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[C1068]Corporate Meetings And Events

by Jim Olivero, Jim

What's the cost to put together a strategic corporate meeting or retreat? Regardless of the specifics - hotel expenses, payroll, lost opportunities, lost management time planning the agenda, the cost of guest speakers, food, and supplies - you expect the returns to far outweigh the $3000 or $150,000 bill.

Unfortunately, too many meetings never hit their mark. You start with specific goals and an agenda. You sit everyone down and start covering your list. However, somewhere the whole thing veers off course. Perhaps a guest speaker doesn't deliver the content you intended. Maybe a member of the group falls short with their sales presentation or operations report. Before you know it, you're at 72% of where you wanted to be, and you can't go up. Now you're stuck answering questions or offering solutions that weren't part of your original agenda.

When the event is over, you're happy...not elated. The whole thing wasn't a total loss. You rallied the troops, but didn't achieve objectives the way you had intended. Sales will rise, maybe by 20%, but they won't double the way you had hoped. You pay the bill and go home.

It doesn't have to be this way. Here are 11 ways to get more of what you want out of future meetings:

1. Set the agenda yourself... don't have your staff do it. Yes, ask for ideas, and get involvement early. However, you give the purpose for your meeting, and that can only be focused if you keep on target.

2. Select presenters who have some presentation skills. This is not a popularity contest, but if your operations person should have been buried 8 years ago, you don't need him/her at your meeting. Find a presenter who will perform in a way that suits your needs.

3. Get presenters on the same page you're on. Too often guests are asked to deliver information and then left on their own. Stage the content like a Broadway show. Choreograph more than just their topic; know their direction, content, and tone. If you've ever been disappointed, that's typically the reason why.

4. Focus on the value to the participants. Remember that participants are looking for "what's in it for me." Plan every aspect with this important factor in mind.

5. Get to the point. Start meetings off fast. How often have you enjoyed the CEO/President speech? No one else likes it either.

6. Stick to the issues and keep it honest. The purpose of the meeting is to focus on real data. When egos, sales, or fear get in the way, participants build solutions to fictitious problems. Not the way you want to go.

7. Place handouts in order of use. Then staple them in that order. Participants can't pay attention if they're struggling to find out where you are.

8. Create an accountability sheet. One page. Who does what, when and how? If it's discussed, someone must do something (or decide to do nothing). Minutes are nice, but how many times in your history have you read minutes from a meeting and then acted? We're guessing few, if any.

9. Don't speak "off the cuff." Even professional speakers who sound like they're winging it are not. You shouldn't either. Take the time to bullet your points. Think them through. Odds are you'll get significantly better results with a trial run through your notes before the event, versus improvising in front of the crowd.

10. Stick to the schedule. Make sure your room has at least one clock facing the moderator. Try the Wal-Mart $5.99, 8-inch clock. The worst thing you can do is look at your watch. Then everyone else does.

11. Prepare the next agenda during the meeting. It's like setting a rocket booster under your seat. Set 15-30 minutes aside to plan the next meeting while issues are hot. There can be changes later, but at least the burden is lifted, you're covering key topics, and everyone knows what to expect.

Olympic ski races are won and lost by only hundredths of seconds; most corporate meetings teeter on the edge of success and failure by similar fractions. Creating meetings is not rocket science, yet so few meetings bring about the impact intended. Implementing even a couple of the above suggestions should boost future results from so-so to astronomical.

Your annual corporate meeting is finally here and the boss wants you to make sure participation is UP. She wants to know what the employees are thinking about and whether or not they understand the direction the company is headed. And she wants to know now. In short you need to find an Audience Response System.

An Audience Response System (ARS) is the same system used on TV in American Idol or America's Funniest Home Videos. Each member of the meeting will have a wireless handheld device that allows them to select a response and send that response to the system. The ARS will then take all of the responses and calculate the results and display, as needed, to everyone. These systems have been designed to take information from a large population very quickly so that decisions can be made immediately while a topic is being discussed.

Like your annual company meeting of 500 employees (or 1,000 or 10,000).

And not only have audience response systems grown in their ability to handle large numbers of participants, but they have also diversified and specified into different niche markets. For example, some ARS will allow a participant to give a continuous response on a sliding scale over a period of time. Others will allow you to have 10 to even 20 different responses for a given topic or statement. And still others will give you a straight forward YES, NO, or ABSTAIN.

So in order to integrate an ARS into your meeting, you will want to look at a few qualifiers and then match the appropriate functionality to your meeting. Such as:

Reliability
Most of today's wireless systems operate on a 2.4GHz Radio Frequency, as do many other wireless devices. So make sure that the location of your event is well protected from outside frequencies that may interfere with your data transmissions.

Ease of Use
For many of the participants at your meeting, this may be the first time they have used an ARS, and this means that the system you choose will need to be very UN-intimidating. The wireless devices should be designed in such a way that the users can choose the correct response. For example, for a YES/NO vote a large button highlighted with green and large text spelling “YES” should indicate that this is the button to press should the member want to give a YES response.

**Side Note: Make sure you choose a system that will confirm to the user what their response was, either with an LED or an LCD.**

Battery Life
Wireless devices run on batteries, like your remote control, and as live meetings can run for some time you will want to find an ARS with a ling operating time to ensure you won't run out of power in the middle of the meeting. It also helps to find devices that will take standard batteries so that they are easily replaced.

With just these three qualifiers, you'll be able to narrow down your ARS options and know that you will receive a quality system. You will improve the company meeting and most importantly, you'll be keeping your boss happy.

Article Source : Writing Thank You Letters

About Author

Both Jim Olivero & Wesley Sutliff are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

Jim Olivero has sinced written about articles on various topics from Property Investment, Home Accessories and Video. are managing partners of a firm that offers consulting and speaking services internationally. David was named by Succes. Jim Olivero's top article generates over 40500 views. to your Favourites.

Wesley Sutliff has sinced written about articles on various topics from Writing, Higher Education and Education. Wesley Sutliff is Product Manager of Media Vision USA, the provider in North America including audio conferencing, electroni. Wesley Sutliff's top article generates over 1900 views. to your Favourites.