Oct 29, 2010 by DeDe Mulligan
Many of us have attended and planned thousands of events and most, are okay or good. But what makes an event stand out? Usually it involved innovation, creativity, and energy. Given the tight budgets of today, many event planners think that innovation has to come with a huge price tag. However with planning and teamwork, your next corporate event can create the buzz you are looking for. Here are some tips to get you started:Put together a team of the most innovative, forward think...

Oct 27, 2010 by DeDe Mulligan
When speaking or interacting with larger groups, Audience Response Systems (ARS) can be a powerful technology tool. By issuing everyone in the audience with a wireless audience response system, you can take audience involvement to a whole new level. Here are the 5 most popular uses of ARS: EDUCATION: The use of Audience Response Systems as an active learning strategy in education has been steadily on the rise. Audience Response Systems allow the dynamic engagement of attendees at ...

Oct 25, 2010 by DeDe Mulligan
When should you consider renting audio visual equipment versus purchasing it? If you're not using the technology every day it may benefit your bottom line to rent. Here are four tips that may have you reconsidering renting vs. purchasing.First, how often are you giving presentations? If it is every day or several times a day, it may make sense to purchase the technology. However, if it is once a month or less, or your presentation schedule is very sporadic, it probably makes better sense re...

Oct 22, 2010 by DeDe Mulligan
One of the most critical things an event planner does is select the venue for their meeting or event. However, even before you schedule a site visit, consider these 5 things that will help narrow down the perfect event location.How many attendees are you expecting? If this is an annual event, I would recommend you look at the last 3 year attendance numbers and come up with an average attendance. If this is your first event or meeting, the number becomes harder to project. In this case, it&n...

Oct 20, 2010 by DeDe Mulligan
 There are many simple ways to cut expenses at your next meeting, event or conference that don't take a lot of time. Below is a list of the ways I have learned over the last 15 years to minimize expense while having little or no impact on the attendees.Use the Internet. When checking hotels, transportation, caterers, and/or renting audio visual equipment there are hundreds of sites that can aid in your selection. For hotels, I like Trip Advisor because it has over 10 sites integrated i...

Oct 18, 2010 by DeDe Mulligan
A product launching event can be one of the most expensive and time consuming part of any corporate marketing and event planning department. Launching a product too early can create distress and upset with current and potential clients. Launching it too late can underwhelm clients. Here are the keys to making it a wonderful and fulfilling event.Good Preplanning: Determine the goal(s) of the event. Is it to bring new sales, competitive differentiation, or both? What type of launch ...

Oct 15, 2010 by DeDe Mulligan
From conferences to product launching event and everything in between, event planning professionals are finding new ways to organize, plan, and promote their events with the help of social media. Lets focus on the tools available now.Facebook has over 350 million users worldwide and has two great tools to promote an event and company: Facebook Events and Facebook Fan Page. Facebook Events allow you to create an event and promote it to your social network of friends. It also allows you to ma...

Oct 13, 2010 by DeDe Mulligan
There are hybrid cars, bikes, and golf clubs. But meetings? How will that look and why should you consider it?Just like everything else, blending face-to-face and online/virtual events will probably be the future for meetings, conferences, conventions, and trade shows.For Christopher Gribbs, managing director of conference services, at The American Institute of Architects (AIA), the "aha moment" for the potential of hybrid meetings came at the 2009 AIA Annual Conference in Sa...

Oct 11, 2010 by DeDe Mulligan
General Session is a general assembly of all persons actively involved in a meeting. This session usually starts or ends the event and serves either to motivate or entertain your attendees. The General Session is the pinnacle of the event and needs to be considered first before any breakout sessions are planned.How many participants are going to attend the general session? As a general rule, event planning companies need to assume that ALL your attendees are going to attend this session. If you...

Oct 08, 2010 by DeDe Mulligan
3D is the theme in entertainment but it will reach the event meeting services industry soon. 3D projectors are anticipated to be the norm by 2014, at the very latest. Below are a list of features available in the latest projector technology and an explanation of what these features mean to event planning. Short-Throw Design: Ideal for interactive presentations and simplifies the projector placement in meeting rooms with limited space. 3000 Lumens: High brightness 3D Ready...