Corporate Event Planning|Event Management|Event Planner

Engaging the audience throughout the event is the primary objective of the event organizers. In order to achieve this end, event organizers invest their best efforts in creating power point presentations, and so on. However, attracting your attendees' attention at all times is a difficult task. If order to achieve this goal, you have to do a little more than trying out the old methods repeatedly. In fact, you can spark a good deal of enthusiasm in your audience by resorting to online event registration- a complete solution for events of all size and complexity.

According to experts, effective marketing strategy is the key to keeping the audience engaged. Simultaneously, it best accelerates and deepens relationships with prospective clients and customers. As a result, event organizers are essentially deploying best practices, which are technology driven, to make the most of organizing these events.

Moreover, the growing dependence on technology has encouraged prospective attendees to expect more from you. Therefore, it is imperative to use this technology by the organizers. These days, the audience is reasonably familiar with social media engagement and they hardly find mere power point presentations interesting that leaves no room for peer-to-peer interaction. Additionally, today's audience demand information to be delivered in real time and prefer taking part in ongoing conversations. Thus, using the right kind of event registration software allows you to make your event more interactive thus fulfilling attendee expectations.

Given below is a brief overview of how to maintain audience engagement in your upcoming events.

Promotion is the Key to Success

Keep in mind that a successful event begins long before the actual event takes place. An effective promotional strategy helps in building up enthusiasm amongst the target audience about the event. As a result, they arrive on the scheduled date with full of expectation, prepared to engage and participate in the event. Therefore, you must focus on the fact that your event is providing enough resources to the attendees from which they can learn. In this way, you can win over a potential base of satisfied clients and customers, which may turn out to be profitable in the long run.

One of the best ways to achieve audience engagement is to create teaser campaigns about what the attendees are going to experience at the event. The best platform to do the same is your event website, social media sites and through email campaigns.

Emphasis on Audience Interaction

Audience interaction is one of the main aspects of keeping them engaged throughout the event. In fact, you have to offer both live and virtual attendees the platform to directly interact with the presenter(s). It not only helps in the smooth flowing of the process, but at the same time strengthens co-ordination and communication, which in turn makes your event very effective.

As an organizer, you have to identify, which sessions are going to be the best for audience interactivity. However, some of the best ways to strengthen audience interaction are text chats, question and answer sessions, video sharing and so on.

Therefore, using resources that can help in developing audience interaction and engagement is the key to organizing and hosting a successful event.

When gathering all of the information needed to produce an event the tasks are endless. Getting all the names of the volunteers as well as vendors can be endless. Anyone who has planned an event knows if there is a lack of communication, there is trouble. But could have run so smoothly can become chaos quickly.

When having a non-profit event there are often people who are donating things. These things can be monetary donations or goods. Keeping track of who donates and keeping them up-to-date can be an endless job.

Is there are way to contact all of the people at once on a certain team? You could text them all individually and give them the message. Or, you could call them all and let them know. Email can be used if the team is not to be doing their certain task for a few days off.

Being efficient is one of the talents that great event planners have. They are able to multi-task in all of the areas and make it look like it is the easiest things to do. Unfortunately, not all of us are that talented. Observation on our part while the event planner is doing the tasks can help. But the most efficient are moving so fast that it can be confusing.

Ever wonder how these people accomplish so many things at once? Is it just in their personalities that make them able to make things look so easy? The answer in no, they use planning tools that work for them.

Lists on the computer using programs such as Excel are generated. Programs designed to work as personal assistants are used to make things move more efficiently. If a coordinator has more than a couple of people to call they will find a program that allows them to make multiple calls all at the same time. The best ones available will give them the results in real-time. This not only saves time, it keeps things up-to-date. This way the event planner knows what is going on at all times.

Event planners also know that they have to be one step ahead of everything and everyone else. They will be ready with "Plan B" just in case something goes wrong. There are plenty of times that an event will have to be rescheduled. Waiting until the last-minute never works well. If the planner has everyone's name in a system all that needs to be done is a message sent with one push of a button. Once everyone is notified the planner will then get everyone's responses back in real-time. This is just one of the many things that a successful event planner is able to do.

Planning events can be fun and extremely rewarding. Using programs designed just for information gathering and sending will put you ahead of the pack.

Soccer is one of the most popular sports played across the globe. Both adults as well as kids are crazy about this game. If you have a young child who is suffering from soccer fever and aspires to become Freddy Adu or Jerzy Altidore, a soccer theme party will be the best way to celebrate his special day. Here are some useful ideas to plan a sports theme party.

Invitations

• This is a very popular party theme; therefore, you can easily get themed invitation cards at any party supplies store or buy them online.


• Buy some inflatable soccer balls, inflate them, and write your party details using a permanent marker pen. Once you have written all the details including the RSVP, deflate it and pack it in a transparent pouch. Include a note inside it, asking the invitees to blow-up the ball. The football fans will be glad to get an invitation for their favorite theme party along with a soccer ball to play.


• Request the guests to come dressed up in their uniforms.

Party decoration:

• Sports parties demand an outside venue. Plan your party at a soccer field or an open park. If you don't want to rent those places, organize the party in your backyard.


• Make every effort to convert your venue into a soccer field. Set up soccer goals at either end of the party area.


• At the entrance, place a large soccer player cutout to greet the guests as well as increase their excitement level.


• Arrange a face painting activity for them so that they can get more involved in the theme.


• Soccer birthday party supplies such as tableware, table cover, balloons, party hats, blowouts, etc. will help you set the party mood.


• Find out if your nearby bakery can bake a theme cake for your party; or else, get a green colored cake and decorate it with soccer theme candles.

Party food:

• You can have hot dogs, nachos, pizzas, chips, popcorn, chicken nuggets, and anything that is usually available at a stadium.


• Give each dish a creative name or an appealing introduction such as 'the breakaway cupcakes' or 'get energy from these cupcakes for heading the ball'.


