We had the unfortunate situation of having to reschedule a number of events due to Hurricane Florence. When you’re working on rescheduling an event you’re at the mercy of whatever is available at the hotel and you squeeze into whatever space is possible. That’s exactly what we did, and it worked! Overall, we had what the space we needed and the event was successful. The one thing I didn’t ask (that you always should) is what other events are going on in the hotel that I should know about.
When Decor Becomes the Focus of Your Meeting
Picking the Right Speaker for your 5 p.m. Session
By the time you get to the last session of the day at a conference everyone is tired and ready to pack it in. Often, a conference will kick off with a high energy speaker to set the tone. However, I think you can leave your attendees on a great note if you have a fantastic closing speaker. This is exactly what I saw on Wednesday at the North Carolina Conference of Superior Court Judges' Conference.
The State of the Industry
I am currently in the process of booking a conference for 2017. I have updated my request for proposal (RFP) and have begun sending this out to various hotels and convention and visitors bureaus (CVBs). Now I am waiting. In the past few years we have been able to get fantastic rates of $82 per night for this group of 350 people. However, we are living in a different time now.
Force Majeure and Selection
Contracting a hotel block and meeting space is a very typical job of a meeting professional. That's why I wanted to make sure that it was part of last week's NC SGMP Conference. We had two planners, two hoteliers, and a CVB representative speak on a panel about contracts. The information that was shared proved to be one of the most valuable parts of the conference.
Got Passion? - NC SGMP Annual Conference
Dr. Kevin Snyder kicked us off encouraging us to "Think Differently." He was very high energy and got us on our feet (and even dancing on chairs). The idea? To go out and conquer fear, have a vision (even if it's not a popular one), and bring our passion out in everything we do. It was a fantastic start to our conference.