Saturday, February 9, 2013

Why Hire Event Organizers In Manila?


Before you ask the question about why you should hire event organizers in Manila, you should first think about the reason why you want the event in the first place. Most probably, it is because there is a very important event in your life or it may be because it is essential for business operations. For this reason, it is essential for you to get the best services possible in order to make event successful and memorable. Hiring event organizers in Manila is very much recommended because they have the necessary expertise, time, and resources to plan the event thoroughly.

The most common reasons why people chose event planners include:

o Celebrations - such as weddings, birthdays, reunions, parades, and anniversaries

o Educational purposes - includes meetings, conferences, and graduation

o Promotions - includes political rallies, fashion shows, and product launches

o Commemorations - includes civic events and memorials

But there are many other reasons why people need to event organizers, this list is not an exhaustive one because people hire event organizers in for social and business events and everything in between.

Event organizers in Manila also do a list of exhaustive tasks that can overwhelm a client with no experience in event organizing. For example, some of the things that event companies have to do include conducting research, developing the design concept, implementing the design, finding the perfect venue, arranging the food, arranging the décor, finding entertainers for the event, and sending out the list of invitation. In addition, some related tasks may include arranging the transportation of the attendees and their accommodations as well if applicable.

As you can see, the job of evemnt planning and event organization is not an easy task. Event organizing is a specialist field, expanding only when one has perfected a niche, perfecting a system and set of core services that is both impressive and satisfying for both client and vendor.

Online Wedding Planning Courses


Wedding planning course is a good way to step into the profession of wedding planning. This has become a popular business as people want their wedding day to be the most memorable event in their lives and they seek wedding planners for that reason. To make the industry of wedding planning better, there are many institutions that provide people with courses of event planning and management; students are taught about event planning and skills to manage an event successfully, and one of them is wedding planning course.

There are some students who are interested in doing wedding management course either for their own wedding or to go into this profession but the commitment of job or any other reason makes it difficult to join an institution for the course. Online wedding planning courses are the ray of hope for them; they can avail this opportunity to achieve their goal and become a successful wedding planner through online wedding management and planning course. Online wedding management and planning diplomas and courses give the students facility of learning at home; students can take their classes or lectures easily at home without disturbing their other commitments; people who are already working somewhere can learn the professional skills in their free time. Online wedding management courses solve the problems of transportation and provide all the information and etiquettes online. Though online courses allow students to take the classes at home but, students may be required to be online at specific timings for web conferencing, submitting assignments, instructor student communication or interaction with other students.

As this course is online course so students need to have a computer in their home; they should be technical enough to handle the computer as there could be video demonstrations or lectures in the course.

There is a vast range of courses regarding wedding planning courses are available online for the students. You can get the information by reading this.

繚 Beginning wedding planning course.

繚 Wedding consultant course.

繚 Certified wedding planner's course.

繚 Planning the wedding ceremony course.

You can get your course online if you are engaged with some commitment like job, kids or other studies. You can get all the education at home; only for taking specific tests or practical presentation you would need to come to the institution which I think can be managed for once or twice. After you get certified by the institution, you can bloom your business or job.

How Can You Keep Your Registrant Data Secure Over The Web?


Organizing an event is a daunting task for organizers. In addition to that, there is this constant stress of deciding the venue, looking for sponsors and other related activities. These activities leave organizers with little time to directly keep track of the attendee registration and payment processes. Many of the organizers are seen to appoint volunteers to take care of these activities. With such sensitive data to manage and take care of, many a time volunteers too, lose track of the information. This can lead to miscommunication and prospective delegates may lose interest in attending your event. Nowadays, various companies have come up with Cloud-based software platforms that help you in effective and systematic streamlining of your data.

Event organizers can have an altogether different event planning experience by resorting to the Cloud computing platform. The interface not only eliminates the hassles of manual registrations but is also flexible, cost effective and user-friendly that adds to your convenience. The best part is that you do not have to install any additional hardware or software plug-ins to use this software. Moreover, by resorting to this service, you can also simplify your registration process. Simple, online automated registration system not only brings in more attendees for your event but also leads to an overall attendee convenience. However, before choosing such a service, you must doubly verify whether it is PCI compliant solution which is SSL certified. These certifications prevent you as well your attendees from falling in trap of any kind of fraudulent activities. It will also give you an assurance that the personal and financial information of your attendees remains totally secure in central data base which is only accessible by ones given permission or access details.

Choosing a secure online service can shorten your event planning process. It reduces your stress level significantly and at the same time gives you the assurance that your registrant's information is safeguarded at the highest possible level. Opting for a well certified online service provider also enhances your company's visibility, value and brand name. You will also be able to gain your attendees' confidence who will no longer fell threatened about sharing their personal information over the web.

Since the introduction of advanced registration services, manual registrations have become a thing of the past. With secure online registrations gaining momentum, an increasing number of attendees nowadays flock to attend such events that provide them with convenient and secure online registrations and payment platforms within a single interface. Like organizers, the attendees must also verify whether the company they are registering for, provides them with the necessary security measures. At the same time organizers should also remember that securing attendee information is crucial to the success of your event.

Opt for one of the advanced and secure Cloud computing platforms for your event and you are bound to make an impression on your attendees.

Corporate Team Building Seminars That Work


Teamwork and team building have been hot business topics for many years. As a result, many businesses and associations have offered team building seminars, events, speaker and retreats, with varying degrees of success. The money spend on such programs is in the millions annually.

Participants at such events, like special events and retreats on any topic, often report a short term burst of enthusiasm for teamwork, but the hard reality of the daily grind quickly moves people back to where they were before the training. Occasionally however, an event seems to "stick" and make a difference in the team and in the workplace over the long term. What's the difference between team training that works, and events that simply cost money and get people out of the office for a few hours or days?

The Pre-Event Process

One major factor in an effective team building event is the inclusion of a process that begins well before the event. This includes interviews of key leadership by the seminar presenter, surveys of potential attendees to elicit their perspective, and a review of the past team development efforts and their lasting effect on the business or group in question.

Of those ideas, the most strategic data gathering practice a team building seminar leader can engage in is to survey the entire team, with the assurance of anonymity. Participants MUST know that their responses cannot be traced back to them. Even a simply survey that asks "What are the greatest strengths and challenges of the team?" will give incredible insight to the seminar leader, insights that the workplace team leader may not yet be privy to.

The Event Structure

An effective team building seminar needs to be shaped to allow for a proper balance of content and application. While the pre-event survey can make even the general content more relevant than past events, there still needs to be space for processing at the event itself, otherwise people will return to the rush of their daily life and possibly never get around to thinking through the implications of the concepts they've learned.

In terms of the content being taught, it is very helpful if there is a well rounded definition of team that is explained in such a way that the group now has a common understanding of "team" or "teamwork." There are many different ways of describing these things, some more effective than others in creating a shared vision, however the important issues is that there is a common concept, a shared ideal in the minds of all team members when it comes to these foundational terms. Beyond this important starting point, there are many different directions the content can be shaped, based on the needs of the specific group, but important themes include team communication, team trust, team motivation and team evaluation.

When it comes to application, there are two very helpful ways to facilitate the transfer of the concepts into the workplace. One is to allow for both large and small directed group discussion of the principals shared, with specific application ideas being the goal. Consensus around a single application idea is far better than many different people going home with their own idea of what needs to happen.

The other important component in facilitating application are team activities that reinforce the theory portion of the event. Many more active, often outdoor, team building events focus on activities that teach generic team principles, but fail to anchor them in the team context. An event that is shaped by pre-event research, and which contains solid team theory, can use the active team building exercises to lock in the theory which has already been applied to the groups team context.

The challenge with this ideal team building seminar is that there are very few organizations that do both the theory and the active application well. However, some insightful training organizations and partnering with others according to their specialties. For instance, an organization that generally runs outdoor team building events will partner with a team building speaker, giving a half day to the inside training and a half day to the outside application exercises. Corporate team building seminars structured in this way are vastly more effective than simply rappelling or going on a difficult hike together.

One other often absent component in team training is a focus on creating a value and passion for team. It is one thing to understand team principles, it is quite another thing to believe in teamwork, to have a passion for building and strengthening teams. Effective team building seminars have content designed to create this passion, as well as a facilitator who is truly excited about the topic and the great possibilities of teamwork.

Post Event Follow Up

The final component of effective team building seminars is a post event process that reminds participants of both the concepts and applications they have learned. This can happen through something as simple as an email autoresponder series- which is in fact surprisingly effective and cost effective. It could also include phone calls to individual team members for coaching and consultation, a post event survey, or a planned follow up event, where the team building speaker gives a follow session to reinforce what happened at the larger event. While this can sound- and actually be- quite expensive, many team building seminar leaders will include follow up at a greatly reduced rate, and in fact will be gratified by an organization that takes their team development so seriously. Finally, team leaders can use the regularly scheduled team meetings as an opportunity to review notes and share how the teamwork principles are being applied.

