Certain Celebrates the Melbourne Cup</h1> <article> <h1>Certain Celebrates the Melbourne Cup</h1> <p>btaylor — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 17:26:00 GMT</p> <p>Ask any Australian what is significant about the first Tuesday in November and without exception they will say “the Melbourne Cup”. This Australian institution goes from strength to strength and rightfully now holds its place as the World Championship for thoroughbred horses that are stayers (long distance racers). Now in its 151st year, the race has recently been won by international horses from Japan, France and Ireland. <br /><br />Whilst there is no denying the momentum of this event on the world stage, it is the reaction of all Australians from Broome to the back of Burke that makes this event unique. They don’t call this “the race that stops a nation” for nothing. At 3pm on the first Tuesday in November, all Australians, no matter where they are or what they are doing, stop to watch (or listen) to the race. For 3 minutes or so, the entire country is captivated by “their” race. I can recall as a young boy pushing my way to the front of a large crowd gathered in front of a television shop to watch the race on the multiple TV’s on display. Of course nowadays ubiquitous mobile technology has made following the race easier than ever. But still-- families, friends and work colleagues gather in groups around the country to celebrate the race. <br /><br />Certain Software’s Australia-based staff were no exception. Dressed in their racing finery, fit for the “Fashions on the Field” competition, the team enjoyed a few minutes of camaraderie whilst cheering on their hope. To gain the entire company’s interest across the globe, the Australia team assigned each employee one horse and created a pool for the winners! Whilst there can only be one winner in the race (although this year’s race was excruciatingly close to a dead heat), the real win is the connections and the memories that events like this generate. The world needs more Melbourne Cups!</p> <p><a href="http://community.certain.com/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Blogs.Components.WeblogFiles/main/australia_5F00_horseraces_5F00_2.jpg"></a></p> <p><i>Winners of the "best dressed" competition in Australia<br /></i></p><div style="clear:both;"></div> </article> <article> <h1>A Pair of Aces</h1> <p>Peter Micciche — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 22:49:00 GMT</p> <p>We have a couple of aces up our sleeve and I want to make sure you have them too. <br /><br />At Certain, we focus on developing software solutions for meeting professionals. Our clients, though, often have event needs that go beyond what Certain provides. Naturally, because of our central, enabling role, they look to us for assistance in registration services, badges, call centers and a variety of other important services that help to deliver successful events.<br /><br />That’s when we reach up our sleeve and pull out a couple of aces to win the hand. Those aces for Certain are two of our incredible business partners who take the worry out of delivering great events and make us look good along the way! </p> <p><a href="http://community.certain.com/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Blogs.Components.WeblogFiles/main/pair_5F00_of_5F00_aces.jpg"></a><br /><br />Let me tell you a little about Attendee Management, Inc. and metroConnections. <br /><br /><a href="http://attendeenet.com/">Attendee Management, Inc</a>. is an Austin, TX based company committed to the total equation of meetings support. They take their expertise and tailor it on highly personalized basis to meet your event needs. Jeff Rasco, President, is focused like a laser on world class meetings services delivered with a smile. Jeff listens closely to your needs and his team immediately goes into action to ensure your success time after time. His staff live and breathe the meetings experience and sweat the small stuff so you don’t have to. <br />If you get down to their offices in Austin, make sure Jeff takes you out to the Salt Lick for some real barbecue!</p> <p> <a href="http://community.certain.com/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Blogs.Components.WeblogFiles/main/ami_5F00_fulllogo_5F00_2009.gif"></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.metroconnections.com/index.php">metroConnections</a> delivers great conferences and events through design, planning and implementation that can meet the needs of the most demanding companies in North America and beyond. Conference services, event production, production services and transportation can be leveraged to deliver great events and great business value. Tom McCulloch, their VP of Sales & Marketing, understands the impact events can have on your business goals and has a rich background in meetings services and technology to help guide your choices. </p> <p><a href="http://community.certain.com/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Blogs.Components.WeblogFiles/main/metroConnections_2D00_logo.jpg"></a><br /><br />We are honored to have both of these partners in the value chain we introduce to customers. Technology is important but is only a piece of the events puzzle. With AMI or metroConnections at your side, you’ll find your chances of delivering a winning hand of business value to be overwhelmingly in your favor. </p><div style="clear:both;"></div> </article> <article> <h1>3 Ways to Effectively Market Your Event</h1> <p>Louise Miller — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 20:36:00 GMT</p> <p>After countless hours of planning and seamless execution you have created the perfect event. The speaker panel is powerful, the appetizers are legendary, and you are still unsure how you snagged that venue—but imagine if no one was there to eat those crab cakes?<br /><br />All successful event professionals understand that an effective marketing strategy is vital in order to drive attendance. However, among the draining hours of coordinating other crucial elements of planning, marketing can sometimes take a backseat. Here are three easy tips that can seriously improve your marketing strategy and overall attendee turnout:<br /><br /><b>1. Use Social Media Campaigns</b><br />Most people today are using at least one social media platform to check in with friends or relatives and even to connect with businesses. Using social media to promote your event is not only free, but the most effective way to reach various target audiences. <br />If you create an event invitation on Facebook, you provide a central location for people to see updates and information about how to get involved and learn more about the event and your company. Once you invite people, they can share your event information through Facebook, <a href="http://twitter.com/certain">Twitter</a> or LinkedIn. This way, you don’t have to bombard attendees with a flood of emails every time you need to send them an update. <br /><br /><a href="http://community.certain.com/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Blogs.Components.WeblogFiles/main/social-media.jpg"></a><br /><b><br />2. Take Advantage of Newsletters </b><br />You can also use your company’s newsletter to promote your event. People who signed up to receive it are already engaged with your company and may appreciate the opportunity to network and learn at your event. Be sure to build out a plan of action for your <a href="http://www.certain.com/products/certain-email-marketing/certain-email-marketing.html">email marketing</a> campaign. Determine how many targeted emails you want to send and the messaging that goes along with it. You can also contact other companies to see if you can advertise to their list in order to expand your reach.<br /><br /><b>3. Content Content!</b><br />Lastly, another easy way to promote your event is by offering digital whitepapers or eBooks that will drive traffic to your website and engage potential attendees in topics relating to you event. Don’t forget to include an opt-in landing page for your larger content pieces so that you can capture new leads and nurture them!</p><div style="clear:both;"></div> </article> <article> <h1>Times They Are A Changin' - Flash Foresight and Attendee Engagement</h1> <p>Peter Micciche — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 00:23:00 GMT</p> <p>Are you keeping up with the times? Juggling a laptop, iPad and iPhone? Logging in to five social networks daily? The Arab spring, daily deals, protests in US major cities, Twitter, Skype, Amazon tablets, Facebook, mobile boarding passes, Google+, iPhone 5 (or is it iPhone 4S?), social, virtual meetings….whew! <br /><br />Bob Dylan (<a href="http://www.lyricsfreak.com/b/bob+dylan/the+times+they+are+a+changin_20021240.html">http://www.lyricsfreak.com/b/bob+dylan/the+times+they+are+a+changin_20021240.html</a>) had it right forty years ago, but couldn’t possibly have anticipated the pace of change today.<br /><br />Certain’s headquarters in San Francisco is at the epicenter of the changes driving our society, industry and daily lives. Yammer, salesforce.com, Twitter, Open Table, Zynga, and StumbleUpon are just a few of the leading technology and internet service companies that are located within a few blocks of our building. Drive thirty minutes down the road and Facebook, Google, Apple and countless others dot the Silicon Valley landscape. Oh, and how about all the venture capital firms that fund innovation and change? We love being at the crossroads of innovation and take full advantage of our location to hang out with our colleagues exploring and sharing new ideas. <br /><br />The truth is all the lunches, tweets, news feeds, meet-ups and connections in San Francisco and Silicon Valley can’t compensate for the pace of change we are experiencing. Why?<br /> <br />The reason is illustrated very well by the futurist and author Daniel Burrus in “Flash Foresight”, a book he wrote about seizing opportunities created by the pace of technological change. Have you heard about Moore’s Law? This axiom, by one of the founders of Intel,states that computing power doubles roughly every eighteen months.<br /><br />So, what does that mean to each of us? <br /><br />Well, back in the days when IBM was rolling out its mainframes, doubling computer power meant your airline ticket was processed significantly faster but didn’t alter the way you purchased a ticket. In reality it wasn’t life changing. Thirty years later, computing power has doubled multiple times and as a result we find ourselves with society, business and yes, your business planning meetings and events, being turned upside down. <br /><br />Here’s the illustration Burrus uses in his book. Let’s say you take a penny on the first day of a thirty one day month and then double it every day for the entire month. At the end of seven days, you will have sixty-four cents. Big deal. At the end of another seven days you will have eighty-one dollars and ninety-two cents. Quite a jump. How much do you think you will you have at the end of the month? Let me guess…maybe three thousand dollars? Tens of thousands? Hundreds of thousands?<br /><br /><a href="http://community.certain.com/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Blogs.Components.WeblogFiles/main/dollars.jpg"></a><br /><br />Most people are astonished that the answer is over TEN MILLION DOLLARS!!! Yes, it’s true (and fun to prove on a spreadsheet). Add one more day and you have over twenty million dollars. The point Burres is making is that we as a society are now at the “end of the month” in cumulative and exponential computing power. The curve is very steep and we only have to pick up the smartphone (a camera enabled computer) to get a hint of the magnitude of change. But what will happen on the “first day of the next month”? In reality, we can’t fully predict and that makes it both scary and exciting. We are approaching an era in which whatever you conceive can be created through technology. <br /><br />We’re seeing the impact every day. Less than a year ago, Certain was the first event planning software company to offer an integrated mobile application with an attendee management platform. Today, mobile solutions are taken for granted and your attendees expect to put their smart phone or tablet to good use at an event. In lockstep with mobile advancement is deeper event-related social networking and more and more virtual events in hybrid or stand-alone mode. <br /><br />Never mind the Arab Spring. We’re talking about the Attendee Spring and it’s on the meeting professional’s plate to figure it all out (we’re happy to help of course). <br /><br />The good news is that rapid technology change driving connections and engagement can unlock the business value of meetings and events. This is an opportunity for meeting professionals to establish a new, deeper level of business partnership with their clients.