I understand at first your company could think a meeting professional is another full time employee you cannot keep on board, we don’t have the budget or it’s just an event, I can plan that.  Actually it’s the opposite; a meeting professional can save you money, time and in the long run pay for themselves.  Let me give a few reasons why your company needs a meeting professional.

Time Is Money
A meeting professional takes away the stress and details that you would have to worry about when planning an event.  They understand how and why you need to keep pace having all items completed by their deadlines.  Let a meeting professional handle the planning so you can focus on the vision, content and outcome.  Your meeting professional will also know which setups work best for what meeting.  Also, how a meeting should be structured to flow properly to keep attendees engaged resulting in a better ROI for the event.   Finally, you have an on-site contact for any needs or requirements that come up.  They will work on your behalf with the venue to make sure it is taken care of.

They Know Meeting Lingo
Your meeting professional has the knowledge to know what a BEO is, what are the requirements for a building that is accessible for anyone with a disability, they know what size room you need for the amount of attendees for a particular setup, what audio visual is required, contract negotiation terms and conditions and much more.  When a meeting professional looks to become a Certified Meeting Professional or CMP, they are required to learn various key industry terms.  These terms are given to them in an APEX (yes, another acronym) Glossary and contains over 1,400 various terms and abbreviations.

Valuable Networks       
A meeting professional’s network is one of their most vitals resources.  This network is key to them helping provide you and your company value.  Their network of hoteliers, audio visual companies, speakers and many other key industry personnel could provide your company discounts from standard pricing because of the relationships.  The people employed in the events industry are focused not only on your success but the success of their network.  They are always looking to help each other out when in need and that’s a big benefit to you.

Contract Negotiations
Some people believe negotiating contracts are all the same, well negotiating is but the contracts themselves are not.  Meeting and event industry contracts are completely different than other business contracts.  They cover and contain clauses which would not be needed in other various industries.  A meeting professional knows what to look for, what concessions to ask for or require and what to add if it is not included to protect both your company and the attendees from any harm financially.  In the end they know how to negotiate a contract to make it a win-win for both your company and the venue.

Creativity
It if it one thing the events industry is constantly doing it is changing.  If it’s been done once before you don’t want to do it again, do you?  Meeting professionals are some of the most creative minds you will ever meet.  They will always find a way to make it happen for your event and take it to the next level.  As a meeting professional, they need to stay on top of the latest trends.  Let them take the vision of your event and make it a reality instead of you stressing about how to do it.

Budget
If you are not a meeting professional it is very easy to go over budget when planning an event.  Vendors sometimes have been known to inflate pricing with inexperienced people who plan events. A meeting professional understands the average costs of services so they know what to expect.  Let them keep your budget in check and create the event you require for your attendee’s and company’s success.

These are just 5 reasons I felt that were important you should know.  To the vast majority out there, please don’t take offense by me saying this but you aren’t a meeting professional or planner.  Don’t let someone in your company plan an event or meeting that isn’t qualified.  It could result in costing you a lot of money and wasted time. The events and meetings industry is large at a size of over $5 billion dollars alone in the United States per year.  Please take these points to heart and put a meeting professional on your staff today if your company plans meetings for their staff, you will not regret it.

Photo by J’Roo

The common theme was one of camaraderie among early adopters who are all trying to navigate this still new landscape to improve their businesses. One of the most applicable and interesting sessions I attended was led by Gabe Zichermann, CEO of Gamification.co. Not only was the subject relevant to meetings, but the psychology and science behind gamification’s ability to stimulate creativity and innovation was fascinating.

Gamification: n. the process of using game thinking and mechanics to engage users.

When those in the meetings and tourism industry hear the term gaming, they might think first of casinos. Others might think of a middle-aged man playing World of Warcraft in his basement. Those looking to transform meetings think of engaging participants in a system that stimulates learning.

“There really are few self-starters in the world,” Zichermann says. While there are entrepreneurs with ideas they can’t wait to get out, most people need specific challenges to encourage stimulation.

“Games present the most compelling and flexible way to do that,” said Zichermann. Trying to engage an audience with a contest that asks them to submit a video might get a few responses. However the quantity, quality and creative expression of the entries will rise if the contest introduces simple constraints such as send a video of yourself with our magazine in front of a landmark talking about why you love our conference.

Zichermann explained more about why gaming works this way, specifically for events, in this video interview.