Not all corporate team building seminars are created equal. An training that includes a pre-event survey, a blend of theory and application, and a well thought out post event follow up process will give a far greater ROI than a team building retreat held at even the most exotic location.

Event Planning Process: How To Use The Online Event Registration Software For Best Results


For an event planner, it is very important to start the process of event planning smartly. After the first meeting with the client, you should invest time creating a presentation for the second meeting wherein the client is given information regarding the shortlisted venues for the event. When going on venue-hopping, you should keep the client's monetary capacity and the style in mind. A good homework is required so that you can explain the pros and cons of selecting the venue to the client.

The site visits can be planned once the contract is signed. You would be accompanying the client to the different sites. It would be useful if some preliminary information can be served to the client about the venues, you intend to visit. The client can then consider and the schedule for venue hopping can be decided.

Sub venue

Also, shortlist locations to be used as sub venues. If the main event venue closes at a specific time, you can schedule an after party in the second location. You can use the online event registration software for such purposes. Using the automated process cuts down on the workload and gives you more time to do all the running about for selecting venues.

Events Page Customization

Once you have signed up for the online process, you can create the online event registration page in minutes. The page can be customized according to the look and feel of your website. You may customize the online forms for registration that include the questions along with multiple input options.

The Calendar of events

The online calendar option helps you to check the dates of the event with the client. You can get update the attendees about any change of plans via the online registration software programs. The automated results feature allows you to offer instant information to multiple attendees at the same time.

Data collection and Reporting

Although selecting the venue is an action that requires a lot of precision, the other aspects of an event planner's activities cannot be ignored. You can choose the data that you must collect from the registration forms through a web interface. The registration pages and the attendee data are found online 24x7. You get reports on attendees, sales and registrations at no initial cost.

Payment Facilities

The online event registration tools helps online processing of all major Credit Cards, Checks, Pay Pal, and Purchase Orders. The client can also opt to use the Merchant account for collecting payments. The event planner can use the online ticketing system for selling tickets as well as marketing the event. Tools for increasing ROI and also free tools for marketing like email marketing, surveys, connectors to the social media, the calendar tool and so on increases attendee participation. For a conference or an event where you need to register multiple attendees you can have more than one booking options. The participant information for the individual or the group can also be collected.

Thus, online event registration can be a safe, hassle free and breezy affair with the top-notch solutions from firms that provide event planners with immaculate services.

Friday, February 8, 2013

Ideas for a Successful Company Picnic


Company picnics are a fun way to spend time with your fellow employees and their families in a relaxed atmosphere. Planning in advance will ensure that you have a successful event that is enjoyed by all who attend. Many organizations choose to hire a professional event planner to take care of the planning and managing of their corporate picnic. Their experience and expertise ensures that your picnic will be full of fresh and innovative ideas each year.

The goal of a company picnic is to spend time with your co-workers and get to know their families. This type of informal interaction is crucial to building your team and promoting goodwill among your staff. Picnics are a popular corporate event because they are cost-effective and allow all the members of the family to participate. It is a great opportunity to relax and have a good time outside of the office.

While company picnics are typically fun and relaxed events, planning and managing them can be quite a task. Event planners can be used so that all of the planning is taken care of. In addition, they will be there during the event to ensure that everyone on staff can enjoy themselves while they take care of all of the details.

Choosing an appropriate venue will be one of the most important decisions you make. Your event planners will find you a location that has enough space for all of your guests. The best location will be somewhere outside of your business campus that has plenty of room to accommodate all your activities and entertainment. Try to keep the venue somewhere that is close and easily accessible to the majority of your employees. Most cities and towns have beautiful parks and open areas that are ideal for company picnics, large or small.

Promoting your event is key to its success. You will want to generate excitement and interest within your office to ensure that your employees and their families will show up. Event planners can guide you toward promotions and invitations that will get your employees talking.

Entertainment and planned activities are crucial for keeping your audience engaged and having fun. If you plan on having quite a few children there, be sure to include activities and entertainment that will interest them as well. For an adult crowd, casino games or live music can create a celebratory atmosphere.

When there is a picnic, people expect to eat. Provide lots of tasty food and drinks for your guests. Your food may reflect a particular theme that you have set for your gathering or you may choose to serve typical picnic fare. Be sure to include some kid-friendly foods to keep the younger children happy and well fed.

No matter what your budget, event planners can create a company picnic that will delight your employees and become a fun gathering that they look forward to each year. With their expertise and your vision, your next corporate picnic will be a huge success.

Benefits of Hiring an Event Coordinator


As businessmen you need to manage your business and plan events from time to time. You can't always take out time from your busy schedules and plan events at the same time. You can always hire an event coordinator to get the job done as and when required. These coordinators are skilled and execute corporate events to get optimal results. Instead of using one of your employees and adding to their workload you can simply hire an event coordinator and save a lot of amount on your investments as they charge fees according to your budget and requirement.

Event management companies are widely known for their services when it comes to corporate events. Corporate events should be planned and executed to look professional so that it creates a positive impact on the guest. These event coordinators plan and organize the event and also take up the job of sending invites to all the people mentioned in the guest list given by the clients. Corporate events include lunch, dinner, product launches, seminars etc.

They events are organized to suit the business purposes of the respective clients. If you are planning to organize a corporate event in San Francisco there are several coordinators whose services you can avail. Planning corporate events in San Francisco has never been easier.

Production companies don't only plan the event but they also ensure that the event is executed successfully. Once they are given all the necessary information by the client they do the job of planning the event without bothering the client. This way the client can relax and prepare themselves for the big day. Care should be taken while choosing an event production company so that the end results are satisfactory. They are just a phone call away and now you can check the different websites on the internet and hire an event coordinator by reading the different customer reviews posted on the websites.

The event production team is expertly trained to provide quality services to the clients and satisfying the client to the fullest is their main aim. They reduce the stress of the clients by doing exactly what they are asked to do and make the event a success. They have a professional approach towards the corporate events and make it as look as attractive as possible. Planning a corporate event yourself will not help you save but will in turn add to your expenses if anything goes wrong, so it is always better to hire a professional event coordinator. if you are looking for production companies in the Bay Area online, all you need to do is type the keyword and the results will be displayed.

Managing and Funding Performing and Fine Arts Organizations


Performing and fine arts is one of the fastest growing industries, not only in the United States, but throughout the world. The tremendous growth of the music, dance, theater, and symphony industry is demanding staff with effective leadership skills and a good understanding of the arts and entertainment sectors.

Managers of performing and fine arts organizations need to develop strategies to reach out to new audience. To get an edge over their competitors, it is essential to create a loyal base of supporters. Moreover, most of the performing and fine arts shows are organized for raising funds for a good cause. Hence, the organizers are always on the lookout for better ways to collect maximum amount of money from members and new visitors.

An online event management solution is a good alternative for successfully running an event. It is web-based; hence you can access the portal at anytime of the day or night.

The event management service helps a lot in selling the tickets of a single show or multiple ones. Since the tickets are displayed online, any interested person can book them without being physically present. An online ticketing system can thus be utilized to sell maximum tickets within a short span of time.

Event planners can promote their theaters, dance programs, and solo performances easily on Facebook and Twitter. You just need to open an account on these hugely popular social networking websites. After your page gets created, start uploading as much information as you want on these sites for the global audience to view and download relevant data.

The Cloud-based event management platform features modern marketing tools for reaching out to new and existing clients. Online marketing modules, such as Promo Code engine, social media connector, and mobile devices, help you connect and interact with the interested candidates.

The online creation of custom reports minimizes your pen and paper work. You simply open the report page and make different kinds of reports including those on sales, attendance, and others within a few minutes.

The surveying option lets you collect relevant feedback on any dance or music show. Based on the survey results, performing and fine arts managers can rectify the flaws in the current events to make the future events more successful.

The performing and fine arts organizations can also use the web-based fundraising tools to raise maximum funds from diverse sources. These tools simplify the process of submitting donations and pledges, and engage your audience by building your own privately branded online community. The Cloud-based private community management system helps in sharing information with your members and helps you build support for your cause.

A Professional Opera Singer's Life - The Inside Story


The truth is that to "make it" as a professional opera singer involves a lot of study, practice and dedication and most professionals will not set foot on a stage until they have been training for at least 10 years.

Whether an opera singer is preparing for a live opera performance, opera gala, singing at a wedding, providing operatic entertainment for a corporate event or doing a Singing Waiter performance or 'gig' (as it is called in the profession), there is a lot of preparation that takes place beforehand in order for the performance to come across as effortless, stylish and enjoyable to an audience.

