Top Ten Logistics Steps For Event Coordination! Your Success Is In The Details!

Are memories of your last special business occasion troubling you? Are you avoiding events because they take up too much of your time? Think about the last time you hosted a business event. You began with a clear purpose for meeting, the right people were contacted to participate, and the program was carefully structured; but for some reason the occasion did not function as well as you'd hoped.

To sum it up, initial planning went well; but event coordination and logistics were poorly executed.

To be successful, you should assign one individual responsibility for directing the coordination of your events. While you focus on establishing value-added content, your event coordinator (the meeting logistics expert) will focus on the details! You can use a team approach dividing the work among team members, assigning tasks with target due-dates; however, the event coordinator is the one in charge, running the show and keeping an eye on the entire operation.

The selection of an event coordinator is a smart move. Even through you remain involved in the event planning process loop, you will be free to tend to business as usual!

Your event's ultimate success is directly linked to the coordinator's ability to pay attention to the details! Your event coordinator will map a strategy utilizing TOP TEN - LOGISTIC STEPS:

1. Determine the best date and time to meet (verify potential dates, times, and schedules; and then communicate with vendors, presenters, attendees and special guests)

2. Select and schedule the best location to meet (consider your budget plus options for on-site, off-site, conference center, private dining room, etc.)

3. Contact and confirm all contracts (including venue, speakers, presenters, entertainment, sponsors, etc.; and communicate frequently with all regarding their role in the upcoming event)

4. Plan and map out the program schedule (including general sessions, meeting rooms, break times, break-out sessions, refreshments, meals, the press room, and other special needs)

5. Coordinate and oversee the selection of a theme, the design, production and distribution printed items (i.e., invitations, agendas, brochures, special materials, and related mailings)

6. Arrange to have essential meeting supplies available on site (i.e., handouts, evaluation forms, flip charts, markers, sticky notes, etc.)

7. Identify each presenter's equipment needs and establish: Who? Needs What? Where? Then, verify technical infrastructure, accommodations, and arrange for on-site support

8. Verify room lay-out requirements; arrange for support to complete set-up & tear-down

9. Anticipate needs! Arrange for adequate host support available throughout the event.

10. Communicate! Communicate! Communicate! (with vendors, presenters, attendees and guests).

Having this kind of talent (a detail-oriented arranger/organizer/leader) on staff is very expensive for many businesses. If you or someone on your staff do not have the time, ability, and desire to dedicate to focusing on the logistical details required for hosting a successful business event, consider tapping into qualified resources from the Virtual Assistance (VA) industry to assist you. With advances in technology and use of the Internet, business owners can outsource event planning and coordination, as well as many other administrative duties to a VA.

You may wonder, "What is Virtual Assistance?" It is a working method which came about thanks to the Internet and information technology. A practicing professional within the Virtual Assistance industry is called a Virtual Assistant (VA). Typically, VA's provide administrative, organization, secretarial, special project support and other niche services off-site with the use of the Internet, software, office equipment, and other current technologies. Typically, VAs contract work from their home offices and follow an established Code of Ethics and Confidentiality. VAs work to establish long term associations with their clients and remain invested in your organization's success.

Two reputable online Virtual Assistant organizations can help you locate a qualified VA with proven event planning skill sets. The Virtual Assistant Networking Association (http://www.vanetworking.com) and the Virtual Assistant Chamber of Commerce (http://www.virtualassistantnetworking.com) each provide potential clients information, VA listings, opportunity to submit an RFP, and answers to many of your questions.

Don't let the thought of your next business occasion fill you with dread!

When you hire a Virtual Assistant specializing in Event Coordination, you may look forward to hosting your next event with confidence! Ask a VA to pay attention to the details so you don't have to! Remember your success is in the details!

Finding a Pittsburgh Venue For Corporate Events

Pittsburgh is one of the country's oldest, and best-known cities. The city of steel, as it is sometimes referred to, is also nicknamed the city of bridges because the city is set on a triangle tract of land where the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers meet to form the Ohio River. The city has undergone major redevelopment in recent years reclaiming abandoned industrial sites by transforming these Pittsburgh venues into desirable housing, shopping and business office spaces.

Home to many technology, healthcare, fashion, and financial services, Pittsburgh has overcome the struggling economic turmoil it faced in the 1970's when the steel industry that once defined the city began wavering. Riverfront factories and warehouses once filled with factory workers were left vacant when steel manufacturers shut down operations in favor of self preservation.

Party and event planners have long since used Pittsburgh venues like remodeled industrial buildings to host upscale events for private parties and corporate celebrations. The openness of these once manufacturing floors provides the ideal Pittsburgh venue for partiers to enjoy the music and festivities that accompany a well-designed corporate function. Event planning takes preparation and planning but finding a Pittsburgh venue that meets the needs of the sponsor is an easy choice with the aid of an event planner.

Once on the verge of economic collapse, Pittsburgh is now one of the most livable cities in America and is highly ranked as one of the best places for young professional to live. Because abandoned warehouse space lends itself to so many possibilities for decoration and creative environments for events finding an ideal Pittsburgh venue for a corporate event is simple.

