Floral Arrangement Ideas for Corporate Events

While decorating venues for any kind of events, you can not ignore to put special emphasis on flowers. Be it backyard parties at your home or corporate events at your office, flowers are an impressive way to attract countless eye-balls. The art of creating and exhibiting flowers in the form of bouquet or placing them in vases, baskets etc can brighten up the look of the event in a big manner.

Are you planning to organize a corporate event? If you are among the party organizing committee at your office and planning to create magic with flowers at the upcoming corporate event, then consider some praiseworthy flower arrangement ideas mentioned below:

• Consider purchasing special types of flowers and flower arrangements that can make an everlasting impression before the guest.
• In order to have extra-ordinary arrangement, you can buy bunch of flowers including Anthurium Lilies, orchids and tropical leaves and place them into an elegant vase.
• When decorating the reception desk at your office, you can use Lilies, vandas, kale, bamboo and rich striped foliages.
• For table centerpiece, you can have a few sticks of red roses arranged in the cylindrical-shaped vase.
• To give a perfect corporate look, you can try out some flowers of extra-ordinary shapes like proteas, banksia, gum nuts, lukes etc, all placed in a round ceramic vase.
• As white symbolizes the color of peace, you can have bouquets of white flowers, placed in different corners of the venues. You can also add red rose in between the white roses and make a great combination.

Besides making the workplace attractive, many organizations use flowers as a token of respect towards their employees and clients. The company owners take pleasure to present bouquet of flowers to their employees during special events at the offices.

If you want flowers for corporate events to be held in your organization, then you can contact some companies providing many choices of floral arrangements at unmatched rates. Some commercial floral services in Orlando offer centerpieces which meet the taste and preferences of their clients. They have their online presence so that you can order floral arrangement from you office or any other place as per your convenience.

So, don't look further and make a decision to have finest floral arrangement for the corporate events. Besides these, you can also expect to have good collection of flowers for backyard parties and other special occasions too.

Let Email Invites Increase Your Event Registration

Over the past few years, the increased dependence on email communication has made it an important strategy to increase your event attendance. At present, a large number of event organizers are using email tools to send invitations and RSVPs to the attendees effortlessly, without investing a lot of time and money. With the introduction of online event registration, this form of communication is rapidly gaining ground among the organizers. Experts believe that in the present scenario, email invitations have become a crucial strategy to increase your event's attendance. However, you need to know the fundamentals of an effective email campaign properly to make it work for your event.

Subject Line of the Email

The subject line is the most important part of an email campaign, as it will instantly grab your reader's attention or deter them. Moreover, your email's subject line will help you get through the spam filters. Hence, it should be descriptive and catchy enough to define your purpose and attract readers' attention instantly. For example, a subject line, like "Registration for the 2012 Chess Championship is Now Open" sounds better than "2012 Chess Championship Registration".

Secondly, to get through the spam filters, you have to avoid some specific words, such as 'Free', '$$$', 'Save', 'Discount', and so on in your email campaign.

Choose Images Carefully

Choosing an appropriate image and its proper placement is extremely important. Getting your message out with adequate text and appropriate images can help you create a positive impact on your target audience. It increases the chances of getting more potential attendees register for your event.

A Well-framed Email Copy

A well-written email copy is one of the most important parts of an effective email campaign. Try to define the purpose of writing the email clearly to your readers. You have to make your readers understand why they should attend your event and how it is going to benefit them. In short, you have to keep your audience engaged through a well-written email copy.

Effective Call to Action

An engaging Call to Action is extremely necessary for a successful email campaign; yet, it has always been the most overlooked part. A clear and concise "Call to Action" is likely to help your readers understand what they are expected to do next. To make your "Call to Action" button more creative, you can insert an image there.

Before sending your email campaign out, check carefully if it has all these basic elements in it or not.

How Can Corporate Outings Build Better Company Teams?

Stress comes from many sources, especially from responsibilities and relationships. Nowhere is that more evident that in the workplace. Many companies have stressful environments that may be detrimental to the quality of work. When individuals are put into stressful situations, the entire team suffers. Fortunately there are ways to prevent, lessen and lighten up stressed environments. Company outings are one of the most effective methods of revitalizing the team spirit of the workers. The success of a company lies in the homogeneous movement of workers as a whole working towards a collective end. The failure to do so will result in a destructive disintegration of the working team. This may lead to lower outputs and a more stressful environment.

Stress is linked to many workplace situations such as poor social skills and miscommunication. The results can be costly and can affect the personal health of all employees. Corporate outings help with maintenance of employee health by providing an outlet for stress relief. Also by providing fun, structured activities, you can help keep your employees in shape mentally and physically and improve the social morale of your team. Companies and offices need fit individuals to work together to increase profit and revenues for the company. The outputs created by workers and individuals are the lifeline of the company. Therefore, it can be said that it is in the best interest of the company to relieve possible health detriments to the workers in order to increase employee output. Company outings are a time-proven way to improve the socializing skills of the individuals. If individuals are compelled to engage in effective socialization processes such as what occurs at company outings, there will be spill- over of the positive gains of the activity upon the whole working environment.

Company management can improve their working environment not just through boring team building activities. A well executed company outing promises the same results without the disinterest and boredom. Planned activities help workers and management rediscover the fun of working together as a cohesive team. The participants of these activities usually find new ways of reinventing their work dynamics to ultimately create a healthier working environment and even improved personal health.

Corporate outings, outsourced to an effective corporate events company, are one of the sure-fire ways of effective team building. More and more companies are seeking specialists in the corporate events market to ensure the best bang for their buck. A good company gains popularity in their market because of the recommendations that it receives from the participants of these well-planned activities. The old school way of boring meetings and assessments have made way for more lively, active ways to think outside the box and challenge workers to think creatively as a team. These corporate events promise learning and self discovery through enjoyable ways. Company outings are indeed a cool way to team build.

Event Logistics: Dealing With the Details

Most people don't realize it until they host their first event, but a thousand little details go into planning an event. The event organizer must consider everything from marketing the event to organizing speakers, handouts, food, lodging and other relevant event details. If you're hosting an event and you're the main feature of the event, you have far less time to focus on these thousand-and-one details that go into a successful event. Dealing with the details becomes an integral part of handling event logistics.

The Logistics of Planning an Event

The logistics of planning an event require you to negotiate the details. You must coordinate the venue, any food and refreshments, the temperature, handouts, lighting, lodgings and many other details. If you're using an A/V system, you must make sure the equipment is where it's supposed to be, and fully functional.

If you're coordinating an event with multiple speakers or sessions, ensure that each participant's needs are met. The event itself requires coordinating these logistics in the days and weeks leading up to the event, a flurry of activity the day before and the morning of, and managing details during the day of the event.

Balancing Logistics with Price

The specific logistics of your event vary depending on the price point of your event. If you're charging a low price point, you're probably not providing refreshments, meals, or substantial handouts. Conversely, if you're charging a high price point, you might want to provide your attendees with special little touches that make the price seem more justified, including handouts, promotional materials, refreshments and a meal.

Handling Logistics When You're Presenting the Event

When you're planning and presenting at an event, not only do you have the details to manage to ensure the event runs smoothly, but you must also think about your presentation. If you're running around the morning of the event taping cords to floors or thinking about your lunchtime refreshments, you're not getting yourself into the right mindset for presenting at the event.

If you're presenting, you might want to hire a professional that has event management experience to take care of the details for you, leaving you free to focus on your presentation. If you do hire a professional to deal with the logistical details, make sure you're hiring someone who has experience dealing with event logistics. Hire someone with whom you are comfortable presenting your image, as the way they handle the event will reflect on you as the host and presenter. If you hire an event manager who won't provide the customer service experience you want, or who doesn't know how to manage the details in a way that is acceptable to you, you have only yourself to blame if the event is not well-received.

Think about the logistics of your event during the event-planning phase. Don't wait until the last minute to decide how you want to handle logistics, or realize you'll want to hire an event manager to free up your attention for the event itself. Make a list of the details you need to manage for the event, and determine whether you're comfortable managing the details yourself or whether you want help. Eliminate details that are cost-prohibitive in a low-budget event, or add handouts and giveaways for a high-budget event so your attendees feel like they're getting their money's worth for the event.

How to Be an Effective Event Manager

Your company is planning an event in the coming month and you are tasked to be the event manager for this specific event. You are uncomfortable with the task since this is your first time in handling and leading the planning of an event. But you really don't need to worry; you were assigned this task since your superiors believe you have what it takes to plan the event they want.

Being an effective event manager is really not hard, but you have to be efficient with the things you need to do. In order to help you with being an event manager, here are some tips for you. First is to make a checklist of what you need to do. List down everything you will need to purchase, hire and people you will need to talk to. Having a checklist will help remind you about all the details needed in the event.