Creating a game at your event does require more than adding a competition or check-ins. Games work when they incorporate feedback, friends and fun. Feedback stimulates the challenge/achievement loop in participants’ brains and taps into their desire to do it over and over again. Successful games create an experience participants want to do and share. For instance, a loyalty program that introduces a game adds a viral nature to something that is otherwise private. Fun is different for everyone, so it’s important to know your audience and what constitutes fun for them. Forced participation is usually not the answer. “Even if [the game] is more fun than whatever tragic data entry they would be doing otherwise, if the appeal is ‘You will have fun and play this game,’ they generally will not,” advised Zichermann.

Have you incorporated gaming into your event using an app, check-ins or teambuilding? We’d like to know how it worked.

Read more about Zichermann’s Gamification Summit or how his company, Dopamine, can create a game for your event.

Photo by Cea

I’ll give you an example on what I usually hear when I ask a planner this question. “I know our value; we have 200 room nights, spend about $50,000 in food and beverage and $20,000 in audio visual. The overall value would in the range of $__,____ (fill in the blank).” The planner would only use these three touchpoints which represent a value but there is always more value somewhere in your meeting that needs to be dug up and calculated.

A true value is one in which a planner can inform a venue or CVB that their meeting/event has on average (hypothetically) a $500,000 economic impact to your venue or city or $1,000 per person economic impact to your venue or city. You’re looking to prove and show the venues and cities that your meeting matters and you have a great piece of business for them creating the perfect win/win scenario.

There are several items which would help you find your true value. The simple ones consist of the total number of room nights utilized, taking out your complimentary room nights received and/or given to you. The total amount spent on food and beverage and audio visual utilized in the meeting facility. Some other factors which are important to know are the total room incidentals (i.e. room service, in room movies, spa charges, fitness center charges, internet usage fees, etc…) used per person on average. This can be figured out by your staff or the hotel for you. It is a time consuming process by looking at each attendee’s folio and getting the amounts but it adds up to the total value.

Other items to consider are if your group has any free time on the town. Will they utilize local restaurants or bars, go shopping? To find out this figure include it in a post event survey. If your attendees did utilize any city outlets ask them their average amount they spent. It would be easiest to ask a range number such as $5-$10, $10-$15, $15-$20 and so on. Also don’t forget if your event may use any local third party vendors for any services? This is a value to the local economy which helps in the total figure you’re trying to generate.

These are just a few examples of what you would want to know for the true value of the meeting. Many items in your meetings have value so make sure to include them all. Maybe some of the items listed above won’t apply to your group because you provide everything and only stay in the hotel. Also for a smaller and simpler event it will be easier it is to find out this number. A city wide event could take some sleeve rolling up hard work and time to get this number but it is a great tool to have when prospecting venues.

Your events final true value number will be an estimated total or estimated per person amount. Now go, prospect venues and use this number to negotiate your business and a venue will look twice before they send their response because they will know the true value of your meeting.
__________________________

Adam Schomaker is “The Go To Guy” for event professionals for the Amway Hotel Collection in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He is based out of the JW Marriott Grand Rapids and has worked for several large hotel chains including Holiday Inn and Hilton. He has several years of event planning experience and you can connect with him on Twitter @AdamSchomaker or via email at adam.schomaker@jwgr.com
 

Since 2003, Liz has produced fundraisers, conferences, networking events, meetings, and special occasions designed specifically according to the tastes, concerns, and desires of her clients. Liz King deals in details: she learns all about her client and the nature of the event they’d like to have, and then tightly manages every logistical detail to make the event run smoothly. As an industry professional, Liz has always had an eye for the exciting trend changes in the event planning business. She maintains a constant presence on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other social media networks to promote events and collaborate with other event professionals.
Liz King Events Website
Email: liz@lizkingevents.com
Liz King Events on Facebook
Liz King Events on Twitter

Joshua Gaynor – Social Media Startup

Spend a few minutes with Josh and you will learn about websites and new technology developments you never heard of. Then, go home and look it all up and you will be AMAZED! Josh knows the top news in tech and social media because of his genuine interests – he reads more articles and tries more technologies than most of us could dream of! Who better then to help you set up your social media accounts and direct you to resources to help you master them for your business!?

