Themes and Corporate Entertainment For Corporate Events

With the popularity of corporate events steadily rising, it is no wonder that businesses are now going all out with their planning.

Many large companies are using live music to spice up an event. This even means hiring a mainstream band for thousands of dollars and perhaps adding activities like a carnival or a beach trip. By using such entertainment, it is also easy to disguise team building. Many people cringe at the thought of playing name games all day at a company retreat. Therefore, planning a skydiving trip, paintball or something adventurous will help. Other ideas include Kayaking, canoeing, treasure hunts and sailing.

Corporate entertainment is such an important tool when it comes to team building. After all, live music is usually at every great event, so this is no exception. Team building and corporate entertainment go hand in hand.

Another way to spice up your company teambuilding event is by incorporating and event theme to Here are just a few great ideas for the next time you need a theme and gift ideas for the perfect corporate event;

Beach/Hawaiian Event
A sunny beach theme, complete with Hawaii shirts and leis gives the event a fun, laid-back and friendly vibe. You can decorate your venue with sand and pool toys, and choose gifts that go with your theme. Try visors, sunscreen, and beach towels as creative corporate gifts, giveaways or prizes. Stubby holders are a good idea for holding your favourite summertime beverage of course. You might also try beach tents and umbrellas for larger corporate gifts.

Vegas Corporate Event
A gambling theme is great because you can easily incorporate games to wine conference prizes, large or small. You can decorate the venue with neon lights, sequins, and fuzzy dice, and include pries that only the "high-rollers" win.

Western Event
Yee-Haw. Rent a mechanical rodeo bull for a laugh. Cowboys are also equated with honesty and loyalty, other good qualities to associate with your business. Some great ideas for conference gifts with this theme include animal shaped stress toys and water pistols for a laugh. Larger gifts could include cowboy hats vouchers to line dancing lessons.

Sports Event
You can throw together a sports themed event fairly quickly and for inexpensive prices, you can choose gifts that emulate this theme, like themed stress toys and company branded water bottles. You can even narrow things to a particular sport. Golf is a good choice. You can use a tiny putting game as a game for giving away conference prizes-offer personalized tees to people who play and personalized golf balls to people who get the hole in one.

Balloons as a Themed Event
Not only do balloon designs and sculptures look amazing, but they are also a creative and eye-catching way of promoting your companies image, logo or brand. At conferences and exhibitions, a host of balloons in corporate colours or printed with your strap line will give your business that wow factor to make you stand out from your competitors and make your business stick in their minds. If you are planning to open a new shop or promote a product, then a specially designed balloon sculpture will make a real impact.

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Benefits Of Event Planning Software

For that big day, you will need some effective management. Whether you are tying the knot or planning another important event, or are a professional and do this every day for other people, you will probably want to take advantage of an online package to help you. There are so many to choose from , you will want to choose the one with the best features for your event. the following checklist of essential features should help you decide.

Remember, the software should save you time, so you do not want something overcomplicated. It should be user friendly and have excellent online support. It should only take a few minutes to publish the event and mass-mailing should be possible at the click of a button. A to do list is a must - and reminders should be included. The size of the event will be a determining factor - many packages offer planning for up to 50,000 participants, which is well in excess of most individual needs but will be of interest to the professionals in this field. Online forms should be customisable, to be compatible with your own system. Reports should be vary varied and easy to compile.

Attendance should be optimized by the feature of automatic reminder e-mails. Credit card payments should be integrated real.time, to ensure safe and prompt processing. Accounting should be facilitated with easy tracking. The ability to easily set up a personal webpage should be included, with features for personalized ticket creation, which will maximise ticket sales from the word go. The graphics and pop-ups will be of great importance to you - will they help capture your target participants, or put them off?

In February of this year, Event Payment Services, launched the ePSPay(SM) SmartCard application. Designed for use by both profit and non-profit event planners, it streamlines registration, purchasing, and post-event financial processes. Registration lines are minimized by credit card swipe technology. A swipe at a portable terminal allows donors to be assigned a bidder number. Until they check out of the event, they can then make purchases freely. At a 2006 Rotary Club event in Washington State, volunteers spent over eight hours just entering credit card numbers. With ePSPay(SM), this can be done at pre-registration in just a few seconds," said McConville. "Our technology allows volunteers to be more involved in the event, rather than having to focus on registration and coordinating donor information." You can visit http://www.event-planning-software-guide.com for more information on event planning tools.

Event planning software really can make a difference to costs as well as sign-ups. Spindustry, for example, helped The Iowa Credit Union League to cut costs. A major overhaul was achieved in a matter of months. When choosing your software, it makes sense to go with an established firm, because the online support is more likely to be well established and past the teething stages. Most firms provide a free simulation, which will give you a very clear idea of whether the application meets your specifications.

Happy planning!

Top 5 Questions Organizers Must Ask Before Holding a Fundraising Event

Fundraising events are organized with an aim of raising funds for supporting a noble cause. However, organizing a successful fundraiser involves a lot of responsibilities. Here, in this article, we have come up with five important aspects, which an organizer needs to address before holding any fundraiser.

How to Attract People to the Event

Attracting a large number of attendees to your event is extremely crucial to your fundraiser's success. The more you attract attendees, the more will be your chances to get donations. Hence, you must adopt effective promotional campaigns to spread your message to a larger audience. You can access the marketing capabilities of the event registration software in order to promote your events in no time. You can also provide updates on social media websites to reach out to a larger number of audiences. Try to be little creative with paper and digital invitations, if the budget allows you to do so.

How to Make People Donate

In recent times, a large number of organizers are turning toward online solutions for increasing participation as well as donations. The software offers the convenience of registration and payment processing, right from the comfort of home. With so many conveniences, you can encourage interested people to make generous donations, and that too, without any manual labor.

How to Choose a Perfect Venue

Choosing an appropriate venue is extremely crucial for organizing a successful fundraising event. If you have already scheduled a date for it, arranging a venue will be easier for you. You can check out the local halls and clubhouses that might be suitable for organizing the event. However, before selecting a site, you must visit the place personally. Check out, if the venue is appropriate for organizing a fundraising event. In addition, you also need to check if the site can accommodate the needs of your guests.

How to Attract Influential Sponsors and Celebrities

Non-profit fundraisers always try to attract celebrities or influential sponsors, in order to build up a potential base of sustainable donors. To do this, you have to approach these people directly. You can even invite these potential attendees to give a speech about your fundraising endeavor. It helps you build up your market presence, which, in the long run, comes in handy to attract more funds from long-term donors.

How to Get Good Volunteers

With a group of experienced volunteers, you can make your fundraising venture a grand success. Hence, you must put a great deal of effort in choosing your volunteers. While appointing them, check out if they have adequate experience in the same field. Considering their experience and forte, you can assign then specific roles and responsibilities.

Check out, if you have properly addressed these areas, before planning your next fundraising event.

Business Planning - Issues Facing Strategic Planners Today

Different companies hire strategic planners internally or as consultants to guide them towards profitability. These strategic planners do thorough research using the company's SWOT or Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats analyses. They use these kinds of information to be able to predict how to react to future problems or obstacles.

Having a strong and effective strategic plan is like having a strong weapon in achieving success in your business. However, strategic planners are facing some issues these days that might hinder them in coming up with a successful plan for the future of the company. To be able to understand more, here are some of the issues that strategic planners are facing today:

1. Lack of information - Researched information is basically the bread and butter of strategic planners. They usually get information from the competitors to have a comparison but most of the times these competitors are protecting their business so they do not reveal much information.


2. Fear of losing a job - Another way for strategic planners to create a successful plan that will help the organization dodge bullets or storms for that matter is by asking current employees with some questions that will make the case study stronger. Of course, the voices of employers shall be heard too but most of the times, these employees are afraid to tell the truth because they are afraid that they might lose their jobs. How are you going to develop a plan when employees are picking the good words to say about the company? This problem is indeed one of the major headaches that strategic planners go through.


3. Predicting the future -Another issue that strategic planners is facing is the ever-changing trend in the market. This problem becomes worse because of the presence of new technology that can easily improve a man's way of living.

These are the challenges or issues facing strategic planners today. It would be best to get as much and as accurate information that you can get to be able to create an effective and strategic plans. Since you are now aware of the problems that might hinder in the development of an accurate plan then it is best to act on these problems. Here are some examples:

1. If you find it difficult to gather accurate information about the competitors then you might want to consider doing another approach like hiring another person to get this information for you.


2. If you were having trouble because some of the employees do not want to reveal the truth because they fear losing employment, then you must explain to them that you are conducting this research to help them secure their employment.


3. If the competitors were being proactive planner then be sure to distinguish a campaign that is worth your time - i. e. the campaign that will help you determine their actions towards the future. You need not chase them all throughout. Planning based on potential threats could be more reactive than strategic planning so you need to be selective with the information that you get too.