Second is to determine your budget. You cannot really start moving and looking for suppliers if you are still wishy-washy about your budget. Most of the details in the event will be based on your budget so you need to be sure about this and always stick to it. I doubt your superior would like it if you tell him/her that you have gone over budget with your event planning.

Third, scout for quality suppliers that offer good prices. Your primary supplier to think about is your food and beverage. You can ask close friends if they know a catering company that serves good food. Food is very important in any event and if your company is hosting it, you should be able to keep your guests satisfied all the way to dessert. Always put the bulk of your budget in food and beverages.

Next, pick the venue and go there yourself. The venue should be able to hold the capacity you want and should be accessible to everyone. It is always best to pick a venue ahead of time so you can make early reservations. Also make sure that the venue has a big parking lot for all your guests. Your venue should also have spacious doors as to not give the catering company a hard time setting up tables, chairs and the decorations.

Lastly, you can now look into the added aspects of the party like invitations, giveaways, host, and decorations. These are the less stressful parts of the party and you can easily do them. Before the event, you can check your checklist if you forgot about anything, and if you are good to go, the event is all set to go as well. Surely, at the end of the party, your superior will applaud your efforts for being an event manager in one of their most successful events.

How to Effectively Manage Online Delegate Registration

Event managers are under increasing pressure; pressure to create and manage successful events, but also under pressure to keep costs low and efficiencies high. This means that they often walk a thin line between creating an event that is of value to delegates and creating an event that is managed on a small budget. This can cause issues as saving money isn't always harmonious with the desire to manage and host a high value event.

Many event managers are now realising the benefits of control and efficiency that technology can bring to the event management process. Automating key activities and taking advantage of the Internet can help save time and money and can also create a more efficient event experience for both event managers and delegates. One of the leading areas where events and the Internet are coming together is that of delegate registration.

Previously, event managers would have to manually select target delegates from a database, they would then create and send direct mail invitations (which comes with additional costs of printing and postage) and then manage the registrations via the telephone, fax and post. There would be little or no tracking or reporting capabilities and they would incur additional costs through the ongoing communication between themselves and the registered delegates. Managing the list of delegates would be time consuming - managed on huge, complex spreadsheets. However, we are now seeing this traditional model of delegate registration being slowly overtaken by that of an Internet based model.

The Internet based model of delegate registration takes advantage of the increase in the use of the Internet throughout the globe. According to a Radicati Group study from May 2009, there are about 1.9 billion email users worldwide. That equates to just over one in every five persons on the earth using email. For 2014, Radicati Group projects 2.5 billion email users worldwide. These statistics show that people are now becoming accustomed to using email as part of their everyday lives.

Add this to the fact that in 2010, 30.1 million adults in the UK (60 per cent) accessed the Internet every day or almost every day (source ONS Opinions Survey). People now accept the Internet and all it has to offer, and now expect business to meet their needs online as well as offline. The use of email and social networking means that people are increasingly living their lives online; this means that they want to be able to undertake basic transactions online as well - and that includes registering to attend events.

The online registration procedure should look something like this:

• Website branded to your corporate specification


• Sending branded, personalised e-invites to a targeted selection of prospect delegates via a sophisticated email marketing tool


• Providing a single click transaction from e-invite to branded event landing page


• Allowing your delegates to register online through your website


• Sending automated delegate booking email confirmations


• Producing personalised delegate packs tailored specifically to each individual delegate


• Collating and storing relevant information and producing delegate badges prior to the event

This model benefits the delegate as well as the event manager. For the delegate, they receive targeted, personalised e-invites, can register and pay online and then experience a complete closed loop by receiving event confirmation and updates via email. For the event manager, they are able to take a step back away from the registration process, whilst still staying in control. Full tracking and reporting capabilities will be included in the email marketing tool which will enable the event manager to see who opened the invite, who clicked on links and more. This will help to improve the quality of the data, the follow ups and the success of future campaigns.

The event manager can also customise the online booking form for each event they hold - ensuring that they receive the most important data for that event. This information can be used for additional marketing and to create personalised delegate packs on the day. Custom delegate badges, complete with barcodes can also be created at a click of a button.

Managing the delegate registration process can be made easier by outsourcing this area to an event software company. This kind of service provides all of the above activities - freeing the event manager up to work on more strategic tasks. Event management software organisations are able to take control of the delegate registration process through the use of their sophisticated event software solutions - all for a flat and affordable fee. This kind of partnership is often preferable to event companies who are just starting to make use of technology when organising their events. The other side of the coin would be to fully invest in an event software solution which would come with a delegate registration model. Although in this case, the event managers would still need to oversee and control this part of the process themselves.

Choosing Food For Corporate Events

One of the crucial things about corporate entertainment, along with the entertainment, is the food. Food is something that everyone enjoys, but not everyone enjoys the same type of food. As a result, it is important that as someone who is putting on a corporate entertainment event, you choose food that everyone is going to enjoy. Something else to consider is what people are allergic to. Nothing ruins a corporate event like people getting sick on the food you have provided them. So, to help you along, here are some of the things to consider when you choose food for corporate events.

1. Send out a survey to find out what most people want to eat. If it comes back that more people want chicken than want fish, then you should choose chicken. By doing this, you ensure that the majority of people at the event get what they want.

2. Another option is to choose the two top choices that come out of the survey, which allows you to ensure that nearly everyone gets what they want.

3. Find out from those who are participating, what they are allergic to and any problems with certain types of food (religious grounds, etc).

4. Have a buffet style of dinner. That will allow everyone to get what they want, without having to choose between two dishes. That way you ensure everyone gets something, no one eats something they shouldn't and you make things very easy on yourself.

Choosing the food for a corporate event is very important and you have to make sure that you do it right. By following these tips, you make things easy on yourself, and you ensure that everyone is happy at the corporate entertainment event. In the end, that is what is most important

Promote Your Fundraiser Without Spending a Dime

Have you ever thought of promoting your fundraiser event without having to spend a single penny? It's possible, but you need to be creative and invest in a lot of time and effort. Getting the word out about the event, and that too without incurring expenditures is a difficult task. However, you can check out the ideas and use them for your upcoming events.

1. Set up an advertising committee

Set up a working committee that will help you in chalking out your advertising strategy. Try to involve as many people as possible in your planning process. The more people you involve in the process, more people you will have in fundraising event.

Communicate with the members of your committee effectively. Listen to their individual views and if necessary do change your preconceived idea for the better. Keep in mind that incorporating new ideas and suggestions often help you to keep your advertising fresh and appealing. Involve your committee members to distribute flyers and promote the event within their respective social circles.

2. Promote your fundraising event through social media

Nowadays social media offers a consistent platform and endless opportunities to promote your fundraising event. You can make the best use of your Twitter and Facebook page followers to promote your event. You can find people who you think might be interested and establish a connection with them.

On Facebook, you can start a group for your event. Involve as many people you want in this group. Discuss information and updates about the event and send out invitations as and when required.

For LinkedIn, you can join various similar groups and submit your event news. LinkedIn includes your news in the newsletter they send out to the members of the group. In this way, you can attract a large volume of donors and sponsors for your fundraising event.

3. Post an ad of your event in online newspaper

A key way to promote your fundraising venture is to post it on various online newspapers. Online Newspapers usually offer a 'Calendars of Events' for local happenings free of cost. It gives your event great exposure especially on Google; thus people get the publicity that they need so that interested parties can easily find it when searching on the internet. You can even post the link of your fundraising website on the online newspaper to attract people.

Resort to various online magazines that offer the same service like the online newspaper. Post the link of your event website in as many places as possible.

Try out these tips to promote your fundraiser without spending money for the same.

Starting an Event Planning Business - 7 Real Steps to Becoming an Event Planner

You've decided you want a career full of excitement and fun. You know that you are organized, social, and creative. So you decide you want to start a career as a meeting and/or event planner.

Now what?

You start doing research, and you find article after article telling you "how to start your own event planning business, today!" They outline how to get organized, how to set up your office, and to print your own business cards.

You wait for the phone to ring. Maybe, if you're really on the ball, you join some network associations and get your name out there. You make a website. And maybe, just maybe, you get your first client.

Uh oh. Now what?

Exactly.

I am going to tell you something you might not want to hear. But, unlike all those other articles selling you false dreams, I'm going to tell you the truth.

You absolutely, positively, can not start your own event planning business without at least three to five (or more) years of experience.

The good news?

Yes, you can become an event planner. Yes, it is a fun and exciting job. And no, it does not require any further schooling or certifications. But being an event planner is so very much more than just picking out fun décor and great entertainment.

The bad news?

It won't -- it can't -- happen overnight. Organizing legitimate, large-scale events and meetings requires extensive knowledge and years of experience. There can be thousands, or hundreds of thousands, or even millions of dollars at stake. Why would you ask a client to trust you if you haven't had the appropriate experience? And, more importantly, why in the world would you do that to yourself?