</p><div style="clear:both;"></div> </article> <article> <h1>Certain Announces the 5th Consecutive Year of PCI Level 1 Compliance!</h1> <p>jcorreia@certain.com — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 19:49:00 GMT</p> <p>Certain is pleased to announce our PCI Level 1 Certification for the fifth straight year! Level 1 is the highest level of PCI Compliance and the most demanding to achieve.<br /><br />Certain takes responsibility to protect personal customer information very seriously. Each year Certain processes hundreds of thousands of credit card transactions. To ensure compliance, every year we must pass a rigorous audit of our network systems, data storage and encryption practices, access controls, security, threat and vulnerability management, monitoring and testing procedures, and information security policies. Tests are performed by certified network engineers from independent auditors. The entire process takes weeks and the compliance certificate is issued only if Certain satisfies all 12 sections of the PCI Level 1 audit. <br /><br />Why is this important to our customers? The simple answer is peace of mind. Given the growing severity of credit card theft and liability issues from manual credit card processes, our customers inherently understand the risks of not partnering with a PCI Level 1 vendor.</p> <p><a href="http://community.certain.com/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Blogs.Components.WeblogFiles/main/security.jpg"></a></p><div style="clear:both;"></div> </article> <article> <h1>Thoughts on Steve Jobs</h1> <p>Peter Micciche — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 23:42:00 GMT</p> <p>I had a chance to reflect on Steve Jobs’ death last week as I drove up the California coast to Mendocino with my wife. The weather was spectacular and it was hard to keep my eyes on the road as every turn led to a more glorious view of the ocean crashing on rocks. We pulled over a few times along the way to walk out to the cliff’s edge and observe the beauty that eons of erosion have created. <br /><br />Against this backdrop of timeless nature, I thought about Steve Jobs passing and the mark he left on the world. Many of us have heard the now famous <a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/steve_jobs_how_to_live_before_you_die.html">commencement speech he gave at Stanford</a> in 2005 and how he encouraged people to pursue their passions. Steve Jobs pursued his passion from a young age and created a wave of digitization that touches every aspect of our daily lives. <br /><i><br />Isn’t changing the world enough of an incentive for everyone to follow their passion? </i><br /><br /> Many people pursue their passion only to discover that while the activity of writing or making music or being involved in sports may be enriching spiritually, it isn’t always so financially. Steve’s passion, which fueled his maniacal focus, was hugely financially rewarding for him and his stakeholders. However, those who would have the courage to follow their passion (assuming it’s not what they already do day- to- day), have to ask themselves, do they possess not only his level of passion but his standard of excellence? Do they possess a set of interwoven personality traits, talents and level of intelligence that can support their passion and ultimately allow their passion to support them? Will their passion allow them to change the world? <br /><br />Most of us have talent. Most of us have successful personality traits. Most of us possess enough intelligence. Most of us also have some sense of passion for an activity. But, while most of us have all the necessary ingredients to succeed, most of us don’t have those elements combined in the perfectly unique concoction that approaches the extraordinary singular human being that was Steve Jobs. <br /><br />Steve Jobs occupied a unique place in history. He was a rare example of the pinnacle of human achievement. He was to the world of consumer information technology what Beethoven or Miles Davis is to music or what an Einstein is to science. The iPad, as just one example, is a work of art that evokes much more than the sense of productivity it enables. It delivers information in a tactile, pleasurable way. Who else has achieved that? <br /><br />Against the standard of a Steve Jobs achievement, most of us mere mortals could be excused from attempting to follow our dreams and passions. But that would be a mistake. Changing the world (whatever world you’re passionate about) usually starts with impacting one other human being. Putting a mark on the world comes from impacting many human beings and influencing the way they think. Changing the world comes about when most human beings begin to listen and follow you. <br /><br />You don’t have to be Einstein or Steve Jobs to make your mark on the world. If you are reading this, you are capable of influencing a fellow human being. If your passion, whatever it is, benefits you, it will probably benefit someone else, and, if that is true, then it just might benefit many others. You could be well on your way to making your mark and ultimately changing the world. Take your passion, add in a measure of excellence and intensity and see where it takes you and the rest of us. At some point in Steve Jobs youth, that’s what he did, and look to where it led. </p> <p><a href="http://community.certain.com/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Blogs.Components.WeblogFiles/main/steve_2D00_jobs_2D00_appe.png"></a></p><div style="clear:both;"></div> </article> <article> <h1>Four Steps to Event Planning Triumph</h1> <p>Louise Miller — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 16:07:00 GMT</p> <p>Event planning can often times be a stressful process. You have to make sure every detail is managed, and it requires a thorough eye and excellent organizational skills. Whether you are planning a small or large event, keeping track of all your tasks can sometimes be overwhelming. With the following tips, you can streamline your event planning process and save time, energy, and resources while ensuring that nothing is overlooked. <br /><b><br />1. Develop a Framework</b><br /><br />Making sure you market your event effectively will ensure that you attract an increasing number of attendees. In the 1960’s, the<i> Four P Classification</i> was coined to in order to help those in the marketing industry implement enhanced strategies, providing marketers the proper framework for planning. The Four P’s and how they relate to event planning are:</p> <ul> <li>Product – Define what experience you want your attendees to have</li> <li>Price – Determine registration price and data collection</li> <li>Place – Location of your event and does it accommodate your Product</li> <li>Promotion – Your marketing strategy and unique selling points</li> </ul> <p>After you compose a clear outline that encompasses all these components, it will be easier to decide what other aspects are necessary to consider as well. <br /><br /><b>2. Do You Need Technology?</b><br /><br />The use of technology is helpful for planning any event. Event planning programs can help you stay on top of tasks and make sure everything gets taken care of prior to their deadlines. If planning multiple or large scale events, it may be beneficial to use event planning software so that spreadsheets don’t get misplaced and everything you need is in one central location. <br /><br /><b>3. Take Advantage of Social Media </b><br /><br />Using social media can help boost event attendance if managed correctly. If your company has a strong social media presence, you can send invitations out over Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn. Social media invitations help you reach your target audience because people that are connected to your company online are more engaged leads. These platforms are free and can increase the visibility of your event due to the viral nature of each. <br /><b><br />4. Stay Organized!</b><br /><br />Staying organized and paying attention to details will lead to a successful and well-rounded event. Making sure you have a framework in place as well as an effective marketing plan will guarantee that you meet your targets. By taking advantage of technology to help you stay organized and using social media for promotion, you will be well on your way to becoming a planning professional.</p><div style="clear:both;"></div> </article> <article> <h1>How Technology Can Lead to a Successful Event</h1> <p>tthomas — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 17:00:00 GMT</p> <p>As a marketer who uses events as a component of integrated programs, I am well versed in the challenges facing event professionals today, and am familiar with the Excel spreadsheets and 20-lb binder you have to lug around. I have woken up in a cold sweat the night before my event and gone back through my checklist of items to confirm with the team to make sure not even the tiniest detail was overlooked. Do you want the good news or the bad news about our predicament? The good news: Technology can significantly reduce the amount of time and sweat you invest in delivering a seamless, successful event. The bad news: We are programmed to be worriers. We will always be perfectionists and no matter what tools we have at our disposal, we will always suffer from a last minute panic attack about the seating plan.</p> <p><a href="http://community.certain.com/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Blogs.Components.WeblogFiles/main/eventpic.jpg"></a></p> <p>With the assistance of technology, event planning has become easier than ever before. It can help you stay organized, keep track of details, and make sure no stone is left unturned. Technology can also help you plan, analyze and budget for an event accurately and effectively. Planning large events can be complicated and stressful, especially when managing multiple coordinators, but with event planning software, you can be decisive and execute much easier and more efficiently. <br /><br /><b>Event Management and Preparation</b><br /><br />By using software to help you manage your event, you can ensure that it runs smoothly and that nothing is forgotten. You can set up reminders and timelines for projects, and make sure that everyone involved in the planning stages knows about deadlines. By using technology, you can strategize and collaborate with others in a single forum that’s been designed to be visible to everyone. Emails will no longer be lost, and logistical issues can be addressed and resolved right away. <br /><br /><b>Effective Time Management</b><br /><br />Taking advantage of event planning technology will save you both time and money in the long run. When planning a large scale event, lots of time can be lost in making sure communication is clear, meetings are arranged and that key players are notified of any changes. Trying to manage these tasks manually takes a lot of time and energy, but with a little organizational help, you can use your time more efficiently. </p> <p><br /><b><br /><a href="http://community.certain.com/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Blogs.Components.WeblogFiles/main/time.jpg"></a></b></p> <p><b><br />Save Money</b><br /><br />Staying below budget is an important concept to keep in mind when planning any event. You can save a lot of money by managing your budget with software programs that allow you to keep track of all your expenses in one central location. You can track the overall budget, as well as individual line items to ensure that you stay within your means. By increasing budget visibility, you can improve accountability and easily show sponsors where their money went by printing out a report. <br /><br /><b>Registration Tracking</b><br /><br />By using technology to manage attendee registration, you can track variables such as fees, food orders and send marketing emails to your list of attendees. As soon as someone registers, you can be notified immediately so you can be aware of how many people are planning to attend. If certain people still need to pay their registration fees, you can print out a single report that lists their names and contact information all in once place. <br /><b><br />Staying Organized<br /></b><br />Staying organized is probably the single most important aspect of planning a successful event, and the use of technology can alleviate a lot of stress from an organizational standpoint. The events your company puts on are a direct reflection its value, so you will want it to be the best that it can be. The more organized and influential your events are, the more likely people will be to trust your brand and recommend your work to others.