Association Meetings

10 Fatal Mistakes Managers Make in Email

What am I reading today?

10 Fatal Mistakes Managers make in Email

I am sure that you can add a few more, however I would add:

1) Sending an email with NO subject line - many email programs will filter these out as spam and they are never delivered!

2) Adding a completely "unrelated" message in a reply.  If there has been a threaded discussion about topic A and you throw in a completely new topic B - I will miss it! Almost guaranteed.

3) Not using the "Reply All" when the message when was intended for a group discussion.

What are your favorite mistakes?

Best Practices for Business - Why Meeting Agendas are Important

What am I reading today?

Best Practices for Business - Why Meeting Agendas are Important

I couldn't agree more with this blog post.  How many times have you arrived at a meeting without knowing the reason or expected outcome?  An agenda lets everyone know what is scheduled to be discussed so that they can arrive prepared and decrease wasted time!

9 Ways to Find Association Member Twitter Users

What am I reading today?

Cindy Butt of "AE on the Verge" blogpost on: 

9 Ways to Find Association Member Twitter Users

I would like to add a 10th way!  When you see members follow you, look to see who they follow!  Often you will find names of those your recognize.  While this may be time consuming, in the end it is worth the connection.

Other ideas?

Is the message clear?

When we are trying to communicate with those attending our meetings, do we clearly communicate the information they need to know?  Or do we skip over details that could make the attendee experience seamless.

Bruce Hammond's post is a very good example where just a little bit more effort, the message would have been crystal clear .... Clearly Communicating the Message

What does your web site really say about your event?

Image via CrunchBase

Today I read about an event that will be happening in my area and wanted to learn more.  The event was listed on a community calendar and gave the URL to the event organizer's website.  As I followed the link I found myself disappointed and frustrated! 

The website, while very cleanly designed and easy to follow told me very little and left me asking more questions than it answered. GRRRRR 

When designing a website or even an event page on Facebook or MySpace please remember that your visitors may know NOTHING about your organization nor your event.  This is the time to education them!

Be sure to include:

1. A way to find out more about your organization and those sponsoring the event.
   
2. The event description - including who might be interested in attending.
   
3. Where the event will take place - be specific!  Include the full address.  Too often I see the name of the location listed, assuming that every should know the name. Although I must admit I am guilty of this one.  Everyone knows where the Pullman Starbucks is,right?
   
4. When will the event take place - again be specific.  If you give me the date, include the starting and ending time.   
   
5. Multiple ways to contact you.  In my case today, a phone number was listed.  However it is Sunday afternoon and I know that the phone will not be answered.  Had a email contact been listed, I could have asked my questions NOW knowing that I would get an answer later.
   
6. If this is an event listing on Facebook, please add an image.  The generic "?" is very boring and tells me that you are not very excited about the event as you simply went with the default.

What other information should be included with an event listing or web site?

The Social Media Puzzle ... how the pieces all fit

Often I am asked to explain WHY I spend so much of my time "playing" with the various social media tools that are now available.  Many do not understand why posting on the wall of a colleague in Facebook has a benefit to my "business." Or how sending out Tweets can lead to clients.  There are many people who have blogged on this topic, but I came across this YouTube video that gives the puzzle a new look.

Bored with PDFs? 12 Ways to share content

Image via Wikipedia

It is easy to provide PDFs to your attendees or association membership - it seems to be the "standard" way of providing content.  But in all honesty I agree with the folks at Wild Apricot that PDFs are boring!  Here are 12 ways to share the same content but in more creative ways ...

12+ Great Ways to Share your Non-Profit's Knowledge Online

Internet Scams Targeting Event Planners

While I haven't seen this email yet, it is good to know that this exists ...  Please share this with your colleagues.

Internet Scams Targeting Event Planners

Thanks Keith for sharing!

Twitter ... From the Presenter's Perspective

Over the past few posts I have discussed the use of Twitter in a variety of ways while attending conferences or meetings.  I've addressed how the attendee may benefit as well as the conference organizers.  What about the presenter themselves?  Recently at a workshop I attended, I was recognized by the Presenter as one the "tweeting" people in the room and she asked me to be "nice while tweeting."  This got me thinking about Twitter from the presenters point of view, but before I had my thoughts on paper the following post was published and gave a very good perspective.  I highly recommend the read ....

How to Present While People are Twittering | Pistachio

If you would like a review of my thoughts on Twitter use by Attendees or Event Organizers ... check out these short videos.  Yes we had fun making these videos ...

The Use of Twitter by Meeting Attendees:

The Use of Twitter by Meeting Organizers:

They are talking about you .... are you listening?

Whether you want to accept it or not, your attendees are talking about your event on the "back channel" called Twitter.  As Association Planners we need to be aware of this conversation and join in! 

As your attendees are preparing to attend your meeting, they are sharing their plans with followers even if it is just to let them know why they will be out of the office for a few days.  Other attendees will use the opportunity to talk more about what they are doing and why. As an attendee a few weeks ago at MeetDifferent, I did just that.  I let my followers on Twitter know that I was headed to Atlanta for a meeting. I was immediately asked why I was going and what kind of meeting. What a great opportunity for me to share.  This also showed my clients that I am serious about my own personal and professional development.  As a planner we want to encourage such conversations!

We also need to continue the conversation on-site. The back channel is giving us IMMEDIATE feedback as to the success or failure of our event.  Thus giving us the opportunity to respond immediately.  If attendees are in a session and are "tweeting" about the temperature of the room, or the sound quality - we can quickly make adjustments.  If you see in the Twitter feed that attendees are having trouble finding certain rooms or locations, you can quickly add signage.  All of which add to the quality of your meeting.  

As a planner you can also use Twitter to communicate with the attendees regarding the meeting.  Send out Tweets as reminders of special events or maybe room changes.  While at the event you can send out "Did you Know ..." messages that again allow you to engage in a more effective conversation.

In my opinion Twitter or other similar means of instant communication is here to stay and as Association Planners we need to join the conversation.