Archive for the ‘Industry Events’ Category

That huge sigh of relief you just heard? It came from our catalog development team. Twice a year we pile all the additional responsibility of designing, writing and photographing more than a hundred pages of our products on top of their usual duties. It’s a big job – one they pull off with aplomb each and every time. All so that you can find the best solutions to your meeting registration needs in one handy reference book.

Inside you’ll find New innovations to make your job faster, easier and all-around better. With new items in every category, even quicker production times on dozens of our current products, and new thoughtful details that make your pc/nametag® favorites even better! Plus FREE samples so you can see the difference for yourself. View all of our new products for 2010 HERE.

So now you know the back-story to our latest catalog production—Let me know what you think of it.

International events call for a welcoming feel all their own.

Ever since we were confronted with stories of the ugly Americans travelling the world, I think we as a nation have gotten better at being respectful of other cultures and their languages.  Sure, we could always do better, but in my travels to Europe and Asia, I think other nations may have even  taken our place at the top of the list of Ugly Travelers. 

One thing that really stands out in my mind is that the Europeans and Asians who want our business really work at learning English.  Granted it is becoming the language of business but what is interesting is that most Europeans don’t just learn English, they learn two and three languages beyond their own.  In a sense they are blessed with the proximity to different tongues.  But they also see it as a way to advance.   Walk in to a restaurant and it’s relatively easy to find and English-speaking member of the staff to service you.  And most places have a menu in English as well as the native language.  Many even have French, Italian, German, and other translations all available. 

So what does this have to do with meeting planning? I always try and learn some of the language in the land I am visiting so that they see I at least am making an effort to understand, but you have to admit we all feel instantly more welcome and comfortable when  that person caters to me in my native tongue – or finds someone who can.

And I think there’s a lesson for all of us meeting planners in this. We all feel more welcome when others reach out to understand us.

For years, I’ve thought US stores and restaurants should put up the little flag decals on the windows of their stores when they had someone who can speak a foreign tongue. The same could go for your even staff. Many cities are blessed with thousands of students who are required to have taken a language ­- that’s an outstanding opportunity to take advantage of when you’re looking for event staff and translation resources. And when you’re hosting an international crowd wouldn’t it be great if we could reciprocate and offer menus in their languages and staff that could help them.  Little pins on uniforms with German or Spanish or Mexican or French flags would bring smiles to the folks who come for your event but would love to speak to someone in their own tongue.  Oui?

No more tracking worries with trackthis

As meeting planners it’s a given that the volume of packages increase and the margin for error decrease as the big day approaches. With different vendors shipping with different carriers tracking packages can get incredibly confusing. Did you check them all? Can you find their site? Did you remember the tracking number or is it back at the office? And don’t you wish everyone e-mailed you the tracking numbers like pc/nametag does?

But Way Cool Tools guru and Meeting U founder Jim Spellos has tracked down a tool guaranteed to solve your shipping anxieties. It’s called trackthis and it automatically sends tracking progress reports for UPS, Fedex, USPS, DHL and other packages to your e-mail, SMS, Twitter or Facebook accounts. There’s even an iPhone app! Once you enter the tracking number on the trackthis site the updates are automatically sent to you – no worries, no tracking numbers to remember. So, can you feel your blood pressure coming down?

We’ve all seen them at events and conferences: Corporate logos that seem to consume the entire bag they’re printed on. The sponsor polo that looks like it belongs on the NASCAR circuit and the ball cap that’s being swallowed whole by the logo printed on it.

But do you notice you rarely see those sponsor items after the event is over? That’s because, frankly, they’re ugly and nobody wants to be seen in them. And that does no good for the sponsor when your attendees get back to the office.

To achieve a truly professional appearance with your giveaway items – and guarantee they see plenty of use after the event – we recommend the following steps:

Does your logo fit its destination?

Ask yourself, “Where will this logo go home to?”
What setting is your logo going to be in after the event ends and will the logo treatment you’re considering look natural there?

Attendees at your paralegal conference will go back to law offices so a briefcase or padfolio with a smaller, understated logo looks right for a refined setting. And that means it’s more likely to get used – and more likely to get seen.

This advice is also an invaluable, albeit subtle, sponsorship selling tool. Asking a potential sponsor where they want the product used AFTER the meeting helps them recognize this sponsorship as the long-term investment it is.

Negative space for positive exposure.

Use negative space to draw attention to your logo. Strange as it seems a smaller logo can sometimes draw more attention due to a graphic design concept known as negative space. In this case, the solid space around the logo on our Eco Deluxe Messenger Bag (shown at right) actually pulls your eye in to focus on the logo.

