. - Consider a looped video to run in the booth, with copies available to the media. - Provide photos that show the product in use, in production, or in development. - Provide online corporate logos, product photos, executive profiles, media kits, and PowerPoint presentations to those journalists who cannot attend or who prefer to lighten their suitcase by having everything in digital format.
Staff and Committee Meetings (15.2) -
Staff and committee meetings are part of any organization, from the local garden club to the multinational corporation. - Indeed, through such meetings, employees or group members have a chance to express their views and participate in decision making. - There are two major complaints about meetings: 1) They are time consuming, and 2) they are often ineffective. EX. Fuze, a video conferencing supplier, compiled data from a variety of sources and found that 15 percent of an organization's collective time was spent in unproductive meetings, and the annual cost of such meetings in the United States was $37 billion annually. - It was also estimated that middle managers spent 35 percent of their time in meetings and that upper management spent 50 percent of their time attending meetings. - To add insult to injury, executives felt that almost 70 percent of the meetings they attended failed to get anything accomplished. EX. In another study, the Wharton Center for Applied Research found that about 30 percent of these meeting could have been better handled through one-on-one talks, by phone, or via email. - The behavior of those attending a meeting is also a factor leading to less-than-successful outcomes. EX. A 2014 Gallup survey of the workplace found that more than 90 percent of those attending a meeting are multitasking and not really paying attention to the business at hand. - Almost 70 percent are reading their email, 50 percent are doing other work, 45 percent are eating, and another 45 percent are talking to each other. ----> That's why many organizations, in order to counter such distractions, have ruled that all mobile devices must be turned off during the meeting - something like the Old West days when saloons ordered cowboys to check their guns before entering the bar. - All this is not to say that meetings should be banned. ----> It does say, however, that meetings should be held only if other communication channels are not appropriate for accomplishing the purpose of the meeting. - "Is this meeting really necessary?" is always a good question to ask before scheduling a meeting. ----> If the answer is "yes," consider the following guidelines for having an effective staff or committee meeting: - LIMIT ATTENDANCE. Only those who are directly involved should be invited. - DISTRIBUTE THE AGENDA AND OTHER MATERIALS IN ADVANCE. Let people know what will be discussed or decided, so they can think about the issues before the meeting. Experts recommend that you prioritize the agenda and plan to cover only two or three items. - USE A ROUND TABLE. Everyone has equal positional status and equal access to each other. The next best alternative is a square table. - SET A TIME LIMIT. The agenda should clearly state the beginning and ending time of the meeting, so people can plan their day. A meeting should run a maximum of 60 to 90 minutes. The longer the meeting runs, the less effective it is. - MANAGE THE MEETING. The chairperson must make sure the meeting stays on track. Do not allow an individual or the group to go off on tangents. - BUDGET TIME. Set a time limit for discussion of a specific agenda item. Do not spend an excessive amount of time on an item that shortchanges other items on the agenda. - KNOW ROBERT'S RULES OF ORDER. It may be unnecessary in an informal, friendly meeting, but knowledge of parliamentary procedure is helpful to manage discussion and conclude it with a vote. - CLOSE WITH A BRIEF OVERVIEW. At the end of the meeting, summarize what has been accomplished, what will be done, and who will do it. Remember that meetings are held to make decisions, not just to discuss things. - DISTRIBUTE A SUMMARY MEMO. The chair or secretary should distribute a summary of the meeting within a day after the meeting. This helps remind people what was decided.
Online Invites Make it Easy to RSVP -
The digital age has made event planning more precise. A number of companies now offer event planners the ability to send invitations via the Internet and to track response rates. - Email invitations are used for any number of organizational meetings and corporate events, including a college student having a party to celebrate his or her 21st birthday. Evite, for example, sends more than 700,000 invites daily and has almost become a household name. Another firm, Paperless Post, offers a more "formal" invitation that resembles those found in a stationery shop. - Email invitations, according to Cvent, a firm offering such services, should have eye-catching graphics, an effective subject line, and relevant content, such as the five Ws and one H. - Most individuals just concern themselves with generating a list of yes, no, and maybe responses, but professional and trade groups bundle the email invitation with software that enables attendees to pay registration fees online. According to Cvent, event planners can achieve up to three times the standard response rate by integrating email, direct mail, and phone campaigns. - Meeting planners like the capabilities of software programs and online systems that allow them to manage an entire event online. StarCite and Cvent, for example, offer a variety of web-based meeting management services—from gathering hotel bids to sending electronic invitations and tracking registrations online. Software can even compile data on why individuals aren't coming to the event, which may help in planning future meetings. Once someone does register, the site also allows him or her to book hotel, airline, and car reservations at the same time. - Electronic tracking is also helpful for figuring out exactly how many hotel rooms are needed; bad estimates, cancellations, and no-shows can add up to substantial hotel cancellation fees. Other management tools allow groups to track the flow of registrations. If registrations are lagging, it's a signal to do another round of emails and direct mail to bolster attendance. You can even track attendance at various sessions. If breakfast sessions, for example, aren't well attended, it might be wise to plan fewer early morning meetings next year.