Even if you think you want to start out by organizing smaller events, you must know how to select venue space, negotiate vendor contracts, organize registration, create itineraries, organize vendors, select menus, and so on. Not to mention you need to know how to charge for your services, write legal-binding contracts protecting yourself and your vendors, select insurance, and how to manage the final billing.

We are an impatient society. We want everything, now. We believe we can lose weight by taking pills, and bust cellulite by applying lotion. And, we believe we can actually go out and start an event planning business without ever having worked an event.

Would you trust a pilot who wanted to start a business offering "flying tours of the Grand Canyon" without ever having flown a plane? Would you trust a surgeon to operate on you without ever having assisted on a surgery?

Of course not. And, therefore, neither should you hope to run your own events without ever having worked one.

Forget those websites that tell you, "Yes, you CAN start your own event planning business TODAY! Take our two-day course and be set up by Monday!" They are merely trying to sell you their course or their ebook.

Most smart, educated people realize that anything worthwhile takes a little effort. You are intelligent enough to look into the future and realize that, in hindsight, dedicating the next two or three years to learning about this industry you love is well worth your time, in order to guarantee that the rest of your working years are spent doing what you enjoy.

And that's the irony. So many people want to get into event planning, but aren't willing to do what it takes to get there. If you truly love events, then you should be excited at doing anything it takes. You should also realize that, as with any job, it is necessary to learn from the bottom up.

Here are the true, real-life steps you need to take in order to work toward becoming an event planner.

1. Understand, truly understand, that it will take at anywhere from one, to three, to five years or more to get the experience you need to become an actual Event Planner (depending on your current experience and how hard you work at learning). Make your mistakes on another planner's dime. You will thank yourself in the future!
   
   
2. Understand that you can still be a part of events, and work any number of jobs in the event planning industry, while you learn. Yes, you CAN start a job in event planning by the end of the month; you just won't be the event planner. Let go of the need to be the Head Cheese or the need to open your own company right out of the gate, and enjoy the ride! (Actually, many people find that they don't want the responsibility of being the head planner, and are perfectly happy in support positions; allowing them to still be a part of great events, without all the pressure and stress).
   
   
3. Start reading everything you can about the industry. The world of meetings and events has its own language, and the sooner you understand it, the more quickly you will learn.
   
   
4. Go on some "Informational Interviews" and/or find a mentor. Informational Interviews entail finding a person in the field and asking them if you could have 20 minutes to one hour of their time. Offer to take them to lunch, and have a list of questions prepared. This interview is for information on the industry, not for a job.
   
   
5. Join a networking association. There are many in your town or city; contact your Convention & Visitors Bureau or research the Internet.
   
   
6. Start volunteering for local special events. Find an event that will happen in the next 4-6 months, find the planner, and call them up, and ask you might volunteer your time to help them. Let them know you are in this for the purpose of learning about events, and hope to build a career on it. Not only will you gain experience, but you will open endless doors with the many contacts you will meet.
   
   
7. If you don't need to make a ton of money, get a job either catering or working for a Destination Management Company. If you can't quit your day job quite yet, work on the weekends. Again, you will gain priceless experience, and meet contacts that will open many doors of opportunity.

If you follow these steps, I guarantee you that you will start your dream job in event planning in no time at all. After a few years of experience, you can open your own event planning business. Remember, anything worthwhile takes time...and before you know it, you will be living the career of your dreams!

© Copyright 2007-2008 Sirena Evans, Careers In Event Planning. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.

Basics Of Event Negotiations

Although it is often the most important single aspect to assuring a successful event, quality negotiating is often an overlooked and neglected art. Professional negotiators understand that negotiations require a combination of integrity, knowledge, homework, priorities, preparation and planning, and must be followed by follow through. In my well over thirty years of involvement in hundreds of events representing many millions of dollars, I have observed how anything other than quality negotiating is often the death - blow to having a successful event. Far too many times, individuals who have limited experience and even less expertise convince others that they are capable of negotiations, and almost invariably, that results in something being overlooked, misaddressed, or somewhat disastrous to the organization.

1. Successful negotiations begin with absolute integrity, combined with true knowledge, and carefully understood and considered priorities. Before negotiations should ever begin, a negotiator must truly understand what an organization both needs and wants, what the purpose of the event is, and what the highest priorities are. Priorities should be rated from absolutely required, to helpful, to wanted, to wished for, to would be nice to have. Negotiators must begin with a carefully prepared and realistic budget, so that the maximum can be achieved within a certain set of restraints. The chief negotiator must not only have experience, but must be master of negotiating, using his meaningful experience alongside numerous other characteristics, to be a true professional. Many untrained and/ or unprepared negotiators try to ask for the world, and make unreasonable demands, while also claiming to be able to deliver more than is realistic. This is far different than being merely unrealistic, but rather comes close to lying, which in the end result, creates disharmony and distrust when the event eventually occurs. A negotiator with integrity maintains a meaningful relationship, and often can achieve extremely important modifications, changes, tweaks, or adaptations when the event nears.

2. True professional negotiators also realize that they must do considerable homework, to enhance their negotiating advantages/ strengths and disadvantage/ weaknesses, as well as those aspects as it relates to their "opposition's" bargaining power and strengths (or weaknesses). Once this is done, the most effective negotiations come about because a negotiator understands how to be creative, and to help the venue, thus reducing the venue's costs. When a negotiator can find savings, he is able to convince someone to share that savings, thus creating a win - win situation. Negotiating takes painstaking, careful, fastidious planning and attention to detail. Only when the individual in charge of this process is well versed on all aspects of this process, and uses all of them, will an organization end up with the optimum results.

Don't ignore the details. It is the savings in minor areas that often make the major things possible and even grander!

The Life Of A Wedding Planner

Many different words can be used to describe a day in the life of a wedding planner/coordinator. Hectic, exciting, creative, and organized are just some of the words used to describe this fast-paced career. While wedding planning provides plenty of hurdles in the form of demanding brides, unhelpful caterers, and booked venues, it can also be an extremely rewarding field. Wedding coordinating can be perfect for anyone interested in owning their own business, making their own hours, and using their creativity and organization at work everyday.

Typically, a wedding planner will be working on multiple weddings at one time. This presents organization challenges, but also opportunities for a wedding planner that can multitask. Often while planning one wedding, a watchful wedding planner will stumble onto something that is perfect for another event in the works. This is where time management becomes a key part of the career, any successful wedding planner must be able to prioritize based on the timing of the wedding or weddings, as well as the workload required for each event.

The roles and responsibilities of a wedding coordinator range depending on the involvement of the bride and the budget. Most brides want to have a say in every detail of their weddings, which might allow you to take on more of a coordination role where the bride is looking for suggestions and guidance. However, some brides want the entire event done for them, which means a lot more work on the planners end. Properly assessing a bride's wants and needs will be vital in the beginning stage of the planning. This will allow you to give the bride exactly what she is looking for, without being too involved or too removed.

For many wedding planners the week before the event is both the most stressful, and more interesting time of the planning process. It is extremely common for brides, and often bride's mother as well, to completely lose their heads in the week leading up to the ceremony. This is the time for the wedding planner to shine. By holding the bride's hand, ensuring every piece is in its place, and verifying that all appointments are made and kept, you will solidify your place as a recommendation that bride gives to all of her friends.

For anyone interested in wedding planning, exploring an events planning degree course is the way to go. Many schools also offer wedding planning certificates to help give you an edge in your new career.

Outsourcing Versus Crowdsourcing - What Is the Difference?

Many of us have performed some outsourcing work in one way or another. Then again, many of us may not have heard of the term called crowdsourcing. In this article, the author explains the two, and reveals the difference for business owners to be able to implement both concepts effectively to achieve profitability and great business performance.

In Outsourcing, what you do is you pay someone to do a job for you, very much like employing a part time employee. Most probably, this person or organization have a relationship with you for years already before you consult or outsource to them.

In Crowdsourcing, you leverage from the Internet from a huge group of people. Okay, example would be this. Assuming your organization or company is a small one, and you need a lot of information in a short time, let's say, in organizing an event. You then, logon to a website with a lot of event managers, which is a forum website, and then you post something there saying something like this "My company ABC Enterprise will be organizing a Green event, and would like to source for Event managers who have experience and ideas on how to run this event." Let's say the forum has about 1000 Event Management companies registered. Normally, Conventional Marketing Conversion Rate is 1%, meaning out of 1000, 10 will reply with a meaningful answer.

Using the 10 suggestion and contacts from the Event Managers, you can begin to tap their experience and minds to organize your Green Event before outsourcing to them. Of course, this exercise will only be effective with a large pool of targeted people (like Event Managers) and can only be done via the Internet and also Online Marketing (posting in the forum is the tactic).