• Decorate round sugar cookies with black and white frosting to resemble soccer balls.

Party games:

• Make goals in your backyard or the venue you have rented by using cones. Line up the kids in front of it and let them score their best.


• Ask the kids to keep the ball in the air as long as they can, using their heads, feet, knees, etc.


• If your guests are too young to have such difficult games, have some simple activities such as a soccer theme pull string pi簽ata, coloring a ball, etc.

Party favors:

For small kids, you can use candies, mini soccer balls, stickers, theme pencils, etc. to fill the loot bags. Whistles, soccer themed key chains, sports headbands, soccer logo printed t-shirts, etc. are good options for kids above 5 years.

Set the kids loose so that they can have a great time at your child's soccer party.

Are you planning a wedding on a budget? If so, you want to have your dream wedding, but you may be limited on costs. Luckily, there is a way for you to plan your wedding while on a budget. That way involves using Craigslist.org.

How can the popular classified website help you plan your upcoming wedding? In more ways than you could have ever imagined. To get started, lets cover the basics.

Your wedding dress. Do you already have a wedding dress? If not, you may want to save money by opting for a used dress. Not all brides save their dresses and most are in pristine condition. In addition to finding wedding dresses, bridesmaid dresses are also commonly listed for sale on Craigslist. If you want, you can use the services of a local tailor to ensure the dress properly fits or to customize it more. In fact, you can also find a local tailor on Craigslist.org too!

The tents, tables, and chairs. When many brides and grooms are on a budget, they opt for an outdoor wedding, usually in the backyard of a close friend or family member. If you opt for this approach, you will need a tent, tables and chairs, as well as other rental equipment. The good news, you can usually find these items listed for rent on Craigslist!

The DJ. What wedding is complete without great music? You will need a DJ for the wedding reception. Although you can turn to your local phonebook, you can also find a DJ on Craigslist. Many of these individuals operate on a part-time basis. Since they may not be full fledged DJs, you are likely to find better rates. Just ensure you are able to work with the person to choose the music for your reception.

The wedding planner. If you are on a budget, you might assume that an event planner is out of the question. Due to the poor economy, many Americans are now looking for additional ways to make money. You can find these individuals on Craigslist. You don't need to hire a professional event planner. In fact, a bride who just finished planning her own wedding will do. She has the experience and is likely to charge a very fair rate.

Are you contemplating changing careers? Mary's story warns us that we need to be thoughtful and cautious when making a dramatic change like this. Here is Mary's story in her words.

"I identified the job I wanted, my dream job. I went back to school full time, and racked up a lot of debt. By the time I graduated several years later, the economy tanked, and my dream job was no longer hiring. And the jobs that are similar pay so much less than what I was making before. I'm broken hearted and deeply discouraged. How can anyone suggest people go after their dream job when it only leads to disappointment?"

Mary's story makes me sad, and she is not alone. It happens more than we'd like to know. (It is also the reason I do what I do, to help people find their way without becoming another Mary.)

Mary's story is one most people fear will happen to them, isn't it? So how can you avoid Mary's experience? Do you have to throw away your dreams, and just take what comes your way? Or do you put everything on hold until the economy turns around, whenever that may be? No. If you do your research and careful planning, you can have a job you love and a thriving career, and you can have it now.

Rhonda worked hard to unearth the strengths and skills she loved to use, along with where and how she loved to use them. She also identified her ideal working environment, and the roles she preferred when working. It is from that list that we began to brainstorm different job titles she could go after. Rhonda's list included Project Manager, Executive Director (for a Non-Profit), and Event Planner/Party Planner. Before Rhonda chose one of these to pursue, she did her research.

First Rhonda met with at least 3 different people who held each title, so 3 Project Managers, 3 Event Planners, 3 Executive Directors. She conducted an informational interview with each one, to find out what their day to day responsibilities were, what the major challenges of the jobs were, and what the job market was like for each of them. She learned that in her area, Event Planners were losing jobs, and struggling to find work. She learned that Executive Directors needed a bit more experience than she currently had, but that she could easily get that experience volunteering.

Next Rhonda did some research online to learn about the salaries associated with each position. She learned that Event Planners didn't make as much as she needed. She began to rule out the Event Planner idea, and narrowed her research to focus on Project Manager and Executive Director jobs. Both still appealed to her, and after doing more research, she discovered there were more Project Manager jobs available, especially if she pursued certification.

Since Rhonda wanted a change sooner rather than later, she decided to pursue a Project Manager position now, and keep her eyes open for any Executive Director opportunities that might be available later.

Rhonda is now on a new path, one that works for her financially, and provides her with the security and future she desires. She ruled out the options that wouldn't work for her.

Once you know what types of jobs appeal to you, I encourage you to do your research. Find out as much as you can about the reality of those jobs and careers. Are they growing? Do they pay what you need? Are there certifications or training required? What are the real day to day responsibilities of the job? How hard is it to break into that industry or area? If you research all your options, you will find one that will work for you, now. You can end up like Rhonda, not Mary. And that story has a happy ending.

An event management career can definitely take you sites provided you are serious of building a career of arranging events and organizing them on large scale basis. In the past decade many companies as well as educational institutions recognize event as management profession. And now the leading universities offer degree programs in the event planning to a number of individuals who are actually consider event planning as career option.

Event planners are famous by different names such as program mangers, conference coordinators, event mangers and many more. It all heat down to the event coordinator doing all the preparation for the event whether a conference, fete, marriage party, trade show. Number of big business organizations has started hiring them on full time basis since their organizations have been growing so do their needs for the communication. And when we talk about organizing different conferences and meetings in a short span of time then event planners sounds great asset to the company.

Event coordinators usually earn good by establishing their own event planning company. There are individuals who are just searching for the trustworthy people to outsource the needs of event management. Many weddings, parties or birthday parties are mentioned on a small scale then there is large scale event planning series such as arranging large trade shows and several grand functions related to corporate world.