</p><div style="clear:both;"></div> </article> <article> <h1>3 Ways to Measure the Success of Your Event</h1> <p>Patrick Cava — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 20:58:00 GMT</p> <p>A well planned and executed event can leave dozens, hundreds or thousands of individuals with a positive experience they’ll associate with your brand. As any event planner will tell you, pulling this off takes a lot of work, dedication and money. But how do you ensure the continued success of your event and future ones? </p> <p>Measuring your event is crucial to understanding what’s working, what isn’t and what needs to change so that you can set forth a plan of action for future events. Here are a few tips on how and what to measure to ensure that your events have high customer satisfaction rates and an increasing ROI.<br /><br /><a href="http://community.certain.com/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Blogs.Components.WeblogFiles/main/success_2D00_failure.jpg"></a><br /><br /><b>Define your Win</b><br /><br />Begin your measurement on day one of planning. What metrics will you use to evaluate your event? What is the purpose of your event and what are you aiming to accomplish? A lot of your pre-event planning can help define your benchmarks. For example, how many participants anticipated vs. how many registered or how long did it take for sponsors/speakers to return contracts? <br /><br />Build out a list of questions to ask both during and after each event so that you can keep tabs on what’s working and how long certain planning aspects take.<br /><br /><b>Post Event Data</b><br /><br />Once your event is over, use the data collected during the event planning to be a benchmark for the next one. This will help you plan a better event and will allow you to focus on areas of improvement as well as capitalize on any new opportunities that may be available. <br /><br />Update your workflow with new best practices and lessons that you may have learned. Make note of any unforeseen hurdles as well as whether or not your suppliers were efficient. Look for gaps and opportunities and where you can reallocate spend.<br /><br /><b>Ask Your Customers</b><br /><br />Encourage attendees to fill out a post-event survey so that you can see how people viewed the event. Social media buzz and press shout outs are also good to follow and can help others understand the value of your events.<br /><br />Whatever goals you set for your event, be sure to <a href="http://www.certain.com/products/overview/results-measurement-service.html">capture key event data</a> components that will help increase attendee satisfaction and help you plan for success.</p><div style="clear:both;"></div> </article> <article> <h1>Certain Employees Take a Stand About Sitting Down!</h1> <p>Louise Miller — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 23:25:00 GMT</p> <p>We’ve all been there. Cram in a power lunch behind the computer and all of sudden it’s five and you haven’t gotten out of your chair in hours. You get up feeling like you just got off a trans-Atlantic flight and trudge to the coffee machine. Logging hours in front of the computer is an occupational hazard you can’t avoid, but an increasing amount of Certain employees have found the secret to working healthy and avoiding the mid-afternoon slump. The solution: Ditch your desk.<br /><br />It’s no surprise Certain employees are at the vanguard of desk technology. As product manager and standing desk early adopter Rajesh Krishnan put it, “I’m an inveterate trendsetter.” Jokes aside, Rajesh also said, “It was mainly because I was tired of sitting around so many hours in a day and figured standing would be healthier, burn more calories, and be better for my posture.” </p> <p>It turns out there’s some hard science to back up Rajesh’s hunch. The Wall Street Journal reported on the spread of <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904199404576541011003270644.html?KEYWORDS=standing+desks">standing desks</a> at tech companies like Facebook and Google whose employees were prompted to make the shift after hearing about the potential dangers of prolonged periods of sitting. Major medical studies conducted by the American Cancer Society and the American College of Cardiology found significant jumps in premature deaths for those who remained seated more than six hours a day. <br /><br />Besides the long-term health benefits gained from using a standing desk, users have reported increased energy and a welcome relief from an achy, painful back. If the idea of tossing your chair out the office for good seems a little intimidating, don’t despair. Most Certain employees opted for a dual desk with a combination of sitting and standing space. Of the nine employees at Certain using a standing desk, only one braves his day without a sitting options. However, there are plenty of opportunities to fill the daily sitting quota in meetings and conference rooms. </p> <p>There are those out there who aren’t satisfied with merely standing.</p> <p>Some are taking the standing desk to the next level with a treadmill desk, a fad that hasn’t quite hit Certain. Although typing code on the run may seem a little over the top, a study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that a combination of sitting and walking at the workstation can melt away up to 60lbs over the course of a year. </p> <p>We asked Rajesh where he thought the future of desks was headed at Certain, “I’m planning to skip straight to the swim desk, when it becomes available. I’m sure there are no safety issues at all from a multi-hundred gallon tank of water every few feet in the office.” </p> <p>For now, we’ll settle for a few less chairs.</p> <p><a href="http://community.certain.com/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Blogs.Components.WeblogFiles/main/standingdesk_5F00_bob2.jpg"></a></p><div style="clear:both;"></div> </article> <article> <h1>The Long and Short of Mobile QR Codes</h1> <p>ewang@certain.com — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 22:52:00 GMT</p> <p>If you’ve recently walked past a bus stop, opened up a newspaper or driven past a billboard, you might have noticed these enigmatic icons that look like a barcode crossed with a psychiatrist’s Rorschach cards. Before you squint your eyes to try to make out the picture, you should know that these icons are a new type of barcodes called QR codes. QR codes can be scanned using a mobile phone, and can store a lot more information than the traditional barcode. They can hold content like website links, personal contact information, and also just plain old text.</p> <p>So why should you care about QR codes? The short answer is: they’re a great tool to market your event and improve attendee experience.</p> <p>Consider all of the ways you can use QR codes at your next event:</p> <ol> <li>Promote the event – Encode your event site URL or event registration link with a QR code and add it to any print material you distribute. </li> <li>Provide a link to the mobile agenda – Use a QR code for the link to your event mobile site and print it on the back of attendees’ badges.</li> <li>Facilitate networking and lead collection – Encode your attendees’ contact information and add it to their badge.</li> <li>Get session feedback – Put a QR code with a link to the survey form on the welcome sign right outside of the room.</li> <li>Provide sponsor information – Add a QR code with your event sponsors’ and exhibitors’ website and direct your attendees to interactive content online. This one makes everyone happy.</li> </ol> <p><a href="http://community.certain.com/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Blogs.Components.WeblogFiles/main/QRcodes.jpg"></a><br /><br />To generate QR codes, go to <a href="http://community.certain.com/controlpanel/blogs/posteditor.aspx/qrcode.kaywa.com">qrcode.kaywa.com</a> or download a free app like QR Droid (for Androids) or Qrafter (for Iphones). Remember, your attendees would also need a QR code reader on their phone. There are plenty of free ones out there for iPhones, Androids, and Blackberries.</p> <p><i>Tips:</i></p> <ol> <li><i>Make sure that when you print QR codes, they are of a size that can be easily scanned by the camera on a mobile phone. For example, a code that goes on a sponsor banner would obviously need to be much larger than one that goes on the back of a badge.</i></li> <li><i>Do ensure that whatever link you encode, the site that it directs to is mobile friendly.</i></li> <li><i>Provide sufficient context when you are promoting a QR code, so that attendees know what to expect.</i></li> </ol><div style="clear:both;"></div> </article> <article> <h1>10 Unexpected Benefits of Virtual (+1 that Doesn't Get Talked About)</h1> <p>Anonymous — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 17:57:00 GMT</p> <p> As the Product Manager for Certain Virtual, I get involved with numerous conversations with companies exploring ways to do Virtual Events. Here are some of the unexpected and creative uses we've heard around here for Virtual Events. <br /><br /><span style="font-size:14px;">1.</span> <span style="font-weight:bold;">Attendee communications with anonymity</span> - Give attendees a way to contact each other via messaging and chat. It doesn't share email addresses, just user IDs<br /> <br />2. <span style="font-weight:bold;">Detect issues earlier</span> - Open up your virtual venue and ask attendees what they are expecting for the live event <br /> <br />3. <span style="font-weight:bold;">Up the value of the sponsor package</span> - By providing virtual booths for exhibitors and sponsors on the web site they can interact directly with attendees<br /> <br />4. <span style="font-weight:bold;">Spread the love worldwide</span> - One of virtual events' benefits is reducing hotel and travel costs; that's proving to be a bigger deal outside the US, particularly in Australia and New Zealand <br /> <br /> 5. <span style="font-weight:bold;">Encourage events around your event</span> - A event directory that spans both live and virtual helps people to create their own events that enhance yours, such as Birds of a Feather sessions <br /> <br /> 6. <span style="font-weight:bold;">Automate attendance</span> - everyone who attends a virtual event is logged, so you know who was really there<br /> <br />7 . <span style="font-weight:bold;">Eliminate post-event document sharing</span> - all the events are in the virtual version of your live event, and can be put there by you or the document authors (with the right permissions) <br /> <br /> 8. <span style="font-weight:bold;">Coordinate the event team</span> - set up a private virtual chat room just for your team <br /> <br />9.<span style="font-weight:bold;"> Spread out the work</span> - give different access rights to different areas to different people. Virtual event creation takes as much thought and care as a live event.<br /><br /> <table align="right" border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" width="140"> <tbody> <tr> <td></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> 10.<span style="font-weight:bold;">Get better data</span> - See how attendees really are spending their time, not just did they show up for the webinar or not. It's also great information to prove how beneficial your event was. There's proof of what engaged attendees and what didn't, measured in minutes and seconds. <br /> <br /> And no one mentions this one, but it's true:<span style="text-decoration:underline;"> It expands your job skills</span> - Event professionals who can handle live, hybrid, and virtual events have a leg up on specialists in only one area. It's an essential part of the resume of the future. I hope to see many of you on our July 28th Engagement Unleashed event, that I will be moderating. Info at <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a title="Certain Virtual Center" href="http://www.certain.com/CertainVirtualCenter">http://www.certain.com/CertainVirtualCenter</a></span>. </p><div style="clear:both;"></div> </article> <article> <h1>All Signs Point to a Successful First Edition of AIBTM</h1> <p>Louise Miller — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 17:12:00 GMT</p> <p>As I travelled back from Baltimore to San Francisco, I reflected on the event I had just attended-- <a href="http://www.aibtm.com/">AIBTM</a>, the first edition of Reed Travel’s Meetings & Events Exhibition in North America. This is the first time a Hosted Buyer Program has been introduced on a large scale to the US in our industry. Hosted Buyers are qualified meeting and events professionals invited by Reed to attend a 3-day exhibition to learn about the latest trends of the industry, meet exhibitors through a full schedule of pre-arranged 20 minute appointments for 2 days, network, and visit destinations and sites around the conference. I have attended other “IBTM” shows by Reed so the format was not a surprise for me, though it was for many attendees. A first edition of a new show always generates excitements but also unknowns and fears, and is a bit like the birthing experience of the second or third child: you both know and don’t know what to expect.