By: Michael Kerr

Fun!
Put some in your next event.

In my days as a senior government manager, I recall feeling as though meetings were a place where you went to get a bit of your soul sucked out of you.

So, I’d suggest that perhaps we should all be setting a rather loftier goal for our meetings and events. And while we’re reaching those loftier goals, why not turn the entire meeting experience into more of a, well, experience, by adding more fun into the mix?

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By: Peter Temple

Meeting Technology Face to Face
Are the concepts of the virtual world affecting the speaking industry?

To be truly effective, technology must be transparent unremarkable. It must blend in.

Virtually every meeting today uses technology to some extent. Rear screens have become the norm for even the most basic corporate events. As technology costs decrease, travel costs escalate and transmission clarity improves; history suggests their use will only increase.

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By: Richard Lannon

Partnering
Today’s kings and queens purse a time-tested strategy

Not that long ago, alliances between nations were strengthened by marrying one country’s king to another’s queen. When a king considered an alliance or formal partnership, he first ensured that there was something to gain for both parties. The overall goal of the marriage was to create a complimentary, harmonious union.
Today, as we struggle for economic survival, business partnerships are becoming increasingly more important. To develop meaningful, long-term relationships you must explore the true value of partnerships.  Unfortunately, without proper research and planning, many partnerships fall short in practice. Here are five steps to help you forge relationships that are win, win, win!

Define the strategic objectives of the partnership
Kings and queens would determine whether it made sense to join forces with a nation by first asking ‘what’ questions. When it comes to your business, you must ask the same strategic questions before considering a partnership. These eight ‘what’ questions should serve as the starting point: Read the rest of this entry »

Allison Graham

Fascinate or Fail
Capturing attention these days is a matter of pulling the right triggers
By Allison Graham

What do sexual attraction and flirtation have to do with planning meetings? On the surface, one would think not much. Usually sex is not a priority consideration for most organizers, but when it comes to planning conferences and wowing audiences, the very primitive functions that drive human flirtations can be adapted to ensure satisfaction for a wide range of appetites. Imagine creating an environment that will fascinate your participants.
For conferences to be considered memorable, attendees need to think, feel or believe something differently than when they walked into the room. This is not an easy task for organizers to achieve.
According to Sally Hogshead, author of Fascinate: Your 7 Triggers to Persuasion and Captivation, it is possible to craft more persuasive events.If planners and the speakers who serve them want to stand out, they need to fascinate participants. Using the triggers, Hogshead shares insights into what makes people tick. Before speaking at a conference, she has the entire group complete a three-minute, F-Score survey to give organizers (and herself) an understanding of the audience dynamics. Plans can then be tilted to ensure wide-spread satisfaction.  ‘The seven triggers force people to think creatively to generate maximum fascination.’ Once you know the triggers, and assuming thereÕs a mix of all seven, here are some hints to accommodate accordingly.

Lust
This trigger is about creating warmth in humanity and attraction. Great presentations make people feel passionate about the topic; they don’t just provide rational information. One needs to heighten all five senses so people can interact with the material.

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