12:00 PM Eastern - Hot Button Panel 1

Prove Your Worth and Become Indispensable

Demand for corporate meeting and event planners is highly susceptible to business cycle fluctuations because meetings and events are usually among the first expenses cut when budgets are tight. And as the demographic of the potential and current meeting attendees continues to change to mirror demographic changes in the world around us, meeting and event planners need to keep up-to-date to be diversity savvy to ensure their events reflect those changes and meet the needs of their clientele. From developing content and choosing speakers to providing accommodations and selecting food, meeting and event planners must position themselves to be indispensable and possess the knowledge to create successful meetings and events in an ever-changing climate.

Self-promotion is an uncomfortable concept for a lot of meeting and event planners. They want their event to speak for itself. But the impressions you leave are just as important as the work you do. Meeting planners must build their own brands, especially in today’s climate.

Join Successful Meetings and MeetingNews magazines for this live, Hot Button panel discussion and learn from industry experts how to prove your worth and keep up-to-date in a job market that is extremely susceptible to economic downturns. Attend this online-only event and find out how to promote your successes and build your own brand to make yourself indispensable.

2:00 PM Eastern - Hot Button Panel 2

Differentiate Yourself: Resume and Business Proposal Tips

With economic conditions uncertain, companies and organizations are being extra careful with every expense, and that includes their meetings and events. While the employment of meeting and convention planners is expected to grow 20 percent over the next decade, professional meeting planners and companies need to differentiate themselves from their competition more than ever to nail that deal.

Meeting and event planners looking to secure a position or gain clientele need to know how to successfully network in a market that is changing rapidly to meet the demands of both the corporation and the consumer. The old adage that you only get one chance to make a first impression has never rang more true than with a resume and business proposal. You also need to be able to use all communications mediums effectively including electronic resources. But where do you start.

Join Successful Meetings and MeetingsNews magazine for this live, Hot Button Panel and learn from industry experts how to successfully seek and secure a job in the meeting and event market, even when times are tough. Attend this online-only event and find out how to utilize electronic resources to help you market yourself and prove your ROI.

4:00 PM Eastern - Hot Button Panel 3
The ROI Balance: Keep Value Up and Costs Down

For every meeting planner, their job extends way beyond finding the right spot at the right time of year, coordinating the right menu options and putting together a productive agenda. Sophisticated negotiation and communication skills are paramount to getting what you want, when you want it and for the right price. This is specifically true during an economic downturn as organizations are keeping a close eye on every dollar spent and making sure there is value attached. Good negotiating tactics with hotels and suppliers in the meeting and convention business is a critical component to delivering a quality event and delivering a desirable ROI.

But driving ROI doesn’t mean cutting your events to the bone. There are areas of excess that can always be trimmed and other areas that need the investment and attention.

Join Successful Meetings and MeetingsNews magazine for this live, Hot Button Panel and learn from industry experts how to successfully negotiate with suppliers to get more value out of your next event. Attend this online-only event and find out how to keep costs down but value up for your next event.

Hot Button Panel 1

Entertainment Strategies: Learn How To Deal With Speakers, Entertainers and Avoid Potential Pitfalls

In today’s marketplace, the right combination of elements for successful corporate event planning is being redefined minute-by-minute and project-by-project.  Driven by tighter budgets, more stringent evaluation measures and a constant need to validate the expense and time spent on the event process, planners are forced to stay on their toes to successfully respond to the changes in the corporate event-marketing arena.  Entertainment can be a key factor in the success of your event and can actually help stretch an event budget.  Guests may prefer to have simple food plus the added dimension of entertainment, rather than fancier fare with no entertainment. But dealing with speakers and entertainment agencies can be a complex and frustrating, not to mention expensive, proposition. Today’s event planners need to know how to successfully incorporate entertainment into their events, how to select the right entertainment, and how to negotiate with speakers and entertainers to insure your agenda and budget stay on target.  What elements should be included in the contract?  Is entertainment the main part of the event or does it function as an enhancement to the occasion?  Do you need to hire a music broker who can help determine exactly what your entertainment needs are and make sure they are met.

Join this live, interactive Hot Button Panel discussion and hear from industry experts regarding how to avoid potential pitfalls when dealing with speakers and entertainers.  Attend this on-line only event, and learn key strategies in incorporating the right entertainment into you next event without breaking the bank.

Moderator: Elliot Markowitz, Editorial Director, Nielsen Business Media, Webcasts/Digital Events
Speaker 1: William Ng, managing editor - MeetingNews
Speaker 2: Mark Sonder, CSEP, Chief Entertainment Officer - Sonder Productions, Inc.
Speaker 3: Marc Reede, President - Nationwide Speakers and Entertainment, Inc.
Speaker 4: Lisa Carnemolla, Vice President - Goodman Speakers Bureau

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Hot Button Panel 2

Event Design Strategies: Tips For F&B, Décor Design and Venue Selection

The world of special events is constantly changing. Technological enhancements have helped turn “simple” meetings and events into full-scale productions, boosting both clients’ and guests’ expectations.  What worked last year won’t necessarily fill the bill this year as planners are constantly called upon to create something new and different – an event that tops the previous year’s event.

What event formats, designs, production and décor treatments work well now?  Seeking out new and perhaps unusual event sites is one way to make this year’s bash different from last year’s, but it’s not enough to satisfy many clients’ expectations these days.  That’s only a starting point. The buzzwords now are more about the event production process with the focus on environment transformation and audience immersion.  “Decorate” is an antiquated concept.  The thinking today is more about “transforming” the space and creating a complete environment, one of total immersion, where the combined media – audio, visual and lighting – completely surround the audience to convey the meeting or event’s message in multiple ways.