If an opera singer is singing in an opera, they often know well in advance what they will be performing, as well as when and where they are doing it. It can sometimes be as long as a year or more in advance of the performance that an opera singer will be offered a role. This gives them ample time to prepare for it; learning the music, the words (which can be in several different languages) researching the character, time period and anything else they need to do to feel polished and prepared.

However, sometimes it can be a completely different story. A singer might fall ill, and suddenly the singer gets a call asking if they can step-in at short notice. This could happen months, weeks or even days in advance. Sometimes, it even happens on the day itself! Many well-known operatic names have got their "big break" this way.

When an opera singer performs in an Opera Gala, at a wedding, corporate event or Singing Waiter performance, it is much more usual to rehearse and perform on the day of the performance. Often they are very familiar with the repertoire, and sometimes they arrive and the first time they perform that particular programme is on that very day. When an opera singer does these one-off performances, it is much more likely they have had to step in at the last minute, so they have to constantly make sure that their sight reading is up to scratch!

Doing a job as a Singing Waiter is quite easy in some respects, as an opera singer doesn't need to worry about costumes as they are dressed as waiters. The same goes for Christmas carol singing, where they normally perform in traditional Christmas Carol outfits.

For corporate entertainment performances it can be anything; from Singing Waiters to full opera gala costume. At times a corporate entertainment performance will have a theme in the sense that the client wants a certain "look" whether it is traditional gala dresses or "Phantom of the Opera" theme. It all depends on what the client wants.

Whatever the occasion, rest assured that an audience will always be enthralled by their magical singing!

5 Steps to Planning the Perfect Event


Where to start? Are you excited? You have just been given the challenge of planning the perfect event! And more than likely, you have no idea where to start. Whether you are planning a backyard birthday party, holiday party, church event, company picnic or a post prom, event planning does not have to be stressful. It can even be fun!

Step 1 Plan your Budget The first thing you have to know is how much money you have to spend. Then you can plan your budget for different parts of your event. Once you decide on your total budgeted amount, work within it. It is no fun to be running way over budget weeks before your party. You will need to divide your budget between the following categories.

Invitations- If you are sending out regular invitations do not forget the postage cost.

Venue- There are many different types of venues. Ask about any additional fees besides the actual rental fee. (Cleaning fees, etc.) A venue that includes tables & chairs could ultimately be cheaper than an empty hall where you have to rent everything from an outside source. If you are having the party at home, remember to include the cost of any equipment you will need there also like tents, tables and chairs.

Food- After planning your menu, make a complete list of recipes and needed items to add to your budget. If you are using a caterer, talk to two or three different ones. Tell them what your vision is, and see what they suggest. Also, give them your budget for food up front so they will not waste your time suggesting things that you do not want.

Drink- Do not forget to add in the cost of ice, cups and other extras.

Extras- Anything extra you might need to purchase for your event.

Décor- Any decorations needed; lights, flowers, candles and props

Entertainment & Activities- Games & Activities, either rented or coordinated by others.

Music & Entertainers- DJ, Band, face painters, caricaturist, magician

Favors- think cheap; try to keep it under $1.00

Emergency Fund- IMPORTANT- Before you even start, set 10% of your total budget aside for emergencies.

Step 2 Pick a Date In many cases the date will be picked for you. If not, think of your work and personal schedule as you plan. Also, consider holidays where people might be out of town.

Step 3 Choose a Theme Themed parties are always fun and if you use a theme it makes it much easier to tie in food/decorations etc. There are so many themes you can use that they are only limited by your imagination. Here are some samples: Mexican Fiesta, Mardi Gras, Key West, Tropical, Western and Casino Night

Step 4 Pick a Venue There are so many places you can hold your event. Home, a church hall or a specialty location This can take up a huge part of your budget so shop carefully. If you are using a venue that is furnishing napkins/table settings and other items, ask to see them to make sure they meet your standards.

Step 5 Make out your Guest list

Ok, now that you have done all the basics it will be SO easy to plan that perfect party.

Event Management Software Benefits


The use of online web management for planning events is a growing trend. Event planning software is a valuable tool. It allows a business to control event preparation, scheduling, marketing and advertising. Data can be stored in one place and organizers have the ability to function as a group, coordinating events. The software can be accessed from anywhere in the world, and optimized for security.

It enables companies to maintain control of every detail in event management. Organization is an important key to successful meetings, conferences, tradeshows and fundraisers. Event planning software streamlines efficiency and lowers risks. Efficiency is often compromised when utilizing spread sheets. The overflow of data can be difficult for companies to manage. The risk of data loss is high, once information is stored in computer hard drives.

Spread sheets need to be saved on a consistent basis. Larger companies produce many spread sheets for each event manager. When individual managers update data, they may neglect to inform co-workers. These unnecessary problems can be prevented by using the software. Sometimes master spread sheets become outdated. Employee usage is limited to one person at a time. Only one spread sheet can be opened by individual organizers.

Event management software automates management processes and lowers costs involved. Companies can eliminate postage and costs that arise from the use of spread sheets. Meeting planners end up spending less time on details, and more time on tasks directly related to planning events. Registration, travel details, accommodations and other tasks are simplified when using the software.

Technological advances have made the planning of events user friendly and secure. An array of features can systematically handle the complexities of any sized event. Event managers can easily plan events from fifty to fifty thousand attendees.

Investing in event planning software saves time, money, unnecessary problems and undue stress. It's a convenient and highly effective way of improving the management systems and professionalism. The success of every event depends, in part, on clarity, organization and efficiency. Any event planners would greatly benefit in these areas by choosing to use the software.

Thursday, February 7, 2013

Tips on Planning Corporate Events


Corporate events are essential for any business whether you use them as publicity, social networking, launch of a new product or just a Christmas bash. Corporate events are an ingenious way of getting people together from one or several businesses. With so many influential people in one room the hosting company wants to make an impression and what better way than with a themed event.

Some companies prefer the more traditional corporate function with guests sitting down to a meal and dancing. The attire is usually black tie and is very civilised. Other companies go for a casino style event. This is when the room is decked out with black jack tables, roulette wheels and poker tables. People often don't bet real money but it's just as much fun. Other ways to entertain at a corporate event are things like karaoke. Singing gets everyone going especially when they've had a few drinks. Quiz nights are also very good fun and can double up as a team building exercise too. Another big hit with corporate events are guest speakers. These can range from distinguished people in a specific field to celebrities. Of course not everyone goes for the usual and the more unique the company the more unique the event. A beach style party has been known to go down extremely well as well as theme parks. "It's a knock-out" style assault courses are fantastic fun and can really create a great atmosphere. Businesses want you to be talking about your event for years to come so making a lasting impression is key. Some companies hire event managers to organise these corporate events. This can be a lot easier and less stressful than doing it yourself. The most popular request from a business to a event manager is for goodie bags. These bags contain freebies and samples of products (generally related to the business itself) and some of them even have gifts. The theory is the more expensive the goodies the better off the company is shown to be.

The amount of people that attend a corporate event can range from tens to hundreds. At most venues there isn't enough room for 100 cars so managers take this into account and usually lay on coach hire [http://www.goclickcoachhire.co.uk] for transporting their staff from their work places to these corporate events. This means that no one gets lost on the way and everyone turns up on time.

So when you next attend a corporate event or you are going to be organising one soon, make sure you research the type of company. Clowns at a funeral directors event will not go down well! Make sure you get a good venue and put on enough entertainment to keep people happy. Ensure the schedule runs smoothly by getting people to arrive on time/all together. Ensure that everyone understands their role and make check lists to keep organised. The most important thing is that everyone enjoys themselves and that the event makes a lasting impression.

Planning A Conference? Here Are Some Tips To Help Make Your Conference A Successful Event


Conference are planned to bring together different people in a single venue to exchange information about a topic or topics. To plan a conference is a massive task. It means you will need to work hard to ensure everything is arranged accordingly.

Below are some of the important things to consider if you are assigned to plan a conference:

  • Make up a conference planning committee

  • Plan your budget carefully

  • Investigate several conference venue options and select the best venue.

  • Agree to the terms and conditions with the all important parties.

  • Search for the right person to deliver speeches.

  • Arrange conference events.

  • Achieve the planned activities.

Conferences come in different forms such as academic, business or sales conferences. This means that the conference plan should be done based on its form, as different forms of conferences also differ in terms of their activities and needs.

Allow enough time to look for a venue for the conference. Rushing your search may not give you the best result. The facilities of the venue should be able to cater to all the essential needs of the conference and the participants. In addition, a venue near local tourist sites or any type of attraction is an additional feature. These give the participants something to do during their break. Accessibility to all types of transport should also be considered.

