Planning A Grand Opening Event: Promotion, Gift Cards, And More

The grand opening of you new office, retail store, or any other business venture should be an exciting, busy day that brings you new customers and helps you reconnect with current clients. Whether the grand opening is for a new office building, a third retail store, or your first bakery, planning a great grand opening event can immediately boost your sales figures. There are several key elements to a kickoff event that will ensure its success.

Promotion

A public event doesn't take place in a vacuum. You need to create anticipation for the opening and reach as many people as possible so that they'll know when and where your grand opening will take place and what they can expect from the opening. There will need to be activities and special offers that are valuable enough for people to be willing to take the time to visit your business on the day of the event.

A multi-pronged approach is the best way to advertise your event. Television, radio, and newspaper ads are all excellent ways to reach people. At the same time, don't neglect the newer venues of social media. Post an announcement on your website (if you don't yet have one, get one!), tweet to your customers, friends, and associates so that they'll help get the word out, and lure them in with the promise of good food and prizes.

Food And Drink

Once people arrive at your business, you want to keep them there long enough to really get to know the advantages of your new location and do some browsing or talk to you about their needs. Always serve some food and drinks. Finger foods, including appetizers and cookies, are easy for visitors to eat while mingling. Depending on your company policy, you can offer alcoholic drinks or a simple fruit punch.

Giveaways

Prizes are always big hits at kickoff celebrations. You can offer door prizes, have a raffle, or host a Chinese auction for gift baskets that contain anything from jewelry or accessories to a nice bottle of wine. When putting together these baskets, be sure the prizes complement whatever products or services your business offers. For instance, a car dealership might give away gift certificates for the local car wash or car accessories such as a portable navigation system, new car mats, or products for cleaning a car's interior. A hair salon might give away gift certificates for a line of hair care products, hair dryers, flat irons, or make-up and hair accessories.

Buy gift cards online for several different stores or several gift cards from the same store and present them to the first 50 or 100 people to arrive at the grand opening. Be sure to prominently mention this incentive in all your advertising literature. You might say something like, 'Today Only! Grand Opening Specials and Gift Cards for Our First Hundred Guests! Doors Open at 10:00 AM.' This also encourages people to arrive earlier on the day in hopes of winning one of the cards.

Various contests can also be incorporated into your celebration. Trivia tests, spinning a raffle wheel, or simply drawing tickets handed out to guests lets you give away more prizes. If you buy gift cards online, be sure to select an assortment. Local restaurant cards are always nice, but sporting goods stores, shoe stores, and bookstores also offer great gift cards. They are nicer to give than cash prizes, because the winners are more likely to treat themselves than if they simply pocket some cash. The cards can be tucked into attractive note cards that mention the grand opening and thank the guests for coming. It's a subtle reminder that your grand opening was where they won the prize, giving you an added bit of advertising.

Discounts

Be sure to let potential guests know that your grand opening event is about more than simply introducing your new location or building. Your advertising should also highlight discounts available only on the event day. This will encourage guests to purchase your products or sign up for your services while they are at the celebration, getting your business off to a strong start. Once they've tried your product or service at a discount, they will likely become repeat customers.

Discounts can also be handed out in the way of gift cards. If you don't have your own company gift cards, consider a free 'gift card with purchase' promotion. For every $50 customers spend, they will receive a $5 or $10 gift card to one of several stores. Simply order a stack of gift cards online in advance of the grand opening and have them ready to slip into shoppers' bags as they are leaving.

Event Planning - Why Negotiate a Multi-Year Contract?

Are there any reasons to negotiate a multi-year contract for your group? Why do it or why not?

Historically - you typically sign a new contract for your annual meeting one or two years out due to the size and scope of your meeting, but have never signed a multi-year contract, so why do it now?

Assumptions - first let's assume some items you like about the convention hotel you are negotiating with currently. The number of rooms available plus the size and arrangement of meeting rooms are very conducive to your agenda. Also, your venue choice is located where you know your attendees will register. They like the hotel and it is easy to get there by auto or airline.

Known Facts - your hotel choice is one that you would like to use. They have obviously been superb in the past or you've had great recommendations from other meeting planners. Other reasons could be due to size restrictions. Your group may be so large that this hotel is one of only a few that will accommodate your convention or it is strategically located near something vital to your program, like a specific plant tour, downtown activities or maybe a golf course that your attendees prefer. Also, your hotel choice has offered room rates that have been in the range that works for you and your attendees.

Likes and Preferences - so, if all the assumptions and known facts are correct, we can now discuss why you might want to negotiate a multi-year contract. Let's specifically talk about three great reasons.

Preferred Set of Dates - your hotel has what you need in the way of size and sleeping rooms, plus meeting space ideally set up for your group, so it is extremely important to sign a contract when those elements are available to you. If you hesitate or procrastinate, the possibility exists that another convention might sign a contract for dates before, during or slightly after your preferential dates. In this case, some of your preferred space or rooms might not be available and you are out of luck.

Better Room Rates - package deals offer stability to the hotel with guarantees of filled rooms versus lower occupancies and missing budgeted projections. So, to attain those guarantees, hotel sales managers usually offer multi-year contracts with package room rates. The package rates are lower than they would offer by negotiating two separate contracts, one year after another. Hence, your attendees reap the benefits of lower room rates and are pleased with your negotiation skills. If you are booking a corporate piece of business, the lower room rates give your budget a break. Either way you come out on the plus side with better room rates.

Special Contracted Items - however, don't forget to request that a few little perks be included in your contract. Check out the possibility of additional amenities, complementary rooms or suites. The sales manager anticipating a signature for a multi-year contract might be willing to add something to your contract to entice you to sign. You are booking out further and you should get additional benefits in the contract because of your multi-year contract.

Summary - there are definite reasons to negotiate and sign a multi-year contract. After your assumptions and known facts have been agreed on, the rest of the multi-year contract is a "Win - Win" for you and your hotel of choice. The hotel gets guaranteed occupancy and revenue to meet next year's budget plus a better idea of how to plan for future years. You get better room rates, plus the preferred meeting space and dates that you want and need. So, consider a multi-year contract when all the factors point in the right direction.

What is Corporate Hospitality and Why Use It?

What do we mean by Corporate Hospitality?

Corporate Hospitality can be described as any event where an organisation entertains clients, prospective clients or staff at the organisation's expense. This includes spectator sports, participatory events and activities, art or cultural events, and any other events.

The most popular events for entertaining guests are horseracing meetings, football matches, concerts and the major sporting tournaments such as the 6 Nations rugby, Royal Ascot, Test Cricket, The Open, Wimbledon and many more, too many to name here.

Corporate hospitality is usually sold in the form of a package which includes a good quality ticket or seat for the event along with drinks, a meal and sometimes a gift. This is a typical package but it does vary to cater for different events, facilities and budgets. Some packages, for example, would only include a drinks reception or buffet or, particularly at football events, simply the use of a corporate facility with drinks being paid for on the day.

Why use Corporate Hospitality?

The basic idea behind corporate hospitality is to strengthen relationships. Hospitality really targets the individual rather than the company as, for example, a purchasing director being invited by a sales director is of more benefit to the invitee than his/her company.

Hospitality could be seen as a form of bribery - a way to treat the individual in return for their custom but there is often more to it than this. Often these people would only ever speak on the phone or, at least, meet in a work environment. An invite to a corporate hospitality event offers the invitee the benefit of attending the event whilst offering the inviter, or host, the opportunity to get to know his customer.

A hospitality event has a much greater appeal than, say, inviting someone for a meal as it is often a highly prestigious event where tickets are not readily available. The event itself also serves as a focus for conversation - an easy ice breaker.

Justifying the cost

Hospitality packages can often seem highly expensive when compared to the broken down cost of a ticket, a meal and a few drinks but this is not a fair comparison. The hospitality package is an exclusive opportunity and should be likened to other forms of marketing rather than socialising.

Imagine that you have a contract worth several thousand pounds or dollars. Spending a few hundred on a hospitality package is as close as you can get to a guarantee of retaining this contract and, in the longer term, can be far more cost effective than cutting the customers' prices by a few percent.

What is SAP Advanced Planning and Optimization (SAP APO)?

SAP Advanced Planning and Optimization (SAP APO) is the planning component that, together with SAP Event Management (SAP EM) and SAP Inventory Collaboration Hub (SAP ICH), makes up the SAP SCM solution.

The mySAP SCM Solution suite is complete and heuristic, spanning from supply chain planning and execution to collaboration, visibility and performance management.

Structure of the mySAP SCM solution

Supply Chain Planning contains demand planning, (cross-plant) distribution and procurement planning, and detailed production planning down to operation level. These functions can be executed in SAP ERP Central Component (SAP ECC) (previously version: SAP R/3) and/or in SAP SCM in the components SCM DP, SCM SNP and SCM PP/DS in SAP APO.

Supply Chain Execution contains planning execution as part of manufacturing. Materials Management also falls into this area. mySAP ERP Central Component (ECC) or SAP ECC play a central role in these functions.

Supply Chain Visibility is a key area of the mySAP SCM solution and is composed of Supply Chain Event Management (SCEM) and Supply Chain Performance Management (SCPM).