</p> <p>I was very impressed with the venue (Baltimore Convention Center) and the organization. There were many British accents among the AIBTM staff, and they clearly knew exactly what they were doing, in a “been there done that” kind of way that gave everyone confidence that buyers, exhibitors, speakers and VIPs alike were in good hands. There was a sense of European flair at the event with quite a number of buyers from Europe. Of course, this was an international exhibition with exhibitors from all continents.<br /><br />The first day was the education day, and it was refreshing to see an education program that’s not running parallel to the exhibition hours, avoiding frustration for both buyers and exhibitors. Reed said about 740 hosted buyers came to the event, with an additional 800+ trade buyers. Though this was short of Reed’s target for the event, the buyers we saw at Certain were of very high quality. Mostly buyers had registered for the education program and it showed: all sessions we saw were either full, standing room only, or nearly full, and the format of open tables encouraged a lot of interaction at the sessions, which everyone in our industry always enjoys. Speakers were all high-caliber and so were the questions from the audience, and clearly the audience thought that the topics covered (congratulation to Erica Keogan from Reed) were right on target.<br /><br />Here are the key take-away for me from the educational sessions (with a bias on technology):</p> <ul> <li><b>Social Media</b> was, as usual, a super-hot topic, however everyone seemed ready to move from trends to pragmatic steps that meeting professionals need to embrace: We get it, so please don’t spend too long on the big picture, and instead tell us what to do about it</li> <li><b>Mobile</b> is clearly at the tipping point, not just in the hands of the consumers (a <a href="http://blog.flurry.com/bid/63907/Mobile-Apps-Put-the-Web-in-Their-Rear-view-Mirror">study</a> last Monday by Flurry showed that users spend more time now - 81 minutes a day - on their mobile apps than on their PC-based web browsers) but in the mind of the meeting professionals. We are all looking for pragmatic ways to expand our mobile “presence” or get started</li> <li><b>Attendee Engagement</b> is clearly on people’s mind as a (sometimes measurable) way to boost the value of the meetings, and helps tie a few technologies together in the context of a clear business benefit.</li> <li><b>Hosted Buyer Programs and Appointment Management</b> - for quite a few buyers it was a first opportunity to participate in such program. Experiencing it firsthand (the event is organized around it) gave hosted buyers and exhibitors a chance to see the value of predictable connections and opened new horizons for how to leverage appointments at their own events.</li> </ul> <p>I participated in the CEO Summit, and it was a good opportunity to share valuable insight with the speakers, panelists, but of course also with participating CEOs. With Frank Sesno and Kelly McDonald as guest speakers, most discussions were about social media and marketing to new audiences. In no special order, here are the key notes that I left with:</p> <ul> <li>2 ways of saying the same thing: “what we need is <b>information curation</b>”, and “we don’t need more information, we need <b>advice</b>”</li> <li>To understand the social media shift, follow Jack Welch’s lunch advice, but also have lunch with the “<b>digital natives</b>” in your company</li> <li>I found Kelly McDonald’s “<b>5 Strategies to Grow Your Business</b>” very relevant: be relevant, adapt to differences, market to values, reflect core values, recognize different needs</li> <li>And, out of context in this blog, but so perfect in other contexts: “As they say in Washington, it’s not enough to succeed, your friends must fail”.</li> </ul> <p>The exhibition floor had a very good vibe, it was great to see all the booths buzzing with appointments, and as usual in our industry they were many laughs, hugs and hand-shaking in the aisle as long-time acquaintances re-unite and new contacts are made. Oh, and yes the U2 concert was fantastic, and those who were seeing U2’s 360 tour for the first time were not deceived! Though it was a hot night in Baltimore, the crowd was lucky to escape the thunderstorms that were on the forecast that evening! <br /><br />Looking forward to our next IBTM show, and to be back to AIBTM next year!</p><div style="clear:both;"></div> </article> <article> <h1>Certain Software Smart Meetings Success Story</h1> <p>tthomas — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 20:44:00 GMT</p> <p style="color:#3e3e3e;font:18px arial,sans-serif;margin:10px 0pt;"> <a href="http://vimeo.com/user7123899" style="color:#2786c2;text-decoration:none;">Certain Software</a> shared this with you:<br /> <a href="http://vimeo.com/23973801" style="color:#2786c2;font:bold 18px arial,sans-serif;text-decoration:none;">http://vimeo.com/23973801</a> </p> <table style="color:#445566;background:none repeat scroll 0% 0% #e8f5fb;font:11px verdana,sans-serif;margin:10px 0pt 0pt;padding:0pt;border:5px solid #c8d5db;" width="100%"> <tbody> <tr> <td style="padding:10px;" valign="top" width="160"> <a href="http://vimeo.com/23973801"></a> </td> <td style="padding:10px 10px 10px 0pt;" valign="top"> <p style="margin:0pt 0pt 10px;"> <strong style="color:#3e3e3e;font:bold 16px arial,sans-serif;">Smart Meetings Success Story</strong><br /> <a title="Smart Meetings Success Story" href="http://vimeo.com/23973801" style="color:#2786c2;text-decoration:none;font:11px arial,sans-serif;">http://vimeo.com/23973801</a></p> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table><div style="clear:both;"></div> </article> <article> <h1>Strategic Meetings Management (SMM) Series: Setting up the SMM Process</h1> <p>ggleason@certain.com — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 17:04:00 GMT</p> <p>More and more organizations are looking to develop <a href="http://www.certain.com/products/event-meetings-management/strategic-meeting-management-smmp.html">Strategic Meetings Management</a> programs to help control the risk and cost associated with meetings. In my first blog, I discussed the initial phase of starting an SMM program - assigning unique meeting ID numbers to events and standardizing supplier contracts. Today, I would like to discuss what should be considered as you begin to formalize the processes involved in SMM and how technology can greatly improve the success of your program.</p> <p><b>Process Automation: A Meeting Professional’s BFF</b><br />Everything associated with a meeting follows a process that must be tracked and managed. Event approval and planning, vendor sourcing, attendee registration, travel booking and post-event invoicing – can all be broken down into processes or steps that must be completed in order to create a successful event. <br /><br />Meeting professionals can realize the greatest benefits when utilizing a well-developed SMM program, along with a robust software solution. In fact, it is almost impossible to have a successful SMM program without a software package to help manage all aspects of the program. <br /><br />While a formal SMM program establishes consistent processes and procedures, management and tracking of these processes can be controlled effortlessly with a comprehensive SMM software solution; resulting in more streamlined and cost-effective meetings and events. Think about the tremendous benefits that can be realized by automating the planning and management of every work back schedule associated with a meeting. Project management becomes effortless with an automatic system that calendars and color-codes everything; while notifying all event stakeholders of their different milestones, due dates or required deliverables. The time saved in emails alone would be well worth the effort of setting up an SMM program. <br /><br />As you standardize processes, begin by focusing on these areas and develop other criteria that fit the way your organization works. Also, make note of what steps can be automated as you work through them to aid with software implementation.<br /><br /><b>Centralize expenses by Meeting ID</b><br />The best way to start standardizing processes is to begin by implementing payment policies because everyone will listen when it involves getting paid. Inform all event stakeholders that <b>event-related expenses will NOT be paid without a Meeting ID. </b></p> <ul> <li>Be forgiving at first and deliver payment with a fair warning, while educating everyone on the new requirements</li> <li>You may also want to establish <b>expense category codes</b> that will provide more specifics on how each dollar is spent (travel, hotels, sponsorships, food & beverages, etc.)</li> <li>If practical, consider issuing <b>meeting credit cards</b> with charge limits for smaller purchases. This will help control spending, but give planners the flexibility needed for expenses that occur on the go</li> <li>Once the SMM program is established and automated with a software solution, organizations can start cross-referencing and analyzing costs by vendor, event or expense code in order to realize more savings at future events</li> </ul> <p><b>Start with the Request & Approval process</b><br />Organizations should start with the first phase of any meeting or event - meeting requests and approvals - as this is mostly an internal process. Below are some things to consider when developing a formal process for meeting requests and approvals.</p> <ul> <li>Ensure that every event starts with a formal request, with an attached budget, that can be routed to the appropriate<b> budget and business line managers for approval </b></li> <li>Organizations should make sure that any SMM package being considered creates <b>automated budget estimates</b> and notifies managers that a meeting has been requested as this will help keep the approval process moving</li> <li>Set up “not-to-exceed” limits in all areas. While instituting these budget parameters, other criteria specific to an organization can be established to help control spending</li> </ul> <p><b>Standardize all staff and client-facing tools</b><br />In order for the SMM program to be successful, organizations must quickly garner buy-in from attendees and event stakeholders alike on the new processes. Again, technology can help smooth out any issues that these two groups may have with changes to the norm.</p> <ul> <li>Organizations should consider integrating the new SMM solution with their existing <a href="http://www.certain.com/products/events-registration-attendee-management/online-event-registration.html"><b>Attendee Management</b></a> system, as event stakeholders will experience the benefits of a more streamlined process right away and readily accept any new requirements</li> <li>Most attendees’ pre-event experience is based on interaction with <b>event emails</b> and the <b>registration web site</b>. By coupling the attendee management and SMM software packages, organizations will delight visitors with <b>custom-tailored</b> event web sites, forms, and email campaigns that are based on information stored in a participant’s profile or registration</li> <li>If the SMM solution has Salesforce integration, all the activities of each registrant or supplier can be logged and referenced in reports to fine-tune future events or campaigns</li> </ul> <p>The success of any SMM program relies heavily on technology to provide meeting professionals with the ability to efficiently plan, source, and manage events; while allowing organizations more visibility into the entire workflow. The quality of an entire event program can be elevated by establishing a formal SMM program and leveraging the automated procedures and built-in best practices found in a robust SMM software solution. <br /><br />Whether you are conducting an initial investigation or are in the midst of developing a complete SMM program, I hope you find this information helpful. My next blog in the series with explore how to leverage SMM when selecting a meeting site. Let me know what you think at ggleason@certain.com.</p> <p>To learn more about Certain Software, please visit <a href="http://www.certain.com">www.certain.com</a>.</p><div style="clear:both;"></div> </article> <article> <h1>When to Consider a Virtual Event</h1> <p>Anonymous — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 21:50:00 GMT</p> <p>Think about it. For every participant present at your event, there may be several who are interested but unable to attend due to budget, distance or schedule. That’s why many organizations are incorporating virtual events into their meetings program as it expands an event’s reach beyond a single location, allowing people that cannot make it to a physical event to participate. <br /><br /><b>What’s a Virtual Event?