4. Well you cannot do much about predicting an accurate forecast because if you are just basing your research from potential strength, possible weaknesses, opportunities and threats then you will not really produce a plan with 100% accuracy.

Do You Have What It Takes to Be an Event Planner?

An event planner career is a high-pressure, fast-paced, and client-driven path. It is also a creative, engaging, and inspiring work environment. Knowing your strengths and weaknesses is a vital part of determining whether you have what it takes to become an event coordinator. We interviewed Los Angeles-based event planner Jessica Alpert, to learn what it takes to succeed in this industry. She provided career advice, helped to break down the skills needed to make it in the industry, and explained some of the challenges in managing special events.

Collaboration is Crucial

An event planner career requires that you be detail-oriented and have excellent communication and time management skills. You must also possess the ability to think fast and juggle all kinds of personalities, handle chaos well, and cope with stressful situations. Aside from those personality traits, Jessica notes a fantastic smile and a willingness to broaden your horizons is necessary to become an event coordinator. While you are planning and executing events, the most crucial part of the project is ensuring that the client is happy. "You may not agree with client choices, but it is up to you to make them believe that their idea is the best you have ever seen."

Additionally, knowing your target audience is an important aspect to event management. Whether you are working to conceptualize an event that will draw large crowds and raise awareness for a particular brand, or planning an intimate dinner party, being able to work independently or with a team the most crucial factor in a successful outcome.

Appearance is Everything

Of course, managing events also has its challenges. It is a tough job and if you cannot handle criticism, roll with the punches, and overcome challenges along the way this might not be the profession for you. Furthermore, according to Jessica, appearance is everything. "If an idea backfires and you are thrown off your game, recover quickly and make it work ten times better. And of course, do it with a smile."

Keys to Success

To be successful in this industry you must be able to properly budget and juggle your time. Additionally, Jessica suggests that quick thinking and the ability to make any challenge work are crucial to effective event management. Finally, you must be flexible to be able to work with clients who want you to plan and manage every detail of an event or simply execute their vision. Having a creative eye to provide suggestions will provide added value to the working relationship.

Top Catering Company Business Strategies That Improve Customer Satisfaction

For businesses in the catering industry, putting good strategies in place to guarantee a high level of customer satisfaction is crucial in order to remain competitive. A lot of trust is required to secure a catering job, and as a result, word of mouth advertising is one of the best ways to build up your business's client list. Each guest at a catered event is a potential future client so making sure that every person has a good time is important. The following strategies can be used to ensure optimum customer experience:

Create a Realistic Menu and Schedule:

Designing a menu that will delight guests and also be achievable is a challenge, but finding the correct balance is crucial. Often the biggest problem for caterers is that a client's demands are unrealistic or difficult to work with. If this is the case, then you may have to negotiate changing a dish, altering a menu, or substituting an ingredient. While this may seem like poor customer service, setting a menu that is unrealistic would only create disappointment in the long run. If you are uncertain about the suitability of what a client has requested, bring up any issues as early as you possibly can and always ensure that your client knows exactly what they are getting.

Incorporate Flexibility and Creativity:

Food allergies, personal preference, and religious beliefs all have an impact on the ingredients and the methods that can be used to create a meal. Though this could seem like a difficult situation, a successful catering company will be able to adapt to unusual needs with creativity and flair. This makes certain that every single guest has an equally enjoyable experience.

Make A Wide Range Of Services Available:

It is well known that a good caterer's job does not end with preparing food. Most caterers can also cover decoration, food service, table arrangements, setting up, and clearing away if they are required to. Being able to offer a full range of services is a bonus for any catering company, as it shows that you are willing to go the extra mile for clients and that you value their custom. It also expands the number of potential client you can gain.

Pay Attention To Small Details:

When catering a large event, it is often difficult not to get overwhelmed and let smaller details suffer. However, the difference between a good catering service and an excellent one is its ability to get every last detail perfect, right down to the way napkins are folded. To make sure that your company's event is completely flawless, plan the whole process with precision, including organization, set up, preparation, service, and clean up. Take into account all jobs, no matter how small, and factor in time to deal with the delays and problems that may occur.

Competition among catering companies is high, so creating a perfect customer experience is vital in order to see your business thrive. Maintaining good satisfaction not only guarantees future clients but also allows your company to get the positive reputation it deserves.

Incentive Travel During a Recession - What Are the Benefits?

Whenever there is an economic downturn, many companies automatically cut non-cash incentives such as incentive travel. This is short sighted. When times are tough, it's challenging for your team to make their numbers. For this reason, it's even MORE important than EVER to design and implement strategies to motivate your team and reward top performers.

Incentive Travel Pays for itself

Incentive travel is particularly effective because it pays for itself. Incentives are given at the end of the year AFTER successful results have been produced. It just takes some careful planning to ensure that you get the most mileage out of non-cash incentives. At the beginning of your fiscal year:

• set your target, the minimal level of corporate financial performance both in terms of profits and earnings per share


• identify the level of sales that each member of your business development team needs to reach for your organization to achieve its targets

Individuals should qualify for specific incentives based on 2 criteria:

• the company's level of performance


• the individual's level of performance

Why companies Cut Incentive Travel

So if incentive trips pay for themselves, why do companies tend to eliminate them when the going gets tough? The answer to that question is complex but part of what may be going on right now is the AIG effect.

Sometimes it's as if some organizations forget that incentive trips and luxury corporate events are rewards for EXCEPTIONAL performance, not entitlements to be bestowed even when there is failure of epic proportions There has been justifiable negative publicity because some of the companies that received bailout money in 2008 have STILL organized luxury junkets and lavish corporate events. We've all read the headlines:

-AIG executives receive spa treatments after Bailout -AIG Executives Help Themselves To $86000 Hunting Trip -Reps blast Bank of America over Super Bowl fan fest -Wells Fargo defends, then cancels Vegas junket -B of A's Super Bowl Bash -Bailout firms 'just don't get it'

For the life of me, I don't understand how Morgan Stanley could have been planning an incentive to Monte Carlo when 7,000 employees were laid of last year and more lay-offs are planned for 2009. Clearly, some organizations have displayed poor judgment. Now, due to the risk of negative publicity, even organizations that are doing well are hesitant to spend ANY money for incentives. This is throwing the baby out with the bath water.

If You've Earned it, why Cut it?

When your company and the members of your team have beat the odds and produced outstanding results, they deserve to be rewarded. However, make the rewards proportional to individual and company performance. One size does not fit all and it should not have to. You can set up a simple matrix to determine the non-cash incentives to which each member of your team will be entitled.

For example, if some members of your team have gone above and beyond the call and your company is still struggling, by all means reward them. However, this is not the time for gambling junkets or stays at lavish resorts. Keep it simple. Maybe a dinner at a really nice restaurant for the team members and their spouses will have to suffice for this year. If the company has met its targets, it's perfectly appropriate to have an awards banquet for your team in your home town and give top performers and their spouses an overnight stay at a local hotel and spa treatments.

Companies that are doing well should not be afraid to pull out all the stops. Have your awards banquet for your team and make it truly memorable. Go ahead and reward employees who have gone the extra mile and produced exceptional results. Overseas incentive travel is perfectly appropriate for team members who have exceeded their targets. Also, don't be afraid to show appreciation to your best clients with a customer appreciation event or short get-away. This will encourage everyone to do even more next year. The key is to ensure that your organization is also doing its share in terms of giving back to the community and contributing to local charities. Your PR department should get the word out about your company's outstanding performance and the success strategies that you and your team used to produce results. Heaven knows, we could all use some encouraging news when times are tough.

Incentive Travel: A Triple Win

Incentive travel and events such as awards galas can be viewed as a triple win. The company wins because a motivated team produces higher results. The individual sales professionals win as they reap the rewards of their efforts and receive recognition from their peers. The economy also wins. Even if you simply have an awards banquet gala in your hometown, your investment will produce a ripple effect and provide work for:

• event planners


• restaurants, caterers or banquet halls


• waiters, waitresses, hosts, and hostesses


• transportation companies if you use busses or limousines


• the drivers


• the printers who produce the invitations, signage and programmes


• grocery stores that supply the food


• retail stores that sell the clothes that members of your team will wear to the banquet


• hairdressing parlors and barber shoppes


• entertainers


• musicians


• AV companies

In addition to producing work for those professions and sectors, overseas incentive travel will also produce work for:

• airlines


• airline crew, staff and suppliers


• travel agents


• pharmacies


• luggage stores and manufacturers


• the stores at the airports


• customs and immigration officers


• hotels and resorts


• companies that manufacture and supply linen, cutlery, etc.


• dry cleaners


• uniform supply companies


• florists


• landscaping companies


• tour operators


• local attractions

So, Should you Eliminate your Incentive Travel Budget?

If your company is facing challenging times, postpone the parties and luxury junkets. This is just not the time. Instead, take a portion of the money you would have spent for an incentive and invest in consultants and business facilitators with a proven track record that can help you get your company back on track. When company performance improves, there will be plenty of time to celebrate.