Reasons on How to Become a Successful Event Planner

An event management career can definitely take you sites provided you are serious of building a career of arranging events and organizing them on large scale basis. In the past decade many companies as well as educational institutions recognize event as management profession. And now the leading universities offer degree programs in the event planning to a number of individuals who are actually consider event planning as career option.

Event planners are famous by different names such as program mangers, conference coordinators, event mangers and many more. It all heat down to the event coordinator doing all the preparation for the event whether a conference, fete, marriage party, trade show. Number of big business organizations has started hiring them on full time basis since their organizations have been growing so do their needs for the communication. And when we talk about organizing different conferences and meetings in a short span of time then event planners sounds great asset to the company.

Event coordinators usually earn good by establishing their own event planning company. There are individuals who are just searching for the trustworthy people to outsource the needs of event management. Many weddings, parties or birthday parties are mentioned on a small scale then there is large scale event planning series such as arranging large trade shows and several grand functions related to corporate world.

Event coordinators have actually made a mark in the ground of management by arranging trade shows successfully on international level. One such example of event planning is auto trade show. Many things need to be learnt while making your career in event planning. It deals with lot of traveling and meeting the top brass of the business world. Management skills are comparatively important then the communication skills.

Event management professional should have the ability to handle the logistics as well as invitation after exploring the location for the event to happen. The ability to handle and achieve things brings successful event planners.

Top 5 Types of Entertainment for Parties

When choosing the most memorable entertainment for parties, first take a look at what kind of party or event it is. Depending on the event, such as weddings, there are wedding entertainment ideas and for corporate events, there are corporate event ideas.

To make it simpler, you can divide the types of entertainment into a group. Remember, entertainment for parties and events can be considered an amusing type of activity from very passive to very interactive. For instance, group classifications are: children, group, public, private or corporate. You want to find the right entertainment for the specific group you would like to entertain for the event.

Here are some examples:

Public Entertainment

When you walk through the park or subway station in any big city, you can probably see a large range of public entertainers amusing the city's bystanders and passers-by for any amount of money. There are all sorts of public entertainers from Jazz musicians, a violin soloist to mimes. Public entertainers flock to bigger cities because there are a large number of concentrated people in an area to hopefully make some kind of wage. On the other hand, once you make your nominal donation, you can enjoy the gifts these talented public entertainers have to offer.

Corporate Entertainment

Corporate entertainment is aimed specifically at corporate events, award ceremonies and product launches, and is usually private and by invite only. Corporate events can run the gambit scale-wise, from very intimate to thousands of people. Forcorporate event ideas, think about including live speakers or even consider booking live music for corporate picnics and charity functions.

Adult Entertainment

Adult Entertainment is not only referring to the sex industry but can involve entertainment that adults might enjoy, like live concerts, sports, theater and even other activities that might be also appealing and appropriate for kids such aswedding entertainment ideas.

Live Entertainment

Live entertainment can be broad-including all ages and encompassing many varieties of entertainment. For example, music concerts, arena sports, musical theater, plays, live talk shows and seminars-practically any other activity that are aimed to bring large groups of people together and be amused. They can be for wedding entertainment ideas to corporate event ideas.

Child Entertainment

Entertaining kids is a fine balance between mental stimulation and physical activities. That's why clowns, magicians and puppets are usually the most popular, coupled with games and races. They can be quite enjoyable for adults as well. Live music is also a hit at children's parties for both young and old alike.

So when considering what kind of entertainment for parties or events, it is simply a matter of matching up the type of entertainment, with the type of audience or group to suit their tastes! Drawing people together with live music is almost always a sure hit! Book your live music today. Call an entertainment professional to help you choose what type of band or DJ you'd like to feature at your party or event!

CRM and the Strategic Planning Process

Strategic planning is used in many ways. When I was in commercial banking years ago, one bank I worked for had a department called Strategic Planning. I was inclined to make a move to this area because I thought they were involved in mergers and acquisitions and other strategic corporate initiatives. In fact, the day to day activities were more closely tied to event planning than anything else. Event planning?

When it comes to Customer Relationship Management (CRM), the strategic planning process relates to the alignment of your business focus to the needs of your customers. Since most businesses focus on their own needs, this can be a challenge. What I mean by that is that most businesses focus on the need to meet a sales quota for a certain product within a specific time frame. Is that what your customer needs? It's a tough change to make when you can't tie your results to periodic account measures as neatly; but it can certainly have a huge impact on potential value of existing customers as they become more loyal. After all, it's far less costly to keep customers than it is to constantly find new ones.

Strategic Planning Process Overview

As you develop your strategic plan for CRM, you need to always yourself "how does this add value to my customer and in turn add value to my company"? But you also need to keep the following things in mind:

• Identify the financial goals of your business


• Identify the risks of this initiative, both short and long term


• Identify what you will measure, how you will measure it and how you will evaluate the results.