The above tactic may sound like a simple one, but it is effective, if we only take time to do it. It saves you money and time and not to mention brain juice in doing a company or business project. This tactic or strategy is pretty simple yet cost effective which may save organizations and businesses tens of thousands of dollars if it is implemented correctly. With the advent of digital community platforms, crowdsourcing campaign implementation is very convenient indeed.

If you would have built a community online over a period of time, you would be able to perform crowdsourcing easily and thus saving market research fees.

5 Event Planning Ideas For A Very Tight Budget

Throwing a party can be great fun. However it is easy to get carried away with event planning that you barely realize you are running way over what you can afford. It is quite a skill trying to balance between planning a successful event and keeping expenses within a reasonable budget.

If you are concerned about your finances and cannot afford the services of a professional event planner, there are plenty of affordable planning options and ideas to make your event just as memorable and fun. Here are a few ideas:

One easy way you can cut cost is the time of day you decide to have your event. For events such as weddings or birthdays or baby showers, holding them in the afternoon definitely puts less of a dent to your pocketbook. You would definitely have lower expenses for afternoon events which require less food and catering such as light snacks and beverages such as punch or tea or coffee, as opposed to full course meals and full bar for evening events.

Another factor to consider for event planning is whether you need to hire a caterer. For small events, you could probably get away with most of the planning and cooking by yourself. However, for bigger sized events, caterers can provide invaluable assistance.

If your event planning budget is really tight, then probably the best idea for slashing cost in the food area is to host a potluck where every guest supplies either food or drinks, with some bringing salad or entrée, and others bringing soda or wine. The event planner needs to communicate and coordinate closely with the guests so that there is a nice variety of food and drinks with something for everyone, and also so that guests do not bring similar dishes. This is a wonderful way to include all the guests in the event planning process, and guests usually delight in the fact that they are able to contribute and be a part of the party.

Food is not the only area where you can save on. You can also focus on other areas such as the entertainment or the decoration. For example, for children's birthday parties you can ask parents, friends or relatives to entertain the kids with simple songs or magic tricks, or to make balloon animals or to hold water fights.

Decorations also do not have to break the bank. For example, for children's parties you can buy a bunch of balloons and streamers. Or for a garden party, instead of buying expensive outdoor lighting that you probably will never use again, you can buy a couple of outdoor torches and use the outdoor lights that usually adorn your trees and bushes on special occasions in your garden to create beautiful, soft lighting. Your guests will never know the difference between expensive and cheap lighting, and probably won't even care as long as the ambience is cozy and the party fun.

Putting careful thought into planning the event would allow your dollar to go a long way yet still allow you to hold an event that is great fun for everyone.

Disaster Recovery: Scary Statistics Stress the Need for Increased IT Planning and Protection

Picture arriving to work and finding that you have lost your business's IT

infrastructure to a power outage, fire or flood. If you were not prepared and did not have a disaster recovery plan already in place, your business would likely have to shut down. Alternatively, if it did recover, it is unlikely that your business would achieve the previous level of success.

43% of companies that experience a major data loss do not reopen (DTI/Price Waterhouse Coopers)

80% of companies that do not recover from a data loss within one month are likely to go out of business in the immediate future (Bernstein Crisis Management)

93% of companies that experience a data disaster are out of business within 5 years. (U.S bureau of Labor)

Disaster recovery planning has become the cornerstone trade of most IT professionals and upper management alike. Although upper management and the IT team don't usually collaborate, creating a Business Continuity plan and a Disaster recovery plan bring the two departments together for the company's emergency backbone. The BCP and DRP in collaboration outlines procedures in the event of a disaster so that the business can function with minimal or little down time. Creating a success and effective business plan consists of:

1. Detecting a severe disaster: A monitoring system should be in place, preferably 24/7 to recognize the problem as soon as it surfaces.

2. Damage Assessment: IT management will detect what sort of damage your business has incurred. Whether it be a company network, an email server or your entire IT infrastructure it is important to know what exactly has been affected and act accordingly.

3. Recovery Time objective: A recovery time objective (RTO) is the amount of time and service level which a business process must be restored to avoid unacceptable consequences that your business would have communicated to the IT management team associated with a break in continuity.

4. Resume Critical Business processes: The number one priority for an IT management team is to resume the business' critical processes which ensure the firm's ability to protect its assets, meets critical needs, and satisfies mandatory regulations and requirements.

Once you have your companies disaster plan established, you will need to make sure that your IT team holds up their end of the bargain. Data backups (Both hosted and onsite) will give your company the ability to access data, application and even emulate hardware if a storage, power or network failure were to happen at any time. Implementing these services in desperate times requires IT management software installed on every device that could be affected by a disaster.

In conclusion:

A disaster recovery plan helps businesses operate during disaster that without would devastate a company's IT system. Without a clear and concise plan in place, most business will never fully recover. To learn what solution is right for your business, contact a provider of disaster recovery services today.

Meeting and Event Planning - Preparing Your Budget - An Event Template to Cut Your Hassle Factor

What are the plans for your meeting or convention this year? Does it start with a budget or did you even do one last year? If you did one, did you do it the easy way with a Budget Spreadsheet for Meetings?

Let us discuss your needs and see what forms and budgets can be facilitated the easy way. If approached correctly, you can cut your "Hassle Factor" by more than half with the right event template.

First - History/Budget - what kind of a history do you have from your last convention? Did you fill out forms that showed all the results of your meeting? You started with a contract that specified sleeping rooms and scheduled functions, but did you update those numbers at the conclusion of your convention? This is important! You really do need to know what happened last year including your exact sleeping room pick-up, registration numbers with total income generated, specific meeting expenses and the number of attendees that attended each function. Without these numbers you are just guessing.

Second - Planning your Budget - is this easy or are you going to start over from scratch? If you kept good records and have accurate figures, then you have a great start for you next meeting. It is easy to modify last year's information and make changes for this year. That will be necessary for a variety of reasons. You will need it to tell your hotel contact what you want and you will also need it to prepare this year's budget.

Third - Budgeting Spreadsheet for Meetings - take the easy way out. Use a spreadsheet that will make your job easy. There are excel spreadsheets that can do it for you. Do not waste your time trying to design something that already exists and is proven to save you effort and stress.

Most planners are good at multi-tasking and have no problems designing a simple spreadsheet to handle a basic budget or designing a form to handle registration. So, you spend your time designing and stressing out. You end up with a variety of forms that each handle a specific need like registration, exhibits, food expenses and budget. The forms are not connected and do not work together. Hence, you end up having to do additional work merging the information from the various forms into your budget. Why do this when there is a Budget Spreadsheet for Meetings on the market that will tie your history, individual forms and budget together? It is so easy that all you have to do is enter the information. The spreadsheet does the rest.

Event Ideas - What To Do At Your Next Event

Some of the most common events are Conventions, Festivals, Corporate Events, Event Seminars, Business Meetings, Fundraisers, and Charity Events. Whether you are a beginner or veteran events planner, you still need to start on the right foot. The event ideas we mention here are intended to help guide you to success. Although there are many ideas, we will stick to a few popular ones.

Business Meeting Ideas

Creating meetings around various themes helps to give participants a sense of direction. Since a business meeting is supposed to be more work than play, music may not be a good idea, but a short documentary could crystallize company focus.

Building Something Great Together - Makes everyone involved feel needed and a part of the company's future. It opens the floor for constructive input enhancing company goals.

Please the Customer - have participants focus on what makes the customer happy and how to improve in service with a smile.

We Shall Overcome - Encourages attendees to persist and reach for success despite perceived obstacles.

Be creative when kicking off meetings to motivate and inspire.

Dart Board - Start off the meeting by allowing some shots at a dart board. Best shot gets to start off the meeting, appoint the moderator, or make the first suggestion about the topic at hand.

New Vocabulary - Ask your group to bring seldom used or obscure words to the next meeting. Have them use it in a way that applies to your business.

"If I Ran the Show..." - This can provide some insight into feasible changes that can improve things in important areas. Ask your staff what they would consider the perfect job, location, and work environment. Now that you have them thinking without boundaries, ask them what project would they work on or what special thing would they do if they ran the company, office, or department.

Fund Raising Ideas

Consider the following suggestions:

BBQ's - Everyone loves a BBQ, they can be a fun way to rally support for your cause.

A Raffle - There are many fashionable products that would strongly attract customers.

Car Wash - When the price is right a car wash is a valued service that can easily raise funds.

Charity Event Ideas

Promoting awareness as much as possible is paramount to your charity event success.

Dinner - Awards are distributed to honorees that helped to achieve landmark milestones for the organization. Tickets can be sold commercially or through your network of friends and supporter. Invitees attend a dinner where presentations are made regarding the organization's accomplishments and goals.

