Corporate emcee | Corporate entertainer – Donna Daniels

Did you offer one for your annual meeting attendees? I did. So what are they? Online eCommunities are virtual communities of people that primarily interact via the Internet for social, professional, educational or other purposes.  Online Conference eCommunities have become a supplemental form of communication between people who are attending the same conference. The registrants of the face-to-face event use special online social software to connect with each other.  Online Conference eCommunity users can:

• Create profiles
• Connect with others attending the conference before, during and after the conference online
• IM
• Participate in text-based chat rooms and forums
• Schedule itineraries
• Setup times to meet with exhibitors or vendors
• View live or archived presentations
• Share photos from the face-to-face event
• View venue and tradeshow floor plans
• Setup appointments with exhibitors and vendors
• And a host of other features

Many online conference eCommunities integrate with social networking platforms like blogs, Facebook, Flickr, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube.  From free to low-cost eCommunities like MeetUp and Ning, to customized features of Social Collective and Zerista, there are ample opportunities for you to provide conference attendee engagement experiences through an online conference eCommunity. If you are thinking about adding one to your 2010 Annual Meeting or Conference attendee offerings, here are 14 online conference eCommunity providers for you to consider.  BizBash SCHED    Offers Facebook and Twitter integration, attendee communication interface, conference scheduler, detailed session and speaker information, mobile interface, video and audio integration and more. Not as robust as other eCommunities but includes some unique conference organizer features. Clients include BizBash Expo & Awards, BlogWorld 2009 and Exploit Labour Conference.  CrowdVine    Offers Facebook and Twitter integration, blog aggregation, customizable conference eCommunity website, attendee itinerary planner, attendee profiles, IM, speaker and session rating system, attendee communication interface, mobile interface, third-party registration support of EventBrite, RegOnline and Laser Registration, and more. Clients include PCMA 2010, Web 2.0 and IA Summit.  eventVue    Offers conference attendee registration package through partnership with Acteva, Eventbrite and RegOnline, social media integration with blogs, Facebook, Flickr, Twitter and YouTube, customizable conference micro-website (full conference website), attendee profiles, IM, embedded video and audio, mobile interface, and more. Clients include Defrag, Mashable’s US Summer Tour 2008, and Mass Technology Leadership Conference.  iCohere     An often over-looked platform that is well known in eLearning circles but lesser known in the events industry. Provides opportunity for a full, exclusive, online virtual conference complete with attendee registration, eCommerce, attendee profiles, IM, live audio, video and Webinar integration, virtual vendor showrooms, blog feature and more. Limited customization for look and feel as compared to other eCommunities. [We currently use iCohere at my work for our exclusive walled industry eCommunity for our nonprofit members.] Clients include ASAE, National Defense University, US Forest Service and WorldVision.  MeetUp    Offers a turnkey event attendee registration package, eCommerce, social media network integration, customizable border for micro-website, attendee profiles, IM, message board, and more. Mostly used by local self-organized groups.  NFi MemberFuse    Used more for member eCommunities than conference communities but can be customized for conferences. Integrates with Association Management Systems like Avectra, offers RSS integration, customizable eCommunity website, user profiles, IM, attendee communication interface, resource library, and more. Clients include MPI WEC09, NMC09 and OmniPress Conference 2.0.  Ning    Offers full integration with social media networking platforms like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, customizable eCommunity website, user profiles, IM, surveys and pools, user communication interface, mobile accessibility, and third-party event and registration support through widgets.  Omnipress’ Conference 2.0    Built on the Pathable platform, Offers Facebook , LinkedIn and Twitter integration, customizable conference eCommunity website, attendee itinerary planner, session handouts and slides, attendee profiles, IM, surveys and polls, attendee communication interface, mobile interface, third-party registration support of EventBrite, RegOnline, eTouches, Certain or Cvent, and more. Clients include American Public Health Association, DAC and IEEE.  Pathable    Offers Facebook , LinkedIn and Twitter integration, customizable conference eCommunity website, session handouts and slides, attendee profiles, IM, surveys and polls, attendee communication interface, mobile interface, third-party registration support of EventBrite, RegOnline, eTouches, Certain or Cvent, and more. Clients include MPI WEC09, NMC09 and OmniPress Conference 2.0.  Social Collective    Offers a turnkey conference attendee registration package, eCommerce, Facebook and Twitter integration, customizable conference micro-website (full conference website), attendee itinerary planner, attendee profiles, IM, exhibitor and sponsor fan pages, crowdsourcing application, speaker rating system, detailed session and speaker information, embedded video and audio, mobile interface, eMarketing capabilities and more. (Yes, this is the conference platform that I used in 2009 and plan to use again in 2010.) Clients include IAEE, SxSW 2009 and SxSW 2010.  Twubs Conference Suite    Integrated with Facebook, Flickr and Twitter, operates as a conference aggregator for several social network streams, attendee profiles. customizable site, live event audio and presentation streaming, and ability to use moderate Twitter hashtag tweet for chats, questions and image magnification. Clients include International Foodservice Distributors Association, Microsoft Tech-Ed LA, and TEDTalks.  Yuku    Free community platform that includes user profiles, chat, photo galleries, polls, community calendars, in-line video embedding, blogs, RSS feeds, customizable skins, and more. Similar to message boards.  Wild Apricot     Offers a turnkey conference attendee registration package, eCommerce, Facebook and Twitter integration, customizable conference micro-website (full conference website), Digg-like rating feature, online fundraising, membership management, attendee profiles, IM, detailed session and speaker information, and more. Clients include GMIC, SITE Chicago and Healthy Start, Healthy Future’s Life With A Baby.  Zerista    Offers customizable conference micro-website (full conference website), detailed session and speaker information, attendee itinerary planner, attendee profiles, IM, exhibitor and attendee scheduler, exhibitor virtual booth, embedded video and audio for virtual attendance, integrated webcasts, virtual tradeshow, interactive venue maps, interactive tradeshow floor, integrated Google maps, and more. Clients include Democratic National Convention 2008, SxSW 2009 and SxSW 2010.  I am sure there are other eCommunity platforms as well. Which have you used? Permalink