Good scheduling of the conference program is one of the essential parts of a fruitful conference, as this can enhance the quality of the discussions whilst, bad scheduling can make the discussions less interesting and of low quality. Some recommendations of what to do to make the proper program are mentioned below.

  • Inform participants who require accommodation of the details.

  • See to it that the participants are able to choose the events they prefer.

  • Arrange a free day between busy days to give the participants time to see around the place.

  • Heavy discussions must not be scheduled one after the other.

  • Avoid boring speakers or boring discussions after lunch.

  • Breaks are important for the participants to relax especially, if the discussion is intense.

  • If conference organisers do not serve lunch, guide the participants to places they can go.

  • Big conferences means more time for networking.

The venue of the conference should be well signed for the participants' easy orientation of the place. If possible, avoid changes to the conference agenda and schedule. If changes occur, ensure that every participant is well informed of the changes. The conference coordinator should know how to delegate responsibilities to his staff. At the same time, the staff should also do their share of work to have a flawless and successful conference.

Hopefully, with the tips above on how to plan a conference, your next job in planning a conference will be an easier one. Furthermore, the next conference you organize should be more productive.

Online Home Business Ideas - 7 Surefire Money Makers To Run From Home


Do you dream of starting an online home business that generates instant cash flow? Learn how to be your own boss with a method so simple, you can learn it overnight. These online home business ideas are fun and easy to start.

Online Home Business Ideas - 7 Surefire Money Makers To Run From Home Now!

**more home business ideas available below

1. City Guide Site

If you love your home town or city, then why not tell the world about it and make money. You can build a website about your favorite places to see and sell advertising space on your website to local businesses.

I really like this idea, it's fun and helps your local businesses gain new customers. Starting an online business guide site may be your ticket to financial freedom.

2. Personal Home Kitchen Designer

If you have a natural flare for designing kitchens you can set-up your own design business. You can purchase special software and learn how to dazzle clients with your fresh ideas.

Local hardware stores or specialty shops that sell kitchen cabinets may want to recommend your services to their customers. Word of mouth marketing is free and works well. You'll want to build a website that showcases your designs to attract more clients and make more money.

3. Professional Scrapbooking

Are you a superb scrapbooker? Then you could be making big money doing something you love.

You'll meet with your clients to gather their photos and mementos. Then organize them into beautiful unique works of art.

You can market your services to new brides, mothers, holiday and special event planners, etc. The possibilities are endless when you use your imagination.

4. Assembly Services

Do you enjoy puzzles and figuring out how to put things together? Then an assembly business is perfect for you. You'll assemble items such as bookshelves, dressers, and desk.

People buy furnishings online for bargain prices, but hate assembling them. This is where you come in and offer your services for a price.

5. Infopreneur

An infopreneur is a web writer who provides problem solving information and recommends relevant products to the reader seeking solutions. This business is perfect for the "know it all" types. I personally love this business and highly recommend it.

You can build a website to post your "How To" articles or join a high-end article directory. The key to success in this business is good keyword research.

Keywords are what people type into search engines like Google looking for answers. Simply write an easy to read solution, suggest a relevant product or service, and earn a commission.

6. Car Buying Broker

Most people don't like hassling with car salespeople. If you're a natural negotiator, this could be a good business for you to start.

You find out what your client is looking for and secure the deal for a price. You can charge a flat fee or a percentage of how much you save your client on their new car.

Dealerships will gladly work with you because you'll keep new customers coming in if they offer bargain rates to your clients.

7. Social Media Consultant

If you are a Facebook, MySpace, or Twitter guru then you're in the position to make some money.

Social networking has become a billion dollar industry. You can cash in by marketing yourself as a consultant. This is an excellent online home business idea for the Internet savvy.

You'll help small business owners set up accounts to attract new customers. It may seem simple to you, but there are people who will pay you big bucks for your social networking talents.

Things To Do Now:


  • Pick a business you will love. Make a list of your hobbies, talents, and interest.

  • Next, choose the topic you know a lot about and you're good at.

  • Research your competition for ideas and business planning

  • Finally, draft a 12 month business plan to follow. This is very important, don't skip this part.

Event Planning - 10 Tips to Planning A Better Event


Whether you are a planning a wedding, a birthday party, or even a convention there are some simple things to consider and implement that can drastically improve the quality of the event. Using the knowledge I have gained over the years I've put together a list of 10 tips that have helped in my pursuit for terrific events.

  1. Always have a little bit more food than needed

  2. If you don't hire an event planner at least have someone act as one. That person would be in charge of making sure the vendors are set up properly and can help keep everything running smoothly. Whether it's a friend or family member the organization will be appreciated.

  3. If you hire a DJ be wary of the distance between his/her setup and your guests. The last thing you want is a blaring speaker deafening a guest.

  4. Try to find a suitable venue and make sure it suits your particular needs. Consider things like the number of guests, whether or not it needs to be wheel chair accessible.

  5. Consider trying to find package deals which some venues might offer.

  6. Be wary of weather alerts before and the morning of the event. Nothing is worse than having an event washed out or worse.

  7. Lists!, lists!, lists! I can't stress this enough. If you keep an up to date list the chances of anything being forgotten or going wrong are greatly reduced. Anytime I have an event or even just trying to accomplish a goal I create a to do list. If something doesn't get accomplished I roll it over to the next day. When planning an event it helps to not forget things like carded place holders for tables or napkins.

  8. Maintain contact with people your vendors. When planning an event make sure to maintain contact with your DJ, caterer, limousine driver. Sometimes in the chaos of preparing for an event services or people you require to get the job done can get left behind.

  9. Develop and stick to your event budget. The quality of an event does not depend on the dollar investment, rather it depends on effective event planning. There are easy ways to save money shop around a little and check event directories planning directories which will sometimes allow you to find inexpensive event related businesses.

  10. And last but not least keep calm, cool, and collected. Event planning is a lot of work and it's easy to be overcome with stress. If your stress or exhausted you can't put together a great event and remember stress shows.

How to Get an Online Degree in Event Management


Amidst the various upcoming professions in the world today event management is among the most promising field offering opportunities to thousands of people every day. This area of study has emerged from the application of project management and involves the planning and execution of festivals, seminars, live shows, events and conferences etc.

According to a report a total of $500 billion is spent annually in organizing big and small events all over the world. This figure shows how vastly this industry has developed in the last 15 years.

For those of you who are looking for the best way to pursue an online career in this field. It is important that you have some feedback about how you can acquire an online degree in event management.

The article below discusses the various online degree programs available and provides you the names of the top accredited schools and colleges which offer the event management degree online.

Online Degree in Event Management Overview

There are three different online degree programs a student can seek which include the associate, bachelors and masters degree programs. Along with these you can also get online certification and courses.

Online Associate Degree Program

In order to be eligible to receive this degree program a student should have a high school diploma or GED certification. This program enhances the students with skills and over all understanding of the event management industry. The following courses are available in this degree program:

  • Event Promotion

  • Food & Beverage Management

  • Essentials of Meeting, Conference & Planning

Online Bachelors Degree Program

The bachelor's degree program builds a deeper understanding inside the students and grants them administrative and leadership skills which help them in their future career in this field. Few of the schools also need students to complete a particular internship to qualify for this degree online degree program. The common courses included in this program are:

  • Hospitality Law Course

  • HR Management

  • Convention & Meeting Course

Online Masters Degree Program

The masters program serves as the means for providing managerial ability to people. Students are provided with the theoretical and practical significance events hold and the way to handle them. The major areas of study in this online degree program are logistics, budgeting & management:

In order for you to pursue with this program it is important that you hold a bachelors degree in hand from any accredited school. Few institutes also require the student to have work experience in the event management industry. The important courses covered are:

  • Strategic Management

  • Organizational Behavior

  • Entertainment Management

Online certificate in Event Management

In the certificate program students are provided with practical and theoretical experience which in turn gives them an upper hand throughout their career. Most institutes place students within event management companies to gain work experience or give them the responsibility to co繹rdinate an event for the institute itself which is then supervised by the faculty. The online courses that are included in the certificate program are:

  • Catering

  • Risk Management

  • Marketing

  • Finance Management

What to Consider While Planning A Corporate Event?


It is easy to assume that hiring an event planner can solve all the hassles of arranging a large-scale event in no time. However, the things are more difficult in reality. Many a times, organizations cannot afford to hire a planner and hence, they need to plan the entire program on their own. To help you plan a successful event, we have shared a few tips to make the process a straightforward and simple one.

Identify your target audience

Identifying and understanding your target audience will assist you to plan an event in the most effective way. Keep in mind, that audience for each program will be different. For example, the guests invited for informal occasions such as birthdays or anniversaries mostly include friends and family. However, for corporate parties, you have to make to attract specific business audience in relation to the event planned. It is important to remember that type of entertainment should be selected keeping in mind the age of the audience attending the program.