Bake Sales - A prize is awarded to the baked item voted as first place, second place etc. by attendees. Every one of the organization's members and their families can participate in producing their favorite specialties and these can sold at a profit to the organization at the "bake-off event".

Auction - Many favorite goods or services can be auctioned off to raise money for your non-profit organization. Another approach is to involve local businesses to donate merchandise, time or even money to start your auction with a bang.

Corporate Event Ideas

There are some interesting twists to freshen up the atmosphere with entertainment. Motivation is very important in a corporate environment, so celebrating anniversaries and achievements will boost inspiration on all levels.

Comedians - Comedians use specific appropriate topics that help put the audience in the right mood.

Live music or Professional sound system - It is essential to select entertainment that is suitable for your guests and your business personality.

Magic Shows - Can be a pleasant introduction that provides a playful atmosphere.

Seminar Ideas

There are various styles in which a meeting can be conducted. Choosing the one that fits the current working climate can help propel everyone in the right direction.

Human Resource Seminars - Offer all sorts of employee performance training, management, and career development seminars. Help build up the proper work environment in your business or company by coaching, succession planning, key employee identification, and organization development.

Sales Training Seminars - Can assist your sales force to hone their salesmanship abilities and educate them about new software or tools to become more adept in their sales role.

Management Seminars - Refine leadership qualities and exercise management abilities to help your executives and managers increase their performance.

Festival Ideas

These are entertainment-only functions, and can be geared to provide fun for families and groups of all kinds. Themes can be tailored to make any social event exciting and interesting.

Fun Foods - Pizza, Popcorn, Potato Chips, Snow Cones, Cotton Candy, Hamburgers, Hot Dogs, French Fries, etc.

Prize-Winning Games - Ring the Coke Bottle, Basketball shots, Shoot down cans w/water gun, Gaming wheels, etc.

Ride Rentals - Large and small Bounce houses, Choo-Choo Train, Ferris wheels, Roller coasters, Spin rides.

Convention Ideas

Conventions bring vendors and customers together in an open forum where contacts are made, new products are introduced, big ideas are discussed and new sales leads are developed.

Entertainment - Sound systems playing appropriate music, Live musicians or even stage performers.

Promotional Products - Key Chains, Picture Frames, Award Gifts, Bags, Pens with logo, etc.

Exhibition Tools - All shapes and sizes of displays are used to share space and provide maximum visibility.

Conference Ideas

A conference can be quite intense and needs slackening of tension at regular intervals.

Participants meet in order to discuss, consult, or exchange information about related fields.

Give Prizes - Prizes should be awarded to the people who have done something that helped the conference to be a success, whether something funny, silly or just plain helpful. If your conference is small, contributions to success can be rewarded after the conference.

Reception - Should have pleasing interior decoration, door prizes or gifts, etc.

Stand Up/Stretch Breaks - Play some music, have someone lead the break showing everyone how to twist, do aerobics, dance, or just a good march in place. Keep people energized and attentive. Have breaks between speakers.

Keep Up the Momentum - If you put on a grand finale it will make a lasting impression and may influence your participants decision to come to your next conference.

Plan surprises for attendees at least on par with your welcoming reception. Don't let the conference lose color towards the finish - even if the staff has to fake it, keep things going. Have entertainment and 'walk out' music. Organizers should be present at the door to thank the participants.

Five Simple and Free Ways to Promote Special Events

Are you responsible for planning and promoting a special event? Whether you need to publicize a business open house, a fundraiser for a nonprofit organization, a professional association meeting, or just about any other type of event that is open to the public, there are a number of no-cost promotional options available to you.

Five No-Cost Event Promotion Options

Here are a few free special event promotion resources that are easy-to-use and can deliver powerful results.

1. Event Promotion Website

There are several no-cost event promotion websites that every event marketer should consider using. Three of the most popular options are EventBrite.com, Eventful.COM and AmericanTowns.com. These sites are designed to make it easy for users can browse events by local area and event type, making it easy for people who are looking for things to do - and who are in your area or who have an interest specific to your event - to find your announcements. Listings are also search engine friendly, making it easy for web searchers to find your events organically.

2. Local Online Event Directories

No matter where you live, there's a good chance that there is at least one local event directory that accepts submissions of activities going on in and around the community. For example, the City of Mobile, Alabama publishes a Community Calendar. Those seeking opportunities to promote events held in the local area that are open to the public can submit announcements via an online calendar submission form (http://www.cityofmobile.org/calendar).

You'll need to conduct research in your local area to find out what options are available to you. Try running the name of your city and the words "even calendar" through your favorite search engine and see what kind of results you get. Be sure to check the terms and conditions of any site you locate, as you may come across some that are limited only to free events or that charge posting fees.

3. Social Media Marketing

A number of social media websites, including Facebook and LinkedIn, allow users to set up and share events at no cost. If you are engaged in social media marketing, be sure to utilize this powerful tool. Even social media that don't have specific event set-up features can be excellent venues for spreading the word about special events.

If you've not starting incorporating social networking into your marketing strategies, it's something you may want to go ahead and consider doing - both for event promotion purposes as well as to support your overall marketing goals and objectives.

4. Local Print Publications

Many local newspapers and magazines include various types of event and activity calendars. Closely review publications in your area to identify the options that are available and that may provide an appropriate way of sharing information about the activities that you are responsible for promoting.

Note that daily newspapers often include event calendars only on certain days of the week, with different versions in topic-specific sections. Be sure to look through the full publication every day for a week to create a comprehensive list of publicity options.

Submission instructions and guidelines are often published with the printed event calendars or are made available on the publication's website. Make note of these and follow them when making submissions. If such information is not published, call the publication and ask to speak to the person in charge of submissions for the sections that interest you to find out the best way to make submissions.

5. Local Broadcast Media

Radio and television stations often feature local online event calendars on their websites, and select certain information from the calendars to announce on the air. It's in your best interest to visit the website of each broadcast entity in your market to find out what kinds of opportunities exist and to use them appropriately any time you have an event to promote.

Depending on the nature of your event, you may also want to send a media alert to the news editor or news producer offering an interview opportunity with an organization representative, speaker or performer. This technique is appropriate for fundraisers and events where notable keynote speakers or performers are exhibiting, as well as in some other circumstances.

Are You Ready to Start Promoting Your Event?

Of course, this is not an all-inclusive list of effective event promotion activities - but it's certainly a great place to start. The next time you have an event to promote, utilize the resources described here to help maximize your reach of potential attendees. Remember: while promoting an event properly takes some time, it doesn't have to cost a lot of money - or anything at all.

Corporate Team Building Events to Improve Output and Efficiency

Healthy work environment, improved team spirit, and raised productivity are all signs of a good organization. For an employee, an ideal organization to work is not just the one that provides high salary, it is the one that promotes smooth work environment and meets employee's expectations, rendering work an interesting place to be in.

For improving team spirit and encouraging a healthy competition, corporate team building activities (whether indoor or outdoor) are the best. These activities improve inter personal relation within the employees and motivates them to work as a team.

Corporate team building events allow everyone at the workplace to showcase their team spirit. The motive behind such corporate learning programs is to inculcate the sense of team spirit in the employees and understand the advantages of being in a team. Roller coaster challenge, cooking challenge, board games are few activities especially designed by the companies for the purpose of team building.

Team Building games allow people to know the strength of a group and develop inter-personal relation with other members in the team. These games are not individual centric, it is to develop team participation and are focused on a group.

It fills the knowledge gap between the team members. Today, every company must hold a team building activity session for the development of the employees. This is because; these activities tend to motivate employees to work their best and also act as a relaxing and stress relieving session for them.

Now days, companies are hiring specialist corporate trainers to undertake interesting corporate training programs and events. Below mentioned are few of the effective ones.

• Mobile Adventure Programs: If you don't have time for outdoor activities, but wish to conduct some engaging and exciting activities within your workplace, MAPs are the best option. Mobile adventure activity finds its place in both indoor and outdoor category. Famous games included in this section are:

a) Turning point: These are the activities that help employees understand the value of their work systems. Here, they discover the advantages of seeing work processes as a whole instead as a part.

b) Key punch: This involves activities where employee's reaction and response to the situation decides the overall team performance. Through this activity participants can learn the significance of being flexible and the requirement of responding to the change instantly.

• Clay challenge: Yes, you heard it right; clay challenge can actually help in team building. In this activity, participants will make colorful clay items which will be symbolic to their behavior, personality, and their relation with the colleagues. The main motive behind this game is to learn the theory of Constructionism, which means learning through personal discovery of knowledge. It also encourages employees to think creatively.

Lighting Design Tips for Corporate and Special Events

Lighting is the key to setting the right ambiance for your special event, it can immediately warm the room, evoke emotion or colour it to spectacular effect.