Event coordinators have actually made a mark in the ground of management by arranging trade shows successfully on international level. One such example of event planning is auto trade show. Many things need to be learnt while making your career in event planning. It deals with lot of traveling and meeting the top brass of the business world. Management skills are comparatively important then the communication skills.

Event management professional should have the ability to handle the logistics as well as invitation after exploring the location for the event to happen. The ability to handle and achieve things brings successful event planners.

The royal treatment that you gave the little princesses at your pretty princess party will always be remembered by them. However, to let your party hangover be there for some more time and make your party memorable, you must choose favors that are in accordance with your pretty princess party theme. Although tiaras and wands are evergreen, parents these days prefer to give something that has a better utility but not something that the kids are tired of receiving. Here are some princess party favor ideas that will make the kids jump out of excitement.

Purses

Girls are fond of accessories such as purses or change bags. Even if they have many, they would still be delighted to get one more. Buy the Disney themed purses or, if you find them expensive, you can go with the small fancy purses or change purses. You can replace these bags for the favor bags and fill them with candies, inexpensive jewelry, feather, stickers, bubble mix, etc.

Educational favors

Parents always love things that their kids can use for learning. The bubble mix, the wand, the cookies are always being the favorites of kids but they need a push to learn something new. Apart from giving them a lot of fun time to relax and enjoy, send them home with a coloring book and a set of crayons. A story book will also be a good option to include in the party bags. These favors will not cost you much but will surely get you a lot of appreciation from the parents.

A pack of make-up accessories

Girls are fond of anything that will help them to look beautiful. While parents do not encourage the little girls to do a lot of makeup on a daily basis, they will not mind if you give them the accessories. Give them a good quality hairbrush to manage their tresses and a fancy looking gem-studded hand mirror to see how beautiful they look when they smile. Include a pack of face wipes in your favor bags so that the girls can clean their faces whenever they want. This bag would be something that will pamper the little ones and make them feel like the real princess.

Princess diary

Buy the Disney themed personal diaries for the treat bag and encourage the little girls to start practicing the habit of writing dairies. This will not only help them to spend some time with themselves but also boost their writing skills.

These are just a few options. The princess theme is so famous that you can easily get any pretty princess party supplies that you want.

Many event planners focus their entire attention on adopting strategies to find new attendees for their events while overlooking the importance of building strong relations with their past attendees and registrants. As a result, their marketing strategies remain focused on promoting their events to the new registrants. What most organizers fail to understand is that the success of an event depends not just on their ability to draw more attendees but also on retaining excellent relationships with existing members.

Maintaining good relations with past and existing attendees helps organizers to benefit in several ways. Some of these include the following:

Positive Word of Mouth

In marketing and promotion, nothing works better than a positive word of mouth. This is a highly reliable and effective means to market events. Your happy members spread the good word about your events and influence prospective attendees to sign up. Therefore, it is essential for you to maintain an excellent rapport with existing as well as past attendees at all times.

Ensure a High Turnout for Events

Promoting an event calls for a lot of planning and coordination. Despite undertaking robust marketing measures, you may not achieve the desired turnout. However, maintaining a strong relation with your past attendees makes it easier for you to market them to people who would be interested to attend an event that interests them.

Create Credibility for Your Organization

As an event planner, one of your key responsibilities is to create credibility for your organization. The best way to ensure that your prospective attendees view your organization as a reputed firm is to provide value to your attendees. A credible organization draws more attendees and aids in marketing and promotion.

To enable event organizers to manage better relations with their attendees at all times, comprehensive event management solutions offer several key features to boost attendee relationship management. Some of the top benefits provided by these solutions include the following:

• Seamless data integration enabling the event organizers to understand their attendees in a better way


• Communication tools to interact with prospective as well as existing event attendees


• Powerful and secure online payment management solutions to make it easier for the attendees to sign up for the upcoming events


• Integration with the social media platforms to popularize and promote events


• Strategic support to organizers to create appropriate marketing campaigns for different attendees


• Custom reports to evaluate the success of events and attendee responses

Buoyed by the growing demand among event organizers with different budgets and requirements, a number of feature rich event management solutions have arrived in the market that are transforming the way events are organized and marketed. Event planners have also realized that building and fostering relationships with attendees enhances their brand value and enables them to market their events in a more effective manner. The key therefore lies in choosing the most comprehensive event management solution that strengthens attendee relationship management.

Planning the perfect corporate event, holiday party, team building event, employee appreciation day, company picnic, family reunion, fun fair or other special event is an easy task when working with a professional event planner. Many people planning special events are overwhelmed with fitting event planning tasks into their schedules, especially if it is their first time producing an event. The first place to start is to find a reputable professional planner you feel comfortable working with. Planners are easily found by asking others who have planned events in the past, reading company bios on websites and asking companies you are interested in working with if the planners and staff they employ have had a background check. It is a good idea to speak with more than one planner if this is your first time planning an event. When selecting a professional planner, it is important to evaluate whether you are in need of an outdoor event coordinator, indoor event specialist, games assistant, meeting planner, caterer, etc. The individual you choose to work with will depend greatly on the type of event you are interested in producing. Once you have selected an individual or event planning company, the party details will begin to fall in place. Event planners will focus on executing four main areas of fun. They include: catering, music, games/rides and tents/tables/chairs.

When selecting catering for your event, a planner will evaluate the type of event participants are attending. For company BBQ's, on-site cookouts, or catered luncheons, a casual atmosphere is necessary which may entail typical picnic foods such as hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken breasts and side salads. For upscale events such as client appreciations, open house, grand openings and the like a more sophisticated menu would be needed. In some cases, special dietary concerns will need to be factored into the types of foods you choose to include. (i.e. vegetarian, kosher, allergen foods, etc.) It is important to discuss any food limitations your event may have with your planning professional. A decision must also be made whether or not to provide a full meal, several course meal, fun foods, dessert/coffee or appetizers. A professional caterer will work with you and your event planner to help you to select the foods appropriate for your audience and ensure success for your event. If you select a full service event planner, they will help guide you in finding a catering partner. Often times, full service event planners work with several catering companies and will know by the description of your event which company will best suite your needs.

