Ed Bernacki

Why Do Business in a Box?
Challenging the boundaries for successful meetings
By Ed Bernacki

You’ve tried laser light shows and motivational speakers to engage people. You even thought of drummers, indoor fireworks and opera singing waiters to stir things up. And what is the result?

I have seen these gimmicks in different countries as a speaker on innovative thinking. What is clear is that too many events think that adding some sparkle to the same old format for meetings will improve results.
It is time for more “outside the box” thinking to design our meetings. Yet, before we can think “outside the box,” we need to see what the current “inside the box” thinking is producing. Here are my observations: 
We start planning many events without defining learning objectives for what it should achieve for participants.

With no overriding objectives, speakers are not challenged to create more original, unique and focused presentations.

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By Tom Stoyan

Rewriting the Rules of Selling
Learn the insider secrets of Canada’s fastest-growing companies
By Tom Stoyan, HoF

Let’s face it, as a meeting planner your reputation is only as good as the last speaker you hired. You really can’t afford a so-so client experience especially during these tough economic times.
With fewer meetings, it’s now more important than ever to “wow” them at each and every meeting/event. Your speaker selection is often the biggest factor in providing them that “wow” experience. 

A Hyundai will get your client to their wedding but is that the experience they are looking for? That next meeting you’re planning may be the equivalent of someone’s corporate “wedding” day.

When the client presents you with a budget, ask them specifically what they want. Some clients are explicit and provide lots of detail.  Others want you to look after everything. And then there are those who think you are a mind-reader and should know exactly what they want. 

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The 80/20 Rule
Untangling the Pareto Principle
By Sunjay Nath, MBA, BScE, CSP
 

Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto observed that 80 per cent of the land in Italy was owned by 20 per cent of the
population. Upon further research, Pareto concluded that
this trend was not an anomaly but, in fact, the norm in other countries. These observations were the basis for the Pareto Principle also known as the 80/20 Rule.

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