Understand the type of the event

Every event is different and so are their requirements. Hence, "one size fits all" motto will not be appropriate always. Determining the type of event is of vital importance in this connection. The planning process of a corporate event will be different from that of charity event or social event. However, there are some common elements, which you can incorporate irrespective of the type of event.

Schedule your events properly

Proper scheduling is the key to a successful and fruitful event. Bear in mind that formal programs are organized at a particular time of the year. For example, a Hawaiian party works much better in the summer. A proper schedule often helps in attracting large volumes audience to your event. Hence, determine the schedule and date of your affair carefully.

Determine Event location carefully

The venue contributes significantly to the success of your event. While selecting a venue, you need to consider several factors. It is essential to determine easy availability of accessibility in terms of transportation and affordable accommodation when selecting the venue. Apart from these, you must consider weather conditions, if your event proposes to have outdoor activities.

Reasons for hosting the event

Knowing the reasons for hosting an affair helps to plan it in the most effective way. Most of the events are arranged for three reasons- corporate entertainment, fundraising and social occasions. You have to determine category in which your program falls. It may seem like a basic question but defining the main purpose of the affair is key element to hosting a successful event.

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Festive Party - Office Event Planning


You want to create a festive party for the end of the year as a thank you for your group of employees and managers who have helped to keep your business running for these methods. Now, the question is, how can you pull it all off? Perhaps your budget is not huge or you may not have any idea what the company employees would actually want to do. The following are a few tips to help you to plan a successful event that is not only a success but also incorporates your company's goals.

Establish Goals

What do you want this festive party to actually include? Here are a few things to think about.

1. Do you want your employees to receive awards for their stellar performance?

2. Are you hoping to just get everyone together to say thank you to them?

3. Are you using this as a sales or motivational event?

The fact is, you need to know what you plan to accomplish by hosting the event before you actually get started in the planning of it. You can do this quite easily through just knowing what your goals are and organizing them.

Get things in Place

There are several things that you have to get in place as soon as possible, to ensure that your group has all of the necessary resources and information available to them. Here are some plans to help you with this as well.

1. Pick a location. Try to do something that is outside the actual office setting.

2. Choose food for the event, since this is almost always included

3. Invest in music, decoration, and gifts, favors or awards for your staff if you plan to give them out.

Now that you have these items in place, there are a few things to think about outside of them. Most importantly, you want to choose to have a company Christmas party that will suit everyone's needs. So, consider a time and place that works for everyone. If you will host it after hours, ensure you and your staff can make it then, or host it during normal working hours so that everyone can get there. You also want to ensure that everyone is able to communicate, network and build relationships. You may want to make it somewhat of a team building exercise by incorporating games that force people to work together.

There are many aspects to planning a successful party for your work family. That is a good way to look at them, too, as a family. That way, your company Christmas party will be the ideal way to bring everyone together to celebrate or just to say thank you to them for all the hard work they do for your business throughout the year.

Fun Ways To Spice Up Your Next Corporate Event


Company meetings have earned a notorious reputation for being boring and largely forgettable. The reason is simple: few are willing to think outside the box and take the kind of bold steps that are necessary to really make an impression and let employees have fun. Take your next outing to the next level with one of these creative and cost-effective ideas.

Sumo Suits

Encourage a little bit of friendly competition by involving pairs of co-workers in a friendly game of synthetic sumo. You can easily rent giant padded sumo suits, designed to be worn over virtually any clothing. Completely protected, your employees can then bounce around an arena until one is declared the winner.

Inflatable Jousting

This more competitive alternative to sumo suits offers you the opportunity to tap into your customer's competitive side. With these, you'll be fighting to actually unseat each other, and there's a much more defined win/loss structure than in something like sumo. Inflatable jousting can be a lot of fun, and like the suits it is completely safe because everything is padded and filled with air.

Unconventional Team Building

Traditional "team building" games and trust exercises have historically shown little ability to perform either function. Instead of relying on those, try something that will get your team working and thinking together without presenting the traditional kind of problems. One very good option is to have your employees solve an everyday problem that might confront your company, but mix together people from different departments or teams. Working with new people will provide fresh perspectives and encourage unity across the different sectors of your business.

Avoid Lectures - Use Demonstrations

Nothing is quite as boring as having someone talk at you with relatively little opportunity to interact. If you want your employees to learn about something new, present it in a way that lets them really get into it. The best way to manage that is by making something funny or something that really gets into their brain and makes them think. Demonstrations are great because they can combine these two elements alongside an opportunity to experience something hands-on. If your workers can try whatever it is they just learned and be guided by an expert, they're much more likely to remember it later on.

Make Sure To Build In Time For Fun

Even if the inflatable jousting described above seems like too much of a stretch for your next event, make sure it isn't all business. You want your team to come together as a team - that means they have to see each other as more than just people who do business together. They need to rely on each other, enjoy laughing with each other, and care about each other's success. That kind of caring grows more slowly when you're working on something that is strictly business related.

Ideas for Corporate Games and Ice Breakers


There is a time and place for everything and while corporations usually don't play around when it comes to profits, there is a place for corporate games. Get your meeting, seminar or workshop off to a productive start with a corporate game. Use one as a break or between segments to get the energy level up.

Ice Breakers
The objective of ice breakers is to break the tension at the beginning of the meeting and get the attendees to know each other better. asking everyone to contribute a business card. Mix up the cards and hand them out at random. You have to find the person that belongs to the business card you're given. The last person to match is given a joke prize. Make a list of interview questions, such as favorite color, favorite food and why, first job, last book read, funniest childhood memory and most disliked TV program. Each attendee gets three of the questions and chooses someone to interview. The interview takes place in front of all the attendees. Point are awarded by the audience for each interview. The interview with the highest number of points wins a small prize.

Team Building
Games for team building provide entertainment to not only the team members but to those watching. For example, teams come up with a song about the company and perform it. To make the game a little easier, provide a well-known song as the melody. Another option is each team member gets the name of a food ingredient and the team has to put together a dish using the ingredients and describe how to cook the dish. Create a storybook about the business owner and managers complete with illustrations. Each team presents their finished project to the attendees. Attendees vote for the best.

Casual Events
Corporate picnics, outings and holiday celebrations benefit from games. Workers from different departments may not know each other. One of the objectives of a corporate casual event is to increase cooperation between the individuals in different departments. Instead of pitting the accounting department against the customer service office, mix up the players from various departments to be on the same team. If families attend, involve the children in the games as well. Consider a "dunk the CEO" tank for good spirited fun. Hand out squirt guns for target practice. You'll find the players squirting each other as well. Other games include bowling with plastic pins and balls, croquet and goofy golf. In winter consider a snow person building contest or snowball throwing competition.

Warning
Include games that appeal to every age level and skill, so no one is left out. Gender comes into play with games that require athletic skills. If you let attendees choose their own teams, you may have some hurt feelings when some people are chosen last. Consider the implications of male and females physically competing to avoid sexual harassment or inappropriate behavior.

Hiring the Right Audio Systems for Your All Important Event


Large business conferences with delegates that come in from different parts of the globe as well as mass events, require the participation of many people and are definitely very difficult to organise. When organising an event such as this, you have to make sure that any event technology you have is indeed up to par so that everyone can enjoy the conference or the live event you are putting together.

Many big companies actually buy their own audio systems. This is very beneficial, especially if the company in question frequently organises small to medium conferences and live events. But buying and hiring your very own AV system can be a real hassle, especially if you do not have the techies to handle the nitty-gritty of the different aspects of event AV equipment handling.

There are a lot of plausible options out there. You can hire AV experts to do the installation for you during your events. This is especially a more plausible option for those once or twice a year big events, conferences and seminars. Doing it this way is just more cost-effective and convenient.

By now, you probably have a million questions in your mind for when it comes to hiring event AV equipment. Not to worry, because there are reliable AV systems hire companies almost everywhere you go that can cater for all your audio event planning needs.

This is how to go about selecting the right one:

Start searching the internet for AV hire companies in your area. Look for a company that has very flexible services. Make sure they not only cater to seminars and conferences but a myriad of live events that will suit the purposes of your business well.

Check the expertise of these companies to find out what sort of equipment they are capable of installing. Look for those with extensive knowledge not only of installation but also of troubleshooting. Find experts that are not only capable of handling sound systems but projectors and displays and control systems as well.

An all-in-one company should know your needs before you realise them and be really great to work with. They would not only provide excellent technical solutions but solve practical problems with furnishings and suchlike as well. If your company is lacking the right cabinets, podiums and furniture for the event, they can help provide that for you. These are needed for the right installation of sound systems.