Josh Gaynor on Twitter
Josh Gaynor on LinkedIn

Patrick Smith – Social Media Startup

Idea man. Relationship builder. Meeting people & making things happen. Promoting social good via social media. Love NYC nightlife, good liquor and Chinese food. Patrick will be available in the lounge to help those of you who are interested in social media, but don’t know how to get started! He’ll walk you through setup of a Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook account and give you some tips for makingrelationships happen using social networking!

Patrick Smith on Twitter
Patrick Smith on LinkedIn

Malla Haridat – Branding Your Business Using Social Media

Malla Haridat, the Founder and Chief Executive, is a nationally recognized expert in the specialized field of entrepreneurship education and has trained over 1,000 students. She has traveled extensively throughout the United States working in partnership with companies developing creative solutions for entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs. A dynamic thinker, strategist, and speaker, Malla, now works with awide variety of organizations applying her creative talents to the challenges of business transformation. Malla has made significant advances in marketing her business through the use of social media and will be at BizBash to help you apply similar principles to yours!

Malla Haridat Website
Malla Haridat on Twitter

Lindsey Rosenthal – Branding Your Business Using Social Media

Lindsey is an experienced fundraising event specialist with proven success for nonprofit organizations and associations in strategy and special event development.She is the founder and principal of Events For Good, which incorporates events into long-term fundraising strategy, aligns corporate social responsibility with a company’s goals, and creates unique and customized event experiences. Lindsey is also one of the founders and organizers of EventCamp East Coast, a peer conference for people who are directly involved in the planning of corporate and association meetings and conferences focusing on experimentation and innovation in the event industry. Got questions about using social media to promote your brand? Find Lindsey in the lounge and ask away! She’s full of great tips and lots of ideas to get you started!

Lindsey Rosenthal Website
Lindsey Rosenthal on Twitter
Lindsey Rosenthal on LinkedIn
Lindsey Rosenthal on Facebook

Cameron Toth – Integrating Social Media into Your Events

Cameron is an event professional and works with youth in Harlem as part of the College and Career Preparatory Institute. Cameron has used social media to promote CCPI and his personal brand and will be on hand at the social media lounge to talk about how to do the same for your events! Spend some time with Cameron to get tips that you can implement at your next event. 

Cameron Toth Website
Cameron Toth on Twitter

Alex Yepes – Integrating Social Media into Your Events

Event professional and Managing Director of the Small Business Development Center run through Columbia University and New York State, Alex has made huge strides in event management and the integration of social media in events. Check him out in the lounge and write down all his tips and ideas. It will make all the difference in your next social media integrated event!

Alex Yepes on Twitter

Christina Coster – Roaming Tweeter

Christina Coster is an award winning special event and conference planner born, raised, and based in New York City. She is the founder of EventCamp(@Eventcamp) and blogs on EventCoup.com. Christina is a social media enthusiast, loves all things tech (although the feeling is not always mutual), and is an avid Mets fan. You can connect with her on Twitter at @Mizcity, on LinkedIn, or find her on the nearest Volleyball court. You’ll find Christina in all the sessions and all over the expo floor tweeting about all the activities of the day!

Christina Coster on Twitter

Leslie Richin – Roaming Tweeter

Founder, Low Maintenance PR. freelance journalist, publicist, social media strategistand event planner. Leslie specializes in organizing and publicizing special events related to fashion, art, film, music, social media, new business/product launch, charity & fundraising. Leslie will be working with Christina to capture the event via Twitter and Facebook.

Leslie Richin Website
Leslie Richin on Twitter

Andres & Kim Valenzuela – Event Photographers

Andres Valenzuela Photography specializes in wedding and children’s documentary photography. We’re a husband and wife team based out of the NY metro area. We love relationship building with our couples and families as we believe it is the best way to capture who they are in the most natural and candid way possible. Catch Andres and Kim roaming the event and capturing photos of all the fun!
Andres Valenzuela Photography Website
Email: andres@andresvalenzuela.com
Andres Valenzuela on Facebook
Andres Valenzuela on Twitter

Mat Swajkos and Erin Leigh – TwitPicBooth

Mat Szwajkos specializes in celebrity portrait and fashion photography. He received his BFA from Pratt Institute in 2001. In 2005 Mat began his freelance career and started building lasting relationships with actors, musicians and fashion designers.
His clients include: InStyle, The Discovery Network, Ford Motors, Red Bull, Mr. Youth, Steven Alan, Muscle and Fitness, The Daily, MTV, TV Land, AOL, Lilly Pharmaceuticals, Victoria’s Secret, Tribeca Film Festival, Robert Verdi, Atlantic Records, Sony Music Entertainment, Yamaha and The Food Network.

