Every national association has different wants and needs from its conference host city. This blog is not meant to convince you to choose one city over another. Instead, I hope to break down the major decision factors when planning the geographic location of an association conference. For simplicity purposes, [...]
During the busy gala season, there seems to be a different gala dinner every night of the week. The events may vary in terms of the menu, the entertainment, the venue and the cause, yet there seems to be one major commonality: the attendees. When you attend these events [...]
Jennifer Schrafft is a Certified Professional Coach who does regular speaking engagements throughout the year. Recently, she participated as a speaker in two association conferences that I managed. I sat down with Jennifer to find out what makes a positive speaking engagement for her and how we can work [...]
You are two weeks out from an association event: your program is set, all vendors have been contracted, the venue details have been organized and now it is time to reconfirm, reconfirm, reconfirm! Arguably, the most important deliverable at an association meeting or conference is the educational content. So, [...]
Security at association events has moved to the forefront of association event planning in recent years. Regardless of the size or scope of the event, it is the association’s responsibility to ensure that delegates are safe and secure in the various spaces that the event is taking place. This [...]
As association leaders, we are used to being on the planning side of things for association conferences and events. When attending other association events, we can often be guilty of looking at things through a planner’s eye rather than actively participating as a delegate. The following is meant to [...]
Have you ever had a new planning committee member join and ask why a certain component of the event is done the way it is? If so, has the answer ever been “It has always been done that way”? In planning association events, we can find ourselves working with [...]
Event managers partner with a number of suppliers to ensure the success of an association conference or special event. One of the first partnerships for many successful events is with the destination marketing organization (DMO). A DMO is responsible for promoting a city in order to increase tourism and [...]
An event planner’s relationship with a speaker for an association conference often starts with a formal speaker agreement. With this being the initial interaction with the speaker, you want to make sure you get off on the right foot and ensure the details of the engagement are clear and [...]
When marketing an association event, the primary audience is the association’s membership. This makes sense as they make up the majority of the attendees and represent the group that the event was developed for. There may be, however, several other groups interested in the event. It is important to [...]