Often a clear plan and design process for lighting events and conferences is left out or though of during the setup of your event. This can lead to a number of things such as insufficient coverage, wrong choice of lights, underutilising of the equipment, which all adds up to how your event is perceived and functions.

As a lighting designer for events, theatre and broadcast we approach each design with a clear slate as each design is always going to have a unique set of requirements to suit the content.

We generally start by dividing our lighting requirements into two parts, function and creativity.

Firstly, our main priority for most events is to have lighting as an essential function in either lighting people and/or objects that need to be highlighted. This is your key lighting for stages, products or showcases or even walkways and exits.

These are the things that need to be lit so your audience can see them and do not really have a creative impact, but an essential function.

Our second, and more memorable priority is how we use lighting creatively to enhance the ambience and overall look of the room or stage.

This is where we add a bit of colour, patterns and movements to enhance your audience's experience.

Both the essential function and the creative look of the event lighting design are important and need to work in with each other to create a good overall result. Your event wont deliver your message very well if the audience can't see the presenters on stage or the video recording is too dark, and the impact or "wow factor" wont be there if you don't also creatively enhance the atmosphere.

Here are a few of our tips when thinking about lighting:

• Front lighting your stage is important to see your presenters faces, but back lighting is equally important to give dimension. This is essential when filming for presenters to stand out on stage and not blend into the background.


• A creative design does not need to use every colour available throughout the night. Think about selecting just 2 or 3 colours that work with the event theme or brand or create a colour pallet that evolves as the event progresses.


• Think outside the box. You don't need the latest and greatest technology to be creative. If your budget can not allow for moving lights or colour changing fixtures then there are still plenty, if not more creative opportunities with conventional lighting fixtures.


• Use lighting to highlight the features of the surroundings. Look for architectural features, walls, pillars, and ceilings to highlight instead of flooding the room directly with light. This not only creates depth to the venue, but is a softer light source and wont create harsh lighting shining in your eyes.

Reorganize Your Payment Transaction Process With Online Event Payment

Online event payment solution streamlines the entire finance management and payment processing for an event. It facilitates secured transactions and accepts payment through a number of payment gateways, such as PayPal, credit cards, Authorize.Net, and so on. Web-based payment solutions help to do away with the burden of manual cash handling.

Error-free Payment Management

The online payment management system offers your attendees the opportunity of making payments and donations 24x7. PCI-compliant solution streamlines the process of collecting payments' reconciling transactions' managing refunds' handling chargeback' and administering merchant account. Recurring billing option allows the attendees to make payments for multiple events with a single sign up. Most of the online payment solutions come with Cloud-based features. As a result, event planners do not need to spend money on some expensive hardware or software devices to launch online payment services. They can access the website for making payments from anywhere, only if they have a computer connected to the internet.

Revenues and donations are the chief sources of income for non-profit organizations that arrange fundraising and charities. Advanced event payment solutions available online simplify the process of accepting and managing donations received from multiple sources. Moreover, an increasing number of attendees are likely to donate for the cause, if the process of financial transaction becomes easy and error free.

Payments through a Number of Online Gateways

Online payment management service offers flexibility in transaction processes. Attendees can make donations and payments through a number of modes including PayPal, CyberSource, Authorize.Net, and all major credit cards at a competitive rate. In addition, your attendees do not require paying any downgrade fees for using corporate' mileage' or gift cards and special promotions.

24x7 Transaction of Payment

Using online event payment, you can provide your attendees with the flexibility of making payments at their convenience. It offers you the integrated benefits of collecting payments, membership dues' service, and subscription fees or donation, all at a time. Multiple payment methods, just by a single registration, enhance hassle-free payment procedure.

Constant Monitoring of Payment and Refund Transactions

With an online system, you can monitor the transaction process constantly. As a result, it allows you to immediately track fraudulent activities. In addition, you can get process refunds and resolve chargeback requests quickly. This helps to increase attendee satisfaction.

Flexibility of Using Merchant Account

Web-based payment management services also provide the event planners with the chance of using their own merchant account. You can set up this account free of cost and can process both online and card payments through it. Moreover, the registration payments are expected to be directly transferred to your bank account by a single click of the mouse.

Online services make payment processing easier. Hence, get smooth flow of payments by using online services today.

How to Organise a Charity Walk Or Run

Charity events in any form are always popular, but increasingly, many organisations are choosing to recruit their fundraisers through more interactive events such as walks and runs. A charity walk or run is not only a healthy way for your participants to raise money for a good cause, but also a very visible way of publicising your charitable cause to the community.

If a charity run or walk seems like a good fit for your organisation, here is an overview of some things you may want to keep in mind when planning the event.

THE PLANNING PHASE

Choosing a Route
When planning a mass participation event such as a walk or run it is important that you first take some time to carefully consider the route your participants will be following. Your choice of route will play a central roll in other decisions you make concerning resources, staff size, security, transportation, volunteers, signage, and ultimately the satisfaction of your participants.

When mapping out the course, first determine the type of event you would like to hold. Most fundraising events try to be as inclusive as possible because, simply put, more fundraisers translates into more donations for your cause! If your goal is to be as inclusive as possible that means you want people of all ages and physical abilities to be able to participate in your event. That said, when choosing your route it is a good idea to not only look at a map but get out there and actually walk the course yourself. When surveying the road, pay attention to elevation gain, traffic, road conditions, and any other factors that could potentially make participating in your event strenuous for the less physically able. You may also benefit from contacting a local running or walking club for suggestions of routes that may fit your participant's ability levels. Some common route distances for charity events are 5k, 10k, Half Marathon and Marathon.

Safety

Participant safety is something to strongly consider when mapping out your route. How much traffic travels along your route? Are there adequate pedestrian lanes that will keep your participants a safe distance from the traffic? Does your route require that your participants cross any especially busy streets? Is any stretch of your route undergoing construction? Will the course be open to the public making it easy for non-registered people to come in contact with your participants? Asking yourself these questions will help you chart your course around any potential hazards and allow your participants to have a fun, care-free experience on event day.

Transportation
When choosing the location of your route, also keep participant and spectator access to transportation in mind. If you want crowds of spectators to turn out and easy access to the event for your participants, make sure that the course is in close proximity to public transportation and parking for those who have automobiles. If your event is not in a metropolitan area, it may be a good idea to hire busses and choose some meet up locations where people can catch a ride to the event site.

Resources and Staff
The number of participants and spectators you expect on event day as well as length of course are the two main factors that will determine the size of your volunteer staff and resources needed. Here is a list of items commonly used by event walking and running events:

• Two way radios


• Rope, tape and cones for course marking


• Signage for start and finish areas


• Signage for services and support areas


• Portable toilets


• Trash cans


• Food


• Water


• Tents


• Tables


• Stage for awards ceremony


• PA system


• Generator

Looking at your course map, you will be able to strategically position your water stops, trash cans, portable toilets, concessions stands and so on. When placing these resources, keep in mind that many people will want to gather around in the finish/celebration area after the event so you may need additional resources in that area. When planning for food and water for your participants, you may want to ask a local market to sponsor the event in the way of donated oranges, bananas and water that you can position along the course. For your spectator concession stands, you will need to determine what types of food you will sell and if you will need to prepare or cook food on site. There are many companies that you can hire to staff and prepare food at your concession stands or you could use your volunteers. In either case you should check to see if you need a special permit to sell or prepare food for the public.

Legalities of a Charity Walk or Run
Speaking of special permits, there are several legalities to consider when planning a charity walk or run. Now that you have chosen your route, have you looked to see if you need permission to use this planned route? You may need to speak with the local council or the person who owns the land. Have you checked to make sure there are no other events planned on your route come event day? Have you obtained liability insurance for your event? Ideally, your insurance should cover any medical problems that occur during the event as well as damage to the land and surrounding property. With the size of event you are expecting, are you required to schedule police presence or request road closures? Do you have permission from the organisation you are raising money for to use their logo and name?

Considering every city, town, or district have their own set of regulations, how you address them will depend on local law and requirements. What we highlighted above are only some of the larger items you should investigate. We would suggest contacting your local council for more information.

FINDING PARTICIPANTS

Marketing
Now that you picked an event location and have all of the necessary approvals and permits, its time to start spreading the word! Traditional event marketing consists of mail, tv, radio, newspaper advertisements and signs posted up about town. These methods can be effective, reach large audiences, and should be looked into but they can come at a high cost. Don't let that get you down though - the internet has spawned many highly targeted, low-cost, and sometimes free marketing channels that are ideal for creating a buzz about your charity event. Here is a list of some web marketing options that you may want to consider:

Build a website - This is a must. Nowadays, any successful event has an official website where they can direct the public, media and interested sponsors for more information.