Supply Chain Collaboration is a key area in the mySAP SCM solution that supports collaborative planning and the exchange of documents with suppliers and customers. Collaborative planning can be done in the SAP Inventory Collaboration Hub (SAP ICH) or in SAP APO.

Structure of SAP APO

Synchronize supply with demand in the global chain by balancing push and pull network-planning processes and by handling replenishment and production based on actual demand.

SAP Advanced Planning & Optimization (APO) is consisted of the following components:

• APO DP: Improves the forecast quality and planning accuracy


• APO SNP: Improves visibility across your global chain and lowers inventory


• APO PP/DS: Supports you in creating optimized production plans


• APO gATP: Allows state-of-the-art sales order confirmation planning processes


• APO TP/VS: Optimizes transportation loads and minimizes transportation costs


• APO Alert Monitor: Powerful exception message system integrated in all APO planning modules

APO components

APO DP (Demand Planning):

Calculate and determine future demand to improve demand quality and accuracy. Improved forecast quality by using one tool for power and business user and consolidated demand plan (different regions, countries, departments, for example)

APO SNP (Supply Network Planning):

Calculates quantities to be produced and delivered to the locations to match customer demand and maintain desired service levels. To increased visibility over the overall supply chain and optimized sourcing and capacity utilization. SNP also reduced inventory levels and improved customer service.

APO PP/DS (Production Planning & Detailed Scheduling):

PP (Production Planning) delivers a short term plan that matches overall supply to demand, given available resources and production methodology.

And DS (Detailed Production Scheduling) determines optimal production sequence for execution to meet delivery commitments based on actual constraints on the shop floor.

APO PP/DS determines how, when, and where resources and materials should be deployed to accomplish the production goals and Master planning for materials

APO gATP (global Available-to-Promise):

Online information about the most recent state of plan allows order promising that will execute after the customers' expectation. Meet the demand communicated throughout the supply chain with the best sourcing for the available inventories in the supply chain and to sell only what you can actually sell.

APO TP/VS (Transportation Planning / Vehicle Scheduling):

Plan and optimize shipments for orders (sales orders, purchase orders, returns, and stock transport orders) and deliveries. Reduction of transportation costs via advanced planning algorithm. Utilization of vehicles can be optimized. Clear visibility of vehicles / resources / demands and optimized Shipments in terms of lowest transportation costs

APO VMI (Vendor Managed Inventory):

Allows efficient management of the supply chain by managing customer inventory replenishment with automated collaboration. Reduction of stock-outs, rush orders and supply bottlenecks and improved cooperation to the customers and delivery service level.

APO Alert Monitor:

Powerful exception message system integrated in all SAP APO planning modules. First task of the day for a planner: Check the existing alerts. Drill-down from the alert monitor to the application to solve the issue, for example.

Become a Top Wedding Planner - What it Takes to Be a Celebrity Wedding Planner

If you're a potential or new wedding planner, you may be dreaming of planning elaborate, high-end weddings and weddings for famous entertainers, similar to the events you read about in lifestyle and celebrity magazines. While you can have a goal of being a wedding planner for the rich and famous, and becoming famous yourself, you need to start by planning weddings in your own area that have realistic budgets. Famous wedding planners and event designers started this way. They learned and perfected their skills before they approached, or were approached by, high-end clients.

For example, Preston Bailey, event designer to celebrities such as the Donald Trump, Ivanka Trump, Oprah and Joan Rivers, wrote in his book, "Preston Bailey's Design for Entertaining: Inspiration for Creating the Party of Your Dreams", that he started out being involved in fashion, as a model. He then realized his passion for arranging flowers and became a floral designer. He started using flowers as items of decor to enhance design concepts and soon clients began asking him to design their special events. He did a lot of studying on his own; reading books on design, horticulture, art history and architecture.

David Tutera, an event producer who has planned events for Jennifer Lopez, Sir Elton John, and the Prince of Wales, and is the star of his own show, "My Fair Wedding", wrote in his book, "A Passion for Parties: Your Guide to Elegant Entertaining", that he had actually dreamed of being a movie star. To make some money, he started a singing telegram company, delivering songs while wearing a chicken or gorilla suit. He branched out into balloon bouquets and was asked to decorate a party. To do it justice, he had his grandfather, who owned a successful florist shop, teach him floral design and purchasing. His business eventually grew to party planning then event design and production.

As you can see, both men first created a business doing something they loved, then they did a lot of hard work before they got the clients, money and fame that they have today. You want to do the same thing. You want to take the time to get experience successfully creating weddings on a budget, coordinating with vendors, managing a staff, and handling the emergencies that come up on a wedding day, before you plan an elaborate wedding. You also need to create your network of high-quality vendors so you are confident that you have a team that you can work with successfully.

A Business Speakers Bureau Helps Minimize Event Planning by Performing Some of the Work

Have you ever considered using a business speakers bureau to ease the work required for finding the best speakers for your business conference or other event? If the answer is no, then here is some information that can help you with future event planning. The sole purpose of a business speaker's bureau is to assist in finding speakers that will add benefit to your event. Through experience, they know where to find speakers and how to select the best suited ones. Finding reliable people to speak on behalf of your company is a big job. You must find qualified people, then view them in action, interview them, negotiate pricing, and book them for the event. This cuts into the rest of planning. Not to mention you could be very disappointed if the appropriate time is not taken for selection and booking. Bureaus take over most of this work for you and allow you to use your time more wisely and sparingly for other planning tasks.

Steps Taken By Bureaus to Find Great Business Speakers

A bureau can be your research partner for a big event. They have the ability to find speakers that match in personality, entertainment requirements, and content knowledge. Their main goal is to present the most fitting business speakers for your budget. Bureaus have a very large speaker roster that included local, professional, and celebrity speakers. They only add business speakers to this roster if they have shown they speak well and are truly experts on their topic. Bureaus do many things to ensure they find the right people for your business event. First, you will sit down and go over the specific objectives of the occasion. This information is used to determine the type of speaker needed for the event. Next, speakers are selected from their roster based upon topic and budget needs. Videos and other information will be sent over for evaluation. You will tell them which ones catch your eye and seem fitting. Finally, they will check their availability and set up interviewing if needed. Once you have made the final speaker selections, the bureau books them, takes care of finances, and makes the travel arrangements. Very little work is required on your end as opposed to doing it yourself. The fees are included in the speaker fee and no other charges apply.

Do Not Rule Out a Motivational Speaker for Business Events

Bureaus deal with all types of speakers. While business experts may seem like the only option for a business event, a motivational speaker can be very beneficial as well. These speakers can still be experts on specific business topics and motivate consumers, investors, or employees to strive for a certain goal. Many companies choose to use a motivational speaker because they can make even the most uninviting topic be more appealing to the audience. If you are discussing sales figures, product specifications, or other topics that may not be eye catching but important, a motivating speaker can liven up the presentation and keep people interested. This can be very beneficial when you are trying to get the audience to invest, purchase, or perform some other action.

Fairy Whimsy Party Ideas for Your Daughter's Magical Birthday

Every girl dreams to become a princess, who lives in a fairyland, among the butterflies, ladybugs, bumblebees, and lots of beautiful flowers. Let your daughter's imagination come true on her upcoming birthday by organizing a Fairy Theme party for her. This classic theme will fascinate your little princess as well as the other aspiring fairies. Give them a royal treatment and let them be in their imaginary world on this special day of your daughter. Here are some of the wonderful Fairy Whimsy Party Ideas that will help you to add flare, magic and fantasy to your daughter's party.

The invitations: Take a light purple cardstock and fold it midway. Decorate the upper side's border with pink sequins and glitters. Print a fairy whimsy scene and paste it inside the border leaving some space for the writing a message. You can write some magical words such as 'Join me at my fairyland to celebrate my birthday'. On the inner side, write your party details. You can also choose the readymade cards available with many birthday party stores. These cards are affordable, attractive and an excellent choice for busy mums. Ask the kids to dress up as fairies so that they can also fulfill their imagination along with your daughter.

Decoration:

• To convert the party venue into a fairyland, decorate the ceiling with Tulle, flowers and flower lights and tell them that they are under the magic canopy.


• At the entrance, set up an arch and decorate it with purple and pink tulle and artificial flower. Place a signboard at its center saying "welcome to the fairyland'.


• Give each girl a set of wings and a wand when they arrive. This will help to enhance their party mood.


• Choose pink, white, and lavender colors to decorate the party area. Hang streamers, wind chimes, and paper cutouts of stars from the ceiling.


• Fill a large glass bowl with glitters and glass beads to make it a centerpiece.


• Rent or buy a bubble making machine and keep it turned on the party area. This will be a magical addition to your party.


• Use themed party supplies such as paper plates, cups, napkins, foil balloons, blowouts, etc. to enhance your decor.

Part games:

For your fairy theme Birthday Party, you can have a butterfly game. Hide some plastic butterflies around the party area before the guests arrive. During the play time, ask the girls to find out the hidden flies and reward the one who find the maximum.

• Take some white construction paper and cut them out in the shape of large butterflies. Ask the fairies to decorate them.


• You can have a story telling session with the kids. Hire a story teller or you become the fairy mother. A quiz round will also be an educational as well as engaging activity.