If your company is doing well, don't be afraid to splurge a bit. Don't feel obligated to cancel incentive travel because times are tough. You'll actually be helping the economy. After all, you and your team have worked hard and you've earned it.

The Five Steps of Event Lighting Design

Lighting is the most effective medium used to transform an event from a gathering of people to an exciting, styled event. The importance of lighting design and lighting hire has become a top priority for event producers as lighting technology becomes more advanced and more accessible to planners of all kinds of events. The following is a 5 step guide to using lighting design that will take your event from average to amazing.

How to make your lighting design effective

Step 1: Questions, Questions and more questions

An informed event planning decision is a good event planning decision. When using a lighting hire company you need to ask yourself a few questions before turning to them for professional answers. Questions like "What type of event will I be planning?" and "How many guests will be attending" as well as important questions like "What type of venue will be used, and how will it accommodate the type of lighting design that I want?" should all be asked before you draw up a budget and determine what exact lighting you need.

Step 2: The layout

Most lighting hire companies will offer a CAD service (computer-aided design) which will show you a layout of the event itself, where the tables and stage will be placed and where the rest of the audio visual equipment will be positioned. This can assist the event stylist in terms of the appropriate lighting design and how it will affect the actual space.

Step 3: The extent of lighting

Depending on the type of event, you may want to be extravagant with your lighting hire or keep it minimal yet effective. Medical conferences for example do not need the entire room to be washed with fancy pink lighting and disco balls. Conversely, if the event is a party or something to celebrate, the lighting can cover the entire ceiling and walls and you can also have geometric patterns or lighting themes covering the entire space.

Step 4: Lighting and projectors

Most lighting hire companies combine their lighting skills with projector technologies these days. It is easy to create moving images which are projected onto a video projector to create special effects using lighting to make them more magnificent. Incorporating I-MAG with video cameras is a common practice, adding to branding an event and event styling.

Step 5: The budget

It is easy to get carried away with lighting design, simply because the technology available is so exciting. The most important thing to remember is that your event needs to keep within its budget. To achieve this, only choose the type of lighting that is necessary and appropriate for your event. Do not be skimpy on detail but do not go overboard either. Nobody likes an event that is too over the top. A good event equipment hire company will advise you on the right lighting techniques that will suit your event.

Advantages of Hiring An Event Planner

Finding a reliable and efficient event planner has become very easy in the bay area. There are a number of people and companies who need professional help when it comes to their social and corporate events. Event planning in the bay area has become increasingly popular and you can now find the perfect event management company online. Companies provide a wide variety of services to make your event that extra bit special. Companies have come up with ideas which would make your party unique and remembered for a long time.

These companies excel at coordinating all the aspects of your social event. They would help you with a lot of tips and suggestions for your party. They would choose the best possible place for your gathering and give you ideas for the theme, decor and music. These are just a few from a huge list of things they would help you with. They would guide you through every step of the planning of event. Here are some of the types of social and corporate events they produce:

Bridal Showers
Baby Shower
Social And Corporate parties
Birthday parties
Reunions
Retirement parties
Housewarming parties
Anniversaries
Weddings
Bar and Bat Mitzvahs
Sweet 16
Baptism and first communion events
Going - away and welcome home parties
Graduation Parties

These companies would literally take care of every aspect of your party. They are tied up with the best DJ's, Bands, and performers in the country. They have been very creative and thought a large number of themes. These companies would help you with costumes, decors for all their themes. You should definitely have a look at their websites and see which theme would suit your party best. You can choose from a wide variety of ideas as they have thought of some unimaginable themes.

These companies also specialize in kids social events. They have a special focus on kid's entertainment. They have thought of perfect ideas for kid's outings and school trips. These would even make for fun activities on your child's birthday. These are just a few of the options you can choose from:

Scavenger hunts
Laser tag tournaments
Field trips
Carnivals
Theme park outings
Grand Prix Racing (in go carts of course)
Swimming parties
Magic Shows
Horse Riding
Live animal Shows
Indoor sky diving
Rock and Velcro climbing walls
Giant Trampolines
Chocolate fountains

All these activities are supervised by trained professionals. Event planning in the bay area has become and big and very professional business and with so much on offer I strongly suggest you do some research online and find the perfect event planner for you.

Corporate Function Event Planners

Corporate function event planners can help ensure that your corporate functions go off smoothly and without any problems, but there are still probably a few areas that you will want to be involved with. Leave the booking of the venue, corporate entertainment bookings, and catering to the professionals but make sure they have what they need and that your guests know all about this great function yourself.

Outsourcing Event Planners

When it comes to outsourcing event planners you want to make sure that there is good communication - that your corporate function event planners know how many people are coming for catering purposes, that you tell your people what entertainment the event planners have booked, etc. One great way to do this is by means of a Web 2.0 web page that gives all the details as well as acting as a communication tool between the different people involved in or coming to the function.

Set up a free web page at Events Listed and you will be able to use task manager and budget manager tools, as well as many other applications to co-ordinate the planning of your event. All guests will be able to view this page and your event planners will also be able to access it.

Add photos, videos and audio clips that will show your guests what the event planners have organized. Allow your guests to RSVP online and in this way your corporate function event planners will be able to see at all times who is coming, who is not coming and how many people they need to cater for.

Polls and comment walls can also help to get guests involved in the function planning and encourage them to share their views with the event planners. You may have a poll on decisions your event planners have asked you to make or simply leave room for people to comment on what has been planned and advertised.

Event Marketing

Once your corporate function event planners have given you the details of what they have organized and you have set up your web page with these details then it is time to make sure that everyone necessary has been invited. You need to let people know that your event website is up and that they can go there for more details or to reply so send out email invitations.

When your guests get these invitations they will be able to click through to your web page and respond. Other guests, your event planners and, of course, yourself will be able to see who is coming, who is not coming and who still has to respond. This makes the event easier to organize as well, as you and your corporate function event planners will know exactly how many people they are catering for (and you can chase up those who have not answered).

After the event (or even during the event) go back and add video, photos, audio or anything else that will remind people of the event afterwards or keep those informed who were unable to make it.

All you need to do to assist your corporate function event planners in this manner is to go and register a free account with Events Listed and start creating the web page with the multimedia applications available to you.

The Top Ten Criteria for a Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) Tool

The Top Five Security Information Management Considerations

1. Ensure your log management layer is scalable. The log management layer is responsible for collecting the hoards of audit logs within your environment; it is not likely to filter any collected data. A key requirement for a Security Information Management (SIM) tool is to collect all audit log data so that a forensic investigation can be instigated if required. This layer therefore needs to scale to ensure full log collection.

2. Comprehensive Reporting. The log management layer should be able to report on activity that have been collected and identified within the accounting and audit logs. This should include running reports across up to 90 days of data. When you are collecting 10-20 million logs a day, this means the report will need to search upwards of 2 billion entries to retrieve the requested data for the report. It is also possible that you will run several reports a day.

3. Log Collection. It is important that you can collect logs from across the enterprise. The SIM layer should be a true forensic store of accounting and audit logs that allows a complete investigation, should the need arise. This means you want logs from firewalls, operating systems, applications, VPN's, Wireless Access Points etc. You therefore need to ensure that logs from all of these sources can be collected. Plain text logs stored in flat files are typically widely collected, as are Windows Event Logs. Event logs stored database's are not easily collected, so if you have any custom built or internal built applications ensure that these logs can be collected, as often these are stored in some type of database.

4. Chain of Custody. Ensure that you can validate that the logs have not been changed or modified, since they were collected from the source device. This should include collection of the logs in real-time from the original device, to ensure they are not modified before collection. This will allow for a forensically assured investigation, if required.

5. Trend Dashboards. It is important to be able see the trend of the volume of logs being collected. When collecting millions of logs a day, dash-boarding all of that data becomes pointless, as it will be a sea of information. However the size of the haystacks can tell you if there are problems. For example if you see a huge spike in failed logins, this tells you that there is something going on within the environment that is not normal.

The Top Five Security Event Management Considerations

1. Correlation. The main purpose of a SEM tool is to filter out the noise from the forensic data and flag up or alert up any suspect behaviour. It is critical therefore that your SEM can filter the rubbish down to useful information via complex correlation rules.

It is almost useless to alert on every failed login within your environment, as in large enterprises there are hundreds or thousands of these per day. However 100 failed logins within a five minute span, from an external IP address, for an administrative account should be alerted on and investigated. Your correlation engine should support easy creation of these multiple event rules.

2. Dashboards. Once you have generated a correlated alert, you want to place this information on a dashboard for easy user consumption. While it is not feasible to dashboard the forensic data that the SIM has collected, because of the sheer volume, it is recommended to dashboard the SEM alerts, as they are likely to be significantly less in number. On average you should be alerting on less than 1% of 1% of the collected logs that equates to a maximum of 200 alerts from 2 million collected audit logs. With a really strong correlation engine we would expect to eventually tune these alerts down to 2 a day, instead of 200 a day. You only want to be alerted on TRUE security or operational risks to your enterprise, not every time someone fat fingers their password.

