Recent Posts

Jun 19, 2014 by DeDe Mulligan
Have you ever attended a conference so jazzed when you left you thought your feet were off the ground? You heard great speakers, absorbed new content and made a list of 15 things you want to do differently when you return to the office.  The problem?  No one heard what you did and when you share with your team the content, you receive a less than enthusiast response.  This is exactly what happened to Dan Berger and Trever Lynn from Social Tables, an event planning company, wh...  

Jun 17, 2014 by DeDe Mulligan
I think most event planning organizations would agree with this statement: Meeting planning used to be a whole lot simplier. Food & Beverage, Rooms Blocks and renting Audio Visual equipment was a breeze. No worries about food allergies, attendees going around the block or confusion about what to rent.  In the meeting room, it would be coffee, a stage, podium and PowerPoint Presentation Equipment. Easy-peasy. Attendees were happy. Presenters were happy. Sponsors were happy.  So,...  

Jun 13, 2014 by DeDe Mulligan
As a meeting planner myself, I understand the struggles you have in achieving maximum attendance at your meetings and events. It seems as if everyone is in "last minute" mode and I know a number of associations have taken the penalty fee stance for walk-in or late registrants. Rather than fighting the attendee to come to your event, shouldn't there be a better way to get them there? Here are 4 ideas that were originally inspired by The Meeting Professional magazine. I hope they help you achi...  

Jun 11, 2014 by DeDe Mulligan
SAP recently held their Sapphire Now in Orlando for 20,000 attendees. Based on feedback from meeting participants who attended last year's conference, the event planning team at SAP really stepped up to make this user conference everything the attendee wanted. Michael Trovalli, Vice President of Global Events at SAP, recently shared with BizBash, "The top two things (attendees) want is to hear the thought leadership and future vision of the company from our senior executives, which we've alwa...  

Jun 09, 2014 by DeDe Mulligan
Everyone has heard or used them: MiFi. HotSpot. Personal WiFi. But what you don't know is with everyone setting up their individual WiFi system in the meeting room or on the trade show floor, it can wreak havoc on your event WiFi solutions. Here is a definition of MiFi and what four event planners have say about it from an up close and personal point of view.  MiFi Defined A MiFi device can be connected to a cellular network and provide Internet access for up to ten devices. The MiF...  

Jun 05, 2014 by DeDe Mulligan
I remember when I started blogging and posting on social, my biggest conundrum of the day was to figure out what to post. I didn't want it to be too commercial, yet it couldn't be too simple either.  Now multiply my dilemma by 100 or 1,000 meeting participants just dying to share their thoughts on social. Or not. They may be faced with the same bubble over their head, "What is appropriate to post?"  Why don't you give them some guidelines? We know not all social...  

Jun 03, 2014 by DeDe Mulligan
Gathering timely feedback is one of the cornerstone responsibilities of every meeting planner, and often it is a requirement of the job. However, we all know the saying "Garbage In = Garbage Out" so the question I pose in today's blog is: Are you getting the type of feedback that can improve and enhance your conference?  According to Paul O. Radde, Ph.D., Founder of The Thrival Institute there are four types of feedback, as he conveyed in Successful Meetings Magazine. The first two ar...  

May 30, 2014 by DeDe Mulligan
With the plethora of technological choices available today, as well as, the constant churning of new offerings, is it any wonder that attendees and exhibitors alike yearn for the "shiny new penny"? While renting technology for technology's sake is not a good idea, the important thing is to understand what your meeting participants want to use and how they will use said technology. Once the technology needs are established, if you don't have enough bandwidth to support the ap...  

May 28, 2014 by DeDe Mulligan
About 600 meeting planners took part in a Meetings Focus Trends survey that concentrated on what planners anticipated to be some of the forthcoming issues in 2014 and beyond.  Below is a 40,000 foot view of the survey results and a few thoughts and ideas of ways to overcome some of these real-life event planning challenges. Here are the questions and answers:  What will be your biggest challenge when planning meetings in the coming year?   41% said Increasing Costs 27%...  

May 22, 2014 by DeDe Mulligan
Let's face it: Whether you like it or not, attendees are creating content about your meeting or event. The good, the bad and the ugly. But rather than trying to hold your attendees down or back -- why not let their commentaries, along with your own, add to the value of your meeting? Julius Solaris, Editor of the Event Manager Blog, recently wrote a post about ways event planning is changing. Below are a few of his thoughts, along with mine, on how audio visual equipment can assist in your ...