Raised in Seattle, Erin studied fine art photography at RIT. Her first internship with the Associated Press in Jerusalem cemented her love for photojournalism and storytelling. As a NY-based freelance photographer, she spends her free time between assignments traveling, studying trapeze and spending time with her awesome photographer husband.
Erin Wigger Photography Website

Ed Wagaba – TwitVids

If you’re looking for someone engaging and fun, Ed is the man! Ed has worked with several organizations on the administrative, operational and social networking components of their company and is trying out his new interest – video – at the BizBash Expo! Ed will be roaming around the event to capture all the fun times and all your takeaways on video! We’ll post videos to our YouTube channel so you can relive the event until next year!
Ed Wagaba on Twitter

Visit the TwitPic Booth!

The TwitPic Photobooth is so much more than a regular ol’ photobooth. It’s a get-the-party-started factory as well as a brand marketing machine! Guests are photographed and the pictures are transmitted directly to Twitter and other social media sites using the event hashtag and the guests’ Twitter handles. The pictures go viral as the event is happening. This allows the event to be tracked across Twitter, Facebook and other social sites. Instead of just the one impression from a normal photobooth, these images continue to have a shelf life well beyond the event as profile pics or posted on Facebook walls.
For more info, watch a quick video.

Win Prizes!

$500 Grosh Backdrops Rental!

For over 75 years, Grosh Backdrops has been supplying event planners with top quality backdrops and drapery from an unmatched selection. With the largest scenic rental inventory in the special events industry, Grosh Backdrops and Drapery is sure to have the perfect backdrop to compliment your next event!

Grosh Backdrops Website
Grosh Backdrops Twitter
Lindsay Fultz Twitter
Grosh Backdrops on YouTube
Grosh Backdrops on Facebook

One Ticket to EventCamp!

One of the most innovative forums for event planners to learn and test new concepts, EventCamp is the place to be! Win one ticket (excluding airfare and accommodations) to EventCamp Chicago and visit their booth (314) at the Expo for more details!
EventCamp Website

Gift Cards for Charity!

Win one of several gift cards through Charity Choice – a perfect way to add an element of good into any event! Test it out and give to the charity of your choice! Stay tuned to Twitter to see how you can win at the event.
Charity Choice Website 

Starbucks Gift Cards!

Who doesn’t love Starbucks? You’ll have the chance to win a gift card to one of their stores throughout the day so stay tuned!!

Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh!  

Good customer service and company culture are two of the main components of a successful business and Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos.com, is one of the leading authorities on these subjects. Win a copy of his book at the event and take the time to implement his concepts for business success!

Today, my suggestion is BizBash – The best online resource and magazine for event professionals. As many of you know, their NY Expo is coming up this week and has provided me with the opportunity to meet and interact with David Adler, CEO of BizBash, and Marissa Rubin – one of the amazing expo event coordinators. I know they have put a ton of work into the upcoming expo and wanted to highlight all they are doing for the NY Event Community! If you haven’t already registered, there is still time! BizBash New York Expo Registration. You can also find me in the Social Media Lounge at this week’s expo!

Connect with BizBash:

Website

Twitter

David Adler on Twitter

Marissa Rubin on Twitter

That being said, I do believe that attendees can gain valuable lessons and form critical relationships regardless of the snags along the way if they are in the right mindset and put forth the effort. I’ve already shared my blog about what I learned at the Perfect Business Summit to help my business, but now I want to share what I learned/was reminded about events. These lessons are as important to event professionals as any others and while this may seem critical, I think it’s important we share these as much as the success stories. There are lessons to be learned in every situation.

Sell your assets.
When you organize an event, think of what participants will get out of the experience. What value are you adding? What will their takeaways be? Then, sell the hell out of those things in all your marketing. The Perfect Business Summit had an amazing component – a pitch competition and one-on-one business coaching, but they were not marketed well in advance. There were also premium member sessions that were a huge value, but were not sold in the marketing. From a participant’s view, I thought the only difference between economy seating and premium was buffet lunches and closer seats. It wasn’t until I got there that I found out that there was business coaching and better (and more) workshops. The event boasted 60 amazing speakers, but wasn’t clear that you wouldn’t be able to see them unless you had the premium pass. 