Facebook, Twitter, Social Media - There are countless online communities and fan pages out there that are filled with people passionate about the same cause you are raising money for. Get involved with these people and immerse yourself in the online conversation. Build a Facebook Fan Page or Twitter page for your event, invite your new online friends and encourage them to recruit their friends to get involved for the cause.

Paid Search Advertising - Google and other search engines allow you to bid on keyword phrases and place an ad at the top of their search results. Try bidding on keywords such as "London charity events" or "London fundraising run". Create compelling ad copy and entice the user to click through to your official event website for more information.

Submit Your Event to an Online Events Calendar - There are many websites that will give you a free event listing on their online calendar. Submit your event profile to as many of these as possible and make sure to include a link back to your website in the description.

Email Advertising - Does your organisation already have a list of members who subscribe to your monthly newsletter or email announcements? Send your contact list an attractive HTML email with information about your event and a link to your. Make sure to include "share" buttons in your emails to make it easy for the recipient to pass it on to a friend. Also, on your website, Facebook page and Twitter page, include a feature where the visitor can join your mailing list.

Participant Registration

Something important to consider from the start of the planning phase is how you will collect contact information, entry fees, and fundraising commitments from people who want to participate. Until recently, most events collected participant data and entry fees in person in the event office with a paper registration form. To streamline the staff workload that comes along with paper-based registration, you may want to find a technology provider that specialises in event management software and online event registration. An integrated online event management system will allow you to build a custom online registration form, link to that form from your website, and collect your participant contact data online. We would suggest that the technology you choose include a merchant gateway integrated with the registration form so that you can seamlessly and securely collect payment online during the registration process. Depending on your technology provider, the data collected on an online registration form should be captured and stored in a database that you can log into, manage the data, run reports, email participants and process cancellation refunds if needed.

Examples of questions that could be included on a charity walk registration form are:

• Name


• Address


• Email


• Phone


• Age


• Gender


• Emergency Contact


• Shirt size (if you are offering a free shirt with the entry fee)


• How did you hear of this event?


• Number of times you have participated in this event


• Team Name (if you are offering team fundraising)


• What is your fundraising goal?


• What distance will you walk?


• Will you be attending the pre-event celebration dinner?

If you hope to grow the size of your email database, it is very important that you make the Email question compulsory so that every online registration has an email address associated with it in your database. You will be able to use this email to send out reminder emails about changes to the event schedule or important notices about fundraising. Any fully integrated online event management system will also need the email address to send out an automatic confirmation email letting the registrant know that their payment has been accepted and spot saved for event admission.

Fundraising Tools

Some more advanced event management systems include an online fundraising platform that you can integrate with your online registration form. What's great about this is that every person who registers online will automatically have an online fundraising website created for them. The fundraiser can customise their website, ad images, set a fundraising goal, blog about their progress and training for the event, and communicate with their donors. The donor can visit the fundraising site and make an online donation with their credit card at which point the donation amount is added to the fundraisers goal total and money is sent to the charitable organisation. Many organisations are moving their fundraising efforts completely online because the general consensus is that people are likely to donate more if they are able to do it online from the comfort of their own home.

Communication up until event day

The key to a successful event is to steadily build the registrant's excitement and anticipation from the day they register all the way up until they arrive on event day. Participants that register months prior to the event may loose interest or slow down their fundraising efforts if they are not engaged and encouraged on a regular basis. This is where collecting your registrations online will be very useful. Since you have a database of registrants including their email address, you will be able to send out reminder emails and keep the communication going up until the event. Some content ideas for a weekly newsletter could be:

Updates and special announcements of developments to the event schedule or added entertainment
Fundraising Tips
News and articles from the organisation your event will be raising money for
A training plan for those getting in shape for the event
Special contests for the post-event awards ceremony
Free prizes and incentives for those participants that recruit friends to join the cause

You should also send one final email to your registrants 2-3 days before the event including:

• Event start time


• Instructions on how and where to check in upon arrival


• Schedule of events


• Reminder to bring extra money if they want to buy merchandise or food at the celebration party


• Summary of prizes that will be awarded to the top fundraisers


• The cost of late registration if anyone wants to bring a friend to the event


• Weather forecast so that people dress appropriately


• List of hotels in the area for anyone who plans to stay the night

AFTER THE EVENT

You and your staff may be exhausted after the long build-up to a successful event but believe it or not, you should already be thinking about next year's event! Considering everyone had a great time, send out a follow-up email and offer your registrants a discounted rate for next year's event if they register for it now. Or offer them a "returning participant" coupon that they can use when you activate next year's online registration form. Another smart thing to do is send an online survey out to your participants and ask them what they liked and what can be improved upon for next year's event. You can offer your participants a free gift or registration discount if they complete the form for you. This participant feedback is extremely valuable and will help you get a sense of the participant experience on the ground that many event organisers are so often shielded from on event day with so many administrative tasks to juggle.

Outdoor Movie Event Planning - What If It Rains?

There are many wonderful things about outdoor movies; it is delightful to be outside with friends and family and enjoy a movie under the stars in a unique setting. Ill-timed rain can throw a devastating wrench into the plan if you have not considered the possibility of rain and planned ahead. Here are some tips for being prepared in case of inclement weather.

Have a Backup Plan In Case of Inclement Weather

Set a rain date ahead of time and be sure to advertise the alternate date. Alternatively, you can have an indoor location to move to. The decision to move to an indoor location must be made before setup to allow enough time for outdoor or indoor equipment setup. You should also make arrangements with the equipment provider ahead of time to make sure the screen will fit in the indoor location. An alternate indoor location is a great option for schools or colleges where a cafeteria or gym can be used.

Hire a Professional Equipment Provider With Experience Dealing With the Rain

Venues with wet fields are not just messy, they can also cause a safety concern. Equipment providers who do not have experience and appropriate equipment will not understand that a wet ground surface will make it necessary to secure the screen with longer ground stakes.

Light rain will not deter the die-hard outdoor movie fan; this type of fan will come prepared with a lawn chair and an umbrella, still ready to enjoy the movie. Is your equipment provider prepared, though? High rate equipment providers will come prepared with water proof equipment or items such as covers or tents for their equipment so the show can go on. Top rate equipment is just as essential as professional technicians; a top rate inflatable movie screen such as Airscreen brand handle getting wet while still standing tall during the show.

Insurance

Sometimes when the rain is heavy enough and you do not have a viable indoor location, it will be necessary to cancel the event. This could happen with a large festival that happens once a year, for example. Weather insurance is the best way to protect your financial investment in this case.

It is disappointing when rain arrives and messes with the careful plans you have made for your outdoor movie event. Spend a little bit of extra time planning for inclement weather for the best chance of success.

Customize Event Planning

Many organizations face the challenge when conducting events that there is little transition from event to event, and few of the planners continue to be involved from year to year. Because of this, and the fact that many organizations seem to under-estimate precisely what is involved or needed in coordinating and planning an event, many times individuals with little experience (and even less expertise) take the lead.

Often, this creates a situation where things that should be repeated are not, and things that need tweaking or revamping are neglected and/ or overlooked. Events and organizations are not a one- size-fits all scenario. In most cases, each organization has its unique set of needs, peculiarities, specifications, and customs. If an inexperienced planner simply tries to "copy" what he's seen somewhere else (and liked), it often is not received the same way. It is for that reason that when an organization plans an event, it is essential that all involved have a clear cut idea and vision of the needs, reasons, etc. of that particular event.

1. In most cases, running an event, especially a multi-day event like a conference or convention, must be a balancing act between the financial aspect and the program itself. Professional event planners should be, and are in most cases, trained to create balance and harmony by emphasizing the theme of "perceived" value, which is what an attendee or potential attendee perceives as most essential and valuable. Professional planners are generally capable of tweaking menus to create the best possible balance between value financially and a well received event. Many novices, for example do not spend sufficient amounts of time creating a well formulated flow sheet, or paying particular attention to details.

2. In many cases, the key to a successful event begins with the negotiations. While even the foremost negotiations will not guarantee a successful event, a poor result from the negotiations will generally spell disaster for that event. Professional event planners prioritize their negotiations with what is most important to the organization that they are representing, instead of just going after the usual and customary concessions and agreements. How important is food and beverage for this event? Where is the price line where price becomes a resistance or sticking point? How many of the attendees will require accommodations and what is the major consideration (price, room, amenities)? How about audio-visual needs?

Event planning is rarely as easy as it appears to the casual observer. Inexperienced organizers often err by over- weighing their personal likes and dislikes, as opposed to what is most important the organization and/ or the potential attendees. A great event planner not only has considerable experience, but more importantly essential expertise. In addition, the best event planners must always be effective listeners.