Party favors:

The fairy headbands, wings, headbands, jewelry, fairy themes pencil boxes, story books, etc. are some of the best party favors that will go well with the theme. You can also gift them fairy costumes and wands.

A properly planned fairy themed party will be the best way to make your daughter feel special. Make sure you do not miss out anything that can spoil the fun.

Keep Your Event Participants Engaged Until Event Day

Collecting and managing your event participant data is only half the battle. The key to hosting a great event is to keep your participants' excitement level rising steadily from date of registration to the day they show up to your event. If event registration opens 3, 4, or 5 months prior to the event date, expect that some registrants may get preoccupied at the office or with daily life and lose that feeling of exhilaration they experienced when signing up for the event. Keeping in contact with your participants on a regular basis will build anticipation and ensure they show up to the event ready to have a great time.

You should shop around for a fully automated event management system that enables you to schedule your follow-up emails to be sent out automatically on the date you choose with the custom content you want to deliver. Some ideas for follow-up email content could be:

* Inviting the registrant to visit your event website for more event information.
* Announcements of new event merchandise for sale with a link to your online registration form for purchase.
* Training tips
* Testimonials from last year's event participants
* Results or video from last year's event
* Reminders of where and when to pick up your race packet
* A final email including last minute updates to the event schedule and weather forecast.

These are only a few examples of email content that has worked well for event organisers I have worked with at The Active Network. Our best advice would be to get creative!

Catering Services for Businesses

The corporate world is a chaotic place to be in. There are many things occurring left and right. Business meetings along with other corporate events take place one after the other, leaving hardly any room to breathe in. Because everything happens fast in the corporate setting, organizing successful business events may require plenty of energy in as little time as possible.

Unlike social events, business functions may require the best catering services. Business occasions are attended by important people such as shareholders, clients, suppliers and other executives. Planning and managing a company event can make or break your company's future. You want to astonish all these important people. You want them to feel at home and to develop a relationship with all these professionals in your company and in your business. Having a rewarding event may improve your company's image. Successful events gain your clients and suppliers' confidence in your company making them want to invest in a relationship with you. Important business functions are attended by important people in the business industry. Because of this, it is crucial that you give your customers and your suppliers your utmost attention and care. That's why corporate catering services may be of great help in arranging corporate events.

Whether a small-group or a big-group is expected to attend your company's event, choosing business catering services will make planning, organizing, and implementing your company event a piece of cake. With corporate catering, you are sure to receive high-quality meals and services for your clients and suppliers. Catering companies who provide corporate catering services help you coordinate your corporate event in the best interest of your clients. They know what you want. They also know what your clients and suppliers need. Caterers with corporate accounts make it their business to take care of your company by taking care of your clients.

Corporate catering is a good way to provide your clients with a myriad of food selection during company events. They guarantee that you and your clients will love their meal options. The caterers set up their menu in a way that will make getting food and drinks easy for you and your clients. Catering for businesses is both functional and conventional, making your business event as smooth sailing as possible. Your clients' opinion about your company will be affected by the kind of corporate catering services they were provided with. So you only want nothing but the best in this regard.

Corporate catering works well for in-house meetings, staff acknowledgement events, training seminars, holiday celebrations, and company anniversary celebrations. Catering also works well for evening events such as company annual party, fundraising events, or shareholders' meeting. In organizing such events, it is very important that you hire a corporate caterer who knows very well how to manage such events. Hiring a corporate caterer who has made a name in the corporate catering business is the best choice to help you manage your business event. A caterer that has relevant experience in catering for the corporate world will be most suitable for the job.

Role of Game-Based Training in the Corporate World

According to industry experts, games are reshaping the core formulae of business ethics. Games are no longer just a kid's domain of play but are increasingly being used in corporate organizations to train their employees. Indeed in USA alone, a good number of people like playing video games more than watching movies. Games have the tremendous potential to create a highly skilled and problem solving workforce more than ever before.

John and Mitchell Wade in their book "Got Game: How the Gamer Generation is Reshaping Business Forever" has given an in-depth analysis on the growing significance of gaming in the working field. After conducting hundreds of surveys and interviews, Beck and Wade have concluded that gamers appear to be more committed and team-oriented than most of their predecessors.

Appreciating the importance of gaming, many companies are now developing a series of e-learning games to better train their employees. The main aim is to make the trainees learn by going through the usage of various kinds of fun-filled, highly interactive games. For example, you have created a game to train the sales team of your company. Let's see how through applying such games you can best educate and motivate the sales professionals to achieve outstanding results.

Gaining Attention

Games act as a strong medium of drawing the attention of the workers towards a specific project. However, you have to really work hard in making the games highly compelling and enjoyable for the workers to really find it interesting to even considering trying it out at all.

Using an Example

Create a hypothetical situation such as selling a product to a client. For example, divide the trainees into two groups - one will represent the sales team while the others can play the role of the clients. You will tell the sales professionals to convince the group acting as clients to buy their products. It will be fun to watch how the sales team persuades the clients to finally purchase the products.

Encouraging Employees to Create New Games

Always make it a point to engage your employees to come up with their own versions of gaming. Of course, the games developed must have a connection with the business goal that is, to increase sales and ROI.

Games are much more learner-centric. They provide a greater opportunity of interactivity and team work through the exchange of thoughts and ideas while solving a puzzle or doing role play. Interactive games also lead to development of one's personality and self-confidence. A game helps you to exploit the next achievable state of expertise. It often lets you reach certain states or goals that may improve your far sightedness in dealing with different business situations in the real world.

Hire Event Planners For Successful Corporate Events

New York is one of the most important destinations in the world and home to world trade and commerce. Being the base for several corporate giants; meetings, business parties, product launches, fashion shows, promotional events and trade shows are a constant part of the New York culture.

Corporate events can be of varied nature ranging from some informal private affair to a formal gathering or from a large scale event to a small time affair. New York offers several event spaces to organize corporate events. These event spaces provide with all the basic amenities and highly experienced staffs to make it a successful event. The success of it has an important affect on the future business prospects of any firm. These events provide the perfect platform to create good market word and meet the key players in the industry and are a great way to celebrate success, and encourage team building among workers.

Organizing an event requires a lot of planning and management starting at least weeks in advance if not months. Every single little detail has to be taken care of to make it a big success. Any lousiness on your part may lead to a bad name for you and your organization. A good manager may not necessarily be a good organizer and hence it is important that you have the right people for the right tasks. Planning for a corporate event involves a lot of stress, time and frustration. Hiring the services of some New York corporate event planner is the best way to ensure a successful corporate event that would be remembered by all.

There are several event planners throughout the New York City offering to look after the organizing of corporate events. These firms employ the services of some highly trained and experienced professionals who are well adept to look into the minute of details associated with corporate event planning. Budget is the biggest constraint in organizing any official event. These professionals have contacts with decorators, tent providers, venue managers, entertainment, catering and local vendors and are able to get a good deal ensuring the event to be organized within the set budget.

Hiring the services of corporate event planners involves fee but it is more than compensated by the end result. They also relieve you of all the tensions and frustration and ensure that the event is a huge success.

Make Your Next Fund Raising Event a Success

Planning a successful fundraiser takes time, and careful consideration. Whether you are raising money for a local charity, soliciting donations for a community recreation center or rallying support for a political candidate, too much rests on the success of your event to let any aspect of the planning go unscrutinized. That includes the venue you choose to host your event.

Timing

For most fundraisers, time can be an enemy, and it is important to begin planning well in advance of the event itself. Giving yourself a minimum of six months planning time will allow you to check and double-check all aspects of your agenda. If there are conflicts, budgetary issues or flaws in your program, the extra time will give you the opportunity to make any necessary adjustments. Early planning will also give you ample opportunity to secure the venue you want, on the date you desire. Remember, fund raising events tend to come in clusters, and you may have other organizations looking to book the venue you want on, or around, the date you have set for your fundraiser. Giving yourself extra time is giving yourself extra flexibility.

Budget

The first consideration in planning any fundraiser is the budget. Regardless of the purpose of the event, your budget will lay the groundwork for many of the decisions to come. Knowing your budgetary restrictions will help you determine how many guests to invite, the location for your event and what refreshments and entertainment you will be providing. Setting your spending limits early will also help to ensure that you don't go over budget, and find yourself facing a financial shortfall before the fund raising can even begin.

Choosing an Event Space

Once you have set your budget, and have finalized your guest list, it will be time to look for an appropriate venue in which to hold your event. Choosing the right event space is vital to a successful fundraiser. The first consideration is location. The venue you choose should be centrally located to all of your guests. It should be easy to locate, and should provide ample parking for everyone who will be attending your fundraiser.

The next consideration is the hall itself. Most event centers can offer a choice of rooms to suit both the size and purpose of your gathering. You will want to choose an event space that can comfortably accommodate all of your guests, and that can be modified to create an attractive and inviting atmosphere. Making your guests feel welcome and comfortable is a priority, so choose the event space carefully. Visit the venues you are considering in person, and take a short tour of the premises. Check to see that they offer easy access for your guests, adequate parking, suitable handicap facilities and well maintained restrooms. A short tour of the event space will also give you a chance to talk to the management, ask about their experience and solicit any suggestions they have for making your fundraiser the success you desire. An event coordinator's professional expertise can help you to avoid any pitfalls in the planning of your fundraiser.