3. Reporting. While reporting capability is critical for SIM, it is also important for SEM. The reports are not going to be as difficult to produce, for starters you are not reporting against billions of logs, more likely you are reporting against tens of thousands of alerts. But management will want to see that critical alerts have been responded to and resolved.

4. Log Normalisation. To create detailed alerts you will need to "understand" the raw logs, for example you will need to understand what part of the log string is the group name, if for example you want to alert when a user is added to an administrator group. Most vendors will create normalisation rules for the standard off the shelf applications, but you should be able to normalise your organisations custom log formats, without having to employ the vendors, likely to be expensive, professional service consultants.

5. Alert Management. As well as creating complex alerts based on correlation rules it should be possible to track the status of generated alerts. Has the Alert been resolved? What steps were taken after the alert was raised. A built in ticketing system or tight integration in to an existing ticketing system is a critical feature of a Security Event Management tool.

Soccer Party Decoration Ideas For Creating The Perfect Playful Atmosphere

A soccer birthday party is great fun time for both kids as well as adults. Such parties demand a festive atmosphere that will stir up the guests for some kickin' fun. With some creative preparations, you can conveniently incorporate playfulness into your party decoration. Here are some ideas that are sure to help you set the stage for an exciting soccer party.

• A scoreboard at your front door would be a perfect welcome for your guests. Make a scoreboard that resembles to that of Soccer. Personalize it as per your requirement. For example; for time, you can mention the time of birth of your child or the actual time of the day. The other pointers at the scoreboard could be 'invitee count', 'arrived', and 'awaited'. Allocate one person for updating the scoreboard as and when required. The little ones are sure to jump out of excitement when they see this sporty decoration at your entry door.


• Buy the artificial grass carpets available at most stores that sell Soccer Birthday party Supplies and spread it out across your party area to transform your house into a soccer field. If buying the carpets is an expensive option, you can rent them.


• Make some soccer cutouts and hang them from the ceiling across the party area. Hang some soccer ball whistles as well. Later, you can give away these whistles as party favors.


• Inflate some themed Mylar balloons and tie one to each of the guest's chair. These balloons can also double up as party favors and therefore, are a must have for your child's birthday.


• For incorporating the theme to your party table, purchase the required Soccer Birthday party Supplies such as plates, cups, napkins, cake decorations, and much more.


• Instead of place mats, use grass-style mats to make your guests feel as if they are dining on a soccer field.


• Hang a Soccer themed pi簽ata above your party table or at a location where you think it will get the required attention. Fill it with irresistible treats and use it as a party decoration till you ask your guests to break it open.


• For some informative wall decorations, stick posters of your child's favorite soccer team and mention some surprising information about the players so that the kids can update themselves along with having a lot of fun time at your soccer birthday party. After your party is over, you can move these posters to your child's room and let them be there till your child wants them.

These tips are sure to help you kick off a great sports theme birthday for your little champion.

How To Add Excitement To Your Spiderman Birthday Theme Party

For your little champion's upcoming birthday, why not choose a Spiderman Birthday Theme and let him celebrate his special day with his favorite idol? Every boy envisions becoming a superhero like the Spiderman and therefore, your party will be the envy of the neighborhood. From young boys to the grownups, everyone is suffering from spider mania and therefore, this theme will surely make the kids go crazy about dressing up and attending your action-filled party. Here are some useful party ideas.

The invitation:

Since this theme is very popular, you can easily get the invitation at any nearby party supplies store or buy them online. If you are willing to make the invites yourself, here are some ideas.

• Make your child wear the Spiderman costume and take his pictures posing as a real superhero. Take a printout of the best picture on a white cardstock along with some cobweb prints. Write your party details on the reverse side using fancy language such as 'Look out, your friendly neighborhood superhero (your child's name) is turning (his age). Come on for some spiderly adventure'.


• Take a printout a movie still of any of your child's favorite Spiderman movie and use it as an invitation. Write your party details on the reverse side and use a blue envelope for enclosing it. Decorate the envelope with some Spiderman Party Supplies such as stickers so that it also reflects the theme of your party.

Decoration:

• Buy the basic Party Supplies such as balloons, face masks, spider web, tableware, banner, etc. in advance so that you don't have to suffer from last minute mess-ups. These Spiderman Party Supplies are extremely useful to create a perfect party atmosphere without breaking your bank.


• Cover one of your walls with stretchable spider webbing that can be found at any craft store. To give a wild look to your party, add some red and black plastic spiders to it.


• To get the guests into the mood, play the Spiderman music in the background.


• Decorate the guest chairs with cobwebs and red and black crepe paper. Above the party table, hung Spiderman poster using fishing thread in a way that the Spiderman has his face down towards your table as if he is watching the celebrations from the rooftop.

Party food:

• A Spiderman themed cake will mesmerize the guests. You can either order it from your nearby bakery. If you are on a shoe-string budget, you can bake a plain rectangular cake at home, and cover it with red colored icing sugar or cream. You can change the color of the sugar by adding edible color to it. Use black edible color in the cream or icing sugar and draw the webs on the red colored cake. Add a theme candle on it. Hurry! Your cake is ready.


• Make cheese pizza and make spider webs on it using ketchup.


• You can serve many other items that fit in your theme as well as budget.

Party favors:

Since the spiderman birthday theme is extremely popular, you can get almost anything you want. Stickers, Spiderman movie CD, superhero figurine, comic book, toy spiders, coloring book, etc. are some of the cherished options.

Spice up your adventure-laden party with some heroic games and let the kids live up their imagination.

GJ's Entertainment Tackles Corporate Events In London

Many corporate events are designed to increase staff motivation, add incentives, improve morale, boost performance and can be used as an effective promotional tool for new product launches.

The knock-on effects of running a corporate event can have many benefits including financial gains, brand awareness, networking opportunities, media exposure and increased staff performance.
Not every event is the same and different organisations will have different requirements from the event.

We ensure that every event is bespoke and meets the requirements of the customer. From the initial contact to implementation, through to feedback we ensure that the whole process is quality controlled and always exceeds Expectations. We have a variety of products and services at our disposal to make your corporate event the most enjoyable and exciting experience possible.

Live music, comedians, acts and entertainers, MCs, DJs, Gameshows, Celebrity guest singers/comedians/speakers and Casinos. We have it all here, and with 9 years experience in entertainment, you can trust us to provide you with the best. GJ's Entertainment understands the importance over providing your event with the ultimate entertainment within your budget.

We can provide a huge variety of corporate entertainment so that you can really impress your colleagues and staff.

GJ's Entertainment is committed to providing the best entertainment possible within your budget to all types of parties within London and the surrounding areas.

We provide all types of acts for corporate parties, events, awards nights and Christmas parties.

If your event requires a famous host from sport, television, film, radio or major recording stars then get in touch now. We have the contacts to bring you the biggest stars including international and US celebrities.

If you are looking for the best nights entertainment in London then look no further.

Browse our website for more information andsend us an email with your requirements or call us now, and we will get back to you with a quote.

You are just a few steps away from having the time of your life!

If you don't see what you are looking for, please call as we will always be able help.

Why not give us a call today to discuss ideas for your event and then we can get started on planning the finer details of your corporate entertainment.

4 Keys to Successful Event Promotion

In this age of information overload, it is becoming harder and harder to get people to attend your events. The same person is receiving invitations to say 20 different companies. Thus, it doesn't really matter whether you are organizing a fundraising campaign or a business dinner; your ultimate goal is to attract maximum people to your program and get them to actually show up for the same. Let's discuss the R.S.V.P. approach. It is one smartest tool available by which you can innovatively promote your events.

R - Repetition

You have to repeatedly hammer your message to the target audience. Most people are extremely busy nowadays; they ignore or simply delete emails from unknown senders. But if you send it a couple of more times, they may just become curious enough to open and check what it's all about. Thus, if you have the money and the staff, try to include a series of effective communication strategies to market your program. You can simply start with a mini teaser promo and then send out a "Save the Date" message. Your email headline should be eye-catching plus the text should be short and to-the-point for people usually don't have much time to sit back and read a lengthy emails.

S - Simplicity

You should incorporate the simplest way to approach and invite people to participate at the event. The probable ways can be sending an online invitation, placing a "Register Now" button on each email. Let potential attendees click on the link and be directed to the registration page. Now they can instantly complete the online registration process online, in literally a few minutes. You can also have an online payment solution in place to make it easier for the people to pay you via a range of online payment options. You should only include the most important "fields" or "sections" on the online event registration forms to make it easier for the attendees to fill it up and submit the same quickly.

V - Variety

Your event promotional strategy should include a variety of options and definitely the most popular ones used by most event organizers today. In addition using email communication tools to blast your mail campaigns to your potential participants, it is equally important to communicate with them via social media plus using offline routes such as: adverts on newspapers and magazines. You should post details of your upcoming event(s) on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and such other popular social networking sites. Additionally, don't forget to add the details on your business website and the blog to let the readers be aware of the event.