Follow Through. 
Events don’t always go as planned. In this case, Perfect Business didn’t get the turn out that they were expecting. So, after months of advertising early bird rates, they lowered the rates at the last minute. So those people who registered late actually saved a LOT on the registration fee. When I tried to follow up about getting a refund, I didn’t get any response. There also were a few contests marketed before and during the event, but no follow through about who won the contests. I have asked several times and haven’t gotten a response. One organizer said it would be posted on the event website the day after the conference, but the site looks the same as it did prior to the event. 

Interact with your guests. 
In another recent blog post, I wrote about the warning signs that your upcoming conference isn’t utilizing Twitter. This post was inspired by this conference. When I arrived, I found out that they were indeed lacking social media presence. Some attendees were tweeting away, but there was no interaction between them and the planners. The organizers were also very distant in person. When trying to follow up with them to express some of my ideas and learn about the planning process, they seemed very closed off and never returned my emails. 

Value your speakers. 
One of the best things about this conference was the line up of speakers. Tony Hsieh from Zappos and many other well known entrepreneurs were featured at the event. However, there were a few things that made me feel as though they didn’t really value the guests they had. MInd you – these speakers were apparently volunteers. One thought I had is that most of the speakers were only given about 30 minutes to speak and it seemed that the time was fairly unstructured. One of the main reasons I wanted to attend the event was because I wanted to hear how these entrepreneurs made their business so successful – what the process was like and what challenges they faced. There wasn’t time to get into any of the details and so while I grabbed the nuggets I could find, I think it would have been a more successful event if we had more time to hear from less speakers. The main speaker and host ended up being unavailable to attend at the last minute and it was never announced in a professional manner. One of his fellow speakers actually alerted everyone instead of the organizers. 

Manage backchannels. 
Many event organizers don’t like to hear the criticisms of their event. They tune out to the suggestions people have simply because they don’t like to hear them, but they are missing out on an invaluable opportunity to form relationships and make the best of situations. I thought long and hard before writing the post, but in the end I came to the realization that the organizers aren’t interested in the information. At the same time, the event community can certainly benefit from hearing it. So, I decided to share. Had the planners been more open to hearing suggestions and trying new ideas, we might have been able to prevent some of these problems before they happened. 

In any case, I learned a lot at the Perfect Business Summit. Whether it was a lesson from a successful entrepreneur or a tip for the next event I plan, I made some great connections and had a great time. The more we can work together as event planners to share lessons learned, the better we can all be!

Why You Need an Online Presence
If you are a student that is connected across all three channels that is great as you will already be creating some differentiation for yourself. You will have an edge on your class mates.

A number of recruitment consultants use LinkedIn to find candidates and in the many LinkedIn Groups you can find job opportunities. Many employers use Face book and Linked In as background sources for information on people – so my advice is to be aware of what you are posting on the sites (same advice applies to Twitter). Twitter has a huge amount of information on all sorts of subjects which can only benefit your knowledge level. So my advice is simply this – get connected across all three channels as a minimum. If you have created and are writing your own blog then that is great as well. Now you are really motoring.

Are You LinkedIn?
If you use the LinkedIn facility to put your academic qualifications/professional standing on line then that can only be useful for you. Additionally it will force you to structure your thoughts in what you want to say so the exercise will help you prepare your CV. If you already have a CV then you can use much of that information for LinkedIn.

Many event and business professionals have put their profiles on Linked In and are using the site to find out about their potential business partners/competitors and generally keep up to date with what’s going on.

LinkedIn Groups
There are some LinkedIn Groups that are open to everyone (clearly you need to have a Linked In profile first) so you could join them and keep up to date with the latest topics being discussed. Some Groups will be better than others so you will just need to find which are going to work most effectively for you.

You can adjust the settings so that you only receive Group messages on a daily or weekly basis which helps you decide when you want to see the messages that come from the groups.

Tweet Tweet
Twitter is another great way of connecting with people and finding out what the latest thoughts/issues are. This is not to be missed. People on Twitter post such a wealth of useful information you would be missing out not to be involved. Yes there are some people that post trivia but the choice is always yours as to who you follow and how you want to use this.

