Continuing our series of Extracts from our "White Ideas Paper"
Seven Successful Strategies
to make your next Conference Job easier
An Ideas Paper for - Professional Conference Organisers
Meeting Planners, Association Executives, Conference Committees
Creating Fresh Ideas
Repeat clients are Gold for
any business and particularly for PCO’s and Meeting Planners. But with it come the additional challenge of
coming up with fresh ideas for each new event. Activities, Entertainers, Speakers, Venues,
Themes, etc. This is an area your MC can also help with!
One disturbing trend I have
noticed over the last year is that some events are booking their MC at the last
minute, almost as an afterthought or perhaps waiting to see how delegate
numbers stack up.
This however has been
balanced by a number of clients who see the benefits of booking much earlier in
the process.
Apart from the obvious of
ensuring that their MC of choice is secured for the next event there are some
other very valuable benefits.
MC’s get to work in at a
wide range of different events. At these events we get to see first hand the different
Speakers, Activities and Entertainers. We experience the Venue and know how the
Banquet & AV staff are to deal with. ( I recently worked with the most
appalling AV Team I’ve experienced in
over 25 years, at a top Victorian Venue.
I’m advising my contacts to seriously consider bringing in their own team if
they are considering the otherwise terrific facility.)
Why not start tapping into
that knowledge? Once you have the MC onboard start using them as an integral part
of the conference team. Here’s a few ideas.
Ask them about Entertainers they’ve worked with recently who you may not have
heard about. (At the recent IBNA/AustBrokers Conference, I worked with a
singer who I believe was one of the best
acts I have ever seen. The reaction was phenomenal. I had never heard of them
before and perhaps you haven’t either. Ask me if you’d like to find out who it
is!)
Ask them for Speaker
suggestions if you have a particular gap in the program. (I’ve been MC at the
National Speakers Association Conference every year since 2003 and have worked
with a huge range of Australian and visiting Speakers. I and other MC’s I know,
are happy to share that knowledge, but we usually wait till we are asked.)
Forward the Schedule or Run
Sheet to them and ask if they can see difficulties. Your MC can advise on how
much “buffer time” you should program into the schedule for housekeeping
announcements.
Ask how others have handled
the logistics such as; Lucky Door prizes, Speaker Giveaways, Questions from the
floor during Panel Discussions etc. Why reinvent the wheel?
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You can download the complete White Ideas Paper via our Resource Page.
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