Check their credentials and track record. Make sure they have catered for other live events in the past already and that they are flexible in the installation of the equipments in various places such as churches, training rooms, sports centres, hotels, restaurants, university venues and so on.

Once you have identified the right company to hire, find out if they can visit the venue first before installation so you can learn more about the systems required to make a sound system most effective in that area. Some reliable companies also offer their own equipments for hire. In the event that your equipment is not enough for the sound system, you can hire their equipment in the mean time.

Make sure their expertise extends to large events as well. This will ensure that they really know the ins and outs of large events.

A lot of companies do not like working with a bunch of techies who do not know how to speak in audio systems layman terms. If your company is one of those, make sure you hire event technology companies with technicians that are fun and easy to work with.

When it comes to large events, a good working relationship between the AV management team and the company throwing the event is crucial for success.

This also ensures that there will be no differences in opinion and there will be no problems of miscommunication. Get to know the various event technology experts today. Search for those companies that do not only offer audio systems but also event AV equipment handling and installation of your very own sound system.

These experts should foresee untoward events and make sure that these things do not happen on the day of the event.

In three words, these experts should be flexible, professional, and comprehensible.

The Advantages of a Good Marketing Agency for Your Event


Most event organizers and planners find it hard to make their services known to the public who they wish to target. It is always important to reach the wider majority if one is to reach the goals of his business or organization. Without the right marketing tools and the right marketing strategy, an organization could end up suffering and be left to languish without many people knowing that it exists.

There are various marketing companies and organizers that are dedicated and committed in helping event planners advertise their services and events. A good company will handle your ideas with interest and keenness and give its best to make it prosper. You should hire a company that knows the right media in which to advertise your message and one that has a marketing strategy that will work for you and your company.

When you choose to market your services, go for an agency that will deliver your services and goods to the target market directly and effectively thus bringing you good results. In this sense, the marketing, branding, media acquisition, public relations and even communication methods such as visual demonstrations are essential in ensuring your services are well received. A good marketing company should be able to give you positive results and continue to maintain giving you all the value you are looking for through the entire process.

Marketing activities can be great driving forces in making your services and goods known to the public and therefore it is only fair that you go for a marketing agency that offers the very best activities which are sure to reap the very best results. The agency should be there from the initial stages of your campaign and still stand with you long after the campaign has finished in order to evaluate how the market reacts and whether the marketing strategies put into use really did work to your advantage.

If you are an event organizer or planner and deal with events like conferences, festivals, conventions and expos among others, you need the right direction in dealing with such to make the public aware and what other better way to do this than to hire the services of a marketing agency? There is no single organizer who would want his event to lack attendees or, worse still, lack any sponsors. A good marketing agency should be in a position to help you reach the wide majority making your event a success

Event Planning With The Right Programs


When gathering all of the information needed to produce an event the tasks are endless. Getting all the names of the volunteers as well as vendors can be endless. Anyone who has planned an event knows if there is a lack of communication, there is trouble. But could have run so smoothly can become chaos quickly.

When having a non-profit event there are often people who are donating things. These things can be monetary donations or goods. Keeping track of who donates and keeping them up-to-date can be an endless job.

Is there are way to contact all of the people at once on a certain team? You could text them all individually and give them the message. Or, you could call them all and let them know. Email can be used if the team is not to be doing their certain task for a few days off.

Being efficient is one of the talents that great event planners have. They are able to multi-task in all of the areas and make it look like it is the easiest things to do. Unfortunately, not all of us are that talented. Observation on our part while the event planner is doing the tasks can help. But the most efficient are moving so fast that it can be confusing.

Ever wonder how these people accomplish so many things at once? Is it just in their personalities that make them able to make things look so easy? The answer in no, they use planning tools that work for them.

Lists on the computer using programs such as Excel are generated. Programs designed to work as personal assistants are used to make things move more efficiently. If a coordinator has more than a couple of people to call they will find a program that allows them to make multiple calls all at the same time. The best ones available will give them the results in real-time. This not only saves time, it keeps things up-to-date. This way the event planner knows what is going on at all times.

Event planners also know that they have to be one step ahead of everything and everyone else. They will be ready with "Plan B" just in case something goes wrong. There are plenty of times that an event will have to be rescheduled. Waiting until the last-minute never works well. If the planner has everyone's name in a system all that needs to be done is a message sent with one push of a button. Once everyone is notified the planner will then get everyone's responses back in real-time. This is just one of the many things that a successful event planner is able to do.

Planning events can be fun and extremely rewarding. Using programs designed just for information gathering and sending will put you ahead of the pack.

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Some Exciting Financial Planning Career Options


There are a lot of options in the financial planning career. Financial planning deals with the management of finances of various clients like individuals and companies. Financial planners help these clients to make the smart choice for advantageous investments.

For this they have to do a great deal of analysis and research. They also need to have a good communicative base and should understand investments and taxes thoroughly. Financial planning has a lot of branches- these include financial consultants or advisors, analysts and they might be even self-employed or company employed.

Planners

The main job of the financial planner is to plan the financial future of the clients. They are in charge of making clever investments on behalf of the clients. Looking for high return investments are a major feature of the job. Education, real estate and even retirement are some of the topics on which financial planners advise their clients.

They help people to make the best investments based on their financial status. Another area in which financial planners have to be knowledgeable about is the law. If there are any legal restrictions associated with insurance, retirement plans, tax shelters and trusts, then he has to know that and advise his client accordingly. This might be one of the reasons why a lot of financial planners come from law.

Analysts

The job of a financial analyst is to evaluate and judge economic outlooks of different financial sectors and industries. This is done for client companies and agencies. The main work is the use of statistical software and spreadsheets. These tools are used to assess data, then identify patterns and develop predictions used to advocate for or against purchasing or selling specific investments and securities.

Securities analysts can find employment with different companies such as pension and mutual funds, insurance companies, banks and securities firms.

Advisors they are mostly personal financial advisors also known as consultants or planners generally work with different people and advise them on how to handle their finances this is done by advising investment options along client help achieve goals for retirement asset protection estate planning job usually individually sitting each determining patiently the that suit his status best.

Use the Best Event Management Software to Streamline Your Tasks


While organizing an event, you need to match up with your event organizing staff and look into hundreds of functional details to ensure everything is in the right place. However, organizing one or multiple events across locations involves lots of stress and exhaustion. To avoid doing such stressful job, many organizations are now embracing user-friendly online event management software. This Cloud-based software can be used by anyone having an internet connection. Besides, you don't have to spend any additional dollars to buy or install any software, as this web-based solution appears to be generally compatible with PCs and Macs.

The best event managing solution should provide you with a rich set of tools including event registration, secure payments option, online calendars, communication tools, and others that are important for the smooth running of your business. Hence, you should check the availability of such tools before investing money on any such web-based solution. These simple yet powerful set of tools and modules also offer extremely high level of scalability. Thus, it is likely to cater to your business continuously, even as it expands over time.

As a social event organizer, you should always try to go for the solution that will actually save you precious time and money! Moreover, it is always good to use a cost-effective online solution instead of going for the conventional and, of course, costly manual process of creating and managing events and activities.

Another important point to keep in mind while buying an event administering service is that whether the service that you have opted for supports social media website connection or not. In other words, you should try to use an online event registration and management solution that offers quick connection to all popular social media websites. To summarize, you must ensure the software lets you easily create an event's page on Facebook and lets you promote all your events details on this social networking site. Besides, the solution should also enable you to instantly include your event and training/workshop details on Twitter, LinkedIn, Google Plus, and such similar top-ranked social media platforms.

Your event planning and managing software should also provide you with the option of sending any program-related information directly on the Smartphone of your customers. The service should also enable you to easily send text messages, website links, as well as emails on all your target audience's mobile phone. It enables the receiver of your message to quickly search for information covering any of your events as well as browse through your registration or business website pages to finally attend your function.

Short Term Strategic Planning


Many planners still consider "strategic" to be synonymous with "long-term". Executives enjoy long term strategic planning because it's usually pure fantasy. Consultants love to do long term planning exercises because they make everyone feel good. Yet long planning horizons are the root cause of visions and strategies that are too motherhood to be successfully executed. According to Peter Wright of The Planning Group "when we take executive teams through an exercise to create a 2-3 year practical vision, they are visibly uneasy. If they commit to a vision of the company only 8-12 quarters away, real plans will need to be underway within a few months just to be on track."

This sense of urgency is the best reason to keep planning horizons short. Bridging the gap between strategy and execution is difficult, and a vision that is both practical and compelling is the best foundation. A vision should drive the articulation of an organization's most crucial priorities, its "strategic imperatives", as well as a solid plan for how to achieve those priorities. Without that short, practical vision, turning strategy into action is almost impossible.