P - Packaging

If you want to draw the attention of your target audience to your program, you have to pay attention to detailed packaging. Try to adopt an interesting and appealing promotional tactic. Make it a point to explain why your event is different from others? Write about the major benefits of participating in your event. Include a point or two that will easily catch the interest of people. For example, "You will get to meet Mr. X, Y, and Z - the 3 top experts of the industry once you attend our seminar."

Six Things Every Modern Bride Wants

Wedding ceremonies and fashions have changed greatly over the years, but there is one thing that will never change - there is no day in a bride's life that is more important.
Here are 6 things that every modern bride needs to have on her special day.

Photo Booth: This is an increasingly popular option and provides a lasting keepsake. It's also a great way for your guests to have some fun and create unique memories. Your guests are greeted by the photo booth staff, where they are directed inside the booth and given access to a myriad of props, including signs, funny hats, and big sunglasses. The photos are taken and printed on high quality printers, where each guest will be given a copy. The photos are then put into a scrapbook for the bride and groom to enjoy and peruse through after the wedding. Free delivery, set up and removal is included in the price of the photo booth rental.

Memory/Scrapbook: Make sure that the special day captures every moment. A good photographer can help make this happen, as can a photo booth rental.

Bride's Survival Kit: This should be made up ahead of time, and should include items such as your cell phone, tissues, makeup, bobby pins, small sewing kit, spot remover and a nail file. The Maid of Honor can be in charge of this throughout the day.

Wear-Again Wedding Dress: Many modern brides are opting for less traditional wedding dresses, in favor of ones they can wear again. This trend is becoming increasingly popular, especially for those with a limited budget (and isn't that just about everyone these days?)

Cupcakes: Many brides are choosing cupcakes instead of a traditional wedding cake, for a selection of cupcakes. They can be all one flavor, or a mixture of chocolate, vanilla and other flavors, so there is something for everyone. These can be arranged in various shapes and can be made in several different sizes.

Groom: Every bride needs a groom! That is something that brides need to find on their own, however.

Marriage is one of the greatest milestones of life and it should be arranged accordingly. Wedding photo booth is a great way to keep these memories alive.Photo booth is an essential part of a wedding planning now and it is one of the prime concerns for the event planners. Lastly, a bride will always be sure to use music that is in the top ten charts to entertain her guests as well as having food that is top notch.

How Hospital Week Can Solve Event Issues

The year holds many appreciation events for different staff members of a hospital. From National Nurses Week and Volunteer Week to Housekeeping Week and Doctors Day, it seems as though every week could be a celebration for a different department. Observing these events can become a logistic nightmare and a strain on the budget. Good intentions can quickly become offensive halfway through the year if funds for these kind of events run out. Additionally, these events can take away attention from awareness and education initiatives that the hospital wants to support. By covering the staff in one appreciation event, National Hospital Week, administrators can free up time and budget for other topics.

Team Building - Observing National Hospital Week gives administrators the chance to show appreciation to the entire hospital staff at the same time. While it may not be logistically possible to assemble the entire group into one place at one time, the healthcare facility can plan a weeklong series of events, giving individual departments their chance to be the focus. Even though the groups will be celebrating separately, the facility will be decorated and supportive of the staff. The employees can derive a feeling of team belonging, knowing that they are being recognized for their contributions to the hospital. Also, by including the entire hospital staff, organizers can be sure that no department is left out.

Cost Savings - Decorating is a big part of recognition events. Banners, balloons and announcements can add up when they have to be purchased for each appreciation week. And if the organizers imprint the date on the decorations, they render them disposable, necessitating re-purchase each year. By unifying the staff recognition into a Hospital Week celebration, the budget that would normally be allocated to many different events can be combined, allowing for high volume pricing on gift items, as well as a single decoration investment.

Health & Wellness Focus - The goal of a hospital is to care for the sick, heal the injured and improve the health of the community. By holding a Hospital Week rather than a series of smaller staff appreciation events throughout the year, hospital administrators can focus event planning on initiatives such as awareness fundraisers, blood and donor drives and wellness education. Making use of prime spring and fall months, hospitals can hold health fairs, walks & runs and free education sessions in place of the individual appreciation events. Budget freed up from consolidating into Hospital Week will go a long way towards supporting the planning.

Corporate Event Planning is Plain Sailing When You Use a Marquee Hire Company

Whether your corporate event is to promote or sell products, raise charitable funds, celebrate an occasion or a holiday; marquee hire companies offer corporate event planning packages that will ensure that your event goes smoothly. Their event planning service will also relieve you of much of the time, work and stress that is generally associated with planning corporate events.

What event planning services do the marquee hire companies offer?

With regards to the corporate event marquee or party tent the marquee hire company will:

• Conduct a site visit, prepare the ground surface, deliver and erect the marquee or party tent.


• Decorate the marquee with corporate logo's, images and other branded items.


• Provide flooring, lighting and heating, stages, podiums, microphones, sound equipment and other specialist event equipment and furnishings.


• Furnish the marquee with seating, tables, table cloths, table decorations etc.


• Provide portable toilets if required for the event.


• Clean-up after the event.


• Dismantle and remove the event tent or marquee.

In addition to the above event planning services, the marquee hire company may be able to assist with invitations, arranging entertainment, guest speakers and much more besides. You will need to discuss your individual corporate event requirements with your event planner to find out what planning services are available.

What else do I need to consider when planning a corporate event?

When planning your event you should take into consideration your target market (the guests) and ensure that you cater for their tastes and their needs. With regard to the venue itself, the marquee and other hospitality tents, entrances and emergency exits need to be clearly marked as do toilets, refreshments and featured stalls, stands etc.

Have a hand-out ready to give guests as they arrive showing a simple lay-out of the event as well as a schedule of events. Also ensure that any hosts for the event are easily visible and identifiable. Hats and brightly coloured corporate blazers will help hosts to stand out from the crowd.

It is important to make a great first impression so ensure that your event entrance is welcoming and that there is an information point (depending on the size of the event) with a well-informed co-ordinator who can help answer guest's queries.

In the meantime you also need to consider how your guests will find your venue and how they will travel there.

• Is the corporate event venue easily accessible by road, rail and public transport?


• Do your guests require transport to the venue from an airport?


• Do your guests require overnight accommodation?

You may decide that you will take care of these details and arrange transport and overnight accommodation for your guests. If this is a high profile VIP corporate event, taking care of these matters will relieve a lot of stress for your guests and cannot fail to impress.

In the meantime if you would like to arrange a themed corporate event, many marquee event planners have a variety of themed party ideas as well as themed furnishings and decorations suitable for your event and marquee. Agree all details regarding event planning and marquee hire with your event planner in advance.

Good luck with your corporate event!

Business and Consumer Driven: Market and Multidimensional Segmentation

What methods or tools do you or your organization use to expand the application of segmented marketing? Do you identify and develop products for a particular segment of consumers who other companies in your industry do not target? Is your customer driven marketing strategy parallel to your multidimensional segmentation approach?

Companies seeking to identify and reach target markets, while developing segmented marketing strategies are using different approaches and tools for their industries. Well-defined segments based on a number of variables such as behavior, geography, demographics and psychological profiles relate and influence a consumer's needs, lifestyle and purchasing behavior. Beyond traditional marketing practices, many companies are approaching segmentation to target certain niches within their marketing reach.

Achieving specific goals require developing and implementing a marketing strategy that includes product, promotion, price and distribution in your marketing mix. Systematically collecting information and researching data about the buying behavior of current and potential customers will help to guide key marketing decisions. Buying behavior is based on psychological and social variables, such as culture, attitude, social roles, character traits or habits.

With multidimensional segmentation, instead of grouping variables into one category, they are divided into several different groups of variables. Data that is collected directly from respondents and data that is compiled by internal or external organizations help to guide marketing decisions. Some methods are not statistically flawless and the process can pose some confusing results. If different groups of variables are segmented and create independent segmentations, then each respondent could fall into multiple segments. This type of marketing approach can cross over into other data gathering segments that include categories of pricing, culture, demographics, gender, age, lifestyle, social media and communication preferences.

Customer driven marketing strategies helps to focus on the needs of a business' target consumers and gives organizations an edge in a highly competitive market. Dividing your marketing plan into customer groups will build the right relationships and create meaningful customer value that will appeal to your customer's characteristics.

What Is Event Planning Certification All About?

Most people have heard about event planning business but many of them are not familiar with event planning certification. If you are concerned are becoming a professional event planner then you should know what it is. Many people used to think and still think that it is useless to get education in this subject however now as event planning is growing rapidly getting event planning certification has become quite important. This certification will train you how to work in the professional world and will give you all the knowledge that you require to be good at this profession.

