Event Management

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Fundraising for success. Interview with Sandra Sims
2008-02-24 11:53:00
I am aware that a lot of you reading out there are involved with no-profit and fundraising. I am amazed by the dynamics of such events and I am even more amazed when I see huge participation and donations. I have found myself involved with managing volunteers and that is a big chunk of running successful fundraising events. Now as I can just speculate on the subject and I am sure you seek real experience and down to earth suggestions I decided to interview Sandra Sims . Sandra first started fundraising when she was in college at the University of North Texas. She was active in a school spirit club and served as chair of the fundraising committee, planning a variety of fundraisers for her club. After graduating in 1997 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts she went to work in a variety of industries primarily working in marketing and database management. The turning point was a volunteer experience with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. At that point she realized that not only did she enjo...
More About: Fundraising , Success , Interview

The trade show unfortunate misunderstanding
2008-02-20 18:13:00
Last week the blog was fairly inactive as I went to London to attend the 2008 International Confex. For those out there who don’t know what I am talking about, Confex is one of the biggest trade shows for event planners, mangers and everyone involved into the industry. This is the trade show of the trade shows. When you host people who actually work with events, expectations are extremely high and I think Confex did great. It was a great organizational success. If you go through the numbers, you’ll notice that more than 15,000 people attended. Furthermore you would have noticed how the organizational machine worked perfectly. My congratulations to those who managed to create such a perfect event. Nonetheless, during the whole visit I had this persisting idea: do we need trade shows at all? I noticed by walking around the stands and meeting exhibitors that there was a positive vibe and unprecedented eagerness to network and find new business opportunities. I also sneaked ...
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20+ resources for a smooth BarCamp
2008-01-31 13:33:00
I recently engaged seriously in running a BarCamp called ecoCamp (the page is in Italian but I’ll be more than happy to answer questions about it). In the process, I noted that there is no page where you can find most of the resources available on how to run a BarCamp. Therefore, I started to collect a few that helped during the processes. This list is not complete and needs your participation to become thorough. So if you feel you want to add a link just contact me and I’ll put it straight away pointing out the person that sent it. Please use the contact me section also to report bad links and I’ll immediately try to solve the problem. Should you have general comments or want to suggest new sections, please use the comment form below. Do not post extra links in comments as I’d like to make the list complete. There we go: Basics - What is a BarCamp? Official Wikipedia description of what is a BarCamp - What is an Open Creative Community These guys are my per...
More About: Resources , Barcamp , Smooth

Links for 2008-01-27 [del.icio.us]
2008-01-28 07:00:00
Open Collaboration and the Future of Public Relations 5 Steps to Become a Better Social Media Marketer Free: Ten Universities with Free Online Courses The more people you reach the more likely it is that you're reaching the wrong people Local TV advertising made easy & affordable
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Why my blog is useless…or is it?
2008-01-25 11:21:00
When I started this blog I had clear goals in mind. I wanted to share whatever I learned when organizing events. I thought that it could have been a great resources blog for those seeking for tips, tools, templates and solutions.I had to surrender to communities. While I dove into the blogosphere I discovered new approaches, I started new conversations. Most of all, I discovered Open Space Technology, Barcamps and User Generated Conferences. The thing is two heads are better than one and there’s no doubt about it. Therefore, I started to include other’s opinion with featured interviews. It felt better… After that I came to a couple of conclusions: 1. The great thing about being open is that information is available. It is there. If you check the Barcamp wiki, you’ll probably find 75% (well maybe 80%, let’s say 85%) of the information you’ll get in an Event Management Diploma/Course/Master/Degree. For example you might want to check: -http://barc...
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These feet were made for walking
2008-01-22 14:33:00
Picture this. An important conference/meeting. An endless bullet point presentation of obvious things you already know. Boring minutes waisted, but you have to stay there. Maybe your boss forced you to, or maybe you’re there because you are waiting for the big name, which has been wisely scheduled at the end of the day. Or simply you thought that maybe that subject might have been of interest, but after all it turned to be a boring experience. On the other hand, think about coffee breaks and the great networking you’ve been able to do. Think about when you were able to discuss cool subjects with a person that shared your same interests. Harrison Owen should be acclaimed as the Linus Torvald of events. He insists in his great book (a must read for every event manager out there) that he was amazed to see how the most popular part of his (and our) events were coffee breaks, the true moment when people were left to themselves and thus able to interact. He started Open Space ...
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An industry conference in my living room? Managing a Digital Conference
2008-01-21 13:28:00
I was reading my feeds when I bumped into BlogOnExpo. Since I am more and more convinced that regular event planning is quickly becoming a thing of the past, I thought I should get more information about how to run a digital conference. Who knows maybe my future client will ask e to run one at some stage. You know I love interviews as they give you real stories from experienced people. So I asked Aditya, to answer few questions on how he managed to start BlogonExpo. Now, a bit of background first. Aditya says that the goal BlogOnExpo is to make an industry conference accessible. No long flights (and no high pollution), no big monies for accommodation, no extra transportation and so on. You also know that I am a big fan of Open Source and that if it was for me, everyone should be given access to anything. The first BlogOnExpo was in 2007. If you are a blogger do not miss the great sessions. If you are an event planner participate to familiarize on how it works. Both of you should be ...
More About: Living , Industry , Living Room , Digital , Room

