As an event manager I spend months and months planning an event, but no matter how much time I spend planning there are always things that happen onsite that are completely out of my control. In these instances, I have to make in-the-moment decisions. Have you ever had a [...]

Generally association event managers focus on improving the event or conference based on previous years. They use post-event survey results to gain feedback from attendees and make slight changes based on that data - and this process works well. However, the focus is solely on existing event attendees and [...]

I am sure we are all tired of walking into an event with banquet rounds in our plenary rooms or rows of chairs theatre style for our breakout sessions. It is easy to go back to this set up year after year, but is it really working for you? [...]

One of the first steps in the association event planning process is venue selection. Whether the event is being planned for a local or national association, the need to book space early is often a requirement. Because of the growing availability and flexibility of meeting spaces, there will likely [...]

As event managers, we are always looking for ways to reduce costs for the association events we manage. Two areas that we have been looking at more closely are printing costs and the value of printed materials. Over the past year, we have noticed a significant shift in the [...]

With new developments in technology and more options becoming available to association event managers, audiovisual (AV) is becoming an increasingly complex piece of the conference and special event planning process. However daunting it may appear, it is important to take the time to understand the various components that make [...]

A number of key event planning tasks rely on a finalized program: marketing of the event, food and beverage planning, audio visual requirements, etc. Because of this, it is important to finalize the program as early on in the planning process as possible. The biggest component of finalizing a [...]

In my last two blog articles, Association Meetings and Conferences are Better with Physical Fitness Element, Part 1 and Part 2, I wrote about the importance of meeting the needs of participants in your event and association meetings by adding a physical activity component to the long days, and [...]

Congratulations, your association conference went off without a major hitch! Your booths are packed up, the registration desk is clear and your delegates are (you hope) frantically completing their post conference surveys. While it’s great to see that your delegates enjoyed your event, you now need to translate the [...]

One of my previous blog posts (Planning a Great Exhibitor Trade Show as Part of Your Next Conference) outlines the steps to guarantee a great experience for your exhibitors. You might have asked yourself, “but how do I get quality exhibitors to attend my trade show?”. The first thing [...]