  Summary:

---

Event Planning: Starting and Building Your Event Planning Career Even in Tough Times

I am one of the Group Managers for the Event Planning and Management Group on LinkedIn. By far, a question that comes up frequently on our discussion boards is "How do I become an event planner?" Our profession is changing rapidly and it is going through some very challenging times. Breaking into the event planning business is no longer just a matter of taking the right courses and sending out resumes. Also, due to the economic meltdown, many experienced event and meeting planners have been laid off. Businesses are struggling. Even experienced event planners are assessing what they need to do to build a thriving career or grow their business in a tough market. Today, I'm speaking with event planners from various countries. They've have worked in a variety of areas in the event planning profession. Some are independent, some work for companies, and others run their own businesses. Some have a lot of experience and others are fairly new to the business. Some are busy. Others have been laid off and they are seeking their next opportunity. Their experiences will help us gain some insight into what it takes to launch and build an event planning career in a turbulent market.  I will also share some of my own experiences. If find this virtual panel discussion to be of value, please let us know.

• Tweet about it.
• Stumble Upon it.
• Add your comments and questions.

Please read what everyone has to say. Then, post your questions, comments and reactions. I've invited all participants to stop by and answer your questions so we should have a very lively and interesting discussion.

---

 

How to get Started in Event Planning & Take Your Career to the Next Level

Event Coup is pleased to welcome:

• Ann Craig, an experienced travel planner with experience in the incentives, and association markets (hereafter referred to as Ann C.)
• Arleen Edwards, CMP, a professional meeting planner
• Maria Allen, Co-Director Allen O'Brien Consulting
• Deborah Langley, Event Manager with Event-ism Twitter: Cabrini College
• Michaela Karsten, General Manager, Far & Near Events Twitter: I'm Anne Thornley-Brown, a regular contributor to Event Coup. I own Executive Oasis International.  

  ---

  Thank you for taking the time to answer some questions about your career as an event planner and pass on some tips.

  First of all, where are you based?

    Ann C.:   I am based in Chicago, Illinois Arleen:   Great New York City Area. Maria:   Tauton, United Kingdom My business partner and I are based at our homes in Somerset, UK, although we travel to London regularly for meetings with clients and take contracts overseas too. Deborah:   Melbourne, Australia Noel:   I work outside of the Philadelphia metro area on the Main Line. Michaela:   I am based in Siena (Tuscany), Italy Patty:   Greater Chicago Area Anne:   I am based just North of Toronto in Canada.

  ---

   

  What is your specialty?