Tips on corporate events in Paris. [Global Corporate Event Management]
2008-01-07 12:36:00
This new section of the blog asks questions to corporate event managers of the most famous cities of the World. The aim is to have a scenario of different trends, opportunities and risks the global event manager should take into account. We’ll start out with one of my favorite, Paris. Olivier Magny is the founder and owner of O Chateau in Paris. O Chateau is the pioneer Wine Tasting Company in Paris. The staff at O Chateau is fully dedicated to delivering entertaining ad educational wine tasting events to both individuals and corporations. Wine Tasting Presentations, Wine Games, Wine Casinos, Wine Classes, in a Parisian loft, at a Parisian restaurant, in a medieval castle, on a boat on the Seine, in a secret cellar, on a vineyard in Provence or at a Chateau in Bordeaux … O Chateau does it all, making wine more exciting than ever. More details on O Chateau’s website: www.o-chateau.com 1. What cultural characteristics should one consider when planning an event in ...
More About: Events , Event , Management , Tips , Corporate

Team building and unconferences. A featured interview with Paul Hebert
2008-01-04 17:06:00
Paul Hebert currently heads up the business development group at Excellence In Motivation, a $100+ million marketing services agency that focuses on influencing the behavior of a company’s employees, channel partners, vendors and customers. Paul has held a variety of positions with incentive companies from marketing to sales, sales positions within a brand identity firm and even had a position with a major defense contractor. His education is in Quantitative Business analysis and has worked with companies such as Chrysler, Toyota, AT&T, Convergys and other Global Fortune 500 firms. Paul also writes a blog about influencing audience behavior at Incentive Intelligence. We cross posted on team building, unconferene and motivation, I invite you to have a look at the post on his blog. Let’s see what he told us 1. Three qualities of a good team builder 1. First of all a good team builder must be able to suspend judgement about team members based on initial impressions. ...
More About: Building , Interview , Team , Paul , Featured

How to run a Meetup event. Lisa and the New York Italian language Meetup
2008-01-04 15:54:00
Meetup is quickly changing the panorama of events and the way people get together to share their common enthusiasm. I am a fan of Meetups in general and I have subscribed and attended several. I love the formula because it gives back to participants the event management and it is, although run by an organizer, an example of great democracy, co-creation and open approach. In this post I’ve interview Lisa who shares precious tips on the feeling and management of a Meetup. Meetup organizers perform a lot of tasks on a volunteer basis. Therefore they are exceptional people who dedicate a lot of time to their passion. The New York City Italian Language, Food, & Culture Club to date counts on 1,549 members and it has met up 117 times . The NYC Italian Language, Food & Culture Club meets a minimum of once a month to speak Italian and share their love of Italian language, food and culture. Their main focus is to practice speaking the Italian language, and their other goals ar...
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Plan the perfect wedding. A featured interview with Sarah Haywood
2007-12-20 13:39:00
Wedding planner Sarah Haywood is author of the UK’s top-selling bridal book the Wedding Bible, and the recently published (Feb 2007) Wedding Bible Planner. She has recently been named one of the ten most influential people in the UK wedding industry and is founder and managing director of the inspirational Wedding Bible Company, one of the fastest growing wedding brands in the UK. A former broadcast journalist Sarah regularly appears on TV and radio in the UK and abroad as the ‘Wedding Doctor’ and in her capacity as a wedding expert. Her live presentations at the National Wedding Show (the UK’s largest bridal show) draw large crowds and she also regularly commentates on wedding stories for the major television news channels both in the UK and abroad, and has several regular slots on live phone-ins for radio shows. Boasting an enviable client list, ‘Sarah Haywood Weddings‘ organize weddings and parties for high spend celebrities and aristocrats as well as ...
More About: Wedding , Interview , Perfect , Featured

