Why You Didn't Get The Attendance You'd Hoped For By Jody Long Think about your last three events. In particular, think about your attendance at each of them. Did you have a goal in mind for each event? Did you meet that goal? If not, here are some areas you may want think about before you start planning your next event. Sometimes just making one of these changes to your next gathering may make the difference of a packed room, versus a handful of attendees. Read More
Preparing Your Resume & Portfolio By Jody Long When a recruiter is reviewing resumes, it usually takes them about 20 seconds or less to get a first impression. That means you have to have a clear, concise, and well-written resume that will also stand out among many others. Read More
Saving Time at Your Meeting By Jody Long When someone tells you “that was a good meeting”, they are probably referring to one of a couple things. It was either: A) You didn’t waste their time, and meet to just to meet, or B) It was informational, planned well, and not boring. Or hopefully a combination of both! Read More
Ergonomically Speaking By Jody Long No matter how comfortable the conference room chair is, sitting in an all-day meeting is usually not ideal. Unfortunately, in our line of work, these meetings have to take place. Here's an idea for your next meeting, so your guests can be more productive in their breakout sessions, and less fatigued by the end of the day. Read More
Go Green at Your Next Event By Jody Long Have you ever thought about how much waste is associated with some meetings and events you plan? Signs, hand outs, name badges, food…there’s a lot of one-time-use items that are thrown away after a short-lived event. If you’re thinking about changing this, and "going green" is something you've been considering for your next gathering, here are some points to consider when you start planning. Read More
Why You Shouldn’t Be Multi-Tasking By Jody Long It’s the last hole of the company golf tournament; your co-workers are all watching you. You’re trying not to concentrate on them, and trying to focus on the pin. It’s a simple game, right?... just put the ball in the hole. You start to swing. Are my knees bent too much? Am I over swinging? Are my shoulders lined up? Is everyone still watching? You take the swing, and land your ball right in the sand trap. Read More
Using Twitter to Promote Your Next Event By Jody Long When breaking news hits the internet, the first place it usually goes is Twitter. Why? Because it moves faster than any other form of social media out there. Twitter is all about sharing content, and sharing it quickly. Read More
Event Planner Terminology By Jody Long In the process of planning one of my very first meetings, a hotel event manager emailed me and said to sign the BEO and send it back to her. I knew she meant the attachment in the email, but had no clue what BEO stood for. The top of the form said BEO, but nowhere did it indicate the meaning. I reviewed it, sent it back, and quickly Googled what those three letters stood for in the event world. Since that day, the term BEO, or “Banquet Event Order”, has been added to my vocabulary. Read More
Audio Visual Basics for Event Planners By Jody Long When it comes to Audio Visual, let's be honest, it can be very overwhelming if you don't have the most technical background. You may only need a flip chart and podium, but you may be planning a more elaborate event that calls for double screens, overhead projection, lighting and sound. Either way, you want your event to be professional, but also within your budget. So here are some basics for you to keep in mind for your next event. Read More
Using Email Marketing to Promote Your Events By Jody Long Why use it? · Allows you to stay in contact with customers and event attendees before, during, and after the event. · Allows you to invite them to future events. · Allows you to offer them other services or products. Read More
Using Facebook to Promote Your Next Event By Jody Long With over 1.11 billion users as of March 2013, Facebook is the world’s largest social media platform (source: Facebook, Jan. 1, 2014). To give you an idea of how big Facebook is, the same source indicated that 48% of users between the age of 18 and 34, check Facebook when they wake up. Read More
Tips for Creating a Fundraising Letter By Jody Long If you’re planning on raising money this coming year for your non-profit event, consider writing a letter to local businesses to help your cause. Fundraising letters can sometimes be viewed as impersonal, and similar to “mass emails”; but if they are written correctly they’ll be able to greatly help your fundraising efforts. Read More
Event Management Resources By Jody Long You’ve landed the job as an event planner. Great! But, now what? Are you the only planner at your company, and not part of a team that you can gain valuable event information from? Looks like it’s up to you to go out and get more training on your own. If you’re the type of person who loves to continue their education, and stay ahead of the game, here are a few resources for you as an event planner. Read More
Staying on Track with Your Event Budget By Jody Long Last minute expenses, wanting to impress your customers and guests; your event budget can get out of hand much quicker than you thought. First things first: If you’ve held this same event before, look at your budget sheet from last year and compare. Where could you make changes? Here are six ways that can help you to stay on track with your event budget. Read More
How to Reduce Your Paper Clutter By Jody Long Paper can be the most challenging area of any office. As an event planner, you want to be organized, efficient and able to find things quickly. Here are some ways that can help you conquer the stacks of paper piling up on your desk as well as slim down your filing cabinet drawers. Read More
Working with a Caterer By Jody Long Catering can make or break an event. Guests will either leave your event raving about the food, or starving because they were expecting something great and your caterer did not live up to the expectations. Here are some tips to help you have a better outcome at your next event with your caterer, and how you can best work with them. Read More
Interview with a Bride By Jody Long How long did it take you to plan your wedding? Did you get started as soon as you got engaged? We got engaged November 2012. I started planning at the end of December 2012 and got married October 2013, so 10 months. I was out of state so I could not visit places. However, I did begin to look into places right away and called for available dates and scheduled times to visit when I was home for Christmas. I also looked at dresses online right away because I knew that I wanted pockets in my dress. I made appointments for when I was home for Christmas to go to the boutique that had the dress. I asked my bridesmaids within the first 2 weeks after our engagement. Read More
Strategies for a Business Plan By: Muffi Ghadiali The two key elements in developing your business plan are to gain a good understanding of your overall business and conduct sufficient research to combine all the aspects that go into a business plan. The following are key elements of a well thought out business plan. 1. Business Description: Describe your business in detail, starting with your experience in the industry and the types of events you are planning to organize. Use these questions to guide your thinking: Read More
How to Efficiently Schedule Yourself By Jody Long Everyone is looking for ways to become more efficient: They're upgrading to a faster phone. They're getting a car with better gas mileage. They're trying to figure out how to reach their fitness goals in less time. But have you ever thought out making your day more efficient? Most of us work an 8 hour day. And most of us, whether you realize it or not, are looking for ways to fit more in those 8 hours. Next time you stop to think about your 8 hour day, keep these ideas in mind. Read More