Planning a meeting can be challenging. Finding the right location, inviting the correct attendees, incorporating your branding and choosing a theme are all aspects of planning a meeting that may not necessarily be as simple as project management. The minor details and unexpected issues that may arise during an event are all reasons to have an experienced meeting planner coordinating your event. If you are deciding whether or not to hire a meeting planner for your next event, then consider these six reasons why it is essential to your success:
1. It is HARD to keep up with modern technology!
Every day, a new tool appears to make your event more cost effective, better organized or more engaging. Technology allows us to appear in front of the trends. But how do you keep up??? An experienced meeting planner stays on top of all of the trends and knows when to use the newest technology. They also know when NOT to use it. “Newest” and “Most Reliable” often times do not co-exist. An experienced meeting planner will know which technology is rock solid and ready to debut at your event.
2. They ensure full brand awareness at your event
A meeting planner not only works hard to build a theme around your event, but they also work to ensure that your brand is properly showcased throughout the entire guest experience. Incorporating good branding from the moment your event begins to the moment it ends is a crucial part of any corporate meeting. It may seem like common sense, but it can become overwhelming and even difficult to remember to incorporate your branding according to corporate guidelines. Hiring a meeting planner to take care of these things for you will ensure that your guests are fully immersed in the experience your brand has to offer.
3. Choosing the right culinary option isn’t as simple as it seems Planning your menu in today’s climate is no longer as easy as contacting a catering service and choosing chicken or fish. Food allergies, religious factors, and other reasons may leave a meeting attendee high and dry if the right precautions aren’t taken. Meeting planners not only anticipate the needs of their attendees, but they reach out and confirm what sort of allergies, etc., to expect during their meetings. Furthermore, an experienced meeting planner knows where to go in order to accommodate these requests.
Planning your menu in today’s climate is no longer as easy as contacting a catering service and choosing chicken or fish. Food allergies, religious factors, and other reasons may leave a meeting attendee high and dry if the right precautions aren’t taken. Meeting planners not only anticipate the needs of their attendees, but they reach out and confirm what sort of allergies, etc., to expect during their meetings. Furthermore, an experienced meeting planner knows where to go in order to accommodate these requests.
4. Meeting planners can spend up to two weeks on the road According to
According to Meetings Imagined, not only can meeting planners spend up to two weeks on the road, but the average meeting can last up to three days. While this may not seem like a huge chunk of time in the grand scheme of things, for an employee who has other responsibilities to complete, three days takes away quite a bit of time that could have otherwise been spent on completing these tasks. The time-consuming nature of this career makes complete devotion an important factor.
5. Audience engagement can be greatly increased when a meeting planner is involved Having a meeting planner to run your company’s event can greatly increase your audience engagement because they will work to make this a much bigger part of the overall presentation. A meeting planner can help you build a plan for the presentation that will ensure a high level of interaction and participation from your guests. This is a very important factor when it comes to large corporate events, like a product launch. Having the audience fully engaged will give you and your company a better chance at having a successful meeting or launch event.
Having a meeting planner to run your company’s event can greatly increase your audience engagement because they will work to make this a much bigger part of the overall presentation. A meeting planner can help you build a plan for the presentation that will ensure a high level of interaction and participation from your guests. This is a very important factor when it comes to large corporate events, like a product launch. Having the audience fully engaged will give you and your company a better chance at having a successful meeting or launch event.
6. They have connections and the professional insight for the job Both finding a venue and choosing the right vendors present their own sets of unique challenges. Keeping the number of attendees in mind, incorporating the theme of the event, and incorporating company branding are all pieces to a much larger puzzle that a meeting planner must assemble. While each meeting or task certainly is challenging, meeting planners have their own template for planning a new meeting, and their connections are an important part of this template. Knowing the right connection for the area you are servicing may not seem very tough, but considering how often meeting planners travel, an understanding of several areas or getting to know new areas quickly may not be feasible. Meeting planners understand how to adapt to each area, and in doing so, create contacts quickly and easily.
Both finding a venue and choosing the right vendors present their own sets of unique challenges. Keeping the number of attendees in mind, incorporating the theme of the event, and incorporating company branding are all pieces to a much larger puzzle that a meeting planner must assemble. While each meeting or task certainly is challenging, meeting planners have their own template for planning a new meeting, and their connections are an important part of this template. Knowing the right connection for the area you are servicing may not seem very tough, but considering how often meeting planners travel, an understanding of several areas or getting to know new areas quickly may not be feasible. Meeting planners understand how to adapt to each area, and in doing so, create contacts quickly and easily.
On top of having the right connections, meeting planners also have the insight and know-how when it comes to the legal aspect of an event. A professional meeting planner understands how to negotiate and follow contracts from other vendors, which can potentially lead to huge savings. Each vendor, whether it’s the caterer; hotel or venue, will all have a strict contract that you must follow when hiring them for your event. Having a professional meeting planner involved in negotiating these contracts can help to make sure you’re not paying for any “extras” that you don’t need. It will also help to make sure you follow the guidelines of these contracts to avoid being charged extra fees, after the event, for damages or other incidentals that you may not have known about.
At the end of the day, hiring a meeting planner for your company’s event, product launch or sales meeting, can take a lot of the unnecessary stress off employees that have many other tasks to worry about. A professional meeting planner’s sole focus is to help you plan and execute the perfect event for your company, and there are many benefits to utilizing their services. So, the next time you’re responsible for that corporate meeting or product launch, consider all the reasons why a meeting planner could help you have your most successful event yet.