Selecting the right music for your audience is essential in ensuring your guests have a memorable and enjoyable experience at the event. When hiring a DJ, MC, band, specialty act or musical group it is important to assess the underlying goals of the event. Do you want to select an interactive DJ to provide activities for children? Would your guests respond well to hula dancers, a Mariachi band, Dixieland band or cover band? Do you want your music to accompany your event theme? Are you looking for background or forefront party music? Do you want people to dance? Do you need a dance floor or not? Do you want your DJ to offer guests bingo or other interactive activities such as the chicken dance, hokey poky or hot potato throughout the day? How you would like your musicians or DJ's to dress for the occasion? Many questions must be answered before making your musical selection. Once these questions are answered you will be able to work with event staff in producing the perfect event! Selecting the right music is crucial as you want to make sure not to annoy or offend any of your guests, therefore, you will want to have direct input on the choices of music for your event thus eliminating any unwanted surprises or negative outcomes.

QR codes were developed by a Japanese Mr. Denso-Wave. QR codes are two-dimensional bar codes containing up to 7,089 numeric characters. They are primarily used to provide an easy, affordable way to inform Smartphone users about products, services or events and persuade them to buy or attend the same.

How do QR Codes Work?

You can use these codes to take a person to a URL via a Smartphone browser. For example, you can place the code on the back of your business card on clicking which the users will enter your business website. You can also advertise lucrative offers like 'free product' or "50% off" on particular purchases to your potential customers. All they need to do is to scan the barcode to visit your Smartphone optimized form and join your e-mailer list.

What is a Mobile-optimized Website or Form?

This is a special website designed specifically and optimized for usage on any Smartphone browser. The Smartphone-optimized form as the name itself suggests is designed on similar lines. A mobile-optimized website usually contains the kind of information that is short and crispy. What mobile users usually look is a short introduction about your organization, contact details, free offers or incentives, basic features of the products, etc.

Now, let's look at the best ways of using QR codes to attract people towards your products or events.

Create a Pre-event Buzz

Add the codes on your website as well as on your blogs and try to provide special advantages to people who share it with their friends on various social media sites or register early for your event.

Arrange an Ad Campaign

You will see many companies framing innovative promotional campaigns. For example, I once saw a chocolate company distributing chocolates for free to passers-by on the streets, especially to the kids. You too, can opt for such a vigorous campaign. Hire temporary staff to walk around busy shopping malls and streets wearing company branded t-shirts with attractive and witty tag lines printed on them. Many people take their pictures and post them on Facebook to share the same with their friends. It leads to a massive promotion of your events or products via the social networking route.

Encourage Location-based Activities

You can put QR codes on the busy street walls or on the gates of a public park, zoo, etc. to let people view the same and initiate engagement with prospective clientele.

Connect with the Tradeshow & Event Attendees

You can send the QR codes via a SMS or text message to the mobile phones of potential tradeshow attendees. They can easily scan those codes to gain entry to your tradeshow. Moreover, instead of just sending a QR code to each attendee, why not organize a SMS message contest. The contest can persuade the tradeshow attendees to share their personal contact details and on doing so they may win attractive gifts!

If you have been put in charge of the next big corporate event, you may have gone into panic mode. Any event can be a challenge to plan, but a corporate event often puts a lot more pressure on a person. You may feel overwhelmed just thinking about it. The thing you can do to avoid the problems of doing it yourself is to hire a corporate event planner. This will simplify your job and you can leave the tedious and difficult job of planning the event to the professionals. That's right, if you go with a planner who has plenty of experience, a good track record, and a large list of services for you to choose from, your event will be a smashing success.

Look for a company that has had years of experience. If they have planned hundreds of corporate events for companies of different sizes, you know that they will be able to handle your event. It is good to find out whether they have planned events similar to the type of event you desire to pull off. Whether it is a small meeting with only the heads of departments or the entire company and their family members, you want to be assured that the event planning company you are hiring has experience with the type of event you want to pull off.

Working with a corporate event planner will free you up from all of the small details. Rather than having to find a place to rent tables and tablecloths from, and another place to cater the food, and another place to come in and decorate, you will actually save money by hiring a corporate event planning company that has all of these resources at their fingertips. By hiring every aspect of your event through one company, you will usually get a package deal that beats out the individual prices you would pay to separate companies.

If you are looking for entertainment, using a corporate event planner is a good way to go because they usually have connections in the entertainment industry and can help you find exactly what you are looking for, and at a reasonable price. By using a corporate event planner that has years of experience planning a variety of corporate events, you can be assured that your event is more likely to be a success. It will be cost effective to go with a company that has all of the resources at their fingertips. Your event will be a success, and so will you.

It's like the old dream where you're delivering a speech to a packed house - and suddenly realize that you're standing there with your trousers around your ankles. You've planned the perfect company dinner - and the caterer got the date wrong. Your keynote speaker didn't show up because his travel tickets were never confirmed. And the napkins at the tables don't match the tableskirts. Are your guests going to think 'Oh, their corporate event planners let them down? Of course not! When you plan a large scale corporate event, your company's reputation is on the line. Why would you leave that in unskilled hands?

The most successful corporate events are those that are well-planned and flawlessly executed. If your company is hosting a customer appreciation event, a team building day or any other type of corporate event, it pays to hire the best corporate event planner you can find to take care of all the details. But how do you choose the best event planners? Here's a checklist of criteria to help you narrow down your choices to those corporate event organisers that will deliver an event that your customers and employees will enjoy.

1. If you're new to planning corporate events, ask around among your business colleagues for recommendations. If you attend a grand opening or company dinner that impresses you as well-planned and well-organized, make a note of whether an event planner was used, and which one it was. Excellence has a way of being noted, and word of mouth is the best recommendation you can find.