When I first started I just created an account and then observed how it all worked. I found this approach really worked for me. My advice to you would be to keep an eye on a group called #eventprofs – You really will not be disappointed. This is one engaged on line community that is creating the curve and is full of friendly and supportive people. The amount of useful information you will pick up will be significant (I promise). Not sure how to get started then just have a look at the following guides –

Getting Started with Twitter for your Business

http://www.planetplanit.co.uk/eventiq-articles.asp?
category=Websites+Social+Networking+and+Technology&serialnumber=144

http://www.planetplanit.co.uk/eventiq-articles.asp?
category=Websites+Social+Networking+and+Technology&serialnumber=145

Yes I know that these articles have a business focus but they cover all the key points that you need to get going. So now you know how to set up an account but what about the etiquette? I have highlighted a video which explains what I think is a really good approach and will help you. For the Etiquette of Twitter you can check out this great video.

Summary 
As with all our previous posts this virtual activity will require some time investment from you but again the long term benefits will be worth it. Whilst you can be networking and connecting face to face there is also great importance of having a virtual presence. When you have the virtual presence be sure to include the contact
information within your business cards/e mails/letterhead or else you are missing an opportunity.

Top Tips

• Set some time aside on a regular basis for your virtual (professional) activity
• Dust off or create your CV – This will be a big help for the LinkedIn profile
• Have a look at any LinkedIn Groups that may benefit you and join them
• Read the Planet Planit Twitter Guides and then take a leap and create your own account
• Have a look at the #eventprofs community on Twitter and join the conversation when you feel ready
• Remember to only post information that you are happy to put into the public view
• Follow @planetplanitbiz and keep up to date

_______________________________

About Paul Cook
Paul Cook, Managing Director of Planet Planit, is passionate about the events and production industries. He is keen to raise the importance and awareness of effective planning across the industry. Paul already runs a successful business providing insurance for special events Clarity Event Insurance and is recognised as a leading figure in the events industry. Paul is International Development & Student Programme Director for Meeting Professionals International UK and Ireland Chapter, (MPI) the leading professional development and networking body for the events industry, having already served a term as President during 2007/08. He is also currently serving on the Chapter Advisory Council of MPI’s global body.

In 2008 he was voted Number 15 in the Power 50 of people making their mark in the events industry by Haymarket’s industry leading publication – Conference and Incentive Travel.Paul frequently guest lectures at Universities and Trade Shows. He has also written for a number of trade journals and his opinions are frequently published by online magazines

Today, my suggestion is Lewis Howes. I met Lewis in-person yesterday at the Perfect Business Summit and attended his session on advanced social media marketing. I learned a lot and want to share his knowledge with my fellow event professionals. Lewis wrote the book on LinkedIn and is also involved with sportsnetworker.com. Want a LinkedIn tip that Lewis shared? After you post a status update on LinkedIn, click the “Share Again” button and you can also send that update to up to 50 groups that you are a part of. This is an easy way to share very important information with a lot of people. Of course, be careful that you don’t over-use this tip!! 

Read more about how to do this.

In the meantime, Connect with Lewis:

Website

Twitter

1. The event hashtag has been established by an attendee.
The event communication needs to be managed by the staff. The planners need to decide how they want their members to communicate (realizing that Twitter is not the only option) and make this very public information. If attendees are left to create their own channels, this is not a good sign! That being said, there is some value to jumping in on a conversation already created as an event planner and helping to encourage conversation. The double bad sign? When an attendee has created a way for folks to communicate and no one from the planning staff has even noticed!

2. The event Twitter stream is filled with self promotion.
If you are going to list “Follow Us on Twitter” as a part of your marketing, you should ensure that there is good content for your attendees on that list. Link to speakers, sponsors, and planners. Share related articles. Do something to connect the attendees. Do something more than just marketing the event over and over. Give people a way to connect!

3. Attendee lists are impossible to find as are Twitter handles of the speakers, sponsors and promoters.
While some events keep this information private, there are ways to integrate attendee-specific information on your event website. The savvy conference attendee is doing their homework before the event – trying to connect with other people who will be there in advance. By not listing contact information, or at least a list of names, you are making their job much more difficult.

Today, my suggestion is Christina Coster. Christina was one of the first NY Event professionals that I met on Twitter and has been a great resource ever since! I truly value her friendship and professionalism. You’ll see Christina with me in the Twitter Lounge at the BizBash NY Expo on October 28, 2010 so stop by and say hi!

In the meantime, Connect with Christina:

Twitter