</b><br />Simply stated, virtual events provide an online venue where conference attendees can participate and interact from the convenience of their web-enabled computer or tablet. Whether used in conjunction with a physical conference or as a stand-alone virtual meeting, a comprehensive virtual event solution should include the following components that can be utilized in many variations:</p> <ul> <li>Separate areas that attendees can visit (Exhibit Hall, Speakers Pavilion, Virtual Lounge, etc.) </li> <li>Live streaming video for speaking sessions and keynotes</li> <li>Recorded webcasts for exhibitor demos and returning visitors</li> <li>1-to-1 communication options, including audience-to-speaker or attendee-to-attendee interaction</li> <li>Ability to upload and access company collateral and other resources for use in an exhibitor’s area and available to returning visitors</li> <li>Complete tracking and reporting on visitor behavior to understand how attendees spent their time</li> </ul> <p><b>Physical vs. Virtual</b><br />You can use virtual events in a many ways and companies are still experimenting on how to best use them. The two main approaches for leveraging virtual events today are:</p> <ul> <li>Hybrid – A combination of a physical meeting with a virtual event offered to attendees. </li> <li>Virtual – A complete online event with no physical component. </li> </ul> <p>A virtual event works very well when used in conjunction with a physical event, even when the meetings take place on different dates. For example, a Spring virtual event can build on the audience from an annual conference that happened in the Fall. When creating a completely virtual event, organizations use streaming or recorded video, as well as other methods discussed above to keep participants engaged. These virtual events can usually have areas that stay open long after the event is over.<br /><b><br />Creating an Online Community</b><br />Even though virtual events involve using impersonal technology - as with physical events - it’s the attendee’s experience that matters most. It helps to approach your virtual event as if you are building an online community; one that allows your audience to connect before, during and after the conference. Companies can provide attendees a communal area – such as a visitor’s lounge – where participants can find people with similar interests even before the meeting starts, make connections and network during the event and stay in touch long after the conference has closed.<br /><br /><b>The Costs</b><br />When comparing to a physical meeting of equivalent size, you should expect a successful virtual event to have similar costs for meeting space (i.e., the virtual event software), production, and pre & post-event management. Virtual events, however, will not have travel, housing, or food & beverage costs; a plus for your attendees. Also, meeting professionals and participants alike save the time spent traveling to a physical event. Consequently, virtual events may have lower registration fees, sponsorships, and exhibition fees than their physical counterparts. <br /><br />On the flip side, there are other costs associated with virtual events that aren’t always considered with traditional meetings. You will need a great deal of content for virtual events that must meet the highest standards and there is a heavy reliance on live and recorded video. Care should be taken to ensure high-quality production values are used for all content, especially audio which can make or break a presentation. Some companies offer – and charge for – full services on site, while others provide the technology and look to you to provide onsite services. <br /><br />You should also be prepared for attendees at a virtual event to come at you from every direction – email, chat, Twitter, and every other communication type this side of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aldis_lamp">aldis lamp</a>. Make sure you have enough event staff available and ready to help attendees with their needs, particularly at the beginning.<br /><br /><b>Considering Virtual Events?</b><br />When choosing a virtual events solution, your criteria should be the same as with any software package:</p> <ul> <li>Flexibility: The ability to mold the software to the way that suits your requirements</li> <li>Reliability: The platform must be available when you need it. Consider a cloud-based solution that enables 24/7 access from anywhere</li> <li>Scalability: The ability to service just a few attendees or scale up to tens of thousands simultaneous users</li> <li>Ease of Use: The easier it is to setup and use the virtual solution, the better. A meeting organizer’s burden can be greatly reduced if content providers and exhibitors can manage their own setup with some simple instructions. </li> </ul> <p>As virtual events evolve, ensuring your selected solution can change with industry trends and practices is essential. When you are ready to incorporate virtual events into your program, consider Certain Virtual. <a href="http://www.certain.com/products/virtual-events/virtual-events.html">Certain Virtual</a> is a comprehensive, scalable software solution that can help you and your organization easily manage your next virtual event.</p> <p>To learn more about Certain, please visit <a href="http://www.certain.com">www.certain.com</a>.<br /><br /><a href="http://community.certain.com/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Blogs.Components.WeblogFiles/main/Conference-Center-_2800_video-and-screenshot_2900_-Section-_2800_from-Certain-Virtual-Expo_2900_.png"></a></p><div style="clear:both;"></div> </article> <article> <h1>Leveraging Twitter at Your Event</h1> <p>Louise Miller — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 19:58:00 GMT</p> <p>When utilizing social networks for your meeting or event, Twitter should be managed and leveraged differently than LinkedIn and Facebook. There are no pages, but feeds - with a continuous list of messages that are posted to the service with the latest posts on top. Anyone who subscribes to your feed (i.e., anyone who is “following you”, in Twitter terminology) might see your messages (or “tweets”). </p> <p>One issue with Twitter is that because feeds are continuously updated - if someone is following a lot of people and organizations - they may overlook some tweets as new ones are added. The tactics discussed below should help ensure your message stands out.<br /><br /><i>The @ Sign: Your Main Identity</i><br />The @ sign is the main way of identifying a Twitter profile. It is also used to call out profiles in Tweets, like this: Hello @Certain! When a username is preceded by the @ sign in someone’s tweet, it becomes a link to that profile. You can promote your event by asking followers to mention its profile with @your_event anywhere in the body of their Tweet. Users can also reply to your event tweets to help spread the word to their followers. <br /><br /><i>Retweets</i><br />You must use viral marketing tactics in order to get your event’s message picked up on Twitter. One common viral behavior on Twitter is to “retweet” what someone else has tweeted. This simply means that you repeat their message, preceding it with the letters “RT” (for retweet) and their Twitter name (e.g., @certain). <br /><br />You can spread the word about your event on Twitter not only by tweeting it yourself, but by encouraging others to retweet your message - promoting it to all of their followers. Some common methods for encouraging retweeting are:</p> <ul> <li>Ask your followers to retweet your message explicitly (e.g., “Registration open for EventCon 2012: http://bit.ly/oiweru (please RT)”</li> <li>Include Twitter-only specials or discounts in your messages</li> <li>Share breaking news or new and interesting developments (e.g., high profile speakers booked) on Twitter</li> </ul> <p><b>Hint:</b> Twitter restricts messages to 140 characters, which is the longest text message most mobile phones can handle. That means that if you want someone to be able to retweet your message, it must be less than 140 characters long even after they add “RT @your_twitter_name” to the beginning!<br /><br /><i>Twitter Hashtags</i><br />Hashtags in the body of a tweet are a popular way to associate tweets with a particular topic or category, such as an event. A hashtag is simply a word preceded by a hash mark, “#”. By including the hashtag, you designate that word as a key word that shows up in Twitter searches. Clicking on a hashtagged word in any message shows you all other Tweets in that topic. Hashtags can occur anywhere in the Tweet and words that become very popular are often listed in the Trends section. Consider this example:</p> <ul> <li>“I use Certain Software” - is a nice message, but won’t be picked up in searches.</li> <li>“I use #certain software” - designates the word “Certain” as a special keyword, and makes it more likely to be referenced in feeds and searches.</li> </ul> <p><br />Events typically have hashtags, as well. For example, the hashtag for South by SouthWest is #sxsw. Repeat events often append the year - #sxsw10 for the 2010 edition, for example. The hashtag for International Confex is #confex (hashtags are not case sensitive). You should choose a hashtag that is unique and relatively short (ideally less than 8 characters), so that it won’t compete with your message when keeping under the 140 character limit. You should also limit the number of hashtags to three per message. <br /><br /><b>Hint: </b>to make sure your desired hashtag isn’t already in use, visit http://search.twitter.com/ and search for it. If it shows up in searches, someone has already claimed it for another purpose.<br /><br />Some event management solutions have already incorporated Twitter and other social networking services into their technology, making it easier to leverage them when marketing or promoting events. Look for capabilities such as the ability to include Twitter widgets on event websites and registration pages. This will enable attendees to go directly to their Twitter accounts from your property, so they can tell their followers that they just registered or are interested in your event. Another important capability serves up suggested phrases to users when tweeting from your event’s feed, which ensures your message is more controlled even in this “word of mouth” activity.<br /><br />Twitter really comes into play if your event has a Mobile application. Any comprehensive mobile application will deliver an event’s Twitter feed and send notification of the post to an attendee’s Smart phone or tablet - providing meeting professionals a direct, unobstructed channel of communication with participants before, during and after an event.<br /><br />Twitter can be a valuable marketing and communication tool for any event, as long as you develop practices and incorporate technology to effectively manage the information stream on this unique social network that demands its own strategy.</p><div style="clear:both;"></div> </article> <article> <h1>Epic Marketing Fail Playlist</h1> <p>Anonymous — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 18:14:00 GMT</p> <p>We were privileged yesterday at Certain Software to be at the launching point - literally - of what can only be described as an Epic Marketing Fail and a lesson for event organizers everywhere. Our HQ is near the Moscone Center, home to the Game Developers Conference. As chronicled excellently <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/03/02/BAU11I2LER.DTL&feed=rss.news">here</a>, game developer THQ decided to attach postcards to red balloons to promote a new game and launch them simultaneously into the gray skies of the City by the Bay. The game is a futuristic game in which the United States is invaded by troops from North Korea. The balloon-drop took place at lunchtime following a mock rally against the game's simulation of North Korea's regime. Aside from conference members who chose to attend this mock rally, no one knew what the balloon drop was. But, the Twitterverse and MSM (mainstream media) started picking it up very quickly.<br /><br />It was quite a captivating sight I have to say, and we also got to learn which Certain employees are too young to know the 1984 Nena classic "99 Red Balloons". <br /><br />You can guess where this is going.<br /><br />Pictures started to fly around the Internet of balloons in the Bay, near waterfronts, and on streets. People wondered about the environmental damage from all that latex near animals and in beautiful scenes that make this town so charming and attractive for so many conventions and visitors. The court of public opinion had decided: this was a baaaad idea.<br /><br />Later, the press picked up on some mitigating factoids: the biodegradable balloons, the clean-up crew, the appearance of thought beforehand. Their publicity event was a major backfire, regardless of how things turn out. If this game - whatever it's called - receives a spike in sales, there's no justice in the marketing world.