2. When you interview a corporate event planner, pay as much attention to the questions that they ask as to the answers that they give. A professional will ask questions designed to gauge exactly what YOU want to accomplish with your event so that they can translate your vision into the spectacular event that you have in mind.

3. Ask the right questions to get the information you need to know. How often do they handle events similar to yours? What other corporate events has the firm planned lately? Do they have experience with the type of event that you want to run? How will they approach your goals for this event?

4. Always ask for references. A professional event planner will be happy to provide you with the names of other clients that you can contact. Just as importantly, they can provide a list of vendors with whom they've worked and have relationships. As in any other business, successful event planning is based on who you know as much as it is on what you know. An expert corporate event planner will have worked extensively with vendors and services in your area. They'll know which companies are reliable and which to avoid.

No matter what the event you're planning, it makes sense to turn to a knowledgeable professional for help with the details. A professional corporate event planner can make running your event painless - so that you can relax and enjoy the evening as much as your guests.

It's time to hang your stockings near the fireplace and be with your family and friends to celebrate the joy of Christ's birth! Whether you are hosting a quiet dinner or throwing a big party, you have to plan some fun activities to keep the party going. Interesting games and activities will add a lot of fun and frolic to the environment and will set the mood for the rest of the evening. Here are some Christmas party ideas that will help you in engaging and entertaining your guests.

Passing the Christmas gift box

Customize the popular party game 'pass the parcel' to make it fit in your party theme. Instead of the parcel, have your guests pass a gift box. Instead of playing regular music, play Christmas carols and when the carol stops, the person holding it have to answer a Christmas related question. If he/she answers correctly, let him/her rejoin the game or else, they are out. This way, your game will last longer. Moreover, people will enjoy the questioning part of it. The person who lasts till the end will be the winner and will get the gift box as a reward.

Christmas treasure hunt

Although this is a very common Christmas party idea, adults and kids still enjoy it alike. Hide about 20 Christmas-related things around your party area. Divide your players into two or three groups depending on the number of guests and give them a list of the things that they need to find. To make your game easier as well as interesting, give them some clues. The group which finds the maximum number of items in lesser time will be the winner. For kids, you can make this an individual activity instead of team activity.

Making Santa costumes

Creating Santa costumes will be an enjoyable activity for all your guests attending your Christmas party. Divide the participants into two groups and give them the Christmas party supplies they will need to make the costumes. You can even divide the players into smaller teams and ask each of the teams to make one part of the costume. Although there will not be any winner in this activity, the participants will certainly enjoy this creative game. This is a great idea for office parties as well.

Apart from these interesting party activities, think of any party game and add a Christmas twist to it to come up with your own innovative ideas. Reward the winners with exciting Christmas-related prizes such as snowflake bookmarks, pens, holiday themed key chains, and much more.

Networking events are primarily organized to meet business and social networking needs of enterprises. Hundreds of professionals participate in networking events held at different points of time to make new contacts, generate effective leads, and develop business opportunities.

Networking is hard and very few are adept at this game of generating quality contacts. For most individuals such occasions tend to be full of situations which may be monotonous in nature and small talk. Every professional should be aware of the formalities and the etiquette in order to mingle with attendees to achieve their business goals. Let's talk about some tips which may prove to be effective and would help you make the most of these events.

Walk into the Room Smartly

Don't just stand still after entering the room where the event is being hosted. You can either look for your friends who are already there or else go to the registration desk to find out the whereabouts of the speaker or the host. Instead of heading straight towards your seat or the bar, it is good to meet up with your friends or join a group of people discussing the latest market trends or stock exchange reports.

Introduce Yourself

When meeting up a new person or a group, you should introduce yourself first, and then tell them a little about the company you work for, your designation and most importantly how being associated with you can benefit them. Don't just wait for others to ask what you do, etc. You should frame a small introductory paragraph in your mind which should ideally comprise of phrases that should easily catch the attention of your new friends. However, do not try to dominate the over the group and ensure that it doesn't sound like a speech.

Have Honest Conversations

It means you should participate in a conversation healthily and smartly - it should not look like you are forcing yourself to chat or trying very hard to butt into an interesting dialogue going on between some of the people. In case an individual asks you about your role you should explain it in plain, easy to understand terms without being too technical about it. Remember, your goal is to allow interested individuals to be acquainted with you and not listen to a sales pitch.

Give Your Business Card plus Collect Other's Cards

After a successful introductory phase and participating in useful discussions, it is now time to give your business card to the ones who in your assessment may be interested in doing business with you and your company. You should approach potential contacts and in turn ask them to give their cards for future follow ups. In this way, you can establish a personal and professional rapport with prospective clients and business associates. Also, you should note down their social networking link ups to be able to add them to your friend list.

Follow Up Post Event

Your research and physical presence in a networking event will go to waste unless you follow up with your contacts after the event! You should communicate with your target contacts at least 3 days post the meeting. It is better to email the person rather than to call him or her on the first instance. Once your target responds, find out the best ways to keep the conversation going!

A growing debate arose amongst event organizers regarding the usage of social networking tools for event promotions. One school of thought believes in the view that spending time and energy on social networking sites is nothing but wastage of vital man hours. They rely more on traditional age-old methods of advertising which primarily consist of newspapers adverts and telecasting commercials on television and using radio jingles to campaign for the event. However, new age business bees have argued social media has brought about a revolution in the way event promotion used to take place previously. The online strategy is quite fruitful too in diverting web traffic to the event website successfully.

Facebook

Facebook is the most popular social networking website today and will soon have 1 billion registered global users. Facebook allows you the platform to promote your events and company products to millions of people worldwide. It is very easy to use and you can open an account absolutely free! The site lets you search for people related to your industry and potential attendees and customers. You can join groups to network with like-minded professionals and share ideas and suggestions when planning smart marketing strategies for your business. You can 'Like' an event page that looks interesting and informative.

