Straight from the horse's mouth

If you hear something “(straight) from the horse's mouth", you hear it from the person who has direct personal knowledge of it.  Your customers are the best source of trust and enthusiasm in your brand, products, services. Does your marketing toolbox include testimonials? It should.

Correctly using testimonials is an art. Too fake and fluffy—you run the risk of not being taken seriously. Prospects can see straight through fake testimonials. Also, a short and sweet testimonial (such as, “I love this service!”) recommends your brand, but doesn’t say much else as to why potential customers should choose your brand. Ask your customers to elaborate on why they love your brand, and what sets your brand apart. 

Request that your best customers provide testimonials with details that definitively describe key and unique benefits of your brand. Customers should focus on addressing a pain points that your services resolve. Testimonials should answer the question of why someone should use your brand.

What are your best tips for curating testimonials?

Is Your Venue Safe?

The world is changing and so must meeting planners. If the past year has been any indication, no place is exempt from risk. Think beyond terrorism. Think about hurricanes, volcanoes, shooters, and military coups — anything that puts your attendees at risk. Today, meetings and events come with a specific set of risks. The factors in determining hotel safety alone are numerous.

The big question you should be asking your meeting planner: Have you assessed the venue from a risk standpoint?

Your planner should conduct proper due diligence when sourcing a location and venue. Then they should develop a customized risk assessment questionnaire to be completed by the venue ahead of contract signature.

The top 8 factors in determining venue safety are:

1. Hard-wired smoke detectors.
These are more reliable as they are connected to a power supply and will sound indefinitely until turned off. They have battery backups to ensure they continue in the event the power supply is cut.

2. Adequate emergency lighting.
Does the venue have a generator? Does it auto turn on? You certainly don’t want attendees using their cell phone lights in the dark!

3. Locking devices on windows and doors.
Do the windows and doors open outward? If so they can be difficult to barricade. Does the venue have active-shooter denial devices? If not, will they add and train staff to use?

4. Emergency operations plan.
The venue should have a plan for all types of hazards — fire, hurricane, earthquake, terrorism. The plan should among many things, clearly marked evacuation routes, and the locations of fire extinguishers. Ask them to share their plan.

5. Readily available AEDs, and a list of staff trained in first aid and CPR.
You’d be shocked at the number of hotels that respond with “no first aid/CPR training.” I recently received the response, “We usually just call 911 and they arrive pretty quick.” (Scary.)

6. Security training.
Who on staff is trained to recognize threats? Will those people be onsite for your event? Who is the go-to person to report suspicious activity?

7. Food terrorism.Does the kitchen have procedures to combat food terrorism? What’s their procedure for vetting kitchen staff and food?

8. Recent threats?
This should be the first thing you ask — have there been any recent (and define recent) threats to the venue?

Bottom line: work with an experienced planner. If you need assistance assessing the safety and risk preparedness of a venue, andgreat can help! We invite you to contact us today.

Integrating health and wellness into your events

Published in Prevue Magazine:

https://www.prevuemeetings.com/spark-blog/flip-the-script/integrate-wellness-meeting-like-pro/

Healthy is happy. When you eat healthy and train, you feel better. You think clearer, you’re less stressed, and you look better. As a figure competitor and an event professional, I work to incorporate a healthy lifestyle into all my meetings and events. It’s super hard to be healthy when you are flying and traveling—I know. So I work with my suppliers to ensure my clients have healthy food options and fun fitness options integrated into their programs. Here are my tips for integrating wellness into programs:

Review banquet menus BEFORE a contract is signed. Most planners review banquet menus only after the contract is signed. If you’re not reviewing menus prior, you are missing out on key negotiating factors, as well as missing out on an opportunity to ensure a truly healthy and custom F&B experience.  And if you review menus after the contract is signed, you’re missing out on huge cost savings for your clients. (Cost saving Tip: Ask for current year pricing or at least a 10% discount on future menus for your program.) Ask for Chef’s custom suggestions based on the budget and demographics of your group. Discuss ways to limit waste and save money, while you’re at it. Remember, not everyone will participate in every meal. Monitoring the headcount at your events will assist in planning future events. 

Always ask for locally grown foods. Give attendees a local experience—starting with the food. You would not visit Nashville and not have hot chicken, or Philadelphia without eating a cheese steak. Ask Chef to use local ingredients and prepare local dishes. Be mindful of added sugars, and salt. (see below) By serving only local foods, you’ll support the local farmers and the local economy. And let’s be honest-fresh local food just tastes better.

Provide Chef a list of all dietary restrictions.  As a non-dairy human, and strict eater, I’m more sensitive and in tune to foods that contain dairy than most people—note: dairy is in more prepared foods than you think! Request that all food items be labeled GF, DF, Vegan. And Vegetarian. You’re attendees will thank you.

Request carafes of ice water vs bottled waters. In leiu of costly and non-environmentally friendly bottled water, I request carafes of ice water. STAY HYDRATED. Humans should drink at least one gallon of water per day. And when spending time in a desert environment or high altitude, water consumption is more important than ever. Stay hydrated. 