As you tour the event facilities, you may want to inquire about available staff for your event. While most of the fundraiser's staff will come from volunteers, and from members of your own organization, you will need some on-site staff to handle various venue specific functions. You will want to ask the events coordinator, or the venue's management, about the availability of security personnel. You will also want to find out if the venue offers valet parking, and if they supply the necessary employees as part of the total rental agreement. While you will be handling much of the staffing at your event through volunteers, some things are best left to the venue's on-site professionals.

Once you have chosen the event space for your fundraiser, it is time to think about d矇cor. In your consultation with the venue's management, be sure to ask what they can provide in the way of furnishings and decorations that can be used to suitably dress the event space for a gala evening. The venue should be able to provide all of the necessary furnishings, including chairs, tables and podiums, as well as wall decorations and potted plants to liven up the room. They should also be able to provide any audio/visual equipment needed for speeches and presentations throughout the evening.

With the venue secured, and the decorations and staff in place, your fundraiser is well on the way to success. Attention to detail is the secret to any successful event, and by choosing the perfect entertainment space for your fundraiser, you have laid the foundation for a memorable, and profitable, evening.

Determining What Types Of Award Plaques To Give And When

Trophies are for singular achievements; medals are for academic and athletic successes and award plaques? Winners will always appreciate any award bestowed on them, but the reason for giving is as important as the actual award itself, so it is recommended that you know exactly when to give out award plaques to achieve the intended effect.

Since time immemorial, award plaques have been given for various reasons, among them for academic, athletic and corporate events, commemoration of significant achievements like heroism during a war, or an association with important places and people, like blue plaques which serve as a historical marker. Often instead of ribbons and trophies, award plaques are given because of their portability and ability to be displayed easily on any desk or shelf at home or in the office. They also make for more lasting reminders of personal successes and serve as an inspiration to achieve more.

When thinking of award plaques to give out, it is important to come up with something that will stand out. Traditional and timeless they may be but it is also a source of pride for the recipient and as such, they need to be really worth displaying and showing off. These days, colored plaques are all the rage with companies who want to honor their best employees' achievements at work. These types of wooden plaques are meticulously laminated with color plates and polished to create the illusion of solid wood. Also, these plaques are affordable because the laminated colored plates are also less expensive than most, due to its quality manufacturing and eco-friendly properties. Also popular for corporate awards are gloss black plaques that are overlaid with brushed silver engraving plates often made sleeker with laser engraving.

Those who are giving out plaques in a more formal setting can choose glass plaques which can be easily molded into any size, shape or form for distinctiveness and quality and usually made with sandblasting methods. To ensure long-lasting durability, these plaques are set on granite or glass bases. These types of plaques are best given during events to honor significant business achievements in sales or for events that honor significant achievements in the field of arts.

The most common type of award plaques are made of solid wood and are preferred mostly for its simple and elegant look. A variation of this type would be the laminated wood plaques, with the only difference being laminated wood plaques are made from 100% quality wood with very minimal designs and styling. This is also the reason why you see many of these plaques being given out during academic events, events honoring lifetime achievements and mostly private functions.

For the ultimate boss, there are the executive award plaques, which are usually a combination of materials like glass, wood and granite. They are also a bit pricier than the usual award plaques, with a more vibrant and elegant styling. These plaques are appropriately given during corporate events that celebrate a company milestone or any other significant industry success.

And last but not the least, there's the perpetual awards plaques that are appropriately given to those with continuous achievements yearly like Employee of the Month or Sales Person of the Month. These awards are usually hung in lobbies or reception areas as well as within the department to recognize consistent achievers. They can be customized with a picture of the awardees which usually serve as the best inspiration since they will want to keep seeing their pictures on the wall.

Above anything else, award plaques are made to honor people and the work they have done that contributed greatly to the organization or team. They need to be made to last and make for lasting memories. The great thing is that they can now be ordered online, designed specifically according to your needs and delivered in a considerable amount of time. You can even get discounts the more plaques you order and get them all engraved for free. Now you have practically no excuse not to be able to give the best award plaques at the best time.

How to Use Record Keeping As a Marketing Tool for Events?

Marketing an event well is as important as to create and manage it properly. If you cannot create awareness and spread the word out about your event, then be prepared to face lesser turnout at your event, despite the hard endeavors you have put in.

Event marketers are trying hard to come out with new ways to uphold their events. There are numerous ways to promote and create the buzz for your event, but do you know that record keeping can also help in intensifying your marketing endeavors. Proper record keeping is integral part of a successful event, and the captured information is vital to analyze the event's success and also as an effective marketing tool. Some tips are discussed below to help in effective record-keeping:

Tracking the Ticket Sales

There are numerous software available in the market that can track who the ticket was sold to, how they came to know about the event, payment method, and their feedback. Recording and reporting all these vital information would enrich the attendee data.

Using Every Sales Point to Market Your Event

Every Sales point, like the event ticketing website, can be used as an effective platform for marketing and feedback purpose. Engage your audience by asking interesting questions which would also ensure flow of valuable data. This would help to widen the reach and tailor the current and future events.

Marketing Right Through and After the Event

During the event, organizers or volunteers can walk through the crowd and engage in conversation about the event, their preferences and more. This research would be vital to know the overall outcome and also help in future planning. You should also follow-up with the ticket holder after the event and engage him for feedback, or even offer him a surprise gift. This would help in positive feedback about the event.

Valuable Financial Records

Records such as attendee numbers, sales report, payment, vendor payments, and media mentions act as a vital tool for developing an event, and are also used to shape future events, as well as getting future funds. Every person who is planning to attend, or attends an event is important. Any opportunity to engage in conversation should not be missed.

Record keeping is important in capturing valuable data for analysis of event health and future planning. Modern productivity tools and calendaring features takes off the load of manual data entry and record keeping.

Corporate Event Economics - Gear Up For Business Events in a Down Market

To event or not to event in a down market, that is the question on the minds of many corporate executives. Is it better to invest $500,000 in a meeting that could generate $2M in sales or ditch it in a fit of cautionary economizing? Corporate event planners are finding that small and large businesses alike are canceling or postponing events in reaction to a downturn in the economy. Actions speak louder than words and in a tough economy, a canceled event is the perceptual equivalent of a hole in a sinking ship.

Meetings, conferences, seminars and events are a critical part of a business communication strategy. Events say, "We are doing business, and we are confident in our business position." When reviewing your marketing budget, look at events as investments, not expenditures. Don't give events the boot, tighten your belt and give them the squeeze. Don't bail on your events; plan them smarter.

How can you make your events smarter? First, plan them strategically. Events are tools. They are planned in response to a need for face-to-face communication. Why are you having the event? What do you expect from the event? Who is coming to the event? Research these factors extensively. Then use the data to determine how to deliver the richest amount of content to the targeted audience in the shortest amount of time.

Next, plan them professionally. Does your staff have the time, skills and resources needed to effectively plan implement and staff an event, while continuing to do their own jobs? Event planners do. They manage thousands of logistical details and provide resources for professional contract negotiation, content development, speakers and specialized vendors. In addition, event planners know the elements that are essential to a successful event. We tell our clients that the success of their conference will be based on the content, not on the chicken.

Here are some belt-tighteners for anyone planning an event, meeting or conference:

1. Do your research first. The greatest cost saver for any event is knowledge.


2. Hire professionals. Hotel, entertainment, food/beverage and travel/transportation contracts are complex, high-ticket items. Mistakes can be costly. The fee for an event planner or other professional to negotiate on your behalf is cost effective. Professionals have the resources and often have established relationships with vendors they know and trust. They are familiar with standard hotel, venue, and food and beverage contracts and can help you negotiate.


3. Hire professional speakers. Professional speakers or trainers make sure the message of the event is delivered. If your company doesn't have a great speaker to deliver meeting content, hire one. If your material is industry specific, hire a presentation expert.


4. Don't be afraid to reveal your budget. Create a realistic budget for your event. Event professionals and vendors expect to work within a budget.


5. Tighten up presentations and shorten the length of the conference. If your four-day conference for 100 people costs an average of $450/day/person for hotel room, meeting space and materials, food and beverage and audio/visual equipment, you could save up to $45,000 simply by eliminating one day.


6. Plan ahead. Time is a valuable cost cutter. You can shop for a less expensive printer; avoid rush charges for goods and services, and save money by booking travel arrangements in advance. A Silicon Valley high tech company spent $12,000 in copy charges at the conference site because presentations were not completed by the deadlines.


7. Evaluate costs before canceling current events. Hotel and catering contracts have strict cancellation policies. Canceling an event three to six months out can cost as much as it would to actually have the event. Two years ago, a client wanted to pull the plug on a high-tech partners conference we had spent months planning. With just 45 days until the event, it would have cost $80,000 to cancel it and $90,000 to have it. We convinced him to go ahead with it, and he signed a lucrative contract at the conference.