Twitter

This micro-blogging site is a powerful tool to share information and updates of any kind. You can tweet about your upcoming events as well as provide useful online webpage links for the users to click on those to visit the page. Twitter allows anyone to write a message of maximum 140 characters; hence you need to be extra careful to tweet the most important things first. Don't fill up your profile page with unnecessary scraps; rather share your online event registration links or your business website links with fellow Twitter followers. This site helps you get feedback from people in real-time by voting in favor of or against your tweet.

LinkedIn

It is a professional social networking website where you can meet and network with industry experts and specific company executives. LinkedIn increases your event website visibility plus credibility. It lets you establish contacts with like-minded people and in the course of time create new business opportunities and increased event registrations.

Google+

Google+ allows individuals to create "Circles" to allocate contacts into different groups. The chatting feature lets you start a dialogue with anyone -friend or potential prospect, and "Hangouts" facilitate group video chats with a maximum of 10 people joining in a single Hangout session. With Google+, you can initiate discussions with likeminded individuals and in the process begin an interesting conversation with them explaining the reasons for attending your upcoming conference or webinar.

First remember that you, your family and friends are the party. When it comes to simple gatherings, folks love to chip in on short notice so long as the request made is not out of reach. Therefore your number one priority it to call your more local family and friends and invite them over. You should ask each one to stop by the local grocery store and pick up food or drink according to the number of invitees who will attend.

For those who think they can snap up a hot dish in one hour let them have at it. Although these days store bought dishes can be just be tasty, there is no place like home for good home cooking.
Create a self-serve banquet setting. It's best to set up a beverage table a slight distance away to avoid over crowding at tables.

Here is a basic shopping list of party must haves.

Cake, cakes and more cake

Ice cream/sherbet

Chips and dip

Salad

Fruit/cheese/vegetable platters - Get the ready-made platters sold at large food markets

Shrimp, and shrimp cocktail precooked

Pizza - delivery

Drinks, drinks and more drinks

Ice, ice and more ice

Coffee and tea

Napkins

forks/spoons/knives

Plates and cups

Bottles of bubbly

Big bottle coolers

Punch bowls and ladle

Now that the food items are delegated it's time to decorate. Your decorations need not be elaborate, just festive and fun. Put together a list of needed decorations according to the theme of the party. At short notice it's best to keep your list short and simple. Do not challenge yourself to put together something you never have. Go with what you know.

One big banner, balloons and streamers will do. Run down to the local food market or drug store and grab balloons, streamers and 3 sheets of poster board. Get a large magic marker and glitter. Look for metallic stick on letters and stars and get back home ASAP.

Decorations Shopping List

Poster board

String

Streamers

Markers

Large Stick on Letters (at least two packs) and Stars

Glitter

Balloons, Balloons and more Balloons

Long drywall screws and electric or battery powered hand drill or Phillips screwdriver

Heavy-duty transparent box tape

Box of glitter confetti

Decking The Walls

Tape or staple your poster board together length-wise. Using a hole punch, poke holes on the side by the upper corners leaving one full inch of space. Decide on message for your banner and begin placing letters on the board decorate with stars and glitter.

Cut three to four feet of string and put string through holes on each upper end of banner.
Run screws into drywall as close to the ceiling as possible leaving half inch of screw exposed. Hang your banner tying string to screws in wall.

Tie balloons to six feet of string in grape cluster formation. Hang string from ceiling or tape to wall using box tape. Runs streamers from ceiling. Toss glitter confetti about.

Have some guests arrive at least 45 minutes early to help with decor and set up food table and drinks.

Boom! You're ready. Let's get this party started.

Many aspiring planners ask me how to build their wedding planning business while they're still working a traditional 9 to 5 job. I tell them that it is entirely possible as long as they plan it well. (Good practice, right? Plan, planner? OK, bad joke!) While starting a wedding planning business on a part time basis may be difficult, it can be successful if you focus on some essentials.

Here are some of the things I feel are important areas of focus while building your business while working full time. Pay special attention to:

Money

Having startup capital that covers your living expenses is a key ingredient anytime you start a business. You can't let your home life suffer while you're building your dream, right? Let's face it...you may not book your first bride right away.

You can operate a wedding planning business on a part time basis as long as you take care to provide yourself enough money to "build" the business. Allocating a portion of your full time job salary will help you to continually grow your business, especially when investing in monthly marketing activities.

Education

Continue to sharpen your expertise with continuing education. Workshops, books and spending time with other more experienced planners are a must. Carve out time in your schedule for each of these on a consistent basis. Set a goal to read at least one business book per month; meet with 2-3 vendors (including other planners) each week and find a workshop or some sort of information sharing event at least 3-4 times per year.

Hands On Experience

Get some experience at real weddings. Either shadow another planner or offer to help friends and family plan their weddings for free or for a nominal fee. It's crucial that you learn what happens at a real event before you take on the planning and coordinating of a paying bride. Weddings are highly emotional events and you must be prepared for all of the things that can go wrong.

Creative and Compelling Marketing

Be creative and intentional about your marketing. The number one marketing activity for new planners is networking! I can't stress this enough. Word of mouth referrals are going to be the best way to build your clientele and to get the word out that you are a wedding planner with a new message. Be different and be bold because if you dont, you'll end up getting lost in a sea of planners.

And attend a variety of networking group events in your community...not just wedding and event related...and start to build the "know, like and trust" factor among the business owners that share your target market. Nail shops, hair salons and spas, popular meeting places for brides like trendy boutiques are great businesses to join forces with. Bridal shows may also be very beneficial if the attendees are in your target market. Learn how to maximize your time at a bridal show and be sure to follow up!

Professional and Precise Systems

Make sure you setup systems to do everything in your business. Attending networking events, educating yourself, etc. will mean nothing if you don't have the right system setup for when you DO get a call from that first bride. Write down and fine tune your client experience. From the moment they first come in contact with you and your brand, until the wedding is over, what is the process? Phone calls, emails, documents and the entire planning process you take your bride through should be written down and followed consistently.