There is one important caveat: strategic planning, in particular vision statements should never have a horizon that is too short. A vision for an organization that is only 12 months away, for example, is likely unrealistic, and can cause a sense of hopelessness. This can be just as damaging to successful execution as a vision that is too long.

There is a place for a very high level, longer term strategic vision for your firm, but don't let it be a substitute for a practical vision and strategy that will be the drivers of real action. Keep your business planning horizon between 2-3 years to create plans that are practical, compelling, and stand a fighting chance of execution.

Building Your Planning Business While Working a Fulltime Job


Many aspiring planners ask me how to build their wedding planning business while they're still working a traditional 9 to 5 job. I tell them that it is entirely possible as long as they plan it well. (Good practice, right? Plan, planner? OK, bad joke!) While starting a wedding planning business on a part time basis may be difficult, it can be successful if you focus on some essentials.

Here are some of the things I feel are important areas of focus while building your business while working full time. Pay special attention to:

Money

Having startup capital that covers your living expenses is a key ingredient anytime you start a business. You can't let your home life suffer while you're building your dream, right? Let's face it...you may not book your first bride right away.

You can operate a wedding planning business on a part time basis as long as you take care to provide yourself enough money to "build" the business. Allocating a portion of your full time job salary will help you to continually grow your business, especially when investing in monthly marketing activities.

Education

Continue to sharpen your expertise with continuing education. Workshops, books and spending time with other more experienced planners are a must. Carve out time in your schedule for each of these on a consistent basis. Set a goal to read at least one business book per month; meet with 2-3 vendors (including other planners) each week and find a workshop or some sort of information sharing event at least 3-4 times per year.

Hands On Experience

Get some experience at real weddings. Either shadow another planner or offer to help friends and family plan their weddings for free or for a nominal fee. It's crucial that you learn what happens at a real event before you take on the planning and coordinating of a paying bride. Weddings are highly emotional events and you must be prepared for all of the things that can go wrong.

Creative and Compelling Marketing

Be creative and intentional about your marketing. The number one marketing activity for new planners is networking! I can't stress this enough. Word of mouth referrals are going to be the best way to build your clientele and to get the word out that you are a wedding planner with a new message. Be different and be bold because if you dont, you'll end up getting lost in a sea of planners.

And attend a variety of networking group events in your community...not just wedding and event related...and start to build the "know, like and trust" factor among the business owners that share your target market. Nail shops, hair salons and spas, popular meeting places for brides like trendy boutiques are great businesses to join forces with. Bridal shows may also be very beneficial if the attendees are in your target market. Learn how to maximize your time at a bridal show and be sure to follow up!

Professional and Precise Systems

Make sure you setup systems to do everything in your business. Attending networking events, educating yourself, etc. will mean nothing if you don't have the right system setup for when you DO get a call from that first bride. Write down and fine tune your client experience. From the moment they first come in contact with you and your brand, until the wedding is over, what is the process? Phone calls, emails, documents and the entire planning process you take your bride through should be written down and followed consistently.

A Plan to Ditch Corporate America

And finally, plan on going full time with planning weddings in twelve to eighteen months. Anymore time than that, and you won't be able to effectively be of service to your growing clientele. Also, you won't be able to spend enough time on activities that grow your business, as described above.

So? Are you ready to make that move?

Event Planning - Don't Forget the Branding


Planning a company event can be a daunting task. It can also be a lot of fun. Setting a date. Creating the right theme. Inviting the guests. And whether you're planning an open house or a company picnic, never waste an opportunity to promote your brand.

Choosing a Theme Most companies plan several events every year. The winter holiday party. The summer bbq. An open house with the local chamber of commerce. A dinner with your top clients. Or a fund raising event for a local charity. Whatever the event may be, make sure you take some time to think about your goals, and create an event that will achieve your goals and please your guests. Choosing the right theme is a key element for a successful event.

Setting a Budget Just as important as picking a theme is deciding upon a budget. Can you achieve the theme with your desired budget? There are plenty of ways to achieve your goals on a tight budget. One of our most successful events every year has been the company bowling party. It's also an inexpensive event that brings our staff closer together every summer.

Branding the Event From the initial invitations to the parting gifts, you will have numerous opportunities to promote your theme and your brand along the way. Remember that everything you do or say is part of your brand, and conveys a message to your guests. What message do you want to convey? Think of fun ways to invite your guests. Carry the theme and your company brand throughout the event. Serving dinner or snacks? Use custom coasters, personalized napkins or promotional cups to display your theme proudly. And if it fits in the budget, make sure everyone leaves with a branded item to remember the event.

Company events can bring your staff together, earn you new clients, and reinforce your brand. And with a little planning, it can be an event to remember.

How To Generate Income From Home Online


In this modern era, mostly women want to stay at home with their kids and also earn money. The best option for them is to generate income from home online. In this way, they can look after their family as well. Beginning a work from home business does not need you to be an internet expert, and best of all you get to select your working hours and do it from the relaxation of your home.

Even though, like any other business, it is vital you learn the basics of earning money online. Grasping of the basics and becoming a master at specific methods are little things you need to become conversant with past to gain any income from your internet business. There are various ways of generating income from home online:

繚 Affiliate Marketing
繚 Start an Ecommerce websites
繚 Sell tangible goods or products
繚 Google AdSense Program in which you get paid for referrals
繚 CPA Networks
繚 Writing articles for website owners
繚 Flipping Websites
繚 Flipping domains
繚 Pay per click
繚 Pay per sale
繚 Blogs Posting
繚 Forums Posting
繚 Start your own affiliate website to generate income from home online
繚 Website Marketing and Advertising
繚 Create your own members only site in which people pay a fee in order to become member
繚 Earn from Blogging
繚 Earn from eBay business
繚 Network Marketing helps in creating funds at home on the internet
繚 Buy a website in lower price and sell a website in higher price
繚 Generate Squidoo lenses
繚 Doing data entry online jobs
繚 Daycare facility provider
繚 Online training classes
繚 Develop your own event planning business
繚 You can design logos of various companies if you are designer
繚 You can develop websites if you have knowledge of web application development languages like PHP (Preprocessor hypertext PHP)
繚 You can give On page SEO services to various online clients
繚 You can do blog commenting, social book marking, and directory submission
繚 You can promote classified ads
繚 You can buy or selling inside the currency market in order to generate profit operating from home

To Sum up, there is a wide range of ways to generate income from home online. Working online gives comfort to your life and family as you can work anytime. Moreover, everyone can do work while sitting anywhere in the world as you are attached to unlimited amount of people via internet. Furthermore, It does not require any dressing up as you can do work practically in your pajamas. You can say internet gives feel free work with quick earning.

Monday, February 4, 2013

10 Business Continuity Planning Tips


This guide is not intended to be a substitute for a carefully planned formal Business Continuity Management plan, but may assist in raising issues for consideration that might otherwise be overlooked in trying to continue the business.

1. Stakeholders: The expectation of clients/customers is that a business will have something in place to provide redundancy in the business functions and services provided to them. For the most part, they are not interested in the cause of a disruption: they are interested in how the business is going to continue to supply the service.

2. Objectives: It is important for an organisation to know its objectives to be able to determine those things that will have an impact on those objectives. In the case of a disaster / crisis, the only objective might be survival of the business.

3. Critical Functions: In developing a Business Continuity Management plan, it is necessary to conduct a business impact analysis to determine which functions of the business are critical to achieving the objectives of the organisation. By focusing on critical functions, the organisation's energy and resources will not be diverted to comparatively less important aspects.

4. Critical Vs Important: When considering the critical functions of a business, care has to be taken not to confuse critical with important. Many functions of a business will be important, but they may not be critical to the business achieving its objective. For example, the organisation may consider it important to provide staff with a canteen, but is it critical? Staff can bring their own lunches, or food can be outsourced in the short term.

5. Resources: To be able to maintain continuity during a significant event, the organisation will need to develop adequate resources. These resources include human resources in the form of sufficient numbers of staff, and appropriate staff. The resources may also include equipment such as heavy machinery or computers, necessary furniture, alternative accommodation etc.

6. Communication: In concentrating on taking steps to continue a business, it is all too easy to forget about communication. This communication could be with: staff in advising them of the organisations objectives and steps to recovery; or with the public in general in relevant circumstances.

7. Supply Chan: It may be the organisation is not directly affected by the disaster / crisis, but there could be an impact on the organisation's supply chain. It may be necessary to consider alternative suppliers - either immediately, or in the near future. Obviously, the supply chain aspect applies if the organisation is directly affected.

8. Leadership: Leadership is about being able to manage the stress levels and stay focused. Senior management need to be able to determine and establish priorities. Is about issuing unambiguous directives, which are a really interesting thing particularly in a crisis, and being able to monitor and assess results and responses.

