Adventures in Meeting Planning

Breaking-up is Easy To Do

December 31, 2009

Dear 2009,

I am breaking up with you.  It's not you, it's me...no wait it is you.  You and I were just not a good fit. You were tough, demanding and draining on my bank account.  I need a new year, one better suited for me.  One that rewards my hard work and dedication, not one that takes and takes and takes.  Here are a few of the many reasons I need to let you go:

You took some of those near and dear to me (RIP Beverlee, Margaret, Charles and Andrew) and even some of my favorite personalities (RIP Ted, Eunice, Walter, Farrah, Bea, Natasha and Patrick). 

You can take back your overpaid, over endorsed, over exposed sports figures, politicians and celebrities that cheat, steal from and physically hurt those that love them. 

H1N1 - don't get me started!

Many of my friends and family saw their jobs disappear or were forced to take pay-cuts or unpaid leave.

Too much Cancer!  Enough said.

Reality TV stars that never should have been:  Jon & Kate, Balloon Boy's dad and anyone that ever appeared on a VH1 show.

You also brought the deadliest year for the brave men and women that serve our country.  May peace and happiness find their families again.  I am forever grateful for their sacrifice.

It was not all bad, so I will give you credit on some of the highlights:

I have a President that I am proud of and respect.  He has inspired me to be part of the solution, not the problem.

We are closer to healthcare for all, something I believe is a right not a privilege.

You took steps toward showing equal rights for all, but have a long way to go.  I will continue believe and fight for rights for all.

The bad economy really brought back the importance of the little things in life, and has made me grow closer to family and friends.

I got to experience a new country (Trinidad) and collect a new stamp in my passport.

Business was sparse but I stayed very busy.  A big  thank you my fellow planners that contracted out work to me.  I am grateful to come out on the other end with my business intact.

You reminded me that the underdog sometimes comes out on top:  Susan Boyle.

Thank you for putting Chesley B. Sullenberger in as Captain of US Airways Flight 1549

I was able to camp at my favorite place in AZ - the Grand Canyon, and spend some vacation time in San Diego.  Thank you for those fun trips.

I learned to be more thrifty and think about things in terms of want vs. need.

I love and cherish all my family, but have become very attached to my little Maryjayne.  Thank you for bringing her light into my life.

You gave me Glee and V, two of the best new shows on TV and kept me entertained with a slew of great movies over the Summer and Fall.  I also got see U2 and Wicked yet again.

Oh, and thank you for all the George Clooney movies too.

Lastly, you made me stop and take stock of where I am in my life, and form a plan to change the things I do not like.   I am a smart, successful, empowered woman, and I can make the change I need.

So 2009, no more thinking back about you, I am only moving forward.  I want to let you know I have found a new year.  2010 is already bringing the promise of a great year, one full of positive change, growth and prosperity.  I plan to take full advantage of my new relationship and foster the best experience I can.

2009, we need to go our separate ways, I will take what I learned from you and march on to a better me with 2010.

Sincerely,

Cathy

Fall 2009 Meeting Planning Academy Courses

Fall Meeting Planning Classes starting Soon

Meeting Planning Boot Camp Webinar Course

September and October 2009

September 21^st, 23^rd, 28^th, 30^th

October 12^th, 14^th, 19, 21^st

Meeting Planning Boot Camp is a 4-part 2hr each webinar on the basics of Meeting/Event Planning.  Over 1000 meeting and event planner have gone through our boot camp.  At this time, we do not have any live classes planed only the webinar format.

Early-bird fees are $495 and each class includes:  163 page manual, MP3 download of each session, access to over 20 forms to customize for yourself and 10 CEU credits.

If you have 5 or more staff that need training, please ask about our Customized 1.5 day course, where we come to your office and customized the course to fit your needs.

Fore more information and to register, please visit:  www.MeetingPlanningAcademy.com

Early-bird pricing for September ends 9/15/09

Meeting Planning Academy Courses start on September 22^nd.  These are 1 hr. tele-seminars are various meeting planning Topics.  This Fall we have a special guest Speaker:

On, Tuesday, October 6, 2009, Roger Rickard, Chief Business Solicitor for REvent, LLC will present:  Risky Business…Recognize, Minimize and Manage Risk of Your Meetings, Incentives and Events. 