A Plan to Ditch Corporate America

And finally, plan on going full time with planning weddings in twelve to eighteen months. Anymore time than that, and you won't be able to effectively be of service to your growing clientele. Also, you won't be able to spend enough time on activities that grow your business, as described above.

So? Are you ready to make that move?

What is an Event?

An event is not just a mere happening. It is a powerful communication medium with which you can enthuse, amaze, persuade, unite a group or in fact, with which you can accomplish any public relations purpose you set. Well executed, it can and should be a milestone in your life or that of your company. Planning and executing an Event is both an artistic, creative endeavor and one that requires the utmost precision in engineering all of its parts and sequences. It also requires relentless insistence on quality and the upholding of a high standard. Its success depends on the artistic and organizational skills of the event planner working tightly with its customer in creating the event, planning it, selecting all of its elements down to the last detail, and then... making it all happen.

Envisioned Product & Message

The first step the event planner and customer must do is to envision the event in full. It is necessary to get a complete picture of what one wants the event to be like, look like, feel like for the guests or delegates, and what result one is trying to effect and/or what message one is trying to get across. Naming the result and message very precisely is crucial. Without this in mind, the choosing of event venue, agenda, designing of the set, lighting or decorations, and many details could end up betraying the very purpose of the event. Examples of envisioned results could be: for a corporate party that all employees feel they are part of a great and valuable team, proud to be a part of it, and renew their commitment to the company and its goals. The product of a Fundraiser could be a lot of donations of course, but also its attendees reassured that they are contributing to a great and valuable cause, feeling privileged to be part of this endeavor, and willing to contribute even more. The product of a wedding could be for the bride and groom, family and friends to experience a one in a lifetime moment, be awestruck by it, emotionally impacted, foresee together the best possible future, and of course to have a very good time. The envisioned result of a product launch would be that the attendees want to buy the product, use it, market it further, and have trust in you and in the product. So depending on the type of event, the Event Planner and customer should name together the envisioned result they want the event to result in, as well as its message. The planning of each part and detail of the event will have to align and integrate with this message or envisioned result.

Event Planning

Prediction & Sequences

At this stage the event planner in coordination with the customer names all the parts of the event, all of its sequences, and all required suppliers. The Event Agenda is the exact sequence of actions that will take place from beginning to end. Working it out in detail enables one to visualize the event fully and thus predict any and all details which could otherwise go overlooked. How will the guests get there? Should we supply transportation, maps, you name it. What about parking? What happens when the guests enter the venue? For a congress they would sometimes need name tags, in another event you would have a guest list with a reception set up. What happens then? How do they get drinks? Where are the bathrooms? Where do they sit? How comfortable does it need to be? How do we get their feedback when they leave? These are very few of many questions which get answered. Each of the needed suppliers is chosen based on their ability to meet the demand of the customer, be of the required quality and within the event budget. The event planner will have experience with event suppliers and will therefore be able to choose those that are reliable and proven.

Integration & Quality

There again all parts need to integrate one with another in terms of style, standard, and align to the message and envisioned result. Of course higher quality is often more expensive. A good event planner will put a lot of work in finding the best options of quality versus price for the customer, and most often will get deals that only a professional gets. This is why in many cases, using an event planner is not, in the final count, an additional expense. However, in deciding the required quality and to still meet one's budget one should evaluate the choice of items against the result and message which was envisioned. Replacing an expensive laser show with fireworks could for instance create the same impact and save a lot on the budget. On the other hand, replacing fabric table cloth by paper cloth could significantly lower the effect of the decorations and menu and degrade one's message. A good event planner will help and guide the customer in making all these decisions and in meeting his budget.

Event Production

Leadership & Team Spirit

The event planner will be the central coordination point with all concerned suppliers to ensure that everything comes off exactly as planned. Good event planners have excellent relationships with their suppliers who work hard to retain the work opportunities they get from the planning company. Good event planners also have excellent leadership qualities in getting everyone to execute their part of the event. They make everyone get along and work as a team. It can be a lot of fun to prepare an event and should be.

Integrity

The integrity and professionalism of each supplier is of the utmost importance. Your event planner should be able to guarantee these to you when choosing the suppliers. The event planner ensures the suppliers perform their task exactly and demonstrate integrity and honesty. This is one of the most valuable services which the event planner provides you, as without it, you could find yourself dealing with logistics and details of the event when you should be preparing yourself to lecture, to get married, or whatever the case might be. The event planner is dedicated to taking care of everything so you do not have to worry about it.

Customer Care & Service Orientation

Events can be complicated matters with many parts and details. Things can also come up at the last minute, which need to be cared for. You as the customer, should be undistracted throughout and should something unpredicted come up, the event planner should do its best to resolve whatever it is, make things appear or disappear. If it comes up at a Congress that it is the birthday of one of the delegates and you want a cake to appear during the lunch, your event planner will take care of it. You suddenly require a security set up for a VIP attendee; the event planner will have the needed contacts to accommodate this rapidly. Of course all should be done to predict each and every requirement way in advance. However should such emergencies come up, having an event planner makes all the difference and allows you to remain undistracted... and a good event planner will take the challenge and meet it.

After the Event

Where feasible and appropriate it is always good to collect feedback from your guests or attendees. This is often neglected but should be done. Whether in the form or surveys, a guest book placed at reception, or by asking around elegantly, one should find out to if one achieved his purpose and to what degree. For instance, the attendees of a product launch should be surveyed as to how they feel about the product and what use they will have of it. This can be key in planning the next step for the customer to take in marketing his product. The attendees of a seminar or congress should similarly get surveyed and can help determine the orientation of a following event. It is part of the professionalism of the event planner to take all such feedback into account to improve where need be, consolidate trust in suppliers, or where appropriate, reutilize successful formats. Good video footage and photography is most often a must. As one small example of many things which can be required after an event; "Thank you" cards for anyone who particularly went out of their way or performed competently can be handled by the event planner. There again a good event planner will help you take care of all the "after event" details and make sure everything is completed to your satisfaction.