8. Understand your negotiating power. Understand your negotiating power before you sign any contracts. Flexibility of dates, addition of sleeping rooms, food and beverage commitments and use of other hotel services bring to a venue, the greater the negotiating power you have. Flex your negotiating power by combining other event efforts within the company.


9. Reduce "no-shows" and watch guarantees. Hotels routinely charge for rooms not used and not cancelled, and they have a prorated charge for potential business lost on food and beverage. Try telemarketing and e-marketing to insure that attendees keep your event in mind and to minimize "no-shows". Some "no-shows" are inevitable, so pay attention to meal guarantees, hotel room counts, and transportation needs when negotiating contracts.


10. Consider back-end expenses. Awkward signage, demo equipment, heavy meeting materials and cumbersome guest gifts all have to be shipped home. These costs can add up.

To event or not to event? The answer is "To event". In a world of e-mail and e-commerce, events are the real deal. They are an experience. They can stimulate confidence, promote networking, increase sales and encourage problem solving in a face-to-face format. So pull it in a notch or kick it down a peg but don't cancel your event. Events say, "We are here to stay.

Planning a Corporate Dinner

The success of your corporate dinner depends on a number of things, but good planning is an important first step. A corporate dinner is so much more than an evening out as the success of the night can affect your business. New relationships can be forged between you and potential clients, large accounts can be won and even important business decisions can be solidified in this more relaxed environment. When planning your corporate dinner you need to think about the personalities of those attending and what type of evening they may enjoy. You also need to plan around the type of occasion you have in mind, for example, is it going to be a formal black tie gathering or is it a casual fun evening with a main goal of getting everyone to unwind. Once you have identified these main aspects of the evening you can then begin to plan the details, such as catering, entertainment, expected attire and whether there will be any presentations, such as speeches, audio visual production or even games.

Venue

Choosing and booking your venue will be the first thing you will need to do, if you don't have a space at your office. You will need to consider how many guests will be in attendance, so choose a venue that will accommodate everyone, and make sure once you have found the right place book early. Check that the venue has catering available and the right facilities for your particular event. You may need to choose a venue with a stage for presentations or for your entertainment to set up. Make sure the bathroom facilities are adequate and that the hire of the venue is within your companies budget.

Attire

Once you have decided on whether your evening will be a formal occasion or a more casual get together you can decide on the dress standard for the evening. Black tie always makes for a good evening, particularly if you need to create a sense of occasion, and people like to dress up for a night out. You may decide to have a themed night, where people come in costume, or more casual attire may be appropriate.

Entertainment

As well as keeping within the tone of the evening, choose entertainment that you know will appeal to most people. If your guest list is more on the conservative side then hiring a rock band may not go down so well. Perhaps a jazz band may be more appropriate. There are lots of different musical groups available for hire or you could stick with a DJ. It also might not be the type of event where a band is needed and you only are required to organise background music.

Equipment

You will have to make sure there are enough tables, chairs and tableware, although hopefully catering will have this under control, but you may also need to organise a microphone, sound system, audio visual equipment and a projection screen. You can hire this type of equipment from an audio visual production company.

Advantages of Corporate Team Building

If you look at companies making excellent profits, you can always find a good, hardworking and dedicated team behind all the success. The advantages of team building events are so many that almost all corporations have incorporated team building strategies and schedules to their standard training curriculum. Almost all advantages of corporate team building are noticed on a long term basis. Corporate team building ensures a contented workforce devoted to the company.

Corporate team building is beneficial to all sorts of companies, small, medium or large. In small scale companies, workers often have to perform more than one task; therefore the training and building of teams attains more importance. In large scale companies, individuals cannot achieve the best results, unless they are incorporated in a good team and work environment. Corporate team building minimizes the expenses and time consumption of recruiting and training new staff.

Team building always ensures increased productivity, competence and increased profit. The advantages of corporate term building include improved morality and leadership skills, ability to tackle barriers, clearly defined objectives and goals, and better understanding of processes and procedures. The newly achieved team spirit will not allow the team to be let down. The team members will fight obstacles and challenges as one unit.

All corporate team building events are great entertainment providers, just as family vacations or pleasure trips. These events provide realistic experiences that empower members to contribute to common goals. Corporate team building events also provide a great opportunity for team members to know each other and establish effective working relationships.

These team building practices can also improve a member?s personal life as he has an improved ability to think and adjust to surroundings. Enhanced communication skills, concentration, decision making, stress minimization and self confidence give a great sense of well being to all team members.

An effective corporate team building ensures more support to the company and project management efforts, better communication, faster and better conflict resolution, a sense of purpose and personal job satisfaction.

Event Planning Courses: Then and Now

Event management has changed a lot in the past 100 years. It has only fairly recently come to be recognized as a distinct profession requiring specialized training, i.e., event planning courses.

There were no event planner courses per se in the past. This is an emerging profession, one whose market share is said to be steadily growing.

In spite of the obvious challenges posed by the ongoing financial downturn, the outlook is still positive for graduates of event management courses.

Many of the events for which we now habitually turn to graduates of event planning courses - especially weddings - were once organized on a less formal basis, often for free, by family members.

If your event planner courses include a historical component, they may teach that Prince Charles and Lady Di are said to have transformed the wedding planning industry, and as a result, the event management industry as a whole, by increasing our expectations.

Perhaps all graduates of event planning courses owe a debt to this short-lived but unforgettable union...

Ever since the international TV broadcast of this fairy tale wedding, demand for the kind of services now regularly provided by graduates of event planning courses is said to have grown exponentially.

Quite simply, today's consumers expect more from their events. They expect weddings to look like the ones featured in magazines. They expect brides to look like celebs. To respond to the demand, community colleges around the world have introduced event planner courses.

Now, the graduates of these event planning courses find themselves co-ordinating a wide variety of events, not just weddings.

Event planning courses prepare students to organize:

• corporate events


• academic events


• fundraising events


• virtual events


• children's birthday parties


• baby showers


• bridal showers


• stag and doe parties


• etc.

Today's event planners have a variety of considerations that wouldn't have been an issue in the past. Sustainability, for instance, is a fairly recent addition to event planner courses.

Graduates of event planner courses may find themselves purchasing carbon offset credits for a children's birthday party, arranging for a compost bucket to be provided at a green technology expo, or arranging virtual events so that attendees don't need to engage in emissions-heavy air or car travel. As you can see, modern event management demands flexibility and creativity - a responsiveness to the issues of the day.

And event organizers in the past obviously did not have to contend with social media. Now, a strong social media strategy is a core requirement for almost any project embarked upon by a graduate of event planning courses. Some industry experts credit social media with revolutionizing the industry. First there was Prince Charles and Lady Di, then there was the new Twitter platform...

One wonders what the next thirty or forty years hold for this industry. What will be the talk of event planning courses in 2052?

Entertainment Ideas For Events and Corporate Dinners - Ideas To Consider for After Dinner

Specialist corporate dinner entertainment event organisers should be able to appreciate how important it is to you that your evening entertainment event runs smoothly and with maximum attention to detail. They should included some suggestions for event-types that you may want to consider. Remember, consider your guests. What suits one type of guest may not suit another type of guest.

To make your awards dinner or evening event a success, you need good quality and effective solutions. Your guests will probably be giving up their evenings to attend your event, so be sure to make sure it's a success and get the feedback you deserve. You may be a corporate client who is looking for a slick, professionally well managed evening event. If you are not sure which corporate entertainment ideas are right for your evening then do the research or contact a professional event team organiser and explore your options. And if your guests are of mixed ages and different interests you should find an organisation that is very experienced and has some great entertainment that appeals to all types of people.

If you are rewarding your team, showing appreciation to your most valued clients or planning the perfect Christmas party it should always be a professionally put-together evening that wows your guests to the last.

After dinner entertainment ideas for events - here are some novel ideas for you to explore if you are considering a celebration event:

Interactive Entertainment:

Wii Olympics And Wii Wimbledon

More and more people are exploring this option - you could even do it at home for free, or in your own workplace. This event can be used in many different scenarios from indoor team building to after dinner fun at corporate dinners and evening event ideas.

Xbox Kinect Olympic Games Night

This brings a new dimension to evening entertainment ideas, this brand new team event will amaze your guests as you become the controller in what is always a very energetic activity!

Quiz Nights

Always a great choice to fill in the gaps between meals. A corporate quiz is always fully interactive with the use of wireless answering gadgets and giant projector screens.

Game Shows

Audience participation is what this should be all about, if you want some light hearted entertainment to keep your guests amused throughout and after dinner then this is a cracking idea!

F1 Simulator

Simulators can be hired from professional events organisers and will always get your guests' hearts racing!

Fun Casino Hire

The perfect addition to any corporate dinner, product launch or client entertainment when looking for something a little more sophisticated.

Giant Pub Games

Bring the fun and laughter to your after dinner spare time by using a giant indoor pub style games. Perfect for any team based activity after or before dinner.

Scalextric Grand Prix Evenings

The children's toy that you never grow out of. Great for breaking the ice and adding some competition to your evening.

Virtual Horse Race Evenings

This is very popular these days - you don't need to go to the races - and you don't even need to gamble if you're using funny-money!