Corporate Holiday Parties: Last Minute Tips to Ensure Success
2007-12-18 09:25:00
Robert Mackasek, CEO of Valera Global, a provider of executive transportation, offers last minute tips to ensure successful corporate holiday events. As 2007 draws to a close, corporate event planners across the nation are eagerly anticipating their holiday parties. The venues have been secured, invitations have been sent and food and entertainment are on the agenda. Corporate events, whether an intimate gathering or a massive company-wide celebration, offer guests an opportunity to unwind and celebrate. At the same time, corporations are hoping to make a lasting positive impression on employees, partners and customers.Valera Global offers some advice to ensure that the corporate celebrations are successful, entertaining and safe for all participants through professional executive transportation. - How can organized transportation help a corporate event? Robert Mackasek: Offering transportation to and from an event ensures that guests will arrive on time and avoid travel blunders th...
More About: Holiday , Tips , Success , Parties

Wedding work breakdown structure
2007-12-14 20:39:00
Wedding day is indeed the most important day of your life. It is crucial that everything is at the right place and everyone knows what to do. The self made bride who does not want to use any wedding planning service should know that planning well is 90% of the job. The rest is luck. In order to reduce your risk I suggest you use the following template. You can print it on a large paper and post it to your wall. It will help to scheme things out and sort them in packages of activities. It is a Work Breakdown Structure . I invite you to read more on WBS so you could think of assigning tasks and give them a chronological value. Enjoy it. Download the wedding-work-breakdown-structure.pdf ShareThis
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Organize your (Christmas) Party with Google services
2007-12-14 17:36:00
Google offering is capturing most of my time online. I find myself using most of their services for all of my Internet needs. Therefore I decided to put my passion for parties and the free flavor of the Google world together to help you manage your Christmas party. 1. Set up a free Google account If you don’t have one do not panic. Your time management is going to benefit from this. Go to the Google Account page, choose a username and password and enjoy it. 2. Start by using your Google Groups Groups is going to be your basic platform to involve others. Create a group and share it with your friends by emailing them the link. Edit your Google Group by: Creating a page called “About this party” in which you will explain everything about the party. Theme, dress code, ticket price (should you have any),etc. Creating a discussion post with a link to your map (see item 3) Creating a discussion post called “Menu choice” in which you collect feedback on possi...
More About: Google , Organize , Services , Party

Running a fashion show. A featured interview with Carl George
2007-12-13 09:32:00
Running a fashion show is definitely the aspiration of a multitude of soon-to-be planners out there. We decided to ask Carl George to share few tips with us to inspire our readers that want to get involved in the business.Carl George is an event producer, designer and consultant to retailers, museums, Fortune 500 corporations, restaurateurs and philanthropic organizations - designing exceptional public spaces and staged events - environments that simply “wow” an audience. A bit of Background Born and raised in Ontario, Canada, Carl George moved to New York City in 1980 where he soon became actively involved in the city’s art and nascent underground club scenes. During this time, Carl produced several experimental films that are exhibited internationally and are now part of the permanent collections at the Whitney, the Guggenheim, the New York Public Library and the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA). While still actively involved in the East Village avant-garde art scene...
More About: Running , Fashion , Show , Interview , Fashion Show

This site has moved
2007-12-04 08:46:00
Hi there you'll find new tips tools and conversations about event management onwww.eventmanagerblog.comThis site will be kept online for a while.The new platform will enhance your reading experience and deliver our content in the best way!Thanks
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Important for RSS readers
2007-12-04 08:39:00
Hi there for those of you reading thisblog via RSS we aremoving platform.The new RSS address is now active. Subscribe belowAlthough eventmanagement.blogspot.com will be available online for a while I'll be posting new content on www.eventmanagerblog.comwhere you'll find older posts as well!Cheers
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My Event the complete, free and open event management software
2007-11-12 13:25:00
Sounds good right? Well we are working to make it happen.Sourceforge has approved the project and we know have a space, a forum and several other tools to start working.I invite you to have your say at the official My Event pageI already got positive feedback and I feel very motivated to work on the project.I also invite you to express your opinion on what features you think the software should have. What platform would you prefer? And everything you feel might help in your event planning business.You could either reply to this post, register on sourceforge, write me an email or whatever is more convenient.I feel that we need your help in this to give it a go so we can enjoy the results ASAP!
More About: Software , Management , Open , Free