Lastly, as a professional in this field for many years, I cannot begin to tell you how much fun it is and how much satisfaction I have in creating and organizing events with and for my customers. Again, an event is not "something that comes and goes" but a powerful communication weapon which well executed can and should be a milestone in your life or that of your company.

Corporate event planning must be done well from start to finish to avoid any last minute issues. Here, you will learn easy and effective ways to effectively plan corporate events.
All businesses run on certain strategies and planning. If certain guidelines aren't followed, the company won't reach their goals and targets. Thus, let us discuss why corporate meeting planning is an important aspect to every business.

Meetings are very important in the corporate world, and are usually held to communicate and discuss significant points and objectives. If they are not planned properly, people may get a bad impression of the company. It is imperative that these meetings are organized in such a way that all possible bad situations are avoided.

Nowadays, companies hold business meetings and events for various reasons. They might want to hold a meeting to recap their success of the year, hold an annual holiday gathering, discuss important decisions, have a sales meeting, or many other reasons. Some companies even hold such events to launch new products, go over social networking and press releases, or for product promotion. With corporate meeting planning, you will be able to carry out any event flawlessly.

Corporate events may have a touch of humor and entertainment. A common misconception that people have is that because these events are official gathering, the event needs to be strict and formal. However, this is not the case. The corporate event planner should add fun and entertaining activities to break up the monotony of the normal, boring work day. Successful meetings are those that make the employees appreciative of the people they work with and also give the feeling that they are working for a good organization.

Professionals who manage every aspect of corporate meetings and events are known as corporate event planners. They have been trained as specialists in the meeting or event planning field and are equipped to carry out the supervision of this process. Corporate event planners discuss all of the client's necessities regarding the corporate meeting, and organize the details accordingly. They are responsible for suggesting the most appropriate venue for the event, managing the staff needed for the event, and ensuring quality and sufficient food for the guests. Professional corporate event planners are especially proficient in multitasking, including time management as a key factor. Other requirements for event planners are interpersonal, organizational and communication skills. A planner knows best on suggesting which clients that are the best option according to the budget. Every event planner also needs a clear understanding of how the venue has to be arranged.

Nowadays, it's easy to find a list of corporate event planners to help in executing a successful corporate event or meeting, even on a tighter budget.Corporate event planning must be done well from start to finish to avoid any last minute issues. Here, you will learn easy and effective ways to effectively plan corporate events.

All businesses run on certain strategies and planning. If certain guidelines aren't followed, the company won't reach their goals and targets. Thus, let us discuss why corporate meeting planning is an important aspect to every business.

Meetings are very important in the corporate world, and are usually held to communicate and discuss significant points and objectives. If they are not planned properly, people may get a bad impression of the company. It is imperative that these meetings are organized in such a way that all possible bad situations are avoided.

Nowadays, companies hold business meetings and events for various reasons. They might want to hold a meeting to recap their success of the year, hold an annual holiday gathering, discuss important decisions, have a sales meeting, or many other reasons. Some companies even hold such events to launch new products, go over social networking and press releases, or for product promotion. With corporate meeting planning, you will be able to carry out any event flawlessly.

Corporate events may have a touch of humor and entertainment. A common misconception that people have is that because these events are official gathering, the event needs to be strict and formal. However, this is not the case. The corporate event planner should add fun and entertaining activities to break up the monotony of the normal, boring work day. Successful meetings are those that make the employees appreciative of the people they work with and also give the feeling that they are working for a good organization.

Professionals who manage every aspect of corporate meetings and events are known as corporate event planners. They have been trained as specialists in the meeting or event planning field and are equipped to carry out the supervision of this process. Corporate event planners discuss all of the client's necessities regarding the corporate meeting, and organize the details accordingly. They are responsible for suggesting the most appropriate venue for the event, managing the staff needed for the event, and ensuring quality and sufficient food for the guests. Professional corporate event planners are especially proficient in multitasking, including time management as a key factor. Other requirements for event planners are interpersonal, organizational and communication skills. A planner knows best on suggesting which clients that are the best option according to the budget. Every event planner also needs a clear understanding of how the venue has to be arranged.

Nowadays, it's easy to find a list of corporate event planners to help in executing a successful corporate event or meeting, even on a tighter budget.

Most people have heard about event planning business but many of them are not familiar with event planning certification. If you are concerned are becoming a professional event planner then you should know what it is. Many people used to think and still think that it is useless to get education in this subject however now as event planning is growing rapidly getting event planning certification has become quite important. This certification will train you how to work in the professional world and will give you all the knowledge that you require to be good at this profession.

Event management and planning certification is not at all difficult to acquire and pass. Now there are plenty of well known educational institutions that offer courses in different types of event planning. All you need to be is organized; creative and dedicated to what you have opted to do. Some institutions and companies required a little bit of professional experience. Hence, if you have worked under any event planner or as one of the services used in the arrangements of events then this can come to use in getting higher event planning certification.

These courses are also accessible online so if you have any difficulty in obtaining them then you can get this education online. The study material, lectures, presentations and quizzes are given online so you will not have much problem in learning. Even these online courses have a lot of value and play a big role in enhancing your portfolio of event manager. The fees of these courses are nominal and most people can afford them, moreover some schools even offer financial aid.

Getting proper event management and planning certification will provide more job opportunities for the event planner and he will be able to earn good amount of money. Earning this certification will make your base strong because you will learn various techniques which will make this business booming like fire. You will be able to interact with other professional event planners and learn how they have managed to earn good name in this profession.

Besides getting education regarding this field, you have to be very patient and energetic because event management is a very big responsibility and if you did not deliver it properly then you will not only ruin your reputation but your client's reputation as well. Therefore, learning how to keep the clients happy and satisfied can also be obtained through event planning certification.