    Ann C.:   I'm more of a generalist than having one specialty and that was on purpose. Throughout my career I have worked in coordinating, planning, procurement, operations, and sales. I have worked with meetings, incentives, conferences, and events. Society of Independent Show Organizers Event in Hartford, Connecticut Photo Credits: Arleen Edwards Arleen:   I've worked as a special event and meeting consultant and the director of conference services at a Convention and Visitor's Bureau Maria:   While we dabble in medical, financial and academic work, our primary source of income is security (Government and Military). The majority of our events under Chatham House Rule, while you may be familiar with it, I have included the definition [below] just in case. "When a meeting, or part thereof, is held under the Chatham House Rule, participants are free to use the information received, but neither the identity nor the affiliation of the speaker(s), nor that of any other participant, may be revealed". The Chatham House Rule may be invoked at meetings to encourage openness and the sharing of information. If an attendee flouts this rule (depending on the sanctions laid down by the event hosts), they will probably be barred from future events and their personal reputation and that of their organisation will be tarnished. As senior Government officials attend many of our events, we have to liaise closely with the local police authority and/or personal security officers. Their requirements vary but they may need to know the routes we are traveling to transfer guests or restaurant locations, the layout of buildings, being able to security scout a venue before hand etc. Our role is to ensure that as many avenues as possible are covered so that should anything go wrong, a pre-arranged set of actions takes over. Deborah:   Adding a touch of the theatrical to every event. Be it welcome entertainment or even just a touch of magic through the use of butterflies, lights or amazing decor. Deborah Langley, Event-ism Photo Gallery   Noel:   Currently I work in higher education as an alumni event planner. Michaela:   Event logistics, event planning, budgeting, and event management. I focus on corporate meetings and incentives in Tuscany and in the rest of Italy. I help executives:
  • choose the type of event that will accomplish their corporate objectives
  • increase brand awareness
  • develop new business
  • nurture customer loyalty
  • drive growth through the execution of meetings and incentives
    Event in Italy Photo Credit: Michaela Karsen, Far & Near Events I am very strong on location research and planning everything inside the location (of course, that is my background). I serve mainly Italy and any other destination with help of local DMCs of course. Patty:   I don't have a specialty per se, I'm very good at coordinating and leading programs from conception to post-evaluation, including budgeting, logistics and onsite management. I've worked in various areas of the hospitality industry including meeting and incentive planning for the corporate and association markets, hotel convention services, and destination management services Anne:   First and foremost, I am a business consultant. I own Executive Oasis International. My firm helps companies design and execute strategies to succeed even in the midst of turbulence. One of the main vehicles we use to deliver this service is the design and facilitation of team building retreats. Our expert facilitation weaves business exercises, cases and, at times, outdoor recreational activities together to create business simulations. After a while, some companies started asking us to strip the facilitation away from our business simulations and use the experiences we design for luxury corporate events to reward their people. So we now specialize in team building retreats, corporate event planning and incentive travel.

  ---

   

  How long have you been an event planner?

    Ann C.:   I have been an event planner for over 20 years. Arleen:   I plunged into event management 12 years ago from a career in finance. Maria:   I have almost 4 years of experience in event planning. Deborah:   5 years Noel:   Almost 5 years Michaela:   I have been working in the meeting and events industry for 6 years now. Patty:   I've now been in the hospitality industry in the Chicago area for more than 20 years. Anne:   I fell into it gradually so let me think. My first paid event planning work was for the Canadian Society of Social Workers, way back when I was making the transition from a career as a professional social worker to business. I did some project work for them over 15 years ago that involved planning and organizing meetings. I had almost forgotten about that. I don't even remember how I got those projects.

  ---

   

  What were you doing before you became an Event Planner?

    Ann C.:   I was in horticulture before becoming an Event Planner. Arleen:   While I loved working in finance, I wanted to work with people and decided to make a career change. My first question was - What can I do that would be personally and financially rewarding? Let's face it, I still had to pay the bills. Maria:   Prior to this, I was in the military, a deputy practice manager for a Dr's surgery and an EA, all of which lend themselves to a degree in covering the required attributes to be an event planner. Deborah:   I was working for a Theater Company. Noel:   I had held an internship with a large catering company, but my real experience came through working in fundraising. Michaela:   I worked as a reception manager in a luxury hotel where one of my duties became event planning. Patty:   I was in college. Anne:   I was a professional social worker, a training and development specialist, and consultant.

  ---

   

  How did you launch your event planning career?