Trade Shows (15.7) -
Trade shows are the ultimate marketing event. - According to Tradeshow Week magazine, about 6,000 trade shows are held annually in the United States. ----> They range in size from more than 100,000 attendees to those in very specialized industries that attract fewer than 1,000 attendees. ----> It is estimated that about 65 million people attend trade shows on an annual basis. - A trade show differs from a convention in terms of its primary focus. - Conventions tend to focus on speakers, professional workshops, and continuing education, while trade shows are primarily a showcase for companies exhibiting their new products and services. EX. The International Consumer Electronics Show (CES), sponsored by the Consumer Electronics Association, is a good example of a trade show. - The show, open only to industry professionals, is held in the Las Vegas Convention Center every January. ----> At the 2015 CES, about 3,600 companies showed their new consumer products, taking up over 2 million square feet of exhibit space. - For exhibitors, the CES event is the coming-out party for many new products such as advanced 4K televisions, tablets, smartphones, and hundreds of other high-tech gizmos. EX. The 2015 show was primarily about the coming era of the Internet of Things. - Many companies exhibited smart-home products, such as connected refrigerators that would let you know when you were out of beer while you were at the supermarket. - Another gadget was a smartphone-connected outdoor grill that could send users a message when it was time to flip the burgers. EX2. Another trade show that is open to the general public and perhaps more familiar is Comic-Con, which is held in numerous cities. - The largest one takes place in San Diego every year and attracts more than 100,000 attendees who are pop-culture fans of comic books, sci-fi/fantasy films and television shows, video games, and collectible comic cards. - In 2014, the trade show celebrated the 75th anniversary of Batman's comic book debut. Marvel also showed up with almost the entire cast of Avengers: Age of Ultron, who of course appeared on various panels and gave media interviews.
Newsrooms and Media Relations (15.7.2) -
Trade shows such as CES and MacWorld attract many journalists. - About a thousand reporters, for example, descend on MacWorld every year. ----> Consequently, every trade show has a newsroom or "pressroom" where the various exhibitors distribute media kits (now mostly on flash drives) and other information to journalists. - Newsrooms typically have phone, fax, and Internet facilities for reporters and bloggers to file stories back to their employers. - An important part of your job is to personally contact journalists several weeks before a trade show to offer product briefings and one-on-one interviews with key executives. ----> The competition is intense, so you have to be creative in pitching your ideas and showing why your company's products or services merit the journalist's time when multiple other companies are also pitching them. - If you can arrange as many preshow interviews and briefings as possible, you are more likely to be effective and successful. - A survey by Access Communications, for example, found that more than 90 percent of journalists assigned to a trade show want to hear about the company and product news before the show even starts. - Michael Young, senior vice president of Access, told PRWeek, "Journalists have limited bandwidth at the show. They can only do so much, so they want to know what the news is before getting there." ----> In other words, your media relations work starts before the show; it continues throughout the show; and then you have to do follow-up with reporters to provide additional information.
Working with Catering Managers (15.4.1) -
When organizing a banquet, you usually contact the catering or banquet manager of the restaurant or hotel at least 3 or 4 months before your event. ----> He or she will discuss menus, room facilities, availability of space, and a host of other items with you to determine exactly what you need. - Hotels and restaurants have special menus for banquets, which are often subject to some negotiation. EX. If you plan a banquet during the week, for example, the restaurant or hotel might be willing to give you more favorable rates because weeknights aren't ordinarily booked. ----> However, if you insist on having a banquet on Friday or Saturday night—which is the most popular time—you can expect to pay full rates. - A banquet usually has a fixed menu, but you must also make a vegetarian dish available to those who request it. - In general, a meat entree is chicken, fish, or beef. - Pork may be objectionable on religious grounds. - Offering the choice of two entrees requires the extra work of providing coded tickets for the waiters, and the hotel or restaurant may charge more for the meal. Get the catering manager's advice before ordering multiple entrees. - When figuring food costs, many amateur planners often forget about tax and gratuity, which can add 25 percent or more to any final bill. ----> That $25 chicken dinner on the menu is really $32 if tax and gratuity are added. - In addition, there are corkage fees if you provide your own liquor or wine. - In many establishments, corkage fees are set rather high to discourage you from bringing your own refreshments. - At one banquet, for example, the organizers thought it was a great coup to have the wine donated, only to find out that the hotel charged a corkage fee of $20 per bottle.