<br /><br />So what lessons are there for event organizers? I offer the following three lessons that apply very closely to our world of events and meetings. As a bonus, here’s the 80s song that will help your remember the point:<br /><br />1) Know your audience. THQ’s customers were not the audience; San Franciscans were. It’s great to have innovative, fun ideas peppered throughout your event, especially for incentive events, longer events, and association meetings. When organizing events, keep the sensibilities of the attendees firmly in mind. It doesn't take an aeronautical engineer to figure out that pollution and litter from corporate interests will be cast negatively in the City of San Francisco, a highly environmentally conscious part of the world. THQ, located just north of Los Angeles, might have figured that out. <b>Song: </b><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4P_5EWjVNr4">"Do You Really want To Hurt Me?"</a> by Culture Club.<br /><br />2) Forget your narrative. Every organization holding an event has a story into which the event fits. Perhaps it’s innovation and new offerings for a corporate sales meeting, or portraying an aura of expertise and excellence for a private equity conference. THQ’s narrative was that they offered cool new games that could attract and keep your attention and felt that the balloon launch supported that narrative. But what seemed not to happen was a look at the narrative someone else would create. Just step back and think about floating postcards on balloons in a city - and try to imagine the narrative someone else will create and spread. In the office it took us 30 seconds to see the environmental angle. So for event organizers, realize that the story you’re pushing may not be the story others are buying when adding content to your event. <b>Song:</b> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3khTntOxX-k">"Neverending Story</a>" by Limahl.<br /><br />3) Encourage dissent. Good event organizing balances creativity and restraint. I’ll be on creativity 9 times out of 10, but Balloongate can provide us with some lessons on encouraging both. You can imagine how this went down in the planning sessions: "OK, at the conference, we'll launch 10 zillion balloons with promos attached, and everyone will see them and wonder that it's about. Let’s make them red to be seen further. Eventually, people will get them and tell their friends about it. It'll be great!!!". Someone in that room was thinking "This is insane" and didn't speak up. Or they weren't comfortable enough to voice an opinion. Event organizing takes a team. Early on, discourage groupthink and encourage ideas and multiple opinions. The voice of dissent could just be the one that stops you from career suicide. The later stage- execution- is when everyone should be on the same page making sure the event runs smoothly. <b>Song:</b> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znWwKSn-xTY">"Listen like Thieves"</a> by INXS.</p><div style="clear:both;"></div> </article> <article> <h1>Leveraging Facebook and LinkedIn at Your Events</h1> <p>Louise Miller — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 20:41:00 GMT</p> <p>Social networks have become a necessary communication tool for meeting planners worldwide. While people attend face-to-face events to network, social networks provide attendees a place to congregate and interact prior to the meeting and stay in touch long after the event is over. In addition and most importantly, social networks can help build attendance at events through viral marketing and word of mouth.</p> <h3><b>Viral Marketing</b></h3> <p>Social networks can help get the word out about your event at little or no cost beyond the hours invested. Marketing programs on social networks have some important advantages over traditional marketing:</p> <p><b>Exponential Effect: </b>Remember that old shampoo commercial, where a woman says she told two friends about Faberge, “and they told two friends, and they told two friends…”? That’s a classic example of the ability of viral marketing to amplify a message</p> <p><b>Trusted Source: </b>People are more likely to listen to and trust something they hear from a friend than from a paid advertisement. Viral marketing is “advertising you can’t buy”</p> <p><b>Mobile Applications: </b>These networks have mobile apps that deliver your event information immediately into the hands of your contacts and attendees, ensuring that your events are kept top of mind and stand out from the competition.</p> <p><br />Viral marketing tactics on established properties such as Facebook and LinkedIn have become an important and necessary facet of event promotion. Here are some simple ways to start marketing your event or meeting on these social networks. <i><br /></i></p> <h3><i>LinkedIn</i></h3> <p>LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com) is considered the most “professional” of the social networks and provides several avenues for building a viral marketing campaign.<br /><br />First, you can create a dedicated page on LinkedIn for your event where attend¬ees indicate they are “Attending”, “Interested” or “Not Attending”. If they choose “Attending”, a message will appear in each attendee’s Feed letting their contacts know. Attendees will also be able to leave messages for one another as “Com¬ments” on the page (which will also show up in their Feed).<br /><br />Creating an Event page on LinkedIn is free: simply sign-in with your LinkedIn account, click <b>Events</b> from the left-hand navigation bar under <b>Applications</b>, then click the <b>Add an Event</b> tab that will appear at the top of the page. <br /><br />A second way to leverage LinkedIn’s viral marketing potential is through LinkedIn Groups (http://learn.linkedin.com/groups). LinkedIn Groups are topic-based sub-communities within the larger LinkedIn community. When people join a LinkedIn Group, they generally consent to receive messages posted to that group as e-mail, so Groups can be an effective way of getting a message out to targeted, relevant people.<br /><br />To get your message out to a LinkedIn Group:</p> <ul> <li>Sign in or create an account if you don’t already have one</li> <li>Find and join groups relevant to your event by visiting the LinkedIn Groups Directory: http://www.linkedin.com/groupsDirectory. Also, view the Groups that people involved in your event belong to</li> <li>Click “Start a Discussion” and enter your message</li> </ul> <p><b>Important:</b> Many Groups have rules restricting advertising messages, so read any introductory messages and learn the etiquette before jumping in.<br /><br />Even Groups that don’t explicitly disallow advertising won’t appreciate “spam”, and you don’t want to alienate potential attendees. Be sure that you only send your message to directly relevant Groups and that you phrase your message in terms of sharing information, rather than marketing your event.</p> <h3><i>Facebook </i></h3> <p>Like LinkedIn, Facebook (www.facebook.com) has “Events” pages that your attendees can join. When they do, Facebook adds a message to their News Feed letting all their friends know they are attending, a great viral marketing mechanism. <br /><br />While Facebook generally is regarded as more “social” and “personal” to LinkedIn’s “professional” feel, Facebook has a more active membership and a better developed News Feed feature, meaning that even for professionally-oriented events, it can be a more effective way to spread your message.<br /><br />To create an event on Facebook:</p> <ul> <li>Sign in to Facebook or create an account if you don’t already have one.</li> <li>Find the "Events" box on the right-hand column of your home page. Type your event information into the "<i>What are you planning?</i>" field, a form will open. </li> <li>Enter the event detail and then click “<i>Create Event</i>”.</li> <li>Once created, you can click “<i>Edit Event</i>” to change any of the event details or invite more guests.</li> <li>Don’t forget to “<i>Select Guests</i>” to inform and invite your contacts to the event.</li> </ul> <p>Facebook and LinkedIn can function as additional online communities beyond the traditional event website and these social networks should be an important part of the marketing mix for every meeting. Event management solutions that are integrated with leading social networks provide meeting professional with automated tools that remove the burden of manually posting to these feeds, while ensuring better management of all viral marketing programs.</p><div style="clear:both;"></div> </article> <article> <h1>Strategic Meetings Management (SMM) Series: How to Get Started</h1> <p>ggleason@certain.com — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 19:29:00 GMT</p> <p>A well-designed <a href="http://www.certain.com/products/event-meetings-management/strategic-meeting-management-smmp.html">Strategic Meetings Management</a> (SMM) program can help an organization mitigate risk by encouraging or requiring better compliance with internal and external policies, while providing more visibility into the processes and spending associated with each event. An SMM program enables meeting professionals to realize cost savings and more value at every event through process efficiencies and approved procurement strategies. When planning an SMM program, begin slowly and consider a few things as you start down the SMM path.</p> <p>Some SMM program implementations fail because the problem is too big to tackle all at once and management’s patience expires before the program becomes effective. Once your organization decides to roll out an SMM program; it is critical to establish goals, priorities, milestones, and expectations throughout the implementation process. Also, don’t become discouraged when you hear that a good SMM program typically requires at least two to three years before it becomes established within a large enterprise. <br /><br />Here are two areas to focus on during the beginning phase of implementing an SMM program.<br /><br /><b>How big is the problem?</b></p> <ul> <li>Establish an area on the company Intranet for meetings, and post a page explaining the initial SMMP goals, new best practices, and a Meeting Request Form</li> <li>Require all events over 10 people or $10,000 to be registered and receive a unique Meeting Id</li> <li>Do not implement a formal review/approval process, yet – simply register events (even if they were in the past) and collect basic information</li> </ul> <p><b>Control Your Risk Immediately</b></p> <ul> <li>Work with your legal department and/or an outside sourcing specialist to create a standard contract template for meetings and post this on your SMM Intranet</li> <li>An advanced SMM program has pre-negotiated contracts with major hotel chains and a process specifying required and optional clauses for non-standard contract negotiation</li> <li>If practical, SMM meeting professionals should review all non-standard event contracts, otherwise at least post a standard contract with explanation of key clauses so that information can be leveraged by all key stakeholders</li> <li>Store meeting contracts in a central location and associate each contract with its Meeting (by unique Id)</li> </ul> <p>Once each meeting has a unique Meeting ID and all contracts are in a central location, you are ready to move on to the next phase of implementing an SMM program: standardizing processes and centralizing contracts.<br /><br />One of the most important factors regarding SMM is that it can be divided into different stages which allow the time and flexibility needed to adapt your chosen solution to the way the organization works, while developing best practices you want to follow for each event or meeting. The efficiencies and cost savings realized make exploring SMM worth exploring. <br /><br /> The next few blogs follow logical divisions in the SMM process that can be used as a guideline and will review where to focus when considering a formal program for your events organization. As you read more over the next few weeks, let me know what you think at Ggleason@certain.com.<br /><br />To learn more about Certain Software's Strategic Meetings Management Solutions, please visit <a href="http://www.certain.com">www.certain.com</a>.