Join this live, interactive Hot Button panel discussion and learn from industry experts regarding successful design strategies for F & B, decor, and venue selection. Attend this on-line only event and find out how to top last year’s event and exceed even your own expectations.

Moderator: Elliot Markowitz, Editorial Director, Nielsen Business Media, Webcasts/Digital Events
Speaker 1: Kinley Levack, Managing Editor - Successful Meetings
Speaker 2: Judi Froehlich-Pascoe is a Director of Business Development - BCD Meetings & Incentives
Speaker 3: James Etkin, President - ME Productions

Hot Button Panel 3
Effective Marketing Strategies: Regardless Of Size, Scope Or Venue, Learn Innovative Ways To Communicate Your Meeting Message

Corporate strategists are always looking to deliver their messages through various mediums, and meetings can provide a powerful outlet if care is taken to understand the objectives and thread these into all aspects of delivery. From venue to visuals, the most effective meetings reinforce one message to achieve a seamless implementation of the corporate objective. 
Communication is moving to a whole new level and meeting planners need to be in tune as to what works when, where, why and how. Meetings can be an effective way to communicate with people and provide an opportunity to build trusting, open relationships. However, when the message is not communicated effectively, most people feel meetings are a waste of time.

Join this live, interactive Hot Button panel discussion and learn innovative ways to communicate your meeting message from industry experts. Attend this on-line only event and find out how to effectively deliver your message in this new era of communication and technology.

Moderator: Elliot Markowitz, Editorial Director, Nielsen Business Media, Webcasts/Digital Events
Speaker 1: Vincent Alonzo, Editor-in-Chief - Successful Meetings
Speaker 2: Harith Wickrema, President - Harith Productions
Speaker 3: Shari Westmoreland, Founder - Eventors LLC.

Keynote Presentation:

Keynote Speaker: Nancy J. Wilson, CMP, Principal with Meeting Strategies Worldwide and Director and Founder of the Green Meeting Industry Council

Hot Button Panel 1:

Most Effective Ways to Green Your Meeting

Everyone is thinking “Green” these days and looking for ways to conserve natural resources and aid the environment. This has transcended beyond simple personal efforts and corporate initiatives and now includes travel agendas as well. Planning Green meetings has become a major initiative for many professional meeting planners and corporate travel departments. But there are still many misconceptions related to conducting more environmentally-friendly meetings.

Join Successful Meetings and MeetingNews for this on-demand Hot Button Panel discussion and get real tips from planners and suppliers on easy ways to plan a green meeting and how to identify Green-friendly venues during site selection. Attend this online-only event and learn why Green not only doesn’t have to cost you, it can actually have a measurable impact on your budget.

Moderator: Elliot Markowitz, Editorial Director, Nielsen Business Media, Webcasts/Digital Events
Speaker 1: Kinley Levack, Senior Editor, Successful Meetings, MeetingNews
Speaker 2: Harry Lewis, Attorney Advisor, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics Pollution Prevention Division Washington, DC
Speaker 3: Ray Burger, president of Pineapple Hospitality

Hot Button Panel 2:

Eat Your Greens: F&B Sustainability Trends

Ok, so you’ve got a Green-oriented venue all picked out. The site is energy efficient. It incorporates pollution prevention and toxic release practices. It uses suppliers that provide green options for Green meeting planning. The venue even provided you with a checklist of opportunities that when applied, minimize the environmental impact of holding meetings; contract language for obtaining "greener" conference planning/support services; and links to information on other related initiatives. Now what about the F&B? Are they using organic foods and sustainable seafood and buying locally raised products to support area commerce? Do they incorporate energy and water conservation energy and do they use “to-go containers” that are either recyclable or made with recyclable materials, as well as reusable cloth and linen instead of paper products?

Join Successful Meetings and MeetingNews for this on-demand Hot Button Panel discussion and get a look at some of the more effective, interesting and fun ways F&B managers and chefs are incorporating Green practices into banquet cuisine.

Moderator: Elliot Markowitz, Editorial Director, Nielsen Business Media, Webcasts/Digital Events
Speaker 1: Elizabeth West, Editor-in-Chief, MeetingNews
Speaker 2: Christine Rasmussen, Executive Director, Essex County Merrimack Valley "BUY LOCAL" Program
Speaker 3: Leslie Saeta, Founding Partner, Green Meetings Specialist, Ambassadors

Hot Button Panel 3:

Reducing Carbon Footprints

Corporate travel managers increasingly are showing an interest in proactively accounting for their environmental impact and reducing their carbon footprints. You’ve heard about carbon footprints before but still are unsure what they really are. According to some estimates, business travel accounts for between 20 percent and 60 percent of most corporations’ pollutants. Further, transportation is estimated to represent about one-third of all global climate-changing greenhouse gas emissions, some research shows. As a result, buyers are evaluating all aspects of travel management and policies with an eye on doing business with green-oriented companies—including airlines, hotels or rental car suppliers.

Join Successful Meetings and MeetingNews for this on-demand Hot Button Panel discussion and find out exactly what carbon off-setting really means and if it is worth it. Attend this online-only event and learn what some companies are doing when planning meetings to reduce their carbon footprints and embrace environmentally-friendlier travel initiatives.

Moderator: Elliot Markowitz, Editorial Director, Nielsen Business Media, Webcasts/Digital Events
Speaker 1: Suzie Amer, Managing Editor, Successful Meetings
Speaker 2: Shawna McKinley, GMIC Executive Director
Speaker 3: Parry W. Burnap, Denver Director of Greening, 2008 Democratic National Convention