Event management and planning certification is not at all difficult to acquire and pass. Now there are plenty of well known educational institutions that offer courses in different types of event planning. All you need to be is organized; creative and dedicated to what you have opted to do. Some institutions and companies required a little bit of professional experience. Hence, if you have worked under any event planner or as one of the services used in the arrangements of events then this can come to use in getting higher event planning certification.

These courses are also accessible online so if you have any difficulty in obtaining them then you can get this education online. The study material, lectures, presentations and quizzes are given online so you will not have much problem in learning. Even these online courses have a lot of value and play a big role in enhancing your portfolio of event manager. The fees of these courses are nominal and most people can afford them, moreover some schools even offer financial aid.

Getting proper event management and planning certification will provide more job opportunities for the event planner and he will be able to earn good amount of money. Earning this certification will make your base strong because you will learn various techniques which will make this business booming like fire. You will be able to interact with other professional event planners and learn how they have managed to earn good name in this profession.

Besides getting education regarding this field, you have to be very patient and energetic because event management is a very big responsibility and if you did not deliver it properly then you will not only ruin your reputation but your client's reputation as well. Therefore, learning how to keep the clients happy and satisfied can also be obtained through event planning certification.

Strategic Planning in Business Today - The Importance of Incorporating Digital Media

Along with the more traditional forms of marketing, in the current business landscape, it is essential to plan strategically using digital media in your overall marketing strategy.

Digital media gives a business the ability to not only reach more people, but also to reach those people in a more time efficient manner for less money than any other type of medium available in the modern business landscape.

Digital media has the following advantages among other things:

1 - Strategic planning in digital media has the ability to create a long term strategy without long term expenditures.

Most of the money that is placed into Internet videos and other forms of content are done during the production phase. This is because the maintenance phase of digital media costs a great deal less than any other sort of media.

It does not cost anything to keep a video up on a video sharing site. Unless you as the business owner decide to take the video down, it will stay up for you and serve as a 24 hour, seven day a week public relations campaign. It can go viral at any time, creating even more PR for you without you having to spend a single dime.

2 - Online media also has the ability to incorporate itself more readily into off-line campaigns.

With many new online marketing tools, it is much easier to create off-line foot traffic through online mediums than it has ever been before. Because the major search engines have created a need for businesses to localize themselves in niche oriented markets, proper keyword optimization and digital media incorporation into a content marketing campaign will serve as another inroad into customer acquisition and customer retention.

It has never been easier to supplement an off-line marketing campaign with online marketing tools. There are more tools than ever before, both paid and free.

3 - Digital media gives companies the opportunity to try out new strategies and analyze results in real time.

There is no other medium that gives a business the ability to see the results of a campaign in real time. Online reviews can be given to a company while the customer is still in the store. Multivariate marketing campaigns can be tested within a matter of minutes and optimized on-the-fly to give a boost to short term and seasonal marketing campaigns. These strategies can then be tweaked without having to restart marketing campaigns for large amounts of money.

Organising Corporate Events With Maximum Appeal

One of the greatest challenges for the event organiser is to arrange a variety of activities that will appeal to everyone in the group. Obviously it is impossible to choose activities that will appeal to everyone, but it is important to have variety so that everyone will have something to enjoy.

The most common format for outdoor participation events is to have a range of activities. A group of thirty might be divided into five teams to attempt five different activities.

There is a general feeling that shooting and motorised activities are enjoyed more by men than by women. This is by no means a rule and there are always exceptions, but if an event is dominated by this sort of activity some people will enjoy it more than others.

Choosing the activities wisely will help; for example archery tends to be enjoyed by more people than clay pigeon shooting because some people find the noise and kick back of the shotgun too violent.

The best event companies will offer a wide range of activities and you can include ferret racing, duck herding and a whole assortment of activities which have a broad appeal. As well as the more physical participation activities you might consider including some puzzle based cerebral challenges; many prefer to think than to be active.

If you are very concerned about getting the choice right you can put all of the options down on a form and have the participants vote on which they would like to try.

The most important thing is to ensure that the organisers stresses that the event is run on a 'challenge by choice' basis. If someone decides that they do not want to do something they will not be forced to participate or humiliated. This is the last thing that should happen on a team building day.

One of the most popular types of event is the Treasure Hunt. These are popular because they are not particularly physically demanding and do not obviously appeal to either sex more than the other. Challenges can be built into the format and events can be tailored to a client's particular needs.

Treasure Hunts can be run in more or less any location in town and country. London Treasure Hunts are extremely popular and professional organisers will know the best routes to ensure an interesting experience without teams spending hours in queues with the tourists.

There is a wide range of options available in the participation event industry. Organisers should consider the make up of their group and any special needs that people may have. Organisers should avoid simply choosing activities which appeal to their own preferences; working with a professional event company and taking their advice will ensure that an event with broad appeal is chosen.

Event Planning Companies for Both Personal and Professional Parties

Time has gone when parties or events were limited to dinners only; today parties include everything from dance, music to the final dinner parties. Most of the people celebrate parties in their own style and want to make it as exclusive as they can through their creative mind sets and out-of-the-box intuitive thinking. However, in order to execute everything in style and status, people need someone that can handle tedious tasks easily. Event management companies are playing a bigger role in planning and organizing events in a custom format manner. They provide necessary information to the hosts and help them to arrange everything from music, dance, and decor to the photographers.

Unquestionably, event management companies and their party planners themselves come forward to transform events and make them above normal. Today, event management companies not only arrange things for parties, but also help in promotional activities. For corporate events, companies play a vital role and arrange for the important marketing and promotional activities from invitation card distribution to the email promotion.

Event planners offer their services in an inclusive manner and determined to provide a vast range of services that needs professional touch of extensive activities. Their professionally trained and qualified event specialists handle such promotional events which require ideal strategic planning, party resources, human resource as well as transportation.

When you hire an event management firm, you can be completely stress-free as your responsibilities are shifted dramatically to it. It significantly reduces the burden and helps you to think more. It is always good to hire professional team for mega corporate events, as it becomes highly difficult to arrange from decor, lighting, dinner to advertising and arranging for transportation activities. They apply their creative and intuitive ideas that can turn out to be a profitable venture for the hosting company. In fact, it is good to take full advantage of such corporate parties, as most of the managers and companies come to seek business proposals and establish business relations.

In order to revolutionize the party and make it more meaningful for guests, it is good for the corporate giants to hire expert event planners. Only they can make the elements amazing and truly wonderful. They can even plan weddings, engagement parties, Bar and Bat Mitzvahs and a great range of other private and corporate events. They regularly organize events and involve in production and coordination that make sure that each event they produce is an outstanding success. They know that events are important and stressful. With that in mind, they make sure that nothing is left to chance to avoid any unwanted and expected surprises!

Their teams can manage everything from complex corporate parties to the backyard birthday parties. If you want to establish your brand then also it is the best option to consider. You can uniquely position your brand in the market and overpower your competitors.

The Truth Behind a Successful Event

Our world is littered with enough star power to blow the galaxy away. We celebrate weddings or birthdays with the most lavish settings, dazzling colors and jaw dropping cuisine. Of course in our era now, we throw extravagant parties and gatherings for just about any reason. Probably because its fun, to have a big group of people, meet up and bask in mutual companionship. But whatever the reason, we cannot deny that we love these events, nor can we deny that our world would become rather bland with its absence.

Which brings us to one major question, who is the mastermind behind these events? Logically these people should definitely be vivacious, creative, innovative and just sweating star power, if they are to be capable of creating such mind ravaging masterpieces.

Well as anti climatic as it is, the person behind all of this is indeed an event planner. I'm sure most of you when you think event planner, you're thinking he just plans it, then sits down with a cup of latte and do absolutely nothing. Well you couldn't have been more wrong.

Knowledgeable and experience event planners work hard and diligently to bring the most glamorous of events to the eyes of the world. Their jobs consist of more than just dreaming up a concept and leaving it as that. They have to figure out how to bring that concept into reality and bringing visions such as theirs to the world is not easy task.

Even then their job is still not done, because you see, event planners are also given the job as an overseer and have to be there 24/7 to ensure the completion of the event. Every little detail, from decorations, to the slight variations of color, they have to do it all. In fact most of the time you will see event planners running around doing jobs like putting up the decorations, running errands, plumbing and electrical work, which is a little absurd since that shouldn't be part of their jobs right?

But at the end of the day, it is his vision and no other individual would know how he had envisioned it, which is why it is difficult sometimes when the workers don't produce results that fit his vision. Unfortunately, that vision is the one he had sold to the client. Thus it is crucial that the end product be as he had sold it or better. Because if the event planner fails to see his entire vision come to life, it is very likely he will never work in the business again. The world of entertainment and events is like that, you become less than perfect for one day, and all the other competitors under you will crawl all the way above you.

Even though you love the events, and are bedazzled by how the celebrities and stars have thrown the party, keep in mind, that they just throw out the cash, the real masterminds with the creative power and determination.