• Identify how you will use your results to make the appropriate changes to your initiative over time

The strategic planning process can be a lengthy one, and there are risks, especially with change management issues. As a result, even companies who "get it" with regard to customer-centricity don't take the steps to change their business. For those who do, success comes by going through a series of planning stages. Here's an example:

• Develop your Customer Focused Strategic Plan Realign your Front Office work flows, and information flows, with effective business process mapping


• Realize that effective change management is critical to getting a high user adoption rate not only for software use, but the customer focused way of doing business in general


• Make sure you provide good customer service and collect the data you need to help other functional parts of your business.


• Develop an effective customer relationship marketing program to acquire new customers but, more importantly, keep your existing customers


• When all of this is done, then it's time to select CRM software that meets your requirements.

Negotiating With Hotels - What Pattern Can I Offer to Get a Lower Rate? - Event Planning

What can I offer the hotel to get a lower room rate? Can I make any changes or bring something to the table that will make a sales manager give me a better rate or another perk in the contract?

First, you might be able to make slight room pattern changes to make this a "Win-Win" for all, but you need to know all of your options first.

So, before even talking with the hotel, think about everything you want in a contract. Eventually we will discuss meetings, food, beverage, exhibits, suites and comps, but today's focus will be only the room block.

Sleeping Room Block / Pattern - how many sleeping rooms do you need and what days of the week do you prefer? You might prefer a Sunday - Tuesday conference or maybe a Wednesday - Saturday pattern. However, are you dead set on what you need?

If you approach your hotel sales manager and request a specific set of dates with a pattern of arrival and departure that can not change, your contact has no choice but to quote you a rate they have budgeted for that time period.

However, if you can be flexible and move your arrival-departure pattern up or back a day or two, or even a week or two, then your sales manager might be willing to work with you and offer a better rate.

Nothing is wasted anymore than a hotel room that is not used. So, it is extremely important for your hotel contact to book groups into the hotel so they fill up all the rooms and the groups do not overlap.

For example, if a hotel has 500 rooms, ideally their best pattern would be to have one group of 400 rooms arrive on Sunday and depart on Wednesday. Then the ideal situation continues with another 400 room group coming in on Wednesday and leaving on Saturday or Sunday. This would fill up the group block and maximize revenue.

Note, no hotel will commit all their sleeping rooms to convention room blocks. In the previous example, 100 rooms are set aside for individual arrivals, corporate clients or special guests.

So, if your request for rooms can match the pattern the hotel desires, they can sell more rooms per night, maximize revenue and still offer you a better rate, since it will allow them to increase occupancy.

On the other hand, if your pattern does not fit theirs and does not allow them to maximize occupancy and revenue, your sales manager will have to quote a higher room rate to meet budget revenue projections.

So, the question asked was "What can I offer to get a lower room rate?" The answer lies in your preparation for your meeting with the hotel sales manager. You have to know what room pattern works for your group. If you are restricted to a set pattern, you may not be able to offer the hotel anything to get a better deal. But, if you offer to change arrival dates and patterns, you might get a lower rate offer from your sales contact. Be prepared, know your group and do not be afraid to ask what it will take to make it a "Win-Win" for both you and the hotel.

Seminar Organisers Can Evaluate the Success of the Event and Deal With Financial Matters

The seminar organisers are skilled and experienced personnel, who can evaluate the success of the event and deal with many things, including the outstanding financial matters. They can offer interaction and connect individuals and groups that previously would not have collaborated, which will help increase the demand for meetings by these new groups and individuals, as well. They can enhance any conference and help keep your clients motivated and happy throughout the event. They closely monitor the meetings, making sure they are a source of revenue rather than an expense and specialise in various fields including planning, management and operation of conferences, incentives and corporate events

- The seminar organisers companies are usually quite small firms, with fewer than twenty staff. Some of them may just consist of just one person, who buys in expertise as necessary. They can present you with a listing of options that meet your specific needs, as well as a cost breakdown for each of those choices. All the work is carried out under the strict supervision of senior meeting professionals.

- They can deal with all elements required for a successful event under one roof, including onsite management to ensure a smooth operation. They offer constant quality control of the project and can make arrangements for a range of technology features, a ballroom, excellent in-house catering services and much more.

- Highly skilled seminar organisers can work to project time lines, which is usually set by the client and event manager and you can access the services of these organisers at no cost at all to your company. They are quite experienced to keep an eye on multiple operations at one time, face numerous deadlines, and orchestrate the activities of several different groups of people.

- These organisers can create an interactive training environment, with a high level of staff participation. They always make sure that the venue they chose is a good fit for you before scheduling anything and can help you get deals on certain venues and can even direct you to venues that specifically meet your corporate needs.

- They offer assistance for making the right selection and arrange for you to visit the site to make sure, if it's best for you and your event. Their responsibilities include, booking a required number of rooms for meetings as well as qualify for and take advantage of the discounts on offer.

Well trained seminar organisers can manage everything perfectly, whether you're planning a unique incentive programme, an international conference, a seminar, a simple meeting or an exciting activity. These experts can work to budgets and briefs complied by the client and the event organiser and are able to provide what really matters for your special event as well as for your business, through their knowledge and expertise. They are quite skilled and have the resources to ensure that your corporate event or themed function is successful, enjoyable and memorable and can really help you to create an amazing and calm atmosphere on your special day.