    Ann C.:   A friend of mine asked me to interview with her boss, who was opening a travel and event management company. Arleen:   First, I researched what career resources were available to me at my place of business. This is a great way to take classes free of charge. I took the Myers-Briggs interest inventory test, workshops in communication, networking, computers and anything else relevant to my professional development. I took several inventory tests to see if the results were consistent. Second, I researched each career choice from the tests and I inventoried my skill base for transferable skills. This helped me make my decision to enter the event/hospitality industry. I also looked within my company for opportunities that matched my goals and lifestyle. I had two young children and work-life balance was important. Luckily there were some. Third, I contacted people within the company and requested informal information meetings. To my surprise everyone I contacted was receptive. I was even able to shadow someone for half a day. These meetings proved to be invaluable to me. I discovered that no one would hire me without experience and my transferable skills were not enough. Fourth, I enrolled in a meeting and event management certificate program and began my formal education. Next, I used my company's volunteer database to find requests for event volunteers. I found a volunteer opportunity, but my assignment wasn't what I expected. I made it my mission to talk to the Director of Conferences and make my presence known. After the event, I persisted and the director agreed to take me on as an unpaid intern. I became a working mom, part-time student and intern. It wasn't easy and it took time but my efforts paid off. I successfully transitioned from finance to event management within my company. My internship has lasted 12 years and I have traveled across the country with the same group producing a multi-day conference. P.S. This is only part 1 of my journey. Maria:   Quite by accident! Fundamentally, I was asked to assist in an administrative capacity for a 3-day security based conference in London. The attendees were from the higher end of management, along with senior military officers, government officials, academics etc. When I pitched up on the day of the event, the event manager told me that it was a difficult day for them and they had to disappear for an hour to collect their thoughts (this was an hour before the delegates were due to arrive), I decided that there was no way I would be party to a disaster - so I took over. Talk about flying by the seat of your pants! At the end of the conference, I was approached with 2 job offers and someone commented on how well my team and I worked together - up until that point, we had never even met. Deborah:   In my role at the theater company I organized a number of forums and then did some work for the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne (equivalent to the Olympics... sort of) and just fell into a role as the event manager at a corporate booking agency / event company Noel:   Working at a non-profit was my first real experience in event planning. Michaela:   I got involved with meeting planning while working in a luxury hotel. I coordinated the hotel staff, created the function sheets organized the staff pre-con meetings and managed the final master account for each event. I followed a master course in event management while still working in the hotel and read many, many industry books. I worked on automotive events, corporate meetings, incentives and private parties. After one year and a half I decided to resign and start my own business. Event in Italy Photo Credit: Michaela Karsen, Far and Near Events Patty:   At the end of my freshman year of college I didn't have a summer job yet, so when a family friend asked me to work at his booth at the National Restaurant Association Show in Chicago, I did. He was selling computer programs to manage meeting registration and catering business. He hired me for the summer to help him follow up on leads. That led to an internship doing the registration for an international association meeting the next year. That led to my first job after college graduation as the convention coordinator at that association. I moved into hotel convention services, destination management and into corporate planning. I was very fortunate to find a career I love! Anne:   As said, it was gradual. I had a contract with a theatre company to develop training material to accompany one of their school productions. Showcases were a very important part of booking school tours. While a co-worker had primary responsibility for planning and organizing showcases, it was a team effort in which we all rolled up our sleeves and helped to plan, organize and run these. I have been very active in various professional associations and volunteered for their Toronto Chapters. I was a member of the committee that planned the monthly evening meetings for the Canadian Society for Training and Development on a volunteer basis for over 4 years. During an economic downturn, volunteers were harder and harder to find. So, we became a committee of 2. I was responsible for planning and organizing all aspects of half of the evening meetings each year. This was valuable experience in working with venues, dealing with caterers, recruiting speakers, and promotion. I also volunteered to help at some of the conferences. Building on this experience, I was invited to volunteer to serve on the board of the MBA Women's Association. I was the Programming Director and responsible for planning, organizing and promoting all of the monthly meetings and events. I've also volunteered on the corporate side of the field at Toronto Polo Club's "Polo for Heart Tournament" for many years. This gave me a behind the scenes look at what it takes to pull together large events. Winter Team Building in Ottawa Photo Credit: Anne Thornley-Brown, Executive Oasis International While I was working as a management development specialist full-time, I was responsible also responsible for some planning meetings, handling logistics for training sessions including hotel, meal and meeting arrangements, award dinners, and planning off-sites including a conference in Montreal for internal trainers. Cooking Event in Toronto Photo Credit: Anne Thornley-Brown, Executive Oasis International Once I launched my own company, it was just a matter of time before clients asked if I could fully plan the meetings and retreats in addition to facilitating them. Based on my past experience, it was a pleasure. After a while, existing clients asked me to plan stand alone events for them and new clients approached me to plan their events. I had worked as a summer flight attendant while attending university. While I was facilitating retreats and workshops in Canada, Jamaica, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Oman, Egypt, Japan, Singapore, and Malaysia, I was becoming familiar with resorts, hotels, tours, and attractions. Incentive travel was the next logical service for my company to offer. We now offer 1 stop shopping to plan retreats, events and sales incentive trips from start to finish including hotels, meeting facilities, transfers, tours, recreation, and galas at featured destinations worldwide. Luxury Beach Event in Oman Photo Credit: Anne Thornley-Brown, Executive Oasis International

  ---

   

  On what social media sites have you been active and how have you been using them to further your career and/or grow your business?

    Maria:   We only use LinkedIn, primarily because it is a professional networking site and not full of 'fluff'. It enables us to carry out some research on individuals and a medium for putting people/businesses in touch where we feel it would be of mutual advantage to both. Deborah:   I am active on Twitter, Facebook & LinkedIn. I enjoy the discusion groups of LinkedIN and post status updates on Facebook & Twitter to promote my business, promote events and comment on things that interest me. Noel:   For Cabrini College and the Alumni office we use social media in a variety of ways. Cabrini uses Facebook to promote events to alumni and students through different fan pages that are created by different departments on campus. We also use Facebook for admissions by reaching out to potential students through fan pages and groups. We currently use LinkedIn as our career networking tool and have held 4 events thus far this year for our alumni promoting networking. Michaela:   I am active on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. I use LinkedIn to create a network in and out of the event business. I try to establish a relationship with my connections. Groups on linked in increase my visibility, help to grow my network and to establish relationships with people. I promote my business on LinkedIn mostly by being active in my groups. On Twitter I write small messages, mostly giving tips on activities and recreational team events that my company organizes. I now have started as well on giving tips about event management. I use Facebook for my personal social contacts only. Furthermore I am registered on many other social media sites like video, Xing, UYNX, and so on, just to increase visibility on search engines etc. Patty:   I'm following the standard - using Facebook for personal social ties and LinkedIn for business. As I'm in the midst of a job search, I am "linking" to as many people as I can directly and through groups. When I apply for a job, I research how I'm "linked" to the company and follow up through my links. I'll let you know how it goes! ;) Anne:   The first site I was on was Ryze. I have a Facebook profile and my blogs show up there. I am not very active on Ryze or Facebook. I am very active on LinkedIn. In addition to my involvement with the Event Planning and Management Group as a Group Manager, I own 2 alumni groups and a team building group. I have posted and answered questions in Q&A, posted events, and started a couple of polls. I have, in the last few months, made a point of really being active on Twitter and decided to really "go for it" to see if it works. I share entries from my blogs and other blogs, news articles, tweets about horse riding, polo, Olympic sports, acting, hobbies, personal interests, and of course, Jamaica. I've participated in #eventprofs chats a couple of times and they have been really super. I also have 2 Second Life profiles. One for fun and the other that I intend to eventually use to do some on-line coaching, table top sessions and seminars.