Other topics include:

September 22^nd                    The ABCs of RFPs and Site Selection

September 29^th                     Tweet This:  Tips for Setting-up and Managing Twitter for

Your Meeting Marketing

October 13^th                          Facebook For Meeting – Not Just Status Updates

October 20^th                          Maximizing Vendor Contracts In Tough Economic Times

October 27^th and 28^th           How to Start, Market and Maintain a Successful Meeting and Event Planning Company

Please visit www.MeetingPlanningAcademy.com for detailed class descriptions, times and pricing.

Fall is Coming - Maybe More Meeting With It

Happy September 1st.  As the owner of a Meeting/Event Planning business, I have always loved this day - it means people will be getting back into their offices after summer vacations and start thinking about holding meetings again.  Summer 2009 is just about history, and business should start to pick-up.

I usually try to spend my summer downtime learning a new skill.  This year it was Social Media.  I have sat through about 45 hours worth of classes on SM, and have now incorporated it into my business and as a means to market my meetings.  The key to using SM effectively is to find the ones that work for you and to set-up a marketing plan.  I have 4 that I use, Linkedin, Twitter, Facebook and this Blog for C² & Company, and will use Facebook and Twitter to market my meetings for my clients.  Consistency is the key.  As you can tell, I have not been consistent with this Blog, but I now have a plan in place so I promise more postings, and more link mentions of helpful tools for meeting planners.

So, tell me what you did over the summer.  Did you learn a new skill, did you take a fabulous vacation, or like many, were you just trying to ride out the rest of the recession?  I would love to hear back!

Cathy

AZ MPI 2009 Summer ED Forum

Hello. Blogging from our annual AZ MPI Chapter retreat.  Lots of good education and networking events planned for the weekend.  We are in beautiful Prescott, AZ, about 20-25 degrees cooler than Phoenix.  Josh Yeager is leading our 1st session on Social Media.  The class is providing a review the types of social media tools out there and why we should be using those tools.  Josh is a great wealth of knowledge and would be excellent for hire for any group wanting more info on this topic.  The best thing about this class, is we are all on our laptops using the tools as he reviews them

Later this afternoon we are off to a scavenger hunt in downtown Prescott, then a reception and dinner at the Prescott Resort.  More to follow later.

Cathy

MPI WEC Day 2 Part 2

OK, things got much better after lunch.  The MPI team fixed the on-line community issue, and I was able to get in and download the forms - so a big thank you to them.  This afternoon's sessions were great, but I think my head is going to explode with all the info I was taking in, plus tweeting out at the same time.  I sat in on live feeds of Technology and Economic Trends Affecting Travel and Meetings with Dr. Amy Vanderbilt and Using Linkedin for Business with Patrick O'Malley.

Dr. Amy and Patrick rocked it with great sessions.  I picked-up some great new info - but I am really looking forward to my connections with them in twitter and Linkedin - their websites have some great info as well.  Still some minor issues with not having their session handouts posted on Pathable and please speakers, remember to repeat audience questions if there is not a mic for them to use.

I want to end this on a positive note.  I have planned meetings of 6,000 +, so I know what it takes to put a convention like this together.  I have also been a member of MPI for 15 + years, and am a past chapter President, and a past presenter at WEC - so I appreciate MPI and all it does.  I especially appreciate the planning department.  You, unfortunately, are held to higher standard because you plan for planners and suppliers.   As the unsung heroes, the MPI team never seems to get a shout-out or a public thank you, at least I have never seen one.  So, I hope the leaders of MPI will publicly thank all involved in the planning and development of this and all MPI conferences.  My thanks to you all - I just wish I could have been there myself.

Cathy

MPI WEC Day 2 Part 1

Day 2 is better, but that was the speaker - technical issues still not fixed.  As VAP I should have access to the On-line Community, but there have been issues blocking me from this.  This is where I need to get the handouts to the sessions. 

