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Successful Event & Meeting Planning: How to Boost Attendance
Consider the fact that the annual meeting is the single largest source of non-dues revenue for most associations. Also consider the fact that most exhibitors view a sizable base of interested, qualified buyers as the linchpin of a successful trade show. Consequently, it’s in the best fiscal interest of your organization to ensure that as many delegates as possible turn out for your event. Meeting planning should include promotion which is the key to increasing attendance figures, provided that the rest of the “Four Ps” — product, price, and place — have been properly developed.
Planning a Meeting? Do Your Homework
Thinking “New” – As in Ways to Continue to Do Your Important Company Meetings
We’re hearing it over and over again…Tough times…Cut backs…Expense and travel reductions…
Many executives and customer representatives are no longer allowed to attend events that might be construed as frivolous, a conflict of interest, have limited sales or marketing value to the company, or that might influence buying decisions. Some companies are deciding to cut out all big ticket events, such as sponsorships or tickets for major sporting events, or client meetings at high-end resorts that might “include” activities such as golf or spa treatments. Those days are over. And that’s probably a good thing!
However, at times it seems like the pendulum may have swung a little too far in the other direction. Have you been told to cancel your user group meeting this year? No more customer meetings? Say good-bye to VIP gatherings? But can you really afford to cut all face-to-face interaction with customers and prospects, and squander the momentum and goodwill so carefully built up over the years? Your customers are still interested in the future of your company. They still want to have the ear of your executives, and get the inside scoop on new products and updates. Going too far in trying to cut costs could be cutting potential sales and relationships as well.
The 10 Regions of Government Contracting
As mentioned in the previous post, the most effective way to market to the government is by knowing where your product/service is needed. The Small Business Administration (SBA) has broken the country into ten different regions. There is at least one SBA office in every state which provides resources for small business survival and growth. Each region offers the same standard resources package for small businesses; however, some are more prolific than others. When logging onto the SBA website, research shows that some SBA contracting regions are more active in the small business community than others.
Below are the states that are in each region.
Urban Planner Jobs – Are You Interested in Becoming a Regional Planner?
Urban and regional planners are responsible for developing the communities in which they operate, frequently providing recommendations on the proper locations for roads and schools and offering up zoning regulations and suggestions, in order to improve the quality of life for individuals within a community.
Urban planners will frequently promote the best use of a particular resource for residential and commercial purposes, and they will also address environmental concerns, such as landfill construction and pollution control. They will also examine schools in order to make sure that they meet the communities needs, and they will deal with land use issues that are caused by expanding populations.
Franchising with Regional Team Managers and Partners
Many franchise consultants shy away from such advice as securing master franchises as a plan for expansion with a new franchising company. This is because the legal issues and the litigation are tough to deal with and for that kind of liability there just is not enough money in it. Plus most franchisor later regret giving away that much of he pie or they have one or two master franchise failures which brings down the whole system due to bad PR and litigation costs.
One method considered for our company was to set up regional team partners and use existing franchisees already under the franchise agreement to assist in regional expansion. But we decided to make them managers rather than master franchises, regional franchises, sub-franchisors or partners. It turned out we were right as we made the rapid expansion term of only 2-years to the regional team managers incase they under performed or failed to assist us in opening new units. Several underwhelmed us, yet as a whole the program worked and added many units each year in many different regions.