</p><div style="clear:both;"></div> </article> <article> <h1>Strategic Meeting Management (SMM) - A Blueprint For Success</h1> <p>Guest Blogger — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 18:10:00 GMT</p> <p><b>By Tim Brown, CEO, <a href="http://www.meetingsites.net/">Meeting Sites Resource</a></b></p> <p>Although SMM (Strategic Meeting Management) was launched in 2004, this business initiative really gained momentum in 2008 as the U.S. felt the impact of a deep, global recession. As with any economic downturn, most organizations look for cost cutting measures, which place a focus on meetings, conventions and events…and meeting planners and departments. </p> <p><br />By industry standards, the <a href="http://www.certain.com/products/event-meetings-management/strategic-meeting-management-smmp.html">Strategic Meeting Management</a> (SMM) definition is:<i> “Strategic Meetings Management is a disciplined approach to managing enterprise-wide meeting and event activities, processes, suppliers and data in order to achieve measurable business objectives that align with an organizations’ strategic goals/vision, and delivers value in the form of quantitative savings, risk mitigation, and service quality.” </i><br /><br />Okay, I agree the SMM business model does seem a bit overwhelming. The simple truth is when meeting planning teams conduct their own company evaluation and needs assessment, create an action plan, get management’s buy-in and carefully prioritize and launch these strategic meeting management solutions, clearly there will be powerful business (and career) results.<br /><br />Whether meeting and event responsibilities are enterprise wide or focus on headquarters, a specific department or division, it is important to embrace this “accountability and value” business model. SMM is a huge paradigm shift and it is important for planning teams to understand the key components and principals for implementation. </p> <p><b>Why SMM matters:</b></p> <ul> <li>Over 50% of CEO’s feel their organization is not getting maximum ROI from their meetings and events</li> <li>Over 40% of CFO’s are not satisfied with their company’s travel / meetings spend management</li> <li>49% of planners feel pressure to enhance meeting results, measurable metrics and ROI</li> <li>43% of planners implementing SMM do not feel they are getting maximum results / leveraging spend.</li> </ul> <p>Although there are plenty of white papers, webinars, workshops and articles on this topic, there is no “one size all” business plan ready for implementation. <br /><br />Let me highlight the key components that will provide a framework on the steps needed to get a successful SMM program defined, approved and launched. The key components to build your action plan (and ultimately, business plan) include:</p> <ul> <li>Reassess senior management meeting and event vision, goals and objectives</li> <li>Identify enterprise wide meeting and event planners, administrators and stakeholders (and their meeting activity / processes / goals / skill sets)</li> <li>Meeting needs assessment / meeting approval process / master meeting and event calendar</li> <li>Hotel site search / evaluation / value based negotiations process</li> <li>Custom hotel contract process (addresses all hotel contract components, value added concessions, hotel fees and surcharges, performance clauses and legal department liability language)</li> <li>Meeting and event planning processes, procedures, attendee communications / learning, on-site meeting management</li> <li>Preferred Supplier Program (services, pricing, evaluation, agreements, SMM outcomes)</li> <li>Hotel / supplier deposit and payment process / reconciliation</li> <li>Meeting budgets / variance (by meeting)</li> <li>Transparent metrics to define and measure success (standard and custom financial reports, including cost savings / risk reduction report, by meeting and enterprise wide spend breakdown). </li> <li>SMM implementation / compliance / training / collaboration / stakeholder feedback </li> <li>Post meeting evaluation / learner outcomes / meeting value (ROI / ROE)</li> <li>Robust technology that drives SMM (24/7 access to current / past meeting activity / management and financial reports)</li> </ul> <p>There are many components and variables to a successful SMM plan and implementation, however, it is important to highlight four essential cornerstones to SMM success:</p> <ol> <li><b>Organization Analysis / Action Plan</b><br />Generally, it’s the classic “who, what, when, where, why” meetings and events analysis, however, it can sometimes be difficult to mine information. Get meeting history and feedback from all meeting stakeholders, including how meetings are approved, planned and specific meeting budgets / spend. Accounting / finance can help track people who have requested deposits and payments to hotels and industry suppliers.</li> <li><b>Senior Management Buy-In</b> <br />Before presenting your SMM plan to senior management, do your homework; understand the organizational structure and how it works. Build your business acumen; review the company’s website, annual report, mission and vision statements and any strategic initiatives recently announced. Build a strong business case with compelling reasons to implement an SMM plan. Be realistic with your implementation timelines and specific metrics to define and measure success.</li> <li><b>SMM Compliance</b><br />The reality of SMM is the need for visibility of meetings, enterprise wide and communicating with anyone who has their hands (or fingerprints) on meeting and event activity is essential for success. Let’s face it, in a decentralized environment it can be difficult to get everyone on board…some don’t want to lose control and others don’t want to lose their perks. It’s important to identify full and part-time planners and get feedback on their role in the meeting and event planning process and their recommendations on how to improve processes, procedures and outcomes. Cooperation early on can minimize turf wars and accelerate your SMM success. </li> <li><b>SMM Technology</b><br />Quick access to quality data is essential in driving an effective SMM. Robust technology will improve processes and team productivity, streamline sourcing, provide data for hotel and supplier evaluation, deliver meeting consolidation / leveraged spend, preferred suppliers and a multitude of budgeting and financial reports, including cost savings / risk reduction by meeting and breakdown of total spend. SMM technology can also integrate many other meeting functions, including meeting registration / housing. It is important to understand what technology tools are currently being utilized and what technology capabilities are needed to deliver strategic outcomes. </li> </ol> <p>Meetings are big investments and a carefully designed and implemented SMM plan can save an organization 12% to 24% annually, which is certainly a powerful way to get senior management’s attention and support. Once an <a href="http://www.certain.com/products/event-meetings-management/strategic-meeting-management-smmp.html">SMM</a> plan is implemented, the process requires continuous evaluation, stakeholder collaboration / feedback and “mid-course corrections” to improve processes, procedures and value based results. <br /><br />So, whether you’re sitting on the sidelines contemplating an SMM plan, wanting to demonstrate real meeting value to senior management, or have implemented SMM, but want to conduct an “audit” for maximum performance, the time is now. Participating as a driver of this essential business initiative can have a big impact on your organization…and your career!<br /><br /><i>Tim Brown is CEO at Meeting Sites Resource, a global specialist in meeting site research and hotel contract negotiations. MSR also provides professional meeting support services, meeting education, SMM consulting and advanced meeting technology solutions. </i><br /><br />For a complimentary copy of Tim’s “SMM Action Plan / Checklist,” contact him at tbrown@meetingsites.net. Visit the website at <a href="http://www.meetingsites.net/">http://www.meetingsites.net/</a></p> <p> </p><div style="clear:both;"></div> </article> <article> <h1>Improving Events With Post-Event Analysis</h1> <p>tthomas — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 19:43:00 GMT</p> <p>From a meeting professional's perspective, all meetings follow a very similar process before, during and after the event. While the tasks and processes may be the same from meeting to meeting, meeting professionals know that they must constantly evaluate and improve upon the way they plan, execute and manage events in order to stay competitive, improve productivity and increase the chances for success in the future. This is especially true for repeat events where many involved – planners, executives, suppliers, etc - can become complacent and inefficient if things are done the same way year after year.</p> <p>After each meeting, key stakeholders in the event ecosystem should quickly review everything from overall strategy to vendor sourcing and event spend to data analysis and post-event reporting. Once the analysis is complete, planners should make the following changes before moving on to the next event:</p> <ul> <li>Update the workflow used with new “best practices” and lessons learned</li> <li>Make a copy of the old event web site and registration form, so you can set it up as a place holder for the next event. Use a simple “Get Ready” or “Save the Date” message with any information known about next year’s event</li> <li>Review the performance of each vendor used at an event and make any changes needed to your stable of preferred suppliers to ensure the most reliable ones are used at future meetings</li> <li>Analyze any consolidated event spend information to negotiate discounts and better rates with preferred vendors and suppliers</li> </ul> <p>Certain Software can make the task of analyzing every facet of an event easier with automated post-event reports and easy access to supplier contracts and agreements in one convenient place. As your process for reviewing and controlling policies at events become more involved, you may want to consider implementing a formal <a href="http://www.certain.com/products/event-meetings-management/strategic-meeting-management-smmp.html">Strategic Meetings Management</a> (SMM) program. An SMM program in your organization can provide visibility across all events and will enforce process and vendor controls to reduce risk and impose company policies at every event and meeting.</p><div style="clear:both;"></div> </article> <article> <h1>Event Payment Processing: What You Need to Know</h1> <p>Anonymous — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 00:46:00 GMT</p> <p>Since <a href="http://www.certain.com/company/press-news/certain-software-passes-payment-card-industry-pci-level-1-compliance-audit-for-fourth-consecutive-year.html">Certain Software announced Payment Card Industry (PCI) Level 1 Compliance</a> for the 4th consecutive year, I thought it would be a good idea to write a blog about how you can help keep your event payment processes secure.<br /><br />Collecting fees from attendees, sponsors or exhibitors can be a good way to recover costs; however, payment processing can add more complexity to any event. The registration process should accommodate the expectations of your audience and offer payment choices appropriate to the type of meeting or event. There are many payment options available today, such as:</p> <ul> <li>Credit cards </li> <li>Debit / ACH / e-Checking </li> <li>Check by mail </li> <li>Purchase order / invoice </li> <li>Payment plans </li> <li>Other methods – Paypal, Bill Me Later, etc.</li> </ul> <p><b>Handle payments securely every time</b><br />Regardless of the payment method, financial transactions involve the exchange of sensitive information between the attendee and event. Planners must ensure that privacy safeguards are in place so that all information is kept safe and secure. Events are fraud targets, and the loss of credit card numbers or other financial information can be embarrassing or financially disastrous to an organization. Key security issues to consider include:</p> <ul> <li><b>Never include credit card or bank information in any correspondence</b> – if a hotel needs credit card guarantees from attendees, have them collect the information in their secure system. Alternately, pass financial information via a hyperlink that goes directly to a secure, password-protected system.</li> <li><b>Don’t store credit card numbers</b> – use systems where the credit card or bank information is only used during the original payment transaction. If the sensitive data is not stored, it cannot be stolen.</li> <li><b>Encrypt secure information </b>– when you have to store secure information, be sure that it is both encrypted and access-controlled.</li> <li><b>Control access </b>– secure access to sensitive data using unique logins, passwords, and employee background and credit checks.</li> <li><b>Verification</b> – discounts on credit card processing fees are sometimes available if you verify information about the credit card owner, such as postal code or address. Using these can lower your costs and keep your transactions more secure.