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Meet The Planners

August 3rd, 2009 By: Arielle Vaughan

How Meeting Planners get things Done

Planning, processing, organizing, doing, reviewing – business owners and managers often feel too busy to take the time to carefully plan their meetings and conferences. Here are some tips on how professional planners do what they do so well:

As with any project or task, planning is the most important stage of putting your meeting together. It can seem difficult to clear all the clutter, but taking a deep breath and setting your priorities, concept, and theme as far in advance as possible will save you time and headaches in the future. We understand that you are in the business of being steadfast and accurate in preparation and execution, with finite time to deliver. Need help tuning out all the “noise”? Below are some resourceful websites and links that you may find helpful in your never-ending quest to manage your work-flow and be as beneficial as possible to your pocketbook:

These two hotel websites work in conjunction with one another. They will help you search either small rooms by blocks of 4 or less, to blocks up to 1000. They’ll also index other websites to find the lowest rates for hotels:

Airfare Helpers: Bing Travel has an interesting predictor of whether flight prices will rise or fall. It will also compare and contrast many different sponsored sites. Booking Buddy, another site, has a “deal” tab on its homepage that can bring up specials online under different categories. Yapta has a very useful “tracking feature” for fares.

Event Magazines can be a bountiful source for tips on planning, articles on past events, and pictures – they’re not just for industry insiders. Some even have great “green” sections. All three of these publications have a smorgasbord of articles on many topics:

Going green is great way to boost your PR, and it’s surprisingly easy. Here are sites with tips, tricks, and resources:

Finally, some simple checklists that you can use to ensure your planning goes smoothly, and no details are forgotten:

Remember, the most important part of planning your event, and seeing your vision come to fruition, is to begin planning as early as you can – this will allow you to find the right vendors, venue, transportation, and accommodations within your budget. Check back soon for a complete guide on making your meeting green!

About the Author

Arielle Vaughan
Arielle Vaughan

Arielle Vaughan is a writing contributor and administrator for the Bently Reserve. She incorporates her love of writing and singing into the public relations world.

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