EMBlog shuts down

Hi Everyone,

from today you won’t get any new article on the Event Manager Blog.

We wanted to bring the blog to its next level and we launched www.eventcoup.com to do that. With an easier to digest platform you’ll keep getting the great content you are used to from a fantastic team of contributors.

If you subscribed to this blog, you’ll be automatically moved to the new platform so no sweat! If you want to subscribe directly there please go to www.eventcoup.com

Event Manager Blog and all its great content will be available for reference here at www.eventmanagerblog.com

10+ Sure-fire Strategies to Avoid Death by Committee

Photo by Cayusa via Flickr

Due to the global economic meltdown, some organizations have cancelled corporate events. Others are using a variety of strategies to streamline their corporate events budgets including:

- closing event planning departments or laying off event planners
- laying off executive assistants, getting each executive assistant to support 2 – 3 executives, delegating their event planning duties to less experienced employees
- forming cross-functional teams of employees to plan and execute corporate events

Cross-functional teams provide an excellent opportunity for building the skill set of your team. If not thought through, there can be unintended consequences that can derail your corporate events. Some of the unintended consequences include:

- committees of junior employees tend to make decisions based on what is “fun”, not what is of strategic importance, doable, practical, or logistically advisable
- equal weight tends to be given to the vote of each team member regardless of experience, groupthink sets in and decisions get watered down to the lowest common denominator
- expectations of suppliers such as event planners, venues and caterers can be unrealistic and this places a strain on relationships
- the planning cycle can get thrown out of its usual sequence leading to delays and “spinning your wheels”

Here is a baker’s dozen of sure-fire strategies that every event planner would be wise to share with clients to help nix the “death by committee” syndrome.

Read the rest of this entry »

10 Reasons Why Your Event and Social Media Don’t Mix

 This post is by Julius Solaris, your Editor in Chief. He is @tojulius on twitter . Meet the rest of the team!

The difference between style and fashion is quality.
Giorgio Armani

Photo by BitPicture via Flickr

I am sure you’ve heard about Social Media in the past six months. Well, that’s a bit too late as it’s been around for at least 15 years, maybe more. In 1995 I used to post on forums, chat over IRC and yeah it looked lots like Facebook. But hey since the latest fashion is here, now you think your event needs a Facebook Group. Here are few reasons to prevent you from committing Social Media suicide.

10. You haven’t got a clue

You just don’t know what this all Social Media thingy is about. Well, it’s like learning a new language. If you expect to get it in a week, you’re out of sight. Get someone to do it for you or give it some time.

9. They don’t have a clue

And by ‘they’ I mean attendees. If they don’t care, why should you? If they think Linkedin is the latest Alfa Romeo model, just don’t waste your time. Think about making a better event

8. You haven’t listened

Read the rest of this entry »

Virtual Team Building, Does it Work?

Fully customizable virtual simulations are transforming the team building landscape, breaking down barriers and making it possible for teams at different locations to participate in engaging and interactive experiences. But, are cool animations and eye-popping graphics are enough to produce effective team building?

Photo by Torley via Flickr

As soon as you receive your brief case and Mission Access Code, your team logs into the Spy Inc. headquarters website from any computer in the world. This activates the clock. You have 3 hours to complete your mission. Your mission briefing consists of a dossier with your scenario, objectives, advice, and clues. You’re given the coordinates for the location in your city where you’ll rendez-vous with the other agents in your spy network to obtain more clues to help you complete your mission. Your performance is measured by time, the other performance of the other teams, and the track record of previous agents. As soon as you complete your mission, you log off with your correct solution codes. Your time is calculated and presented on the Cyber League Table. Results are compared and debriefed. Debriefing focuses on problem-solving, planning, team management, and delegation.

Demo: Spy Inc. Demo

UK based Clever Zebra, a virtual worlds events company, recently designed a 3D immersive meeting in Second Life for a global consulting firm’s 3 day IT leadership conference. Team building exercises incorporated 3D puzzle building, dancing competitions, and treasure hunts.

Benefits of Virtual Team Building

Some of the benefits of virtual team building include:
- virtual simulations can easily be customized with company logos, products and services
- the same experience can be replicated to enhance learning and provide opportunities for review and practice
- virtual simulations can be completed in a relatively short period of time, reducing the amount of time team member are off the job
a full team building cycle including context setting, simulation, debriefing, and business application exercises can be comfortably in half a day without analytical learners feeling pressured or rushed
- companies can bring international teams together and save travel, meal and hotel expenses

Examples of Virtual Worlds for Team Building

Read the rest of this entry »

ZoomPool Teams Up with Eventbrite

 This post is by Julius Solaris, your Editor in Chief. He is @tojulius on twitter . Meet the rest of the team!

RSVP management tools and carpooling was a match made in heaven. Interesting developments in the RSVP market!

News is that Eventbrite (which is a great RSVP management tool) and Zoompool (a ridesharing platform) have teamed up.

I guess it was a quite obvious integration path as introducing a ‘Mark Read’ button in Gmail, which, in the same fashion, took way too long.

This is a strong move by Eventbrite in the overcrowded Online RSVP market. I am very curious to see what amiando the European counterpart and my personal favourite will do. In the meanwhile here is the press release.

“Events are a great candidate for ridesharing because attendees generally aim to arrive and leave at roughly the same time,” said Donna Horne, ZoomPool’s co-founder.

“If you’re an event organizer who uses Eventbrite for your conference, business seminar, arts, entertainment or charity event, it makes perfect sense to offer ridesharing to your attendees. It boosts attendance and they’ll love you for it.

As an event attendee, ridesharing with a perfectly matched partner is a great opportunity to make a new social or business acquaintance — who knows where that might lead?”