Effective Brand Recognition Through Corporate Promotional Items

Organizing events is one of the ideal ways to get your brand known far and wide. It gives you the opportunity to make your products or services reach potential clients. No matter how spectacular your event went you cannot be assured that your business name will be imprinted in the minds of these people. Giving away corporate promotional items, on the other hand, can help you solve that one.

Instant visibility and recall are the top two benefits which can be acquired from doing so. You can choose to hand these goods to the attendees before the event starts or once it finishes. Be ready though with the possibility that some of the attendees could refuse your giveaways especially when they do not look as attractive or functional. With this, you must give a careful thought on the process of selecting the right pieces to carry your brand. Choosing pieces which are most likely to end up in the trash can or kept in the closet would forfeit the purpose of your efforts for brand recognition.

Corporate promotional items can come in different forms. The most typical ones are the things used in most offices. They are the customized pens, memo pads, rulers, calculators and calendars among others. Clothing is also used for promotions. Customized shirts, caps, jackets and sun visors belong to this category. Bags are great brand carriers as well. Backpacks, satchels, shopping bags, sports bags and calico bags can bring not only your things to many places but also your business name. Mugs, lanyards, key rings and chains, badges, folders, luggage tags are the other items which you can choose to bear your company name and contact details.

With utmost consideration to the nature of your business, take time to think about unique promotional items on which to imprint your logo or your business tag line. Perhaps, your business is all about computers. You can have a bunch of flash drives purchased and customized for your marketing campaign. Are you selling cookware? If yes, choose which among your merchandise may be given away as gifts to your loyal and potential customers. Do you offer print management services? Then, offer attractive stationery which will showcase the quality of paper and ink that you use in order to provide excellent printing.

Moving forward, never think that you will need a big amount of money for successful brand recognition. Corporate promotional items need not be expensive if you want them noticed by your target market. Choosing items that are functional is key to a long-lasting brand recall. Branded giveaways which can be used on a daily basis serve as constant reminders of your business to the people using them. One of the perfect example for this is a calendar. Whether placed on a desk or attached to the wall, a calendar is always consulted to get the right dates. Print your company name and contact details on each of the calendar pages. And the users will have a fresh memory of your company all through out the year.

Planning a Bowling Party - 3 Easy Steps

Bowling parties are great fun and a terrific way to celebrate one's birthday. Even with no planning a party that include bowling is sure to be lively and filled with laughter. But with a little bit of planning you can take your party from 'ordinary' to 'spectacular'!

Start with the Invitations: Of course a bowling themed invitation is a must. It sets the scene and guides your guests to dress appropriately. You can probably find themed invitations at your favorite party store or store such as Target, however, if you want to choose from a large selection the internet is your best bet. Simply by typing "Bowling invitations" in your search bar you will have a slew of fabulous options at your fingertips. I especially like the large selection offered at impressinprint.com and zazzle.com.

Move on to Decorations and Refreshments: For both of these a quick call to the bowling alley will let you know the leeway you have with both. Most alleys are more than happy for you to put up banners and streamers to let everyone know that a birthday is happening. Heck, offer to leave the decorations for them when you are done to use for other parties and, as long as they are in good shape and of good quality, they could be thrilled (bowling parties are very lucrative to the alleys).

Refreshments are a bit trickier since bowling alleys make money from the food and drink they sell. A couple of ideas here:

• Ask them what their policy is. If they have a strict 'their food and drink only' policy, ask if you could bring in just the dessert (a birthday cake or wedding cake, of course - most will allow that). If you are forced to order the rest for them, ask if they will discount prices for your group.


• If you are allowed to bring in your own food then, of course, it's up to you. Try to buy the beverages from them at the very least - it's a good-will gesture to the bowling alley and they most likely offer pictures of pop and beer at lower costs than individual servings. Do check out their menu (they can probably fax it to you) to see if there is anything you would like to order from them to round out your menu.


• Make sure that they are set up with tables for you to serve the refreshments on.

Send your Guests Home with Bowling Favors: It is always thoughtful to send your guests home with a party favor and guest LOVE being given these little 'presents'. I'd love to tell you that there are tons of these theme favors available but there really aren't. Most are in the form of edible favors (cookie favors, etc.) but there are others to be had with a bit of searching. A unique and fun gift is to hand out 'trophies' to your guests with something like "I scored big at Peter's Bowling Birthday Bash" engraved on it. Sites such as www.crownawards.com have trophies, with engraving, available for less than $4 each (a quick search using the term "cheap trophies" will provide you with more options). Another great gift is to give each of your party goers a coupon for one free game in the future (and the alley might be willing to give you a price break on this).

Diva Entertains- Copyright 2009

Conference Organisers Take the Hassle Out of Organising a Perfect Event

Book a venue, send out a few invites, draft a programme and arrange for a speaker to turn up on the day. If only organising a conference was really that simple... In practice, even small conferences can involve hundreds of individual tasks - all of which must be completed on-time and within budget for a successful event. Planning even a modest conference can easily equate to a full-time job - and many of the skills involved are specialist ones. That's why, when faced with the challenge of arranging conferences, many managers turn to professional conference organisers to remove the hassle and complexity of conference organisation.

The benefits from hiring conference organisers

Appointing conference organisers can bring several important benefits:

• 
  Increased return on investment from your conference.


• It frees your time for other business activities.


• You can get better results with conference organisers.


• 
  Enjoy priceless peace of mind knowing your conference is in professional hands.


• A successful conference boosts your reputation.

What services do professional conference organisers offer?

An experienced organiser should be able to handle all aspects of a conference - from delegate invites to post conference analysis. All you need to do is brief them and they'll do the rest. In some cases the organiser is also a venue operator. This can be a great help as it makes integration of the event organisation and the venue even smoother. Conference organisation services are typically grouped as follows:

• Conference and event organisation and marketing


• Delegate management


• Speaker management


• Finance management


• Venue management

A smaller conference organiser may try to handle all these services with limited resource - maybe just the proprietor and a couple of assistants. Major companies, however, will have a multi-skilled team of qualified specialists (including Event Management graduates) who can be assigned to your project.

How to use your conference organiser

A good conference organisation business will offer a range of services from which you can mix and match specific support depending on your needs. Maybe you only need help with sourcing a keynote speaker? Or perhaps you want to unload the whole conference process onto your supplier? Either way, an adaptable conference event management firm will tailor a bespoke solution just for you - taking away the stress and strain of conference management, delivering a professional event and building your reputation as a conference organiser.

Party Planning Success - 3 Steps to Setting the Stage For a Great Event

There is No Business like the Party Business!

I call this stage "Building the Set" and it certainly is much more detailed than I will spell out here in these brief words but you will have a semblance of what it means to get ready for an event. With that being said, let's look at what I call the "Big Three" for making sure the stage is set in a way that will best serve your business.

Now I know that every Event is different and every venue offers unique challenges that you must accommodate for but there are some very common elements of every venue that can and should be managed. These three element s are common in that they generally do not change form venue-to-venue and there are ways you can make them work for you every time.

Step 1: Make sure you have specialized team members for the Event Planning details. So you thought I was going to say something about the physical aspect of the Event Planning. Well, I am in a sense. You see, it is vitally important that you have, either on staff or in a freelance capacity, those who are able to focus or have expertise ?on the part of the Party Planning process that they manage the best. Example; if you have a person who excels in the actual staging of the Event, don't you dare divert their attention off of that task. Use your team where they are the most effective.

Step 2: Keep the team sparse at the initial stages of planning the Event logistics. In many ways, this goes against convention in that you would think that it is necessary for getting the Event off the ground. The initial panning process is best left in the initial planning stage by an elite few. Let me give you a theatre analogy. When we would build the first stages of the set, it was always best to let a few who were highly skilled do the building do the initial building as they did not need any training to build, they just needed direction. They knew how to use the tools and they could create with what they had. The same is for Party Planning. The "Elite Squad" takes the reigns until the cast and crew get there to fill in the missing pieces.

Step 3: Bring in the Ants. Many a Party Planner loses at this stage because they don't see the benefit of gathering a bunch of people to do the last minute tasks, instead they over work their "Elite Squad" and fail to hire, if they have to, the minions that they need to secure the last minute details that will drive most Event Planners crazy.?

Again, we will use a theatrical analogy. As with Events, so it is in a theatrical production that there are a million tiny details that, if left unattended, will create a mountain that will bury you if you let it. At this stage, hire young people who just want some spending cash if you have to who will do all of the little things that the "Elite Squad" ?need not be burdened to do. This tells the "Elites" that they are valued and that they will not be used for menial events.

While the events may change in your Event Planning, these three steps are a constant no matter who you have in your employ or the nature of the Event. Make sure you specialize, have an "Elite Squad" and have an army of ants ready to make your Event the best it can be.

Remember, Life is a Party, you just have to know how to Plan it!