  ---

   

  What benefits have you obtained from social media use?

    Maria:   Quite often, businesses and individuals don't have the time or the thought pattern to carry out this research themselves. By making the link for them based on information people digress through general conversation, and creating an introduction, this encourages people to send work back our way because they have been able to; gain funding, progress a project, find individuals prudent to their work, create a symbiotic relationship with another organisation etc. Deborah:   I have benefited greatly from social media. I think the best example of this would be a photographer I meet via social media, we have engaged in cross promotion and link shares because we both liked each others styles and work even though we have never meet face-to-face as we live in different states. Noel:   We have really been able to connect with the alumni through facebook, especially the younger alumni. They seem more engaged with the College and the attendance at our events as increased slightly. We have also forged new connections between alumni who have lost touch. Michaela:   My first clients! It is very difficult in Italy to enter corporations because they prefer to work with people or companies they know or have been recommended by people they trust. I started without any contacts so this is an important step for me. Further more I became part of the board of directors of a local business club born on LinkedIn and this group helps me a lot to promote my business to local companies. Another benefit is that people have heard or read about my company even though they don't know me. I received RFPs from my tweets and confirmed events by attending networking events organized by LinkedIn groups. Patty:   It's actually added to personal interaction. I've gotten together with people I wouldn't have run into without reconnecting on Facebook. Social media has added a fun, new dimension and I can't wait to see what's next! Anne:   I can only trace 1 specific piece of business to Ryze. Other than that, so far I have never been asked to submit an RFQ or obtained any business from social media. LinkedIn has helped me re-connect with former colleagues. Twitter has generated a couple of opportunities for me to be interviewed by the media. Through LinkedIn and Twitter, I have had some opportunities for guest blogging including Event Coup. Twitter and LinkedIn have definitely boosted traffic to my own blogs, that's for sure. The main benefit of LinkedIn has been learning how to generate traffic for blogs and boost visibility on the Internet.

  ---

   

  What 1 piece of advice would you give someone who wanted to get started in event planning?

    Ann C.:   My one piece of advice for someone who is getting started these days is to get your degree in hospitality, tourism, travel and obtain industry certifications. These were not as available or desired when I first entered the industry, but they are today. When I first began in the industry, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone else as a career because the hours were long, the pay was small, and the opportunities were few. I'm happy to say that the industry has progressed and one can definitely have a career/business in event planning. The hours are still long but the pay is a little better. There is a wider range of opportunities, and the people associated with the industry are the best! Arleen:   Volunteering is a wonderful way to gain experience, solidify your career commitment and build your network. Maria:   Advice? Stick to the market you know, at least initially. While the fundamentals of event planning can cross over into almost any sector, if you know your audience, you can speak their language and make them feel safe and confident. Deborah:   Volunteer, Volunteer, Volunteer. There is nothing better than practical experience. Noel:   Usually when people think of event planning they think strict social or wedding type events, however there are several different types of event planning. Non-profit fundraising is a great way to get your foot in the door and get a well-rounded experience in event planning. The best advice I can give to someone who would like to choose this as a career is to make sure you are willing to be flexible. Michaela:   To get started in event planning I advise people to get a degree, do an internship, and get started from there. Patty:   I completely agree with Noel; flexibility is a key trait of successful planners. For those just getting into the business, I recommend gaining a broad base of experience before choosing a specialty. You may find you like food & beverage, or destination management, or perhaps stage production of general sessions. There are so many facets of this industry. Anne:   Especially in these turbulent economic times, demonstrating the value and ROI of meetings and events will be critical. For this reason, I would advise someone starting out to get a business degree first and some solid business experience at a company that places high value on events. It really doesn't matter if it's sales, marketing, customer service, or technical experience, really get to know how businesses operate. Develop a bottom-line orientation. The next step would be to get to know the professionals responsible for event planning in your company and in your company's industry. Volunteer to become involved in planning events and meetings for your department, company, professional association, or alumni association. The importance of flexibility and rolling with the punches has already been stressed. When you're volunteering, demonstrate your flexibility, multi-tasking skills and ability to remain cool under pressure. If possible, try to make a lateral move into event planning or event marketing in your company. A lot of really experienced professionals have been laid off and the market is flooded with event and meeting planners at the moment. So, I think that the approach I am suggesting will get you further than taking an event planning or hospitality certificate and then trying to land a "dream job" in event planning when you have no business experience. While you are working full-time, you can take event planning and hospitality courses part-time. Many companies have Educational Assistance Programmes that will reimburse your tuition. Most of all network, network, network. As you've seen from the experiences that have been shared already, personal contacts can open many doors. Don't be afraid to share your career goals with friends, relatives and colleagues. Ask for their help.