Let your Chef know that any added sugar is not acceptable. As a competitive figure competitor I do not eat foods with added sugar. Did you know that there are 57+ different terms for sugar? Anything pre-packaged usually means processed and therefore sugar added (and other ingredients you cannot pronounce.) Superfoods are not new but they are good for you.  Skip the donuts and plan a fun make your own bag of mixed plain raw nuts, berries, and cocoa, and shredded unsweetened coconut. Trust me—it will be a hit. And if you plan to do smoothies—remember your dairy-free and vegan attendees and have coconut and soy milk options too (labeled, of course.)

Don’t rush meals. I’m Sicilian—meals are a time to enjoy food, enjoy conversations, and relax and unwind. While you certainly can’t schedule three hours lunches, you can provide a bit more time for attendees to enjoy, and digest.

Incorporate the power of play. As infants and toddlers we learned through play. Why stop learning (playing) when you’re five? Interactive breaks are a great opportunity to introduce play. Or why not start the day with some play? Starting the day with a wellness activity is a great way to not only start the day healthy but another opportunity for attendees to bond, network, and Instagram your event. Yoga, local hiking, drumming, and spinning are all activities that work well. These activities are also a great opportunity for sponsor to get exposure. For example, I have this great MGM cool dry towel I received at a 6am wellness activity spinning class at a conference years ago. I still use it weekly for my Sprint and RPM classes. I participated in a FAM in Vancouver and received a Lululemon yoga mat. It was probably one of the top relevant and high-perceived value welcome gifts I’ve received. I lugged that mat back to California and use it daily.  

Don’t forget the power of scent. Essential oils are not hippie dippy—they are real. And so are their natural powers. Want attendees to relax and receive a well rested night of sleep—room drop a small vial of lavender essential oil at turndown. Want attendees to stay awake, diffuse wild orange or peppermint into the meeting room to boost engagement and attention. Offer an essential oil bar during a break. Have attendees smell several scents to see which resonates best with them at that moment. Offer them to take a small sample with them.

What are your favorite tips for integrating health and wellness into your events?

Event Management Services Defined

Events, meetings, and conferences bring a team together, they energize actions and expand world views. Planning and managing events, meeting, and conferences is also a ton of work!

Whether it’s a company retreat, industry conference or a VIP summit we integrate logistics and meeting content to achieve a focused event with maximum impact. We find, select, negotiate, coordinate, plan, manage, promote, create, transport, staff, direct, reconcile, measure, and track.

We can do it all for you or just provide select services as an extension of your team.

Do you need help managing your next meeting or event?

The Bottom Line On Professional Courtesy

It’s 2018 and the business world is constantly changing. People no longer walk around the office and talk to colleagues (many companies are distributed and workers are remote), and communication has become impersonal and technology-driven.

In my observation, people do not return messages in a timely manner (if ever), they send endless emails to communicate, and sometimes they become crickets. Professional courtesy seems to have fallen by the wayside. To see whether you have strayed from the basics professional courtesies, answer these five questions:

1. Are you reachable?

2. Do you welcome in-person visits with partners (or video chats if remote)?

3. Do you use the telephone/video chat to call people?

4. Do you answer the phone/video chat when it rings?

5. Do you return voicemails, Slacks, texts, email messages within 24 hours?

What’s your biggest professional courtesy pet peeve?

4 reasons you should NOT outsource your event to your office manager

Do you think outsourcing your event and meeting planning to your office manger, virtual assistant, or executive assistant will save you a whole lot of time and hassle? Think again.  Likely your office manager will likely be “winging it.” She doesn’t know the ins and outs of the meeting planning world. You will end up spending more time, paying more money, and be more involved than you really ever cared to be. 

Sadly, in many small and medium businesses the task of planning the company retreat or board meeting or conference is often assigned to office managers, receptionists, VAs and even sales professionals. This is a huge mistake as you are pulling their time, concentration and energy away from performing their own set of important tasks. Plus, you are creating a level of expectation and responsibility that, in all fairness, does not live under the scope of their job description. Contrary to popular belief, everyone is not a meeting professional.

A meeting professional knows what to do and what not to do and is 100% focused on your meeting or event. Professional meeting planners are masters of juggling details, people and priorities. They don’t get frazzled. They just go on with the show!

Still not convinced?  Here are four reasons to hire a professional:

1.    Office managers do not have supplier relationships.
Professional meeting planners have built deep relationships with suppliers. Once you tell your planner the basic essentials like goals, date, budget, number of people, she can get to work straight away for you. And I really do mean straight away. With just the minimum parameters, she’ll be able to rattle off at least a half dozens perfect hidden gems that she will send RFPs. She’ll spend minimal time researching because she knows the properties. And, did you know that most site selection services are complimentary. So you won’t be paying a dime to hire a professional planner to source and negotiate the perfect venue, for a great rate.