The need for an Open Source Event Management software
2007-11-09 19:10:00
I get tons of email asking me for a suggestion for a complete event management open source software.I must say I am a bit embarrassed with the subject because there is no complete solution for planning. There are a lot of good project management, paper submission, accounting, CRM, office suites softwares.But not event management.Event planning is a little of all the above. Therefore I am convinced that the discipline we love deserves a damn well software, comprehensive and free!It is a paradox to me that the field where humans get pretty close to computers has no software to help.Oh wait there are several softwares out there but you have to pay good dollars to get them. Reality is that not all the event planners work in great companies with big monies. There are event planners like me that started their own business with limited resources. I have always stressed that a spreadsheet can help you in thousands of ways.That doesn't mean that I won't be happy with a comprehensive even...
More About: Software , Open Source , Management , Open

The 2008 International Confex
2007-11-08 18:43:00
Remember when I told you about my intention to start my own event management company, well I made it.I must say it is in its alpha stage and that a lot of work still needs to be done.Nonetheless I decided to allow me a cool start and invested in participating at the 2008 International Confex.Events in Apulia will be at the tiny stand Y855 and we'll greet you with superb wine and taralli form the beautiful land of Apulia.I am committed to generate buzz, therefore I want you to come and visit me from the 12th to the 14th of Feb 2008 at Earls Court in London.We are also thinking about presenting on Green Meetings with contents from the Event Management Blog.If you contact me with your details I'll be happy to send you free tickets to be my guest and we'll have a drink and a little chat.Click on the contact me section on the sidebar or send me an email tojulius (at) gmail (dot) com.I'll keep you posted with initiatives and news.

The registration process
2007-11-08 17:57:00
This post applies to all those events which involve a registration process. By that I mean also those events with tickets as that could be conceived as registration. First of all registration is crucial. It helps in several aspects: it gives you an idea on how much people will participate to your event it gives you a clear picture of the profile of your participant it shows you likes and dislikes of the participant it could help you with dietary requirements thus avoiding last minute buffet changes if automated it could help the participants to start interacting before the event Anticipation In order to achieve all these beautiful things I usually apply my rule of registration. It has to be anticipated as much as possible. All the data that comes with registration are of utmost importance for the event. Moreover, suppliers will ask you definite numbers with an embarrassing anticipation. My idea is that you can pre-sell virtually every kind of event out there. You just n...
More About: Process , Registration , Regis , Stration

How to be a succesful event manager
2007-10-01 14:37:00
To some of my regulars, this post should have appeared long before. In fact I have been thinking about it for a while.The thing about events is that it may appear that everyone is capable of planning and executing an event. To a certain extent that is the truth. You may in fact notice that several tools of this blog are very easy to use, do not require any particular knowledge or skills.I have stressed in the past the argument that the events industry is not inaccessible, on the other hand it is quite easy to get in and to quickly obtain responsibility.Nonetheless, I am convinced that there is a marked line that divides those working in events randomly or amateurs from successful event managers or planners.I am not talking about motivation and drive, which of course are basic, but there are few characteristics that inevitably single out a professional. I refer to these attributes as the 3 C's (ok not original but easy to remember) :- ControlBoth internal and external. To me is the...
More About: Event , Manager , Ager

Gantt chart video tutorial
2007-09-18 17:48:00
I realize coming up with a Gantt chart could be a bit of an hassle if you are starting from zero.I previously posted on how to make a Gantt chart, nonetheless I found also few videos on Youtube on how to create one in the easy to use Excel (pretty similar for those using Calc):If you use the Gantt chart macro of Excel you should take a look at this:If you are using Excel 2007 this is for you:I also bumped into a couple of tutorials for dotProject which I think is a great, easy to use open source software and most of all is free:#1#2I must say there isn't much out there in terms of video tutorials. Should you guys find anything worth publishing, please comment on this post.
More About: Video , Tutorial , Chart , Char

The death of the conference oligarchy
2007-09-17 15:37:00
Following the recent post on how conferences and events should be more unconferences and unevents, I realize few parts of the above need more information.So here are the links that Wikipedia makes on Unconference, Foo Camp, Open Space, Dynamic Facilitation, Appreciative Inquiry , Speed Geeking, - The Unconference Blog- The Open Space Technology- Introduction to Open Space- World Café- Dynamic Facilitation- Appreciative Inquiry- Foo Camp- Speed Geeking- What is an unconference?
More About: Death , Conference , The D , Oligarchy , The Con

