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Saving Time & Money - 10 Tips for Corporate Meeting Planners

Corporate meeting planners are always under pressure, trying to get everything right and running like clockwork for the meeting, while already worrying about the meeting and events after that…these tips should help you to save money and organise your time effectively.

• 1. Choosing a venue

  Set the venue criteria which is essential to the success of your event. The most important things to consider are the location of the venue, the facilities necessary and the conferencing capacity. Use our unbiased venue finder engine to select the perfect venue based on your personal criteria.

• 2. Choosing Suppliers

  When choosing suppliers, do not necessarily always go for the lowest price. Whoever you hire, they reflect on your company and it is more important that the supplier be reliable and conscientious than cheap. Sometimes it’s well worth paying a little extra to get extra service and services, especially if it reflects well on you!

• 3. Supplier & Venue contact details

  Make sure that you record the contact names and details of the venue’s in-house event organiser or conferencing manager - this will help if you are planning another event that the venue will be suitable for, as building relationships with reliable and trusted service providers will help when you want to pick up the phone and organise things at short notice or with minimum hassle

• 4. Online support

  Check out our testimonial area to get feedback from other meeting planners and event organisers.

• 5. Motivational Speakers

  If you are hiring a motivational speaker, make sure that they know the terms used by your organisation. Also, make the speaker aware of he audience composition so that they can tailor the speech to suit the individual dynamic of the audience. Make sure the speaker has your contact details and knows how to contact you as soon as they arrive at the venue – this will be one less thing to worry about!

• 6. Newsletters & Emails

  If you send emails before a meeting or conference, make sure that you include the speaker on the mailing list. This way the speaker knows what else is going on at the meeting, what the various topics are, if the schedule has been revised, and if their speaking time has been changed.

• 7. Be contactable

  Ensure that everyone has your contact details – when communicating with any of the delegates, suppliers or anyone participating in the event, make sure you include your mobile number.

• 8. Try something different

  For extended conferences why not think about scheduling the motivational speaker for the start of the event rather than saving them for the end. It’s a good idea to get the delegates enthused and motivated at the beginning of the conference. Although it can be argued that using the speaker at the end will send the delegates home on a high, it’s important to recognise that they may be tired, hungover, or distracted and restless pondering their journey home.

• 9. Say thanks

  Whether dealing with external suppliers or people in other departments of your own company, it is important to acknowledge good work. It’s a nice touch to write a note of thanks and send a copy to the person’s boss.

• 10. Post Event Analysis

  After every meeting and event, do a "post event analysis report." Write down what went right, what went wrong, what you would do differently if you were planning the meeting again, and who the suppliers were who made your life easier/more difficult.