Refined Logo = Higher Perceived Value

Smaller logos can increase perceived value. That’s right, a properly proportion, tastefully-placed logo actually increases the perceived value of a giveaway. Case in point, the Wavelength Jr Padfolio shown at left. It’s priced as low as $3.99 each and, with a smaller better-proportioned logo that maximizes the use of negative space, looks like a very expensive accessory.

A commanding logo demands big space.

Sometimes a logo really should be larger than life. Consider this commanding logo shown at right. It demands to be on a big, broad surface like our Large Imprinted Tradeshow Tote.

Don’t worry, you’re not alone. If it all these logo rules seem bewildering just pick up the phone and give our representatives a call. Our production artists are pros at making your sponsorships look great.

Your turn. Got any sponsor items you’re especially proud of? Feel free to share them with us here.

What's in a name? Better manners according to behavioral psychologists

There’s a fascinating effect in social psychology known as deindividuation. Without getting too technical, the idea is that when individuals perceive they are anonymous their behavior becomes less socially acceptable – which is to say they get more aggressive, and lose their ability to empathize with the people around them.

So what does this have to do with meeting planning? Read on.

One of the classic studies on this subject was performed by Philip Zimbardo in 1969. In it participants were told to “shock” an actor posing as another participant each time the actor answered a question incorrectly.

The participant was told the voltage increased with each incorrect answer and the actor showed more and more discomfort as the experiment progressed.

The interesting part of the study for me? Participants who were wearing a nametag were more likely to refuse to shock the actor.

So wearing a nametag holds attendees more accountable to accepted social norms. That means guests are friendlier, more open to being approached. And that means productive networking experience all around.

Sure these are thing all of us have learned anecdotally over the years in the meeting planning business, but it’s nice to have science on your side.

What other strategies do you use to keep attendees friendly and social?

In an interview of industry leaders not long ago, Steven Hacker, President of the International Association of Exhibitions and Events, made an interesting point.  Hacker was quoted in Incentive, as saying “Travel has been obliterated.  There is no elegance left, no sophistication left in getting on an airplane. I can’t tell you how many people at the airport and on the plane commented to me about how nice it is to see somebody wearing a suit.” 

That statement got me thinking, are we also de-glamorizing meetings by our business casual and casual dress codes?  Are we making it like another day in the office?  Should we be making the meeting something “special?”  Something that you dress in your Sunday best for? 

And from a meeting value point of view, if you make dressing up a little bit more important, does it make the content at the meeting seem more important and valuable as well? Does being in a suit make you feel like one of “The Suits?” And, if so, is that really such a bad thing?  Do we treat people with a more business like attitude if they are in a suit?  Sure that’s a lot of questions to throw at you but your comments are well appreciated.

Part of the promotional piece from Northern Kentucky. Learn more at www.willplan4food.com.

Many meeting planners have struck out on their own as independent meeting planners.  Sometimes it was the result of cutbacks at their former places of employment and they were able to plan their old meetings as independents, probably at less money but with the opportunity to pick up other business.  Some people joined existing third parties and independent contractors, getting a commission on whatever business they brought in.

But with the cuts in the meetings industry, the independent is getting hit hard. Most get paid on the room commission and when meetings get canceled, they get nothing for all their work.  Others are seeing meetings cut the number of days of the meeting and as a result fewer commission-able rooms.  Or just normal attrition at association meetings is cutting attendance by 20-30%.  The New York Times did an excellent job of reporting on the issue.  Click here and read the New York Times article.

Today, Clear announced that they had lost financing and all Clear operations have been shut down.  Clear is the operation where you paid $100 a year, filled out your life history, and sent it in.  Clear would get an approval from TSA certifying your “trustworthiness” and then you would get an ID after you gave them an eye scan and fingerprints.  Once you got your card with its built-in memory chip, you could bypass the long lines of security in many airports.  You would walk up to the Clear station, have your fingerprint scanned, and be escorted to the front of the security line.  Worked wonders in some places like San Jose before they remodeled where you could paid a full half hour in line.  Or at DCA.  And people always wondered “who the hell” you were since you were being escorted past everyone to the front of the line. Money was the main reason Clear went out of business.  Other reasons are “unclear.”

We noticed that Las Vegas sponsored the Media Planet section in today’s ( Friday, May 29, 2009) Marketplace section of the Wall Street Journal.  Thank you Las Vegas for stepping up with twelve hard-hitting pages that start with “Meet Something You Didn’t Think You Would in Vegas – the Bottom Line” and end with “Going To Las Vegas Just Became a Responsible Decision.”  Rossi Ralenkotter, the President/CEO of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, reminds readers that “face-to-face  meetings provide the greatest return-on-investment of any marketing tool.” Take a look at their site:  www.vegasmeansbusiness.com.  This site does a great job of separating fact from myth  and makes sure that everyone know that Las Vegas means business.