I was surprised by the results of a recent survey. They showed that 95% of meeting planners said their organization does an adequate job of sharing information across departments revealing the total sum of meetings costs and identifying suppliers. But when asked if they must use, or even consider using, the suppliers with volume agreements, almost 50% of the planners said they had no such restrictions. (Meeting News Nov. 2007) This doesn’t make sense. It isn’t enough to wrap your arms around total meeting spend. Companies must leverage this knowledge and spend to significantly lower and/or avoid internal and external costs.
The best way to achieve this goal (and savings!) is to implement a Strategic Meetings Management Program (SMMP). (more…)
In Part One of Blogging About Blogging, we gave you a summary of good reasons to start a corporate blog. Now we’re going to give you some practical tips on actually starting one based on our own recent experience. If you’ve decided that blogging is right for you, read on… (more…)
Customers
One morning I was sitting with a client when his phone rang. He picked up the phone and had a heated conversation with the caller. He then said goodbye and slammed the phone down saying, “Customers!” Haven’t we all had that feeling? But you can’t beat listening to the customer. We recommend not only surveys, which are an excellent tool for gathering intelligence, but also face-to-face meetings where you really get to hear the good, the bad, and the ugly. You need to listen hard to your customers to improve your value proposition and avoid the commodity trap, or worse, the irrelevance trap! (more…)
Turning briefly to the wonderful world of internet memes: ROFLCon is coming! Some folks at Harvard (although we would have expected MIT) are putting together this conference focusing on the finest of web weirdness.
Tim Hwang, a ROFLCon founder, says “With any hope, the conference will be an irreverent celebration of the amateur insanity, the 15-millisecond celebrity, and outright geekdom at the (dark?) heart of the internet.” (more…)
We’ve put together a little holiday message for all our colleagues, partners, and friends. Happy Holidays! (Click the ‘play’ button and you’ll be taken to a special page containing a short animation. Enjoy:)
It’s the evening of the first day of your company’s most important conference of the year. Everything’s gone smoothly so far and you’ve finally got some free time to do a little schmoozing at the evening reception party. As you enter the reception there’s a hushed crowd gathered around a man lying face down on the floor. A co-worker rushes over to you. The man tripped on a power cord and is unconscious. He’d been drinking. An ambulance is on its way. Are you protected if the man decides your company was somehow liable?
In a society where people sue for millions over missing pants and hot coffee, it’s imperative to be proactive and take the necessary risk management steps to limit one’s exposure to financial liability. ITEX has put together some guidelines for you to consider when conducting your next conference. (more…)
According to Technorati’s last State of the Blogosphere report, there were over 70 million blogs on the web as of April 2007. In addition, there are over 70 million blog posts about what blogs are and why you should have one. Alright, we made up that last statistic, but there really are a vast number of such posts. (Try this Google blog search: ”What is a blog?“)
We wanted to write about why you or your company might want to start a blog, but because so many people have already written about the topic, we’re going to give you a short list of references to explore instead. The following sum up the pro blog argument pretty nicely. We suggest taking a look at them. But if you’re busy and want the lowdown quick and easy, just skip over the list to our summary. (more…)
If you’re looking for a place to find information on all kinds of conferences, connect with speakers and attendees, or even promote your own event, take a look at confabb.com.
“Confabb…combines an aggregate database of major conferences, conventions, and trade shows sorted by industry with social networking tools designed to empower conference attendees to improve their overall experience.” — from Summary of Confabb, The Conference Community
More than just a database of events, the site aims at “maximizing the conference experience” by providing tracking and social networking tools, along with an avenue for critique, review, and discussion. (more…)
A colleague once said that the derivation of the word brand came from the ownership mark on the rump of cattle. Maybe so, but today a brand is much more about what your customers and potential customers think of you. And if they like what they think, then maybe they’ll wear your tattoo.
The starting point for a brand strategy is to think about what the single most important value the company presents to the world. Does the marketplace see you in the same way? People rarely think about a brand. They think about what they need. Then they think about who can fulfill that need. It’s your responsibility to be at the top of mindshare. It’s not just about awareness, it’s about fulfillment. Build from your strengths. Articulate your unique selling proposition. (more…)
American Express Business Travel recently announced its forecast for pricing in 2008. This forecast could be bad news, especially for those who did not factor adequate increases into next year’s marketing budget. According to American Express, all costs associated with travel—air, hotel, and car rentals—will continue to increase, and in some areas substantially.
These increases will directly impact the bottom line of your meetings.
According to their findings… (more…)
Founder and
president of IT Exchange Group, Dana Toland oversees conference programs and services, as well as operations. Under Dana's
leadership, IT Exchange Group has evolved into a premier strategic marketing and meeting planning company primarily serving
companies in the IT industry. She has over fourteen years of experience in event marketing and operations, and was previously
employed by Daratech, Inc. and Relocation Resources International.
Vice President of Marketing of IT Exchange Group, Vicki works on all aspects of strategic and tactical marketing. She manages much of the conference planning and logistic services. Vicki has over fifteen years experience in marketing and creative services and was previously employed at Daratech, Inc. and the International Data Group.