  ---

   

  What 1 piece of advice would you give to an event planner who wants to take their career or event planning business to the next level?

    Ann C.:   My advice on taking your planning career or business to the next level is be open to learning all facets of the events industry; learn the good ways and how to change the bad ways to good; stay open to new and better trends for the industry is constantly evolving; and stay connected as this is a very relational industry. Event for Society of Independent Show Organizers in Hartford, Connecticut Photo Credit: Arleen Edwards  Arleen:   The path to reach my goal was sometimes difficult but not impossible and I encourage you to never give up. Maria:   As for taking it to another level - network and be ballsy! If you don't try, you will never know. Deborah:   Ask yourself "Do events excite you? Do you get a buzz when talking about possibilities? Do you think outside the box? Can you come up with unique ways of doing things? Will you go above and beyond? Are you willing to work long hours for little recognition?" Then just do it! Take risks and get yourself out there. Noel:   No matter what industry you will be doing event planning in, you must be ready to give up a lot of free time and be willing to roll with the punches. The most important thing I have learned so far in my career is that what can go wrong will and you always have to be prepared and ready to go with the flow. Michaela:   Before you set up your own business, make sure you already have a mailing list (contacts) of possible clients. It is really hard to start with no contacts as I did. Further more know exactly what you sell (offer) and have a good network of referenced suppliers. Patty:   For those looking to step up their career, they need to find the ROI of the events they produce and use it to get a seat at the boardroom table. Anne:   This is also one of the toughest times to move your career to the next level but it's not impossible. Focusing on fun, fun, fun without really helping clients dig deeper, pinpoint specific objectives and a clear business need for each event is risky in this economy. You'll be vulnerable whenever the budget needs to be scrutinized and trimmed. Be prepared to speak in terms of the ROI of the services you provide and skills you offer. Network and get to know as many executives as you can. Executives will ultimately make the decision about what events add value and sign-off on who to hire. If you have any opportunities to volunteer for any events where you can meet executives and build your network of executive contacts, seize them. I would say whether you are working full time or part-time boost your visibility by writing a blog, articles and press releases. Don't just focus on event planning publications. Also, write for publications in your industry. In your writing, demonstrate that you understand the business issues your company's industry is facing.

  ---

   

  Tools & Resources to Get you Started

   
  • Career Corner at Meeting.Net
  • MPI's Certified Meeting Professional (CMP) Information
  • SITE Society of Incentive & Travel Executives
  • How to Start and Event Planning Service - Entrepreneur Magazine
  • How to become an event Planner
     

  Next Steps

    As we've seen based on this discussion, there is more than one route to a career in event planning. However, there are some common themes including: 
  • Volunteer, roll up your sleeves and show initiative. Volunteering really gives you a chance to build your network of contacts and see how events come together.
  • Network. We have seen over and over again that contacts open doors.
  • Don't think corporate is the only way to go. There are opportunities with associations, in the military, with theatre companies, at colleges, in hotels, and in the food and beverage sector.
    It isn't easy to break into event planning or to take your career to the next level right now but don't get discouraged. It may take you longer than you expect to reach your goals but hang in there, the economy will re-bound.  If you have any questions, please use the comment section. If you have questions for specific people I've interviewed or for me, please identify by name the person to whom you are addressing each question. Opening Photo Credit: On Stage Lighting License Permalink | Leave a comment  »
  
  