Life as an event planner really isn't that easy so next time you think glamorous events, give the event planners their credit for being the true masterminds behind these events which tickle our imagination.

Is Event Management This Simple?

Have you been given the responsibility of planning corporate events, only to realize how much work is actually involved in planning them? One way to deal with event planning and the stress involved in planning is to use an event management company. It's really hard to do a full day's work and then spend hours every week working to ensure that your event goes off without a hitch. An event planner gets paid to plan big corporate events day in day out, so they know what each event needs, and how to find it.

Among other things, an event management company will be able to help you set up a realistic budget, and will be sure to work within that budget. They have existing relationships with vendors and event venues, and knowledge of which vendors provide what services or products. All of this can mean they may be able to get your company products and facilities at a discounted rate because of those relationships. This saves you a lot of work calling vendors to find the one with a price in your budget and who offers exactly what you are looking for your event.

Whether your event is a company wide team building event or corporate entertainment, an important annual conference, or charity gala ball, using event management is the easiest way to do it. Once you tell the planner exactly what you want, all the little details and large decisions are taken off your hands. The event planner has a lot of experience with different types of events, so knows exactly how to do it. You don't have to worry about how everything will look, or even if your event will go off, since you have hired a professional to do it. Event planners are normally perfectionists, and will want to make sure that the customer is more than happy, and that the event goes smoothly.

Anyone who has planned an event knows that not only are there many little details that pop up, usually at the end, but that there is always some emergency that comes up. Using event management companies means that you don't have to worry about that emergency because your event planner is right on top of it, and can smooth it over and make your event an occasion that people talk about for years to come.

How to Conduct Efficient Event Marketing?

An event's success is the result of immense hard work put together by event organizers. The most challenging part however remains in strategizing and mapping out your events promotion campaigns and marketing activities. A greater part of your event's success depends on how you conduct these activities. Initially, organizers had to appoint external staff to help them in successfully executing the entire work flow processes. In spite of the amount of hard work invested, things may not work out as expected. However, the advancements in technology have blessed event organizers with various Cloud-based software products that have made event management absolutely effortless and streamlined. Besides, there are certain things that need to be kept in mind for conducting resourceful event marketing. Here's an at-a-glance view:

Designing a Good Website

Internet as a means of communication has contributed in overcoming all geographical borders. Designing a website dedicated to your event thus results in yielding better visibility and exposure for the concerned event and your organization as a whole. A properly designed website with an easy to remember domain name gives higher rankings on popular search engines and conveys the message to the audience at large. Your website must contain web pages dedicated to the event along with relevant contact information.

Selling Your USP

While undertaking marketing campaigns you must be able to sell your event to your target audience. You can lure your attendees by accurately conveying how attending the event will be of benefit to them. If there is value additions ensure that you highlight them to the attendees. This will tilt their interest in favor to attend the event. If you are opting for Cloud-based event registration software then inform the registrants about the ease in registration and payments facilities. Also communicate how such activities can be performed from the comfort of their homes if a reliable internet connection is available.

Undertaking Email Campaigns

Instead of resorting to traditional printed forms of advertisements like pamphlets, flyers, etc, you can now undertake mass email marketing campaigns to reach out to a larger group of audience. This form of marketing is not only cost effective but is also hassle -free. Just need to click on the mouse and get email delivered to your prospective attendee mailbox in no time. Users of Cloud -based software products are facilitated with an email marketing tool that eases out such activities to a large extent.

Social Media Marketing

The popularity and scope of social media are increasingly prompting event organizers to use this as a marketing tool. These active networking platforms allow connection with millions of users in real time. Post a message on Facebook or tweet which helps to make an immediate link. Besides, these active interfaces also allow videos and photo uploads that creates better impact. Cloud-based software users can however resort to the social media connector tool.

A proper marketing strategy can not only enhance your event participation but at the same time manifold your event hosting experience too.

Is Budget Blocking Your Event Plans? Time to Use Event Planning Software

Every event planner wants to make their events the talk of town with an instant sell out of the event tickets. While planning an event, the most important fact that haunts most planners is allocating sufficient budget towards each core element. Event planning includes booking a venue for the event to take place, managing the registration process on-site, looking after additional necessities such as car parking, the menu and drinks, décor, and so on. Most of the time, an event planner's calculation exceeds the actual spending on various core areas; it can happen because of inflation or over spending than the allotted funds on one or multiple aspects of the event.

To avoid any such situations or fall into debt while planning an event, it is better to stay in the safe zone through the usage of an online event planning software. Such an application can help you save money on a number of key areas including registrations, payment management, communication, marketing, and reporting. An event planning software comes at a relatively affordable cost and includes automated features and tools to save your time and resources whilst not compromising on the quality of deliverance and execution of the event.

Automated Registration Process

You can mechanize the entire event registration procedure by using an event planning software. Its embedded event registration solution will help you create and publish forms online. Such online forms are accessible from anywhere that has internet connectivity; so it automatically creates an opportunity to achieve higher attendance.

Quick Payment Collection

Through the implementation of an integrated online payment service, you can instantly collect your event registration fees or initiate ticket sales. It saves you from unnecessary waiting for days to get a check en-cashed or from handling cash given by registrants making payments in person. Along with registering names, people can pay their fees too using their credit cards or taking the help of wire transferring service or a payment gateway like PayPal.

Real Time Communication

Emails are delivered in real time compared to sending hard-copy letters by post. Thus, event planning software usually comes with an embedded emailing engine to let event organizers send out multiple invitations, event-related news and updates, etc. to any number of prospective attendees.

Effective Marketing

Social media marketing is the buzzword today since they help in promoting products, services, and events to a global target audience! In minutes, your event news posted on Facebook or Twitter gets viral and is seen by millions of users active on these social media sites. Event planning solution's online marketing applications help in simultaneously publishing your event news, updates, photos, and video clips on various popular social media platforms.

Tracking and Reporting

You can track your event registration status in real time through the utilization of online reporting module. It helps the organizer to view registrant information and payment details on one single dashboard.

Event Planners - Use Your Social Networking Talents in Social Media

If you are an event planner you probably have either developed some very good networking abilities or you come by them naturally. These talents can also be adapted to the online social networking world through popular social media sites to enhance the job or business you already have or to create a new one that allows you to express yourself in a different medium. Here are some tips.

Everyone who has a business or works for someone who has a business wants to expand and grow. Did you know that you can write articles like the one you are reading to give advice on event planning and at the same time help yourself by driving traffic online to your website? Did you also know that you can upload videos to YouTube, Yahoo and Google video sites to promote your business for free? Of course, this is not to mention taking advantage of the social networking aspects of Twitter, Facebook and MySpace. All of these social media sites can drastically grow your business if you learn how to apply them to what you do.

As an event planner you may also be interested in adapting your networking skills in a new area. Many companies develop business through networking alone and market their products through organizations of people. Some of these companies have a worldwide reach and for the individual who has natural talents in this area there is no financial limit. If you take some time to investigate and learn how to use social media your personal and professional goals can be much brighter.

Corporate Compliance and Hierarchy: Managing Misconduct

Prime examples of the unfortunate truth and devastating facts and consequences of scandals can be found in the media all too frequently nowadays, such as the recent events at the Syracuse and Penn State universities. However, as upsetting as these events may be, ethics and compliance individuals can find valuable lessons to take away from these stories and apply them within their own organizations.

The fact is that individuals who are highly accomplished and have a long history of good, professional relationships tend to develop a sense of invulnerability when it comes to committing such unlawful and heinous acts as those illustrated by the Penn State and Syracuse scandals. The truth of the matter is quite contrary. No one is invincible. This is becoming even truer with the increased popularity and availability of video and camera phones, where documenting someone's infractions is as easy as reaching into your pocket, making exposure of any dishonest activity a guarantee. This fact should be taken as a warning to all white collar criminals. However, it is high time for compliance and ethics departments to begin taking steps to prepare for the potential eventuality of such breaches.

At the outset of the previously mentioned university scandals, the initial responses from those being accused was one of total denial, and these claims were backed by the individuals' coworkers, who vouched for their integrity and good standing. These situations also frequently occur when such events take place within a corporate environment. The important thing to keep in mind here is that sometimes people are not entirely what they seem. Good people can do bad things. The reverse can be true as well, being that bad people can do good things.

The fact is that, wherever loyalties may lie, or whatever preconceptions there may be attached to an individual, it is imperative for compliance and ethics professionals to maintain a sense of neutrality and objectivity when it comes to investigating any accusations. While they should not be entirely relied upon, an individual's character and loyalties within the organization should be taken into account, but should also not become a hindrance. A careful balance must be struck when such potentially volatile situations arise, to ensure that the facts are viewed impartially. In order for this to be done systematically and efficiently, procedures should be in place before such issues occur. Also, if and when necessary, these processes should have preplanned punishments in place.