9. Effective Coordination: Coordination is about knowing and using the resources. Those involved must be able to work as a team. It is necessary to have effective and timely communication, and be able to maintain situational awareness. It's about being able to understand what's going on. Being able to keep an eye on what's going on in each senior person's particular area.

10. Future Planning: It would be worthwhile keeping records of decisions / actions taken to address the disruption to provide guidance for the development of a formal Business Continuity Management plan after the business moves into recovery mode from the continuity phase. It may sound pessimistic, but if the business survives the disaster / crisis, the organisation should move to adopt sound business continuity management to improve resilience for the next event.

Cruise Liners - The Best Corporate Events and Wedding Functions Venues


The idea of hosting corporate events and wedding functions in unique venues seem to be a common trend today. The world economy is booming and thus a growing set of people are ready to spend for a one time surreal experience.
People are trying hard to come up with new ideas and concepts to celebrate various events. One reason to emphasise on the exclusivity of the event is to make it even more memorable. Important functions like the wedding need extra planning and attention. Special care is taken to make it even more memorable for the newly wed couple and the guests. The wedding functions venues play a very important role in making the wedding memorable.

The idea of choosing a cruise as the wedding functions venues is one of the most popular concepts today. It is not only the newly wed couple but also the guests who enjoy cruising. It also helps the newly weds to save on money and time as they can combine their honeymoon along with the wedding on a romantic cruise.

If you are planning to get married on a cruise then you will have to start preparing months in advance. To begin with you will have to find a cruise liner that has a wedding department. But if you are only planning a reception on the cruise then you can go for any cruise liner that is without a wedding department. But if you want to get married on the ship then apart from the wedding department you also need to ensure that there is someone to perform the legal wedding ceremonies involved.

Apart from the legal authority to get you married, if you want to get married on a foreign port then you need to get prior approval of the local authority there. You will have to check beforehand with the cruise liner about the stops of the ship. Then accordingly you can decide which port you want to get married on. Hence prior preparation is must if you want to choose a cruise as your wedding functions venues.

The cruise is also often used for hosting corporate events and parties. The corporate events or functions are held either to reward the employees or to boost their morale. Earlier these parties were held in the hotels. But gradually the idea of hosting these events on a cruise liner is catching up. There are many reasons for choosing a cruise ship to host corporate events.

One of the most important reasons is the fact that it is a great stress buster. It is not easy to relax and enjoy when you are surrounded with your office colleagues. So it is very important that the atmosphere and the surrounding are such that it helps you relax. Especially when you think of locations to relax with your office colleagues around nothing could be a better arrangement than a cruise liner. Thus cruise line can not only help in creating the right atmosphere for both corporate and wedding events but is also cost effective.

How Can Salesforce Users Be Benefitted by the Cloud-Based Event Management Software?


Businesses of all kinds use the Salesforce Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software to manage their customers and budget simultaneously. The software helps to seamlessly create and track the day-to-day administrative and accounting services. Now-a-days, many Salesforce CRM-using companies are taking the help of Cloud-based event management software to offer their customers the benefit of easy events registration and payment solutions from within the Salesforce platform.

The online event management software providers have designed a unique connector that can be used by the Salesforce organizations to quickly and most conveniently manage their event needs. For example, you will get an online registration solution to automate the process of managing the procedure of signing up attendees without the need to rent staff for the same. Then, there is the online payment software to allow you to accept money sent via credit cards, PayPal, and such other popular payment gateways.

The Salesforce Connector application enables automatic two-way seamless data integration between the event solution database and Salesforce CRM. The connector allows organizers to easily invite contacts and leads from their Salesforce CRM. Simultaneously, it automatically populates and updates Salesforce records with registration data for easy tracking and reporting by the event organizers from within the Salesforce platform.

Most of the online event management solution providers offer an AppExchange-certified Salesforce connector to allow automatic bi-directional synchronization of information. Now what is this AppExchange-certified connector?

AppExchange is the world's first marketplace for Cloud computing applications and services. When a connector gets approved by this marketplace, it becomes AppExchange certified. It means that the connector will now be displayed on AppExchange list and thousands of Salesforce.com customers can immediately access it. Thus, the value of your software and solutions increases tremendously once they get listed on the AppExchange.

Salesforce users can start using the connector to:

•Set up and manage web-based registration for meetings and conferences
•Create and manage online events without leaving the Salesforce interface
•Manage invitations, notifications, and reminders via the email marketing tool
•Automatically sync the leads, contacts, and campaigns in Salesforce
•Accept online payments via Salesforce CRM software

The AppExchange-certified Salesforce Connector helps event organizers simultaneously build organizational memory to improve customer relationship, collect feedback post event, as well as track the attendee participation history. The AppExchange-certified connector can help you create and manage the most successful seminars and trade shows. You can use the connector to arrange from simple to complex corporate parties, fundraisers, and similar other happenings in the days to come.

Corporate Team Building - Activities, Ideas and Parties


In the corporate world, one of the most important aspects that every employee must understand is to work in a team. Most of us are able to work just fine when we are alone. However, team dynamics are different. In order to make employees understand the value of team work, and to break ice in between with some fun-filled corporate events.. This not only helps toward corporate team building, but it also helps the employees to know each other better on a personal level, which promotes mutual understanding and trust. It helps towards creating a good work culture. This enables them to work better with each other, and thus improved the overall productivity.

Team building events

You can hire some good event management organisations that specialise in organising various team building events. These companies organise excellent themed parties, which makes work a lot more fun. You can have the theme based on the nearest holiday. These parties are great fun to attend, and are something that all your employees will definitely look forward to. The prices charged are extremely competent, and it will be an invaluable service that you would have gained for the company.

These companies may also organise all day-time events. They usually take the employees or ask them to reach a particular venue. Here, several fun team building exercises are organised. These exercises aim to teach the employees the importance of team work, and the basic dynamics that occur within a team. Your employees will be able to learn how to respect each other's opinion, and how to swallow their own feelings. These companies also make a note of the employees who demonstrate leadership traits which can be submitted to your company's HR department to assist them in their succession and career planning exercises. The activities in themselves are extremely fun, and are very simple. The employees do not feel like they are working at all, yet they learn a lot.

Goal setting and employee engagement

Teams in an organisation often have to face several challenges together. They often have to work under stringent deadlines and also accomplish certain goals.. For this, they must first learn the basics of goal setting. They must also understand the company's strategy and what the organisation expects from them in the face of a crisis. They will have to face many tough situations which will require the synergies of all the team members.

With various team building challenges, like obstacle courses and so on, the employees are able to learn all of this without having to sit through some dull lectures. It creates a lasting impact on their minds. Fun team building games like quizzes, etc are organised to teach the employees the value of communication. With fun activity days such as these, your employees will feel more loyal towards the organisation as they establish a personal relationship within themselves. You can also take their suggestions for great team building ideas.

Event Management - The New Order of the Day


Managing events in traditional ways is passé. The new trending way is to hire professional Event managers. They will schedule, arrange and execute events ranging from birthdays, wedding parties to political rallies in an efficient and orderly fashion.

Going by dictionary meaning, it suggests the applying of managerial skills to the conceptualization, development and executing perfectly festivals, conferences or events. In India various firms are taking up this trade because it is very closely linked to promotion, marketing and bringing out creativity. This concept is relatively new in India but has a lot of scope in it to grow and prosper. The persons involved in this particular field must possess important skills like hard working nature, a lot of energy and zeal, a high level of flexibility, exceptional creativity, organizing and logistic specialty. They are actually involved in the process of brand building, promotion, advertising and marketing. It demands certain unorthodox qualities like giving attention to even little details, persistence, meeting deadlines, managing within the budget and most importantly keeping cool in case of any misfortune that might happen at the last minute in spite of the hard work and co-ordination involved.

Various professional courses are now available in different institutions for students if the choose to take up this trade as their career. If they choose so they can find themselves in event management consultancies, travel and hospital sectors, PR firms, media firms, advertising agencies, event budgeting and accounting corporations very soon in the near future. Amongst the most famous ones Event management in Ahmedabad is most sought after because of the happening nature of the events and the amount of exposure it gets through different media's like television, radio, newspapers or Internet. Various other cities are also pitching in, in order to gain much needed exposure like Ahmedabad, Pune, New-Delhi etc. among these Ahmedabad companies are really doing well because of their completely different cultural style, the way in which they handle events and the participation of locales in various events.

Event management corporations and firms doing Event management in Mumbai cater to a variety of field which includes the elite ones like international corporate events which include conferences, press meets, product launches etc and many public programs sponsored by various companies like grand openings, award ceremonies, road shows, rallies, film premieres, concerts, private parties, fashion shows etc.

This new trend is here to stay and flourish taking all those who are with it to new heights.