It's becoming an yearly tradition to review LeWeb. Mainly because it is the most significant Tech event in Europe. Great personalities in the Tech/Social Media scene flock to Paris for inspirational talks, in a rather dull event format.  I'll be quick, bear with me.  Photo by Frédéric de Villami  Ustream FTW!  - I followed LeWeb via the fantastic Ustream channel. I guess this is also my first remark. Ustream kicked butts. It was hours of flawless livestream with no interruption. See it yourself from the tweets. There were an average of 3000 viewers on the channel and 200K uniques watched videos live. Videos are available on the channel for you to enjoy.  - I was significantly upset about the lack of integration with slides. Since the event was nothing revolutionary as far as the concept was concerned, I was tied to watching the slides to make sense of what was discussed. That brought to my attention the first takeaway: Integrate speaker and slides on your stream. That is if you really need slides. I don't like slides. No secret there.  Twitter  - I loved the fact users organized themselves to tweet. Major example being friend @farhan who created @ConfFar account for the event to avoid flooding the stream with tweets. Great idea as tweets from events are becoming an issue. It's simply not interesting if you are not following the event.  - I also loved http://livetweeting.com/ - Live, crowdsourced translation of tweets by volunteers  - I hated the lack of communication with the organizers. It was not told anywhere on the main website what was the main tag, #leweb or #leweb09. Or at least I wasn't able to find it, which is sort of a failure. When I asked for the tag, the @leweb account was silent and did not reply to me. Actually I haven't noticed them being active at all during the event. I remember asking the same question at The Next Web and got 3 replies from the organizers in real time.  Citizen Journalism  - If you think about attendees as such, you are not getting it. People attending your event are reporters of the event. True evangelists with your augmented audience. You need to empower them and channel communication. You'll achieve that by clearly communicating your online tools, ie hashtags, tags, backchannel.  - Liveblogging is dead. I really don't see the purpose of liveblogging anymore. Twitter is the substitute.  IPhone App  Stellar! I loved it. You could watch the live stream and tweets. What more can I say? Oh wait, it was free.  Top 5 Speeches  On a content perspective here are the best videos on Social Media, loved them!  5. Chris Brogan Can't see? Click here  4. Tim Ferriss Can't see? Click here  3. Chris Pirillo Can't see? Click here  2. Gay Vaynerchuck Can't see? Click here - Plese note comments on conferences toward the end and great post interview by @ConfBasics  1. Her Majesty Queen Rania Can't see? Click here - She blowed me away with her 140 character slides on top of a very powerful message. Permalink

I had the pleasure to meet @amcewen at @ecoCamp in Coventry. He is the father of Bubblino.         Permalink

Summary: This is part 3 of Event Coup's three part guide to social media marketing basics for event planners. Ready to share your blog on Twitter, Facebook and other social media sites? We'll cover the basics and show you exactly how to do it, step-by-step, with videos and detailed instructions.

---

 

Sharing your Event Planning Blog on Twitter & Facebook

Social Media Marketing Tools for Event Planners: Blogs, Twitter & Facebook is the 3rd part of a 3 part series to help event planners implement their social media marketing strategy. Event Coup has a lot of advanced content about social media. This series has been focusing on the basics. The list of resources we cover in this article won't be exhaustive as the purpose of this series is to cut through the noise and help you get started quickly and easily.  In order to use the tools we'll be discussing, it's important for you to have handy:

• a shortened version of your URL (if you're going to update your status on LinkedIn or manually tweet about your most recent blog update)
• the full URL and a summary for each of the blog entries you're ready to share
• your RSS Feed URL

  If you're not where to get these, we covered this information in parts 1 and 2. If you haven't read parts 1 and 2 or if you need a refresher, you can access them here:

• Part 1:Social Media Marketing Strategies for Event Planners - Webites, blogs, LinkedIN
• Part 2: Social Media Marketing for Event Planners: RSS Feeds & More About Blogs - Preparing to Share your Event Planning Blog with RSS Feeds & Blog Summaries

 

Twitter for Business

  Twitter, the most well known, real time micro-blogging platform, is becoming increasingly useful for business. With just 140 characters, business owners can stay in touch with customers, share relevant articles, give product and service information, and get the word out about blog updates. As business people lead increasingly fast paced lives, focused and targeted tweets can be a highly effective method of capturing short attention spans and communicating key information about your business.

Getting Started on Twitter

  If you're not on Twitter, here is a short tutorial for setting up your Twitter profile: 

Adding Twitter to Your LinkedIn Profile

  Recently, LinkedIn upgraded its functionality. You can now:

• list the URL for your Twitter ID directly in your profile
• tweet your network updates by selecting the Twitter button and clicking on "Share" whenever you want to tweet a new update. The first time you do this, LinkedIn will sync your profile with Twitter.  You can decide if you want to tweet your LinkedIn network updates (recommended) or if you want update your network update on LinkedIn every time you tweet.

 

Twitblogs: When 140 Characters Just Aren't Enough

Twitblogs is the perfect Twitter companion. Once you’ve created your Twitter profile, you can use your Twitter ID and password to log into twitterfeed.com in a new browser.

Register, create an account and login.

Click on the "dashboard" link if you aren't already at the dashboard.

Click on "Create new Feed"

Enter a short name for your feed.

Paste your RSS ULR into the "RSS Feed URL" field

Always click on "tess rss feed" to make sure that you have no typos

Customizing your Twitterfeed

• Click on advanced settings
• Select your update frequency for your feed - this will determine how often Twitterfeed checks for updates. Vary the frequency so that all of your feeds don't tweet at the same time.
• Under post content select "Include Title".
• Make sure that "Post Link" is selected and use the default URL shortner bit.ly so that you can get click through statistics whenever you log in
• Select a couple of prefixes and suffixes. For event planning tweets, consider using the hash tags #eventprofs and #linkevents (If you aren't familiar with hashtags [#], scroll down and you'll be able to access a video tutorial at the end of this section.)
• Then, click "continue to step 2".