Toward a definition of Open Source Events - BarCamp and the Unconference
2007-09-16 17:32:00
Previously, I've been busy talking about the significance of bringing the open source methodology to Events .In fact the concept of invite-only conferences, where two or three heads decide what is to be discussed, who discuss it and who is going to attend, belongs more to the 20th Century than to the 2.0 era.As said before I started to explore the subject few weeks ago and I must admit I was completely unaware of the concepts of Unconference and BarCampI have to say that the answer has always been there in front of my eyes. The concept around open source marketing, reinforced by the Cluetrain Manifesto, is control. Open source marketing activities give control to consumer as they are the ultimate end user of products. Particularly appreciable is the note that consumers DO NOT need a shepherd to stimulate them with the saddest pavlovian techniques. Consumers know what is best for them and continuous stimulation brings ahead only disasters in terms of customer satisfaction.As a custo...
More About: Open Source , Source , Open-Source

University degrees and online courses in Event Management
2007-09-14 19:45:00
As said before, I am working on starting my event planning business. As I am still in the get-all-the-info-you-can phase, I bumped into a lot of people suggesting that being an event planner means being continuously updated with trends and practices.Such need is in fact understandable as events require skills from fairly different areas. In my previous post I was considering to focus on what I can do best and outsource all the rest to someone more expert than I am.Ok, it is a good point and I still believe in that, but on the other hand, clients expect a wide competence in event managers and being unaware of what budgeting is might be a downfall.So at some stage I am sure I will consider engaging in a university degree. As a matter of fact, I did my BA and MBA and I feel pretty sick just looking at a uni book and my overall motivation toward the course might be at the lowest.Thank God we have that thing called the Internet and I thought about Online courses. Online courses in fact m...
More About: Event , University , Management , Rees

How to start your own event management company
2007-09-07 16:40:00
Recently I decided to start my own event management company. I've worked in events for more than ten years and I thought, hey why not starting my own business! Well after that, things became a bit difficult because I did not know how to start an event management company. So I decided to have a look around. Bought few books, saw few websites of famous planning agencies and tried to put few ideas down. After that I thought that my blog could have been of great use to help me in organizing my thoughts and maybe share some tips. Therefore here are the thirst thoughts I had about running an event management company:> I need to find my specialty. I've organized disco nights and congresses with up to 300 delegates. These are my specialties. Nonetheless, I am really interested in wedding planning as I see big potential in the sector. Plus the region where I live in Italy would really fit for this kind of business. I read somewhere during my MBA that small business need to focus ...
More About: Event , Management , Company , Start

Toward a definition of Open Source Event Managemenent
2007-08-28 13:53:00
What is open source anyway? Well, have a look here . Now that we've defined the movement let's try to make it more relevant.The OS methodology has been applied over the years in different contexts, software being the most successful. But those more up to date would definitely know about the openCola, beer, etc.I've talked before on OS concepts applied to Marketing. In fact the Web embraces the concept with some good definition and websites .As I am an MBA in Marketing OS-Marketing has been one of my primary concerns these days. But since Event Management is my passion I am striving to think about chances to apply the OS concepts to our beloved discipline.So I did a bit of a brainstorming session and I thought:- On the industry side, the objective should be to allow event managers, coordinators, and those involved in the industry in general, to come together to discuss issues, develop projects and achieve results, with no direct commercial interest.- On the customer side, I though...
More About: Open Source , Open , Source , Open-Source

Green Meetings and Conferences
2007-08-28 09:43:00
A major commitment of this blog is toward the environment. Meetings and events are not among the major causes of the environmental crisis we're living in (or is it?). Nonetheless the right attitude toward the environment is that every small contribution counts. Moreover meetings have a strong communication impact on attendees, therefore embracing a green policy in a conference might have a strong influence on attitudes toward the event.I had a look on Google and I was surprised on how much has been done in terms of guidelines, checklists. pocket guides. I decided to spread the word about green meetings and to ask you if you feel there was the need of new or different tools to accomplish the objective of reducing the impact.- The EPA 'Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Guide'- The super complete Canada's 'Green ing Manual'. The most comprehensive.- Some good case study on 'Meetings That Don't Make an Impact'. - The MPI is very interested in the topic and has a concise 'Ho...
More About: Conferences , Conference

The AV Nightmare Solved
2007-06-04 20:03:00
AV could be a problem for every conference. Many times I've found myself with a broken projector before learning you always need a plan B.Springwise points out Meeting Tomorrow as a good solution, if not the way to go. The idea is pretty simple but with a huge gap in the market, renting AV.Hotels and conference venues will charge a damn fortune to rent cheap AV material and most of the times they will not committ on the reliability of the equipment.The good things of this service are that there is same day delivery and that they propose to rent alternative AV, should the projector stop working.Now that sounds like a good insurance to me. Have a look.
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