Arcade Games

If you need something to keep people entertained throughout the evening whilst the disco is playing on till the early hours then why not consider full size arcade games. Many companies now offer the chance to hire an entire suite of these machines for you to play with.

Risk Management for Event Planners

Legal rulings involving event planners and/or their companies should instill in those working in the industry that there is nothing they cannot be held accountable for when it comes to event planning. It is angering that people do not seem to want to take responsibility for their actions, personally or in business. Therefore, the onus in some instances has been moved to the event planner and his/her company. The law has not discriminated. It has targeted event planners who are sole-proprietors and entrepreneurs hoping to make it big to the large corporations that have been successful in the business for years.

It is imperative that event planners stay up to date on the laws of their business as well as the proceedings and outcome of any legal actions and rulings that may affect the industry. Clients may not be aware of rules and regulations that could influence the outcome of their event. Consequently, it is the responsibility of the event planner to advise their customers accordingly. These legalities need not deter a planner from doing a job. In fact, if knowledgeable about the rules and regulations, an event planner and their company can be more valuable through being prepared for any possible issues that may arise at the events they preside over.

The responsibility at an event usually rests on the shoulders of the person or company that has been hired to orchestrate the planning and bringing all of the areas together. Everyone from the stakeholder or host, the venue, the caterer and anyone else involved will go to the event planner for answers when something goes awry.

How do event planners protect themselves from the risks of the business? Due diligence on all aspects of an event will pay off in the long run. Every event is different and it is important to determine all of the risks possible. This should include everything from the thought that someone might jump into a pool from a second floor balcony right down to suppliers and even the weather. Utilize the 30/70 rule that is commonly used in the industry to determine the level of risk for possible problem areas.

Learn as much as you can about the stakeholders, the event itself and anyone else who may be involved. Hire other companies to look after specific areas. When hiring sub-contractors request and get a copy of their liability insurance. Reputable companies are more than willing to produce their insurance documents.

Consider having a sound and trustworthy law firm on retainer. Your reputation and business depends on it. There may never be a need to use a law firm for anything other than doing your corporate documents, but they are there to advise you in other matters as needed.

Make an appointment with your insurance broker to review your own business insurance policy. Take the time to make adjustments to cover any and all possibilities that might happen while planning and coordinating an event.

This all sounds scary and will make those thinking of going into the business of event planning think twice as to whether this is the career path to take. If this is the case, that is a good thing. The laws and legal rulings from court cases are in place to protect everyone and can be used to the advantage of a new company just by being aware of them. Starting any new business with the knowledge of all of the possible risk factors combined with the support of a supportive professional team as advisors will provide some of the stepping-stones to succeeding as an event planner and manager.

How to Avoid a Corporate Event Nightmare

It's like the old dream where you're delivering a speech to a packed house - and suddenly realize that you're standing there with your trousers around your ankles. You've planned the perfect company dinner - and the caterer got the date wrong. Your keynote speaker didn't show up because his travel tickets were never confirmed. And the napkins at the tables don't match the tableskirts. Are your guests going to think 'Oh, their corporate event planners let them down? Of course not! When you plan a large scale corporate event, your company's reputation is on the line. Why would you leave that in unskilled hands?

The most successful corporate events are those that are well-planned and flawlessly executed. If your company is hosting a customer appreciation event, a team building day or any other type of corporate event, it pays to hire the best corporate event planner you can find to take care of all the details. But how do you choose the best event planners? Here's a checklist of criteria to help you narrow down your choices to those corporate event organisers that will deliver an event that your customers and employees will enjoy.

1. If you're new to planning corporate events, ask around among your business colleagues for recommendations. If you attend a grand opening or company dinner that impresses you as well-planned and well-organized, make a note of whether an event planner was used, and which one it was. Excellence has a way of being noted, and word of mouth is the best recommendation you can find.

2. When you interview a corporate event planner, pay as much attention to the questions that they ask as to the answers that they give. A professional will ask questions designed to gauge exactly what YOU want to accomplish with your event so that they can translate your vision into the spectacular event that you have in mind.

3. Ask the right questions to get the information you need to know. How often do they handle events similar to yours? What other corporate events has the firm planned lately? Do they have experience with the type of event that you want to run? How will they approach your goals for this event?

4. Always ask for references. A professional event planner will be happy to provide you with the names of other clients that you can contact. Just as importantly, they can provide a list of vendors with whom they've worked and have relationships. As in any other business, successful event planning is based on who you know as much as it is on what you know. An expert corporate event planner will have worked extensively with vendors and services in your area. They'll know which companies are reliable and which to avoid.

No matter what the event you're planning, it makes sense to turn to a knowledgeable professional for help with the details. A professional corporate event planner can make running your event painless - so that you can relax and enjoy the evening as much as your guests.

Fundraising Efforts Add Value to Church Event Management

There is no greater cause in the world than the cause of humanity. To be able to do that or simply pray for that, renders ample peace of mind and brings happiness that we keep looking for, in our everyday busy lives. Attending a church or an event organized by the same gives you that opportunity. However, it may not always happen so that a fundraiser is being organized alongside a church event, though inclusion of one definitely adds a different dimension to it. So, it is very important to include a social cause driven fundraiser while organizing a church event.

Church event management by itself is an extensive task. A lot of groundwork in terms of involving paperwork is needed to promote the main event, expand membership by facilitating easy registrations, and ensure maximum participation in order to rope in more sponsors or donors. When this entire suite of action is added to another associated fundraiser management then it becomes quite a lot to take on at once for an organizer to get them all done at a time. A fundraiser should be promoted on a wider scale so that its cause gets heard by a larger audience resulting in bringing in contributions in the form of donations. So, what is the best way to synchronize a fundraiser with an actual church event and guarantee success for both? All that needs to be done is to opt for an online church event management solution, of course.

Online church event management software boasts of a wide range of facilities. It streamlines all the day-to-day church related operations and collection of donations in addition to facilitating attendee registrations, payment processing, promotions via email and social media channels, and networking through private communities. There is no need to install separate software for each category of the jobs described, or bother about its further maintenance and timely upgrades. Availing the church and fundraising management solution cuts down on time and money thereby allowing church authorities to focus more on the cause and making decisive changes in the lives of the people around.

Arranging a fundraiser under the banner of the church does not mean that its promotions should be kept muted. The more a cause gets publicity the better, because only then there will be a steady flow of donors and the fundraiser will be successful. The built-in marketing tools within the system help to publicize the fundraiser in a very streamlined and effective manner. It takes it to the social media platform and goes in for widespread campaigning so that there is no stone left unturned. Same applies for email marketing as well. The comprehensive email marketing engine integrated with this platform works proactively to send out invites, reminders, and RSVPs, so that the maximum number of sponsors join the league.

Online church event management solution is very useful in terms of being an eco-friendly option that negates the usage of paper within a lot of administrative work processes. It makes every church event a resounding success. So, if you are a devoted church-goer and come to know that there is an event to be held in your church soon, then do ask your pastor or the church authority to opt for this solution and be a part of a great event.

Top 4 Advantages of Cloud Computing for Event Management

Have you already started planning for your next event? If yes, then you can take the help of Cloud computing; it can come in handy for you to manage the whole procedure right from your office, without even visiting the venue. With this procedure already popular among users, event management is no more a labor-intensive job. Top-notch data security, with on-demand accessibility of resources from any location, has made it a hot ticket among the event organizers.

With Cloud-based solutions, you need no additional hardware device or software program anymore. You can access it directly from developer's service using an Internet login. Leading examples of Cloud computing includes Gmail, Salesforce, Facebook, and so on. Lately, Cloud-software providers have come up with a myriad of tailor-made solutions befitting the diverse requirements of business owners?.

The advantages of the Cloud-computing in the event industry are far-reaching. No matter where you are, organizing your events and managing your members is no more a hassle if you have a computer with internet connection. Thus, Cloud-computing has made association as well as communication with your mobile team easier. It also builds up the organizational structure of the event.

Reduce Costs

The cost-efficiency of software is another major contributor of its popularity. It helps organizers to cut down investments on infrastructure, ongoing maintenance, and electricity bills. Thus, Cloud computing lets you invest on business, instead of burning your pockets on infrastructure.

With Cloud-computing, organizers can also make less investment on admin staff. It's known that event management is a labor-intensive job. However, Cloud computing helps you manage everything online accessing the software remotely. As a result, you hardly need staffs to do these jobs manually. With so many conveniences available at affordable prices, Software as a service (SaaS) has become a thriving event solution these days.

Online Registration

However, Cloud solutions are not only meant for the conveniences of the organizers only. It also benefits the attendees in the same way. They no longer need to walk into the event's venue to collect the registration forms. They can download them 24x7 online and submit them over the internet. They can also do group registration without filling up separate forms.

Online Payment

Cloud Computing has also made online payments easier for the attendees. Instead of visiting banks to check if the transaction is successful, attendees can now make online payments. Online payment through secured PCI-compliant platform is safe and convenient. All the more, attendees can make payments using PayPal, checks, purchase orders, wire transfer, and so on. Organizers can also accept payments through their merchant account, which they can set up remotely.

Top-notch Security

However, the security factors of Cloud computing often come in question, especially when the hacking scams are on the rise. However, Cloud solution providers have implemented a number of security measures to ensure highest quality of data security.