</li> </ul> <p><b>PCI Compliance - accept credit cards online, without headaches</b><br />Today, many technology vendors offer registration systems with integrated credit card processing. Look for a solution that has “PCI Level 1 Compliance” issued by the Payment Card Industry Security Standard Council. PCI Level 1 compliance is the highest level of compliance for securely collecting credit card payments over the internet and is intended for companies with the capacity to handle over 6 million transactions a year. As a meeting planner, choosing a PCI compliant solution is crucial to success. Not only are there various penalties associated with using a non-PCI compliant vendor, but access can also be terminated by Credit Card companies if the payment process isn’t secure. The most important aspect of using a PCI compliant vendor is ensuring your customer’s data is safe and protected.</p> <p><a href="http://www.certain.com">Certain Software</a> has been a pioneer in driving the adoption of security standards throughout the online registration process since the company’s inception and has achieved PCI Level 1 compliance every year since 2007. Ensuring a high level of security in all Certain products is a fundamental company principle and an essential facet for the success of our customers and every event they organize and manage. <a href="http://www.certain.com/security">Click here</a> to learn more about the secure meeting and event payment processing solutions available from Certain Software.</p><div style="clear:both;"></div> </article> <article> <h1>Event Housing Best Practices</h1> <p>Louise Miller — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 18:10:00 GMT</p> <p>Whether large or small, face-to-face meetings with a disparate audience have housing budgets that account for two-thirds of the total event’s cost. Experienced planners understand that the hotel contract represents the greatest risk to an event’s bottom-line and/or the biggest opportunity for controlling costs and establishing best practices that can be leveraged throughout an organization.</p> <p><b>Utilize the Hotel Rooming System (When Appropriate) </b><br />Smaller meetings and events may want to leverage the hotel’s group reservations website for housing, especially when attendees are directly paying for their rooms. When utilizing the hotel reservation system; event websites and registration forms should be completely integrated via hyperlinks and custom messaging, while planners should have report-level access to the hotel’s group res¬ervation system for efficient tracking of attendee activity and room reservations. </p> <p><b>Manage Hotel Blocks Efficiently </b><br />If an organization has signed a contract committing to a large number of rooms, creating and managing the entire room reservation process may be the best way to control risk of attrition. Employ these best practices when housing is being offered at an event: <br />• Ensure <b>housing reservations</b> are part of the <b><a href="http://www.certain.com/products/events-registration-attendee-management/online-event-registration.html">event registration</a> process </b><br />• Offer a <b>registration discount</b> to attendees staying in contracted hotels <br />• <b>Monitor hotel rates</b> and re-negotiate rooming contracts when published rates are lower elsewhere<br />• During <b>event check-in</b>, ask attendees if they are staying at a local hotel and, if so, which one. Then, compare the survey results to your registration list.<br />• <b>Ask hotels for their guest list</b> and compare that to the event attendance list to see which attendees booked around the block.<br /><br /><b>Sharing Rooms without Creating a Mess</b><br />Placing two people in one room can save half of an organization’s housing costs, which could amount to saving a third of the overall budget for an event. Sharing rooms can also signifi¬cantly reduce the event’s carbon footprint. While sharing rooms isn’t appropriate for every audience, it can be a valuable part of many event experiences:<br />• <b>Under-18 audiences </b>– place 2-4 children per room or 1 adult and two kids<br />• <b>Young adults </b>– “New hire” orientation events may intentionally pair people from different offices or regions in order to encour¬age interaction among attendees and alignment throughout the organization<br />• <b> Employee-only events </b>– When the company is paying the bill, then there is more justification to enforce room-sharing<br /><br />While sharing rooms can save money, it can create logistical headaches if not managed efficiently. Here are some things to consider when setting up room sharing policies and procedures:<br />• <b>Roommate requests</b> – can people request roommates by name, and what is the policy for the selected person to approve the request<br />• <b>Matching criteria</b> – typically gender and smoking preference are used as matching criteria, but arrival/departure dates and demo¬graphic information may also be relevant<br />• <b>Handling exceptions</b> – the roommate policy needs to be flexible, for example, with two married employees or those with special needs<br /><br /><b>Manage the Hotel Relationship Professionally</b><br />The event planner should maintain a friendly, but professional relationship with their hotel representative in order to ensure open communication and as a way to keep everything running smoothly from pre-registration to final check out. Here are some things to remember when managing the hotel relationship:<br />• <b> Deliver reports</b> to the host and hotel on time, as stated in contracts<br />• <b>Encourage early registration</b> (via discounts, reminder emails, con¬tests) in order to gauge your room pickup early enough to release rooms without penalty or add them as needed<br />• <b>Compare pre-registration to previous years’ events</b> – if your au¬dience is similar, then their registration habits will typically follow patterns that indicate if the event will have more or fewer attend¬ees than in the past<br />• <b>Don’t take no for an answer</b> from registration companies and hotels that are being paid for your business. Delays in delivering services, equipment, registration lists or booking reports can be costly and indicate larger problems. Determine any problems early and resolve them before the meeting, if possible. <br /><br />Event housing can be managed efficiently by planners and offered to attendees seamlessly during the registration process with a comprehensive event and meeting management solution. Certain Software offers an innovative suite of software solutions for meeting and event professionals to help streamline housing processes and control hotel costs. Certain Software provides companies with total visibility into their event and meetings programs and helps organizations truly understand the business value of their event lifecycle. <a href="http://www.certain.com/products/events-accomodation-travel/travel-accommodation-housing-online-registration.html">Click here</a> to learn more about Certain’s Housing and Travel Management solutions. </p> <p>To learn more about Certain Software, please visit us at <a href="http://www.certain.com">www.certain.com</a>.</p><div style="clear:both;"></div> </article> <article> <h1>12 Steps to Selecting the Perfect Site for Your Meeting</h1> <p>Guest Blogger — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 17:53:00 GMT</p> <p><b>By Jennifer Brown, CMP, President, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.meetingsites.net/">Meeting Sites Resource</a></b></p> <p>Successfully sourcing a hotel for a meeting or event requires planners to elevate their skills in many areas, such as stakeholder feedback, negotiations, budgeting and project management. Researching and evaluating sites also takes considerable time, however, careful analysis is essential to prevent cost overruns and delays at your meeting. Strategic planners must look beyond “dates, rates, and space” in order to evaluate hotels and assure an environment that will lead to a successful meeting with happy attendees (and ROI).</p> <p>Meetings are big investments and following is a 12-step process that will help assure successful venue selection for your next event, conference or incentive. </p> <p>1. Assess meeting needs – Meeting objectives/feedback from all stakeholders, determine purpose, what must be achieved/learner outcomes and attendee take-aways. </p> <p>2. Gather information – Meeting agenda and requirements, number of attendees, sleeping room block, F&B functions, location/access, meeting and event space, meeting objectives. Develop meeting history including annual attendance, arrival and departure patterns, previous hotel and location by year. Calculate actual spend on sleeping rooms, food and beverage, A/V/production, business center, etc. Evaluate projected vs. actual budget expenditures and variance.</p> <p>3. Define attendees – Develop a profile of your attendees, including their demographics, where attendees are coming from, their expectations/ learner outcomes and any special needs for attendees, guests, VIP’s and speakers.<br /><br />4. Consider additional requirements - Weather (related to time of year), accessibility (by air and ground) and special needs (resort, golf), air lift/distance from airports should be defined early to ensure the venue is suitable.<br /><br />5. Determine the budget – How much can you spend and can you be flexible with either the budget or event activities? Evaluate all budget line items and conduct side by side comparisons, by hotel and suppliers.<br /><br />6. Design the meeting specification – Create a summary of all meeting and event requirements and rank each item based on the agenda and data collected. Will there be a general session, if so, how many attending, size/ceiling height, number of breakouts, audio visual requirements (bring own A/V or rent), dine-arounds, off-site/leisure activities and entertainment? <br /><br />7. Create an RFP – A strategic RFP will breakdown all day by day meeting agenda components, including set-up/use days/tear down of meeting and event space/A/V requiremenets, social events, minimum square footage/ceiling height for all space including office/storage/speaker ready rooms. Include name of organization, contact information, name and purpose of meeting, dates (or additional dates/pattern options), meeting history, special requirements, i.e., golf, spa, off site events).<br /><br />8. Begin site research – Planners can use one or more of the following options to find the perfect match: </p> <ul> <li>Site research company</li> <li>National and regional hotel sales offices </li> <li>Convention and Visitors Bureaus (CVB’s) </li> <li>Internet site search technology </li> </ul> <p><br />9. Collect site proposals – Each site should provide: </p> <ul> <li>A detailed description of the number and type of accommodations available</li> <li>Meeting space floor plans with dimensions/capacities </li> <li>List of technical and support services, including available equipment and costs</li> <li>Tentative meeting room assignments, by day</li> <li>Complete description of property’s restaurants, amenities, facilities, services, entertainment and shopping</li> <li>Information about insurance, licenses, taxes/service charges, beverage control, union contracts, hotel fees and surcharges</li> <li>Food and beverage menus/guaranteed costs</li> </ul> <p>10. Narrow your selections – Narrow the list to top hotel candidates in each city. Conduct side by side evaluation of meeting and event space/logistics, hotel budgets (room rates, food and beverage functions, A/V, tax, service charge, etc.).</p> <p>11. Conduct site inspection – Conduct site inspections to the hotels that meet all stated RFP criteria and budget guidelines. Have all meeting and event space assignments for each hotel and hotel floor plans detailing all space, location and size. Utilize a site inspection checklist for each hotel for post site-inspection evaluation.<br /><br />12. Site inspection alternatives – If you cannot visit hotels, set-up a web based “virtual site” to review all sleeping room and suite categories, meeting and event space assignments and flow/logistics, hotel facilities, amenities and dining, shopping and entertainment in the immediate area<br /><br />While the site research and hotel evaluation process can be overwhelming, these steps will keep you on the right track and assure that you select “the perfect site.” Make sure you maintain and organize all hotel information as this can be a resource for future meeting needs. </p> <p><br /><i>Jennifer Brown, CMP, is President of <a target="_blank" href="http://www.meetingsites.net/">Meeting Sites Resource</a>, a global specialist in meeting site research and hotel contract negotiations. MSR also offers professional meeting support services, meeting education, SMM consulting and advanced technology solutions. </i></p> <p><i>For a complimentary copy of MSR’s Site Inspection Checklist, contact Jennifer at jbrown@meetingsites.net.</i></p><div style="clear:both;"></div> </article> </main></body></html>