Administrators and managers are often all to ready to take credit for the high performance of those under their supervision. Conversely, these same leaders have a tendency to shirk any responsibility and deny knowledge when one of their employees is found to be involved in any illicit or fraudulent activity. To help regulate such issues over the long term, a scorecard system can be implemented using a few crucial compliance and ethics parameters as a means of allowing administrators scrutinize the conduct of those beneath them. Taking note of such well publicized scandals as the Penn State and Syracuse affairs can be an insightful means of planning for the future in order to avoid similar issues within corporate organizations.

How to Write a Good Business Plan During a Bad Recession

How one writes a business plan in recessionary economy works differently. One needs to approach the task from a different perspective. And one must make special efforts to avoid errors that in a good economy one would conveniently get away with.

Fortunately, one can do several simple things to write a better, more realistic plan in a recession:

Recession Business Planning Idea #1: De-grandiose-ize the Plan

In a frothy economy, one can find it easy to get over-excited about an opportunity or venture. And, in a sense, that's may be good. Excitement, optimism and confidence can be contagious. If the entrepreneur or management team displays, say, excitement and confidence, those feelings can infect - in a good way - the perception of customers, vendors, investors, lenders, and employees.

In recession, however, probably one wants to be more cautious for a couple of reasons: First of all, in a sputtering or shrinking economy, one will have more trouble selling. Period. Customers and clients spend less on everything. And this "less cash for purchases" will particularly affect non-essential purchasing.

A second factor relates to the "less money for everything" issue: With fewer dollars to spend, customers and clients will logically require more time for and exercise more caution about their purchases. In other words, even if some customer does choose ultimately to buy a product, the customer may take six months longer to make the decision.

Recession Business Planning Idea #2: Focus on Cash Operating Profits

In a recession, businesses need to focus their planning on maximizing cash operating profits.

This admonition sounds, perhaps, a little too obvious. But to make the point here stand out: Many business plans focus too much on the liquidity event... the transaction that allows the entrepreneur to exit the business at some point in the future with a generous financial windfall.

For example, the entrepreneur plan may focus on doing the things perceived necessary to get to an initial public offering. Or managers may optimize some element of the business that in the past, large companies have used to value the small companies they buy. Like top-line sales revenue or customer counts.

When the economy is healthy, dreaming about and planning for "liquidity event" issues may make sense. Focusing on the "liquidity event" issues when major public corporations need government bailouts to make it through the next week is dumb.

Recession Business Planning Idea #3: Strip Out Geometric Growth Rates

Commonly, in business plans, the people forecasting revenue, profits and cash flow use geometric growth rates. In a good economy, one can often get away with an assumption of geometric growth. Maybe. But geometric growth rates don't make sense in a recession.

A geometric growth rate says that some value in the business forecast embedded in the plan grows by a specified percent. For example, the business forecast planned might assume revenues will grow (almost automatically) by 5% a year. Or that inflation will trigger annual (dependable) price adjustments of 3% for the foreseeable future. Or that customer counts will grow (magically) by 10% a year.

Geometric growth rates create exponential growth - and implicitly assume that the business will just always get better and better.

Note: The subprime mortgage meltdown that triggered the current economic crisis stemmed in part from people using geometric growth rates. Investors, lenders and policy makers assumed that home prices would continue to almost automatically, dependably, magically increase...

The alternative to a geometric growth rate is an arithmetic growth rate. With arithmetic growth, you assume that a value grows by a specific value. For example, a retailer assumes that revenues grow by $500,000 each time a new retail location is added.

Arithmetic growth assumptions provide two benefits to the business planner. Arithmetic growth removes exponential growth from the business plan. Arithmetic growth forces the entrepreneur to explain the details of what drives growth.

Recession Business Planning Idea #4: Do Serious Scenario Planning

In a recession - particularly in a recession that looks to be as bad and deep as the current one - the planning process needs to include serious scenario planning.

Scenario planning means redoing the business plan for some crazy, nearly unimaginable event. Like deflation. Or the collapse of an entire industry. Or commodities prices rising or falling to levels not seen in recent history.

Scenario planning delivers two benefits: Thinking the unthinkable should give the entrepreneur the opportunity to avoid some kinds of risks. And thinking the unthinkable - if the worst case occurs - should mean the entrepreneur can more quickly respond to a threat.

A final comment: Scenario planning should not look only at bad scenarios--though that bias may be easy in the current economy. Some of the surprises we see in the coming months will be unimaginably good.

Event Planners Must Never Settle

As an experienced event professional for well over thirty years, who has been intimately involved with hundreds of events, meetings, conferences and conventions, with groups ranging from about fifteen to thousands, I often find myself observing what inexperienced individuals do with the events they organize or run. A true event professional thoroughly plans all aspects, from intensive negotiations based on the needs of the organization he represents, through extensive planning of every detail from the initial planning stage, through the marketing, promotion, and implementation stages, to being on site to oversee that everything is implemented as planned. There is probably nothing as frustrating or disappointing to a true event professional that observing others overlook and seem to not even consider essential details. There is no place for excuses in event planning, and planners and organizers must commit to doing their very best.

1. Some venues are easier in terms of pleasing attendees than others. For example, cooperative and nice weather in a resort venue often lets attendees overlook certain oversights, while, of course, if the weather were not so cooperative, attendees often develop a less accommodating attitude. Regardless, an event planner must never simply adopt the attitude of praying for good weather or letting a beautiful resort help woo attendees, but rather must strive to enhance every attendees experience by thoroughly planning.

2. One of the most overlooked aspects of an event is often as simple as making attendees feel welcome. One of the priorities of event coordinators must be making attendees feel that you care about them, and letting them feel personal warmth, so that weather the weather is warm or not, attendees still have a positive experience.

3. While no event professional has control over the quality of food served, the best ones conduct tastings in advance, and tweak menus when something doesn't work. Great event professionals always emphasize providing both value and perceived value for attendees. Amazingly, I have overheard some organizers actually saying that the great weather compensated for the less than optimum food and service. There is never an excuse for accepting inferior service, and true event planners discuss in detail with the management and staff precisely what their expectations are, and what challenges they anticipate. They then create back up plans or contingencies, so that if something occurs other than originally planned, there can be a seamless transition to an effective and worthwhile contingency plan.

A great event requires thorough, effective and great planning, so that luck becomes less important, and the overall experience is enhanced. True event professionals are like Boy Scouts in that they are always prepared, and never settle for less than the best possible product. Does your organization need a professional event planner, or at least some professionally designed event planning? Most that do end up saving time, money, resources and aggravation, and please far more people than those who haphazardly go with the flow!

Top 5 Benefits of Online Social Network Management Solutions

We are living in an age where effective communication has become pivotal for us. Whether you conduct training sessions or manage events, maintaining communications with members, partners, attendees and registrants is extremely critical to ensure the success of your class and events. By opting for a comprehensive class or event management solution, you can build a secure and integrated community platform to boost communications between your partners in the most cost effective manner.

A scalable, flexible and feature rich private community offers a number of benefits to the event planners, administrators and organizers. Apart from enabling users to leverage the power of building a comprehensive private network, private community management comes with a host of useful features. Some of the key features of a powerful private community management system include the following:

Intuitive Tools for Boosting Interaction

Most event organizers and administrators set their focus solely on getting new business without realizing the need to boost communication with past and current members. Significantly, regular communication between members leads to positive word of mouth which brings new leads. Moreover, marketing and promotion play a very critical role in ensuring the success of your class or event.

In the recent times, social networking has emerged as the most popular and preferred options for event organizers and administrators to spread the word about their events and classes. An integrated private community management system enables you to use personal blogs and social networking sites for generating buzz about your class or event. In addition, a secure private community will assist you to communicate with your members and understand their requirements.

Online Access to Event Session Materials

Providing event session materials to attendees who have not attended the event is an excellent way to arouse their interest and induce them to participate in the upcoming events. Event organizers can post photos, videos, and session handouts to make it easier for the registrants to access relevant documents and other details.

Excellent Payment Management Services

Profit maximization is a top priority for event planners and administrators. Significantly, streamlining the process of payment management plays a major role in increasing revenues. With an efficient private community management solution, you can eliminate payment hassles effectively. These solutions support multiple payment gateways and enable you to track payments and registrations from a unified platform. So not only do your registrants find it easier to sign up for the events or classes, you also find it convenient to monitor the status of payments.

Complete Control over Members and Attendees

Event organizers and administrators need to access information at all times to boost their network. However, managing the vast database is often a huge challenge for these professionals. To reduce the administrative workload, private community management solutions come equip with features that aid in managing all the information.

Customizable Solutions for a Diverse Range of Industries

Private community management software provides several benefits to different industries that need to manage members, attendees and registrants to boost communication. Scalable private community management solutions enable organizations to manage as few and as many members in the most effective manner. From associations, corporations, faith based organizations to educational institutions; private community management delivers a wide range of solution effectively.

Owing to the various benefits offered by private community management systems, a large number of organizations are seen going for these solutions that cater to the specific requirements of the clients. Organizers need to choose wisely to select the best solutions that provide complete assistance.