Wait no more! Invest on Cloud solutions today and reap maximum profits from your events.

Helpful Tips On Booking Comedians For Your Next Corporate Event

If it is your job to book entertainment for your corporate event, a popular entertainment choice is a corporate entertainer. Corporate comedians are experienced in providing comedic entertainment at business events. They can provide your attendees with lots of laughs that can, if requested, be focused on business. Humor can liven up a corporate event, bring employees together, and bring new energy to the team which can carry over to the office. An experienced corporate comedian will inspire joy and laughter which is shared among employees attending the event and can last long after the event is over and everyone is back at work.

It is important to carefully select a comedian for your corporate event. You need to make sure the comedian's presentation will fit the theme of the event and the comedian will connect and engage the audience. To help in your search for the right corporate entertainer, here are a number of tips on booking comedians for your next corporate event.

Not Just Any Comedian: It is beneficial to hire a corporate comedian rather than just any comedian.

A corporate comedian is familiar with the variety and team building that can be achieved from a comedian at a corporate event. You will likely not have to explain to a corporate comedian about appropriate humor and what you hope to achieve from the performance.

Tasteful Comedian: The comedian chosen should be really funny, but corporate events will have an audience that is business orientated and the audience will be very diverse so it is important to hire a comedian that provides clean and non-offensive entertainment. Most corporate entertainers know that they must keep it clean. If you want to check their background, view some of their website videos or go see a performance.

Connecting to the Audience: A professional comedian knows how to connect to, and engage the audience. A corporate comedian will not use objectionable (offensive) language in their performance. They understand that their job is to get the audience to laugh and have a good time. As well, they know how important it is to respect the professionals in the audience. They will tailor a presentation that helps an audience to relax and have fun. Their job is to make the attendees feel comfortable, not embarrassed and uncomfortable.

The purpose of a corporate comedian is to entertain and make people laugh. When the audience is relaxed and feeling good, they will become reinvigorated and will return to the corporate part of the event more refreshed and ready to get back to work. There are many corporate entertainers available today that have specific industry knowledge. For this reason, it is a good idea to hire a talent booking agency to assist you with finding and booking the right corporate entertainer for your particular corporate event. When you do find the perfect corporate comedian, he or she will inspire, build up motivation, and promote better communication in an audience. New ideas can emerge from laughing and feeling good.

Where Are Non-Profit Fundraising Events Registrations Headed?

The last few years have been very challenging for the non-profit sector. There have been a lot of charity events hosted on the virtual platform, but the actual fundraising has not been worth mentioning. Almost midway through 2012, this trend seems to come to its trailing end. The non-profits however have learnt their lesson and are geared up to experiment with smarter strategies. The worldwide economy is beginning to offer newer opportunities to them by leveraging which they can create some lasting changes in our society. This has upped the pace of fundraising events registration processes as well.

Technology-friendly non-profits to see better days

Doing smart work is the best survival tactic for the withering non-profits in this challenging economy. Approaching donors online when they need to raise funds, and utilizing the power of social media interfaces on and off is certainly not the best way to do business. It is imperative to develop long-term relations with your contributors. Non-profits need to be more tech-friendly in their mode of daily activities and adopt online solutions such as the fundraising event registration software on a steady basis. These Cloud-based "SaaS" products help non-profits to achieve their goals of successful fundraiser management irrespective of all sizes or complexities.

The solution features a host of productivity tools that facilitate all start-to-end management endeavors of a fundraising event. The product lets the non-profit create its own registration page and publish the same online. The page can be accessed any time by donors from all around the world, promote its cause to a larger global audience, and make the process of collecting donations and tithes easier by serving it as a single integrated platform. The payment gateways supported by such fundraising event management packages are secure and authentic, which also go a long way in increasing credibility of a non-profit organization in front of its donors. Plus, there are no fraudulent activities or donation transit loss on the whole.

Some of the cutting-edge features of the fundraising events registration software are, PCI-compliant payment management solutions, comprehensive email marketing tools, social media connectors, online calendars, waitlist manager, fundraising tools, and online donor survey report generator facilitated by Smartphone apps. In addition to that, the transactions are convenient and swift for both the contributor and the non-profit in question.

Stats says it all

Following are the few observations made in the 2012 Online Marketing Non-profit Benchmark Index and the 2012 eNon-profit Benchmarks Study published by M+R and NTEN:

· Online giving and fundraising is set to grow fastest for smaller organizations. Last year, organizations with less than 10,000 email addresses grew by 26.7% in median revenue, similar to 2010's growth rate.

· On an average, non-profits increased their revenues generated online through fundraising by 19% from 2010 to 2011.

· The international sector experienced a huge 163% rise in total funds raised online between 2009 and 2010.

· For organizations having monthly fundraising events, revenue from month-over-month online giving has grown at a much higher rate over the past few years accounting for 8% of total revenue generated online in 2011.

· On average, 35% of total online revenue was sourced to direct email donor appeals.

So, if non-profits want to come out of their proclivity to beat around the bush, which they do most of the time, they should resort to the new age fundraising events registration solutions. It is the only way to solidify a potential donor base and make a visible change in the world of fundraising.

Business Event Planning: Golf Outings and Tournaments

A golf outing is a fun event to host. However, planning it is not an easy task. Planning and executing a large-scale event like this will take time many months. This is why many organizations and corporations hire corporate event planners to take care of the process. With the help of these professionals, hosting a golf outing becomes much more enjoyable for you and the golfers.

One of the first steps in planning any event is to identify your goals. What do you hope to accomplish with this outing? Do you want to raise money? Are you trying to build camaraderie among your staff? Would you like to promote your brand? No matter what your goals, it is important that you clearly identify them with your planner so that she can design an event that will meet or exceed your expectations.

The next step is to determine a date and time for your golf event. You will need to decide whether or not your dates are flexible. Often, you will receive a better price for your venue if you sponsor an event during the week rather than on a weekend. When determining a date and time, you will want to choose days and times that will allow the most people to participate. After all, without participation, you will not be able to fulfill your goals.

Next, you will want to choose a golf course that will be appropriate to the ability levels of all of your players. Choosing a course that is too challenging may intimidate some of your guests and keep them from participating. Be sure to pick a golf course that is centrally located and easy to access. Your event planner will need to speak with the facility coordinator to determine if the food and beverages they provide on-site will be sufficient or if an outside caterer is needed. She will be able to negotiate those contracts so that you get the best price possible.

We have all heard the old adage "image is everything". Take time to visit the golf courses you are most interested in. Be sure that the facility looks appealing and is up to your standards. You are the host of the event so you will want to do everything you can to promote an image of professionalism. Early spring and late fall tend to be the time of year you want to avoid because the greens are not as pretty as other times. Your planner will ask about maintenance schedules so that it does not conflict with your outing or tournament.

As you set your budget, you will want to consider the various expenses involved in this type of event. Most golf courses will charge on a per person basis. A greens fee as well as a cart fee will be charged. Food and beverages are another large expense at these events. You will need to take into account other expenses including prizes, decorations, transportation, marketing/advertising, gratuities for the staff and more. Your event planner will be able to assist you in determining an appropriate budget and will guide you toward choices that will help you stick to that budget.

A golf outing or tournament can be a fun and exciting event for your organization or business. Be sure to enlist the assistance of qualified event planners so your golf event runs smoothly and all of your goals are met.

4 Steps to Successfully Evaluate Your Event's Performance and Find Scopes for Further Improvement

Events do not end with the departure of the last guest. Post event analysis, or more popularly known as event evaluation, is a basic step that organizers need to adhere to in order to quantify the event and identify any scope for future improvement. The aim is to distinguish the mistakes and learn from them. The evaluation process is the answer to queries on whether you have been successful in achieving your goals or was your message properly conveyed to the target audience. Today, there are various Cloud-based software products which come with tools that ease the process of event evaluation for organizers.

Let me now discuss some of the steps that can help you to evaluate your events successfully:

Step 1: Meeting the Core Team Immediately Post Events

It is imperative to conduct a meeting with your core team immediately post the completion of the event. The time gap should not be more than a week at the most. Delaying the process often results in fading of the important details in the light of current issues and responsibilities. Moreover, the staff may also change from time to time. An agenda should be prepared before the meeting which should cover every aspect of the event like venue, entertainment, food and beverages, timeline for communications, invitations etc. This will help you to find out what worked well and what did not.

Step -2: Evaluating Your Financial Goals

This step is vital in terms of getting an impartial overview of the revenue and expenses. The analysis assists you to attain a clear idea as to why your expenses exceeded your budget, net revenue; additionally make a revenue comparison with last year and decide on the necessary improvements to be undertaken for the next year. Cloud -based software users are facilitated with tools that make such evaluation processes more logical, streamlined, simple and less time consuming. Since most of the reports are stored in web based standard formats so it helps you to generate fruitful results by identifying the pitfalls easily.

