Liz King Events: Social Media Event Planning Specialists

Imagine the power of 20 thought leaders in a room sharing best practices and challenges of hosting a particular event. Leveraging technology, you can create a list of shared best practices to spread to the larger community and improve the quality of fundraising events across the board. This is exactly what BizBash, Event Leadership Institute, Sentry Centers and Wizerize have set out to do!

I can’t believe it’s already been two weeks since I attended the Event Leadership Institute’s Modern Event Design workshop and networking event! I had such a great time learning from Sasha Souza. In case you missed it, I talked a little about my exclusive blogger access to the event and all about Sasha in two previous posts. You should definitely check them out. 

I went to the event with the intention of learning about a system of questions that Sasha asks to gauge her client’s interests. This questionnaire that she has developed allows her to “read the minds” of her clients and put together the event they always dreamed of, but couldn’t express what they wanted. However, I came away from the event learning a much more important lesson. 

Your clients must trust you and it is your job to make sure that happens. 

(more…)

We had a rocking good time last week at our first-ever PlannerTech event. We learned from ten amazing companies, had good networking, food, drinks and fun! We even got to play with all kinds of new things like live streaming and new apps! I learned a lot of great things that I’ll definitely share with you, but there is one thing that I must share above all – the power of volunteers.

The picture here is of a few of the volunteers from PlannerTech. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to get them all in one photo, but they were amazing! Each of them were breaking into the industry or willing to share their extensive experience with our event and each contributed significantly to its success. They greeted guests at the door with iPad checkins and gave them each an AccessPasses name badge. They tirelessly filled each gift bag and lugged around the extras until we had given most all of them out.

I wanted to start my recap of PlannerTech today by mentioning the volunteers since I think they often get left out. I want to remember them first and foremost because, without them, the dreams of the planning team wouldn’t have been carried out as we hoped.

Thank you, thank you, thank you to all of those who gave their time last week as a volunteer for PlannerTech! You are much appreciated!!

Sincerely,

Your PlannerTech Planning Team!

Folks, I cannot tell you how incredibly excited I am about PlannerTech tonight. Liz Mazzei, Christine Upton and I have worked long hours and spent lots of time dreaming up new ways to connect attendees from all perspectives and we’ve had a lot of fun. One of our priorities throughout the entire planning process was to find a charity that tied in with the event in a way that we could use the internet to raise money for a good cause and we’ve finally found just the thing –

Show Your Support for Joplin.

Below you’ll see an interview with the amazing Kiki L’Italien who is an event professional and whose family is from Joplin where they were struck with an awful tornado recently. Kiki is working with Lindsey Rosenthal of Events for Good to host a fundraiser in DC on June 13, 2011, but we are going to leverage the internet to raise money before the event begins!

(more…)

In case you missed it, here are the top five articles I tweeted/wrote this week based on # of clicks. Please Enjoy!

5 Ways to Promote Your Events Business WITHOUT Promoting
Liz King, Liz King Events
Gone are the days of overt marketing and hounding potential clients until they give in and hire you. It’s time to start thinking about the bigger picture – the relationships. Let’s face it – relationships are the only way for you to sustain your business. If you guilt-trip a client into using your services, they probably won’t use you again or introduce you to their friends unless you do a STELLAR job. ANYTHING that goes wrong will likely be the end of your relationship. On the other hand, a friend of yours is happy to introduce you to everyone they know. Why? Because they know that you won’t risk their relationships. So – here’s a few tips to start making those relationships that will rocket your business to the next level and never require you to sell yourself.

What The Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast
Laura Vanderkam, BNet.com
Mornings are a mad-cap time in many households. Everyone’s so focused on getting out the door that you can easily lose track of just how much time is passing. I’ve had hundreds of people keep time logs for me over the past few years (you can see some of mine here and here), and I’m always amazed to see gaps of 90 minutes or more between when people wake up and when they start the commute or school car pool. That would be fine if the time was used intentionally, but often it isn’t.

(more…)

In case you’ve missed all the wonderfulness surrounding our upcoming PlannerTech event, we are just getting started!

Check out the website to see all the amazing companies that are participating and sign up for the live streaming of the showcase from 6-7pm EST (Registration is full).

If you’re in the area and didn’t make the sign up, you can volunteer for the event by emailing plannertechvolunteer@gmail.com.

And, finally, you can check out our YouTube channel with lots of great video contest submissions and company snapshots.

Enjoy!

In case you missed it, here are the top five articles I tweeted/wrote this week based on # of clicks. Please Enjoy!

5 Ways to Promote Your Events Business WITHOUT Promoting
Liz King, Liz King Events
Gone are the days of overt marketing and hounding potential clients until they give in and hire you. It’s time to start thinking about the bigger picture – the relationships. Let’s face it – relationships are the only way for you to sustain your business. If you guilt-trip a client into using your services, they probably won’t use you again or introduce you to their friends unless you do a STELLAR job. ANYTHING that goes wrong will likely be the end of your relationship. On the other hand, a friend of yours is happy to introduce you to everyone they know. Why? Because they know that you won’t risk their relationships. So – here’s a few tips to start making those relationships that will rocket your business to the next level and never require you to sell yourself.

The Systems Behind Modern Event Design
Liz King, Liz King Events
We’ve all had the clients who know what they want, but don’t really know what they want. We spend hours trying to read them and making up for all the times they change their mind just when we thought they had settled. But we all know that the success of any good planner is in the implementation of systems that help interpret a client’s wishes and pull together an extraordinary event.

(more…)

In keeping with our “Ask the #Eventprofs” series, here is a question coming from ME that I would love your input on!

What is the most challenging thing about finding the perfect venue for your event? What frustrates you the most?

Got a question you’d like answered? Email it today!

PLANNERTECH, The First Technology Showcase for Event Professionals, needs volunteers to help the day of the event on Thursday June 9th, 2011.

Looking for about 20 volunteers to help in all aspects of the event operations. Including operations and logistics as well as Social Media Lounge helpers. Volunteers will be needed all night long from setup to breakdown and will be slotted according to needs. The event production will run from 3:30pm to 10:30pm (this accounts for setup and breakdown time).

Positions needed include:
- Live tweeters
- Flip cam interviewers
- Powerpoint controler
- Greeters
- Registration and Check-in
- Gift bag distribution
- Runners and clickers (to manage capacity on both floors as needed)
- Setup and Breakdown

This is a great opportunity to participate in this inaugural event and work side by side with industry leaders. All those interested in event planning or production are encouraged to volunteer and get a first hands look into the event process.

All volunteers will get complimentary admission to the event, food, beverage and a volunteer t-shirt!

Please send an email to plannertechvolunteer@gmail.com with the type of position or function you are interested in helping with and what times you would be available on the day of the event.