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August 1, 2006
Risk
Management
Hurricane. Terrorist attack. Avian flu outbreak.
Staff strike. Missing attendees. Is your heart
beating fast yet? Meeting planners today have
more worst case scenarios that need to be
planned for than in the past. September 11th completely
changed our idea of risk management and the Avian
flu was not something that meeting planners
considered a year ago. This
past May, two attendees at a conference in
California went missing during a Saturday tour
trip. Luckily, that story had a happy ending,
but what if it didn’t? You don’t need to have a
plan for each and every situation that might
arise, but some thought and planning can help
reduce your risk and help things run smoothly if
a situation arises.
more...
6 Ways to
Boost Meeting/Event Attendance
1.
Have an Event Marketing Plan
Create an event marketing plan that clearly
defines your goals, budget and internal and
external resources. The plan should be mapped
out as specific as possible, but keep an open
mind throughout the planning process. If you see
that something is working better then other
marketing initiatives, adjust your plan
according…and vice versa.
more...
Think Outside the Box
Few of
us have unlimited meeting budgets to work with,
but that does not
mean that we have to do the same old things.
Play off of the meeting destination or even the
venue to keep your conference fresh and exciting
for attendees.
When
looking for off-site activities, explore unique
locations around your destination. You may be
surprised at what you find! Last month in
Minnesota, Designing Events planned a board
dinner on a restored and redecorated dining
train that was originally built 135 years ago.
Board members enjoyed an elegant five-course
meal served by a four star restaurant while
taking in the scenic views of the St. Criox
Valley. The entire trip was three and a half
hours long, plenty of time for the board to have
dinner, conduct their meeting and be entertained
by the live Caberet 40’s and 50’s style music
show.
The
five dining cars on the train can accommodate up
to 260 people and there are no rental fees for
groups of 20 or more, just the cost of the meal.
The board members had a great time and it is a
meeting that they will not soon forget!
Marriott
Hotels to Go Smoke-Free
On July 19th, Marriott International announced
that beginning in December, all of their lodging
brands in the U.S. and Canada will become
smoke-free. That includes restaurants, guest
rooms, public spaces and meeting rooms in all
Marriott, JW Marriott, Ritz-Carlton,
Renaissance, Courtyard, Residence Inn,
SpringHill Suites, Fairfield Inn, TownePlace
Suites and Marriott ExecuStay brands.
“Creating a smoke-free environment demonstrates
a new level of service and care for our guests
and associates,” said J.W. Marriott, Jr.,
chairman and chief executive officer of Marriott
International. “Our family of brands is
united on this important health issue, and we
anticipate very positive customer feedback.”
What Our
Clients Are Saying
"We
learned about Designing Events while attending
another one of their conferences that we noticed
it was growing year after year. We approached them
about helping launch our annual users
conference. We're now working together on our
fourth conference. Designing Events has taken
all the stress out of building a successful
conference. They helped build and maintain the
momentum of our conference and handle the
thousands of small but important details."
-- Eric Shepherd, President, Questionmark
Corporation
Click
here to read more testimonials from DE clients.
About DE
Designing Events is a premier global provider of
planning, management and marketing services for
events, meetings and conferences. Visit
designingevents.com
for more information or contact us at
info@designingevents.com
or 866-867-1933. |