I just completed the live session:  Negotiating Hotel Contracts in an Uncertain Economy with John Foster.  Let me pause to give him a shout-out,  he is great, and I picked-up about 5 new things from him, but the handout would have been helpful.  I asked MPI to e-mail to me since I could not download, have not heard back from them.  I'll re-watch the session with the handout later.

This VAP is a beta test for me, as I plan to use this type of system for a large international conference next May.  I now know all the things that can go wrong, and will try to address them a head of time, so I can say these issues have had a positve outcome.

My question to MPI - is there someone monitoring the help e-mails for VAP?  They are slow to respond.  My other issue is the questions not being heard from the audience, but that seemed to change as soon as I tweeted it.  I am not sure if that had anything to do with it, or the AV guys clued in.

More sessions later today.

Cathy

MPI WEC - Virtual Access Pass Day 1

Well, I was not able to attend Meeting Professionals international WEC in Salt Lake City live this year, so I bought the virtual access pass.  This pass allows me access to the general session, 2 keynote sessions and 12 other live streaming sessions.  I also have the ability to go back and download the audio from any of the other sessions 24 hrs after they are presented. 

This was a good solution for me, except I thought the price was high - $299, vs. the $625 fee for in-person.  I paid for my pass and blocked out my schedule to attend the live sessions just like I was there.

Yesterday I sat through the general session with no issues, and was glad to participate in that.  The smaller workshops were another story.  In one session yesterday afternoon, I saw and overheard a tense exchange between the speaker and AV guys, until someone figured it out and turned off his mic.  The rest of the session was good, except the live audience asked questions, and were not given a microphone - and the speaker did not repeat the question, so A LOT of info was lost.

Another big issues is the access to the on-line community.  This is sponsored by Pathable, but so far I have not been able to access this, to participate or download forms, and all I get from the MPI staff is that they are working on the issue.

So far, I don't feel like I am getting my monies worth with the pass, and I feel like MPI and the AV company did not think this through for live streaming sessions.  Hopefully some of the recordings will be better to download.

Cathy

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June Meeting and Event Planning Training

The Meeting Planning Academy is presenting three training sessions in June.

Our 1-hour tele-seminar series will wrap-up with two sessions, RFP and Site Section on June 2nd and Contract Clauses on June 16th. Below are detailed descriptions of each session

The ABCs of RFPs and Site Selection
June 2, 2009 9:00 am - 10:30 am PST
Fee: $50

RFPs covered: Hotel, AV, Exhibit, DMC, Golf and all the areas that should be included in a Site Inspection (includes forms).  Also included, tips of site selection via the web and info on ADA.

How Much Money Are You Leaving on the Table?:  7 Clauses Planners Need in Every Hotel Contract
June 16, 2009  9:00 am - 10:00 am PST
Fee:  $24.95

Of course there are more than 7 clauses to have in your contracts, but we will review the ones to never leave out.  This class is essential for any meeting/event planners that write or review contracts.

Click here to register for the tele-seminars

The June Meeting Planning Boot Camp webinar will be held on June 15th, 17th, 22nd and 24th.  These 2-2.5 hours sessions will cover all the material presented in our live versions of Boot Camp, just in a webinar format.  The best thing - if you miss a class, or want to revisit a section, you will receive the download links of all the sessions at no additional cost.

The course is $495 and early bird pricing has been extended until June 5th.  If you have others in your office that would like to participate, additional registrations will be at the special price of $395 each.  To get this special offer, please register yourself at the regular rate, and contact us with the names of your additional participants.  We will process the remaining charges.

Click here for more info and to register for the Boot Camp Webinar

Continuing Education is Crucial for Success

I love to learn.  I think I have spent as much time in continuing education classes since I graduated college as I did taking my college classes.

I grew-up in the time of no computers, I think when I was at ASU I took a basic programming class and nothing more.  I have been playing catch-up ever since, but am happy to say, that technology comes quickly to me.

It better.  I have learned that I need to stay on top of and in front of that fast moving train called social media.  I have spend the past two days in a fantastic educational program called the Social Media Success Summit 2009.  This 11 part webinar has broken down all the parts of social media and showcases experts in those areas.  I just wrapped up a session on Facebook and Linkedin and start one on Twitter.  My goal...to have a higher social media standing by July.

I better get cracking!

Cathy