Selecting a Service: Twitter

• In the "Publishing to" list, select Twitter
• Click on the list to authenticate your Twitter account. Select allow.
• Click on create service
• Click on "All done"

You're all set. From now on, whenever you update your blog, Twitterfeed will tweet the title of the blog entry, a shortened URL and any suffixes that you selected. To add other blogs or share articles from a publication that is relevant to event planning, use the same steps that you used to create your first Twitterfeed. Remember to follow Twitterfeed on Twitter - @twfeed.

Next Steps for Using Twitter for Event Planners

After you've set up your Twitter account and registered with a number of sites that will automatically tweet your blog updates, it would probably be helpful to get an assessment of how your use of Twitter is progressing and suggestions for improvement. An excellent site that will help you do this is: Twitter.grader.com You can even arrange for Twitter.grader.com to send you a weekly report to help you track your progress. If you would like more information about how event planning professionals can use Twitter, here are some other extremely useful resources:  Review of Twitter Basics & Some Advanced Content

• Twitter for Event Planners by Pathable @pathable

  Advanced Twitter Content

• Event Coup's popular Twitter Tools For Event Planners by Kena Siu @KenaSiu
• How to embed twitter in your event by Julus Solaris @tojulius
• 11 Websites to Schedule your Tweets Online for Free by Sean Larue @seanlarue
• 12 Twitter Tools Every Event Marketer Should Know About by Ian McGonnigal @iandavmcg

 

---

 

Hash Tags [#] for Your Events

  Hash tags are bookmarks. They make it possible for people searching for tweets about specific topics to find it easily in Twitter. You can create a hashtag for a specific events, share it with participants and include it in all tweets related to this event.  This video provides a tutorial about Hash Tag Basics:  #eventprofs #eventprofs is the hash tag for a thriving commmunity of progressive event planning professionals that connect on Twitter share ideas, debate topics and collaborate. The eventprofs wiki has full instructions and details for participation. The #eventprofs "hashtag group" on Twitter has online chats twice per week. You can follow this group @eventprofs on Twitter http://twitter.com/eventprofs. 

---

 

Facebook for Business

  At one time, many dismissed Facebook primarily of interest to teenagers, college students and companies targeting those demographics in their marketing. The face of Facebook has changed dramatically and more and more companies are creating Facebook profiles and using Facebook to connect with existing and potential customers. (That is one of the reasons that I always advise clients to pay attention to what’s hot among teenagers and college students. Young people tend to be early adopters and they will often provide clues about marketing trends and tools. If you don’t have a teenager, beg, borrow or steal one.)  At the time of writing, the insidefacebook.com directory listed 21,655 companies with Facebook profiles. Without leaving the first part of the A’s, some of the organizations listed on Facebook include AT&T, Abbot Laborotories, Abercrombie and Fitch, and Alvin Ailey Dance Theater. Your event planning company can no longer afford NOT to be on Facebook.

Getting Started on Facebook

  If you haven’t created your Facebook profile yet, go to facebook.com and register. This interactive video will show you the basics for getting started and building profile.    As you build your Facebook profile, it's important to manage your content by removing what you don't need and getting more content that is relevant. 

Sharing Blog on Facebook

  Sharing Your Blog on Facebook with Networked Blogs: Networked Blogs is a powerful application for sharing you blog on Facebook. All you have to do is go to networkedblogs.com when you are logged into Facebook. Networked Blogs Basics

• Click on the "Register a New Blog" link.
• Enter the blog name.
• Enter your blog URL (not RSS).
• Enter your 3 most important keywords in the "Topics" fields.
• In the description field, enter a brief, keyword rich synopsis about your blog.
• Click "next".

  Publishing Your Blog to Your Facebook Profile After you click on next, you will see a summary with details about your blog.

• Click on Feed Settings - add your RSS Feed URL
• When prompted, select "allow" so that Newtowrked Blogs can share information about your blog on Facebook

  Every time you post a new blog entry, it will appear in Networked Blogs and on your Facebook profile. Your Facebook profile will also list all the blogs you write in the lower left corner of your Facebook profile.  Here is more information about Networked Blogs:    This article has focused on how to share your blog on Facebook. If you would like more advanced content about using Facebook for event planning, here are some resources:

• 5 Powerful Ideas For Using Facebook For Events by Ian McGonnigal @iandavmcg
• Facebook Simplifies Event Planning by Adam Ostrow @Adamostrow

 

Next Steps

  This brings us to the end of our 3 part series about basic of social media marketing strategies for event planners. This series was intended to be a tutorial to point you in the right direction and help you get your website, blog, and LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook profiles set up quickly and easily. If you have any questions, please post them in "Comments". Subscribe to Event Coup so that you will receive immediate notificaiton about advanced social media content for event planners. Photo Credit: Anne Helmond Permalink