Step 3: Assessing Your Promotional and Marketing Objectives

A promotional or marketing campaign is crucial to the success of any event. If your event was unable to drive attendees as per your anticipation then you really need to think over what went wrong. Remember a failure to market your events can create major havoc. The first and foremost thing that you need to understand is whether you adopted the right marketing strategy. If it is the printed form of advertisements that you decided to employ then your strategies must be revised for your next event. A social media campaign could be a better platform to connect you to the millions of users and gives your event better exposure. Cloud-based software product users are however facilitated with a social media connector tool that helps in easy integration.

Step 2: Feedback from Clients and Attendees

Feedback is a great way to effectively improve and enhance your event performance. To get feedback from clients you can attach a feedback form as a part of the welcome kit. Attendee feedback can however be a part of a gift voucher which they can redeem once he/she fills up the form. Don't forget to fill your attendee feedback form with questions that will you to get views about the event, scopes for further improvement, problems faced, etc. Make sure you keep your questionnaire short and sweet so that it does not irritate the attendees. Additionally, if you have invested in an online registration system, it comes embedded with a Survey tool which you can use to generate online questionnaires post event completion.

Event evaluation can be at times quite challenging but the efforts are worthy enough to give a sufficient boost to your events.

Best Ways to Use QR Codes to Increase Event Attendance

QR codes were developed by a Japanese Mr. Denso-Wave. QR codes are two-dimensional bar codes containing up to 7,089 numeric characters. They are primarily used to provide an easy, affordable way to inform Smartphone users about products, services or events and persuade them to buy or attend the same.

How do QR Codes Work?

You can use these codes to take a person to a URL via a Smartphone browser. For example, you can place the code on the back of your business card on clicking which the users will enter your business website. You can also advertise lucrative offers like 'free product' or "50% off" on particular purchases to your potential customers. All they need to do is to scan the barcode to visit your Smartphone optimized form and join your e-mailer list.

What is a Mobile-optimized Website or Form?

This is a special website designed specifically and optimized for usage on any Smartphone browser. The Smartphone-optimized form as the name itself suggests is designed on similar lines. A mobile-optimized website usually contains the kind of information that is short and crispy. What mobile users usually look is a short introduction about your organization, contact details, free offers or incentives, basic features of the products, etc.

Now, let's look at the best ways of using QR codes to attract people towards your products or events.

Create a Pre-event Buzz

Add the codes on your website as well as on your blogs and try to provide special advantages to people who share it with their friends on various social media sites or register early for your event.

Arrange an Ad Campaign

You will see many companies framing innovative promotional campaigns. For example, I once saw a chocolate company distributing chocolates for free to passers-by on the streets, especially to the kids. You too, can opt for such a vigorous campaign. Hire temporary staff to walk around busy shopping malls and streets wearing company branded t-shirts with attractive and witty tag lines printed on them. Many people take their pictures and post them on Facebook to share the same with their friends. It leads to a massive promotion of your events or products via the social networking route.

Encourage Location-based Activities

You can put QR codes on the busy street walls or on the gates of a public park, zoo, etc. to let people view the same and initiate engagement with prospective clientele.

Connect with the Tradeshow & Event Attendees

You can send the QR codes via a SMS or text message to the mobile phones of potential tradeshow attendees. They can easily scan those codes to gain entry to your tradeshow. Moreover, instead of just sending a QR code to each attendee, why not organize a SMS message contest. The contest can persuade the tradeshow attendees to share their personal contact details and on doing so they may win attractive gifts!

Corporate Event Designing - Why Leverage Others Time and Efforts?

Usually company organizations embody events as a key half of the integrated marketing plan. Outsourcing the coordination, carrying out and evaluation of corporate event designing can enable in-house groups to focus on the overall strategy of the selling plan and its core components instead of the detail, artistic, technical aspects of the event. The alternative is to make use of an in-house employee although this leads to a potential loss in output as this person is now troubled by event planning instead of completing their primary role. Outsourcing corporate event designing has its own benefits and although there is a service fee, the final net benefit of time and cash saved will definitely even out cash wise.

Company event planning will be a advanced beast that requires budgeting, planning and execution. Just one of those areas can be overwhelming to the unqualified person and also consume a nice deal of your time and that's why outsourcing is therefore essential. Take for instance an employee awards evening. The elements embrace an member of staff rewards program, nomination and winner selection method, communication plan and also the awards event. Allowing the in-house groups to concentrate on the inner areas of employee reach, the selection and judging process and outsourcing the event designing, budgeting, communication, supplier contact, project management and execution allows the in-house team member to stay targeted on the strategy and association with the key target audience.

Another space that company event planning company will assist a corporation is with social media for events. Advertising and promotion is creating a shift out of ancient media shops and there are new and distinctive ways targeting audiences for events through social media. A social media arrange can consist of Digging it, Twittering, Blogging, Facebooking, mixing, mashing, RSS feeding and making it Delicious. There's a great deal of commitment required to set up and maintain social media strategy. We tend to have seen some organizations putting in place the social media set up and begin off on a good note however it quickly turns to dry wood when not followed through. Working with a company event planning company will guarantee that the arrange is executed and come back on investment can be seen.

How to Hire the Right Venue for Your Event

Whether it's a corporate event, special birthday celebration, anniversary party or wedding or other occasion when one needs space for a group get together, hiring a venue space has a lot of advantages. Using a venue for hire will make planning one's event easier as things can be coordinated through a single source. Plus, with the wide variety of event venues available, one can find a space that truly fits the occasion. Here are some simple things to consider when looking for a venue to hire.

Type of Gathering: A corporate dinner party and a 50th wedding anniversary each have similar and unique requirements. It is important not only to know what type of event, but the tone and feel one wants to achieve too.

Number of Guests: This is critical as either a too small or too big a venue can really put a damper on a party. Too small a space means overcrowding and potentially slow service, while too big a venue can sometimes make the gathering feel insignificant. Get an accurate headcount early in the process.

Time of Year: This is obviously important if considering an outdoor event, but even during colder times, many venues have heated outdoor areas. Either way: be sure to plan the event well in advance especially if there is a specific date in mind.

Event Activities: Make sure to anticipate any activities that will go on during the event. For example, if planning a corporate outing, senior management may want to make presentations or speeches so space needs are different. Knowing what activities are planned ahead of time will help eliminate last minute scrambling.

Location: Ideally the venue location will be convenient to most of the guests, but when this is not possible, consider the venue's proximity to public transportation and/or convenient parking. Also, if looking at a city venue, consider the safety of the neighborhood.

Food & Refreshment Catering: Food and drinks make or break a party, so make sure to thoroughly investigate the capabilities of the venue. Most will have catering facilities or will provide recommendations but most often one's own caterer can be used.

Entertainment Needs: If considering some type of entertainment, be sure to get requirements early to be sure the venue can accommodate. While most venues can easily handles bands and dance floors, entertainment options are becoming more unique, so don't assume the space is set-up for things like a live cooking demonstration.

Special Requirements: Think carefully about anything that may require special thought. For a 90th birthday party there may be quite a few older guests. If the party space is not on the ground floor, make sure there are enough lifts to accommodate guests. This is where a good conference with the venue's representative to go over plans is very valuable as they can often anticipate potential issues based on experience.

Budget: Be sure to have a figure in mind before searching for a venue and don't be shy about sharing the parameters early in the process. While one wants to hire the best venue for the gathering, spending a lot of money won't guarantee the party will be a success.

Keep these considerations in mind when hiring a venue to ensure the space fits the event.

Five Steps to Finding a Gem Amongst Event Management Companies

With so many event management companies keen to have your business, how do you find your way through the also-rans to a suitably experienced partner? In this article we present a five-step guide to finding the right company for you.

(1) Understand why you need an event management company

Do you need support with particular aspects of your event or a complete solution? The former lets you pick and choose services; the latter gives the peace of mind that a professional is handling your whole event.

Having identified your requirements take time to prepare an event brief; this should include details of the services that your supplier provides, typically grouped in the following categories:

• Venue management (some event management companies are linked with specific venues)


• Event marketing


• Speaker management


• Delegate management


• Event finance

(2) Undertake a web search

Leading businesses have informative, professional and properly optimised websites. A Google search around phrases such as 'event management company London' or 'events management companies' will lead you to many potential suppliers; the next stage is to shortlist the best ones for your purposes.

(3) Shortlist

From the search results identify businesses that look promising and visit their websites. Expect to find comprehensive information about their services and a suitably customer-focused approach.

Are they clear about the benefits they offer your business? In particular, look for evidence that they will save you time and money, deliver the event you require and give you peace of mind through the events management process. At this stage you can request a brochure or talk to the companies on the phone for more information.

(4) Visit your shortlisted companies

Next, schedule a visit to your shortlisted events management businesses. During your visit, ask probing questions and look for their interest in your needs.

Do you get on well with the team? Do they seem genuinely interested in going the extra mile for you? Could you see yourself working with them? If your instincts and their answers give you confidence you're likely to be onto a winner.

Now's the time to ask for a formal proposal detailing what they'll do for you.

(5) Appoint your partner

Having found an events management company that can do what you require, and a team that you feel good about working with, it's time to appoint them. Having made your decision, don't procrastinate; the best companies get booked up fast so make sure you don't miss out on a great partnership.

Finding the perfect partner is really just a matter of common sense, being methodical, asking the right questions throughout the process and trusting your professional instincts.