2.    Office managers do not know the intricacies of destinations.
Professional meeting planners know that if you want to your event in Napa, for example, you best stay away from the month of October. All suppliers have windows they need to fill, and a professional planner will find those windows and negotiate the best rates, concessions, and deliver you a cost savings report. (all complimentary, btw) A professional planner also likely has relationships with third-party vendors in most major cities, and can leverage those relationships to get you the best bang for your buck. The work closely with CVBs to review the calendar so to avoid such conflicts as city-wides.

3.    Office managers do not know the questions to ask.
You don’t know what you don’t know. Negotiating contracts is a very important part of meeting planning. Your office manager probably doesn’t know what attrition is or to ask for more than 10%. Professional meeting planners know all the questions to ask and to be sure certain clauses are included in the contract. These clauses are things as a CEO you aren’t even aware of or thinking about.

4.    Office managers are not meeting planners.
Did you know that the position of meeting planner made the Forbes list for the top 5 most stressful jobs in 2017? Meeting planning requires expertise in communications, preparation, management, logistics, marketing and crisis management too. Because, with events, last-minute problems and emergencies happen — all the time. A professional meeting planner does more than plan your event or meeting—she focuses on the branding, marketing, reputation and future success of your business.

Meeting planning is one of the most stressful jobs around, however, professional meeting planners know how to handle the stress — and deliver memorable experiences. Dumping that degree of stress onto an individual not equipped to handle it with grace under fire is simply bad for your event or meeting — and quite frankly, bad for your business.

    

5 Tips for an Engaging Gifting Experience

This article was first printed in Prevue Magazine on July 11, 2018. https://prevuemeetings.com/spark-blog/flip-the-script/5-tips-for-an-engaging-gifting-experience/

Corporate gifting is an opportunity to connect with clients, strengthen relationships and provide an experience—and it takes on many shapes.

At one end of the spectrum, you have the (boring, non-creative, no choice) old-school room drop with a branded goodie bag filled with a few sponsored snacks, and at the opposite spectrum you have a custom corporate gifting experience that’s focused on selection, choice and brands.

Planners are definitely using gifting more now than ever. Many companies are realizing that a fabulous trip in a beautiful destination is only a part of the experience. Corporate gifting now tends to be a bigger part of the memorable experience and companies are recognizing this and the attendees are wanting (and expecting) more.

 

The meetings and events industry is skewed towards the female gender, and Associated Luxury Hotels International (ALHI) never ceases to impress with its lady-friendly corporate gifts such as lipgloss with mirror and OPI-branded nail polish in ALHI Red. At a horse race event, Preferred Hotels partnered with a hat company to allow attendees to select a hat or fascinator to go with their outfit. Impact GPS partnered with Maui Jim for its Los Angels event a few weeks ago to provide a custom sunglass fitting experience. Attendees were able to try on about eight different pairs of sunglasses, see how they fit, seek professional fitting advice and walk away with a free pair of Maui Jims sunglasses.

A meeting planner veteran noted, “I always give gifts as a reminder of the key takeaways of that meeting. If it is an incentive meeting, it is a reminder of the fun that was had and a talking point for when they see you in the shirt, sunglasses etc. It leads to a discussion: Where did you get those glasses?”

andgreat has personally commissioned custom belt buckles for a VIP client event in Austin, Texas. We mailed the buckles ahead of time as an event teaser, and then brought the artist onsite with leather straps for a complete custom belt fitting experience. Not only was it a memorable experience, it tied into the unique destination.

Here are my top five tips for corporate gifting:

Check Corporate Policies

Many companies—especially in the pharmaceutical world—cannot participate in corporate gifting as they pay their attendees an honorarium. A pharma planner noted that corporate gifting is still relevant but gets harder and harder with parameters being put into place by companies.

Determine Wants

Knowing your audience will help narrow and focus your selection. If you know your attendees are mostly female, for example, have a heavier selection of lady-friendly products. If you audience is a mixed bag, you can’t go wrong with a selection of high-end male, female and unisex sunglasses, running shoes or sandals.

Get Creative 

Corporate gifting that reflects the city or destination you are hosting your event is a great starting point. Tying the corporate gifting to the event destination lends to the overall experience. If you’re meeting in a colder mountain destination, a branded Patagonia fleece makes sense. If you’re meeting at a beach resort, consider offering a sandals experience.

Quality Over Quantity

Branded “junk” is self-serving and comes across as such. No one wants branded stress balls. And at the end of the day, your corporate gifting reflects your brand and your reputation. Do you want to be associated with junk?

Find a Trusted Partner

Find a partner that will be with you every step of the way and has experience with corporate gifting. While Maui Jim pioneered the onsite experiential gifting concept over 17 years ago, there are other vendors that offer a wider range of products and brands. Global Gifting partners with high-end brands that manufacturer everything from sandals to electronics